Page 24 of Taken By the Fake Fiancé

"Allow me," Felicity says, getting up and beginning to arrange the plate, a job that has always been Eli's.

"That's my job," the young pre-teen tells Felicity, whose smile does not break.

"You can join me. That way, he will get it done quicker."

"I can get it done quicker alone," Eli growls in the same way that I sometimes do when I am pissed.

"I don't see why we both can't do it."

"Because it is my job. I have always arranged the plates for Dad and me. You cannot come and take that away."

I can tell that Eli's anger is more than just about the plates, I almost drop a hand on Felicity's to tell her to do as he says.

Eli looks like he's on the verge of popping a vein or several of them.

"Eli, it can be fun to get to do your task with people. But I understand why you want to do this yourself, so, I will let you. Sorry for trying to do your job," she gushes. Her tone as she concludes is slightly playful, and she wriggles her brows at Eli, who still does not acknowledge her.

Felicity settles back into her seat and glances at me. I notice the hurt in her eyes, but she looks away before I can do anything. At this moment, I wonder whether my dreams are really worth what I am putting the poor woman through.

We eat dinner in silence because I am unable to make small talk with Felicity while Eli sits there fuming in silence. Every question directed at Eli is met with terse replies that almost get on my nerves. But I follow Felicity, who does not seem very bothered by Eli's attitude. She eats her orzo salad with relish and compliments the chef.

I think she’s an incredibly better actor than I am because she holds the entire act together until Eli, who has been picking his plate, finally gets up and carries his plate toward the kitchen.

"You're full?" I ask him, staring at the almost full plate of now-cold orzo and baked salmon.

"I am," he says, resuming his short walk to the kitchen.

When I return my gaze to Felicity, I find that she has also dropped her spoon and leaned back with a slight smile.

"Will it be all right if I tell you that I am full too?"

"You can't possibly be," I say with a shake of my head.

Her plate is still half full, but she appears to have eaten a lot more than Eli had.

"You seem not to have touched your meal at all," she says to me, glancing at my still nearly full plate.

"It's not been a very enjoyable dinner," I whisper.

Eli has made sure of that.

"The orzo is really tasty, I love what Rob had done with the salmon. I’m hoping that he shares his recipe with me," she says as she begins to get up.

Eli has returned and is now making his way silently to his room. We both stare at him and when he disappears up the stairs, I turn toward Felicity and say, "I'm sorry that he's a little difficult."

"I completely understand,” Felicity says with a smile. “If my dad ever remarried while I was little and brought home a strange woman, you better believe this would be my exact reaction too,” Felicity says with a smile. “He's young and wants what's best for himself, the same way you do too," she adds.

"I wish I could tell him that this was all fake. I hate to see him hurt."

Felicity shakes her head at me.

"You’ll ruin everything if you do that. I understand why you want to placate him, but I think this is the little sacrifice you have to make to make this work."

"You're right," he says.

We settle back on the couch. I don't want Felicity to leave just yet. I enjoy her company and admire her courage.

"How about a glass of wine?"

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