Page 79 of Billionaire Fake Fiancé Daddy

I hear my door creaking open.

Maria sticks her head in. “Ha! I knew you were awake.”

I groan and pull the blankets up over my head. “Just let me wallow and be pathetic in peace.”

“See, I did that for a week, but at some point, you gotta get out of bed, babe.”

“Who says?” I mutter.

She rips the blankets off my bed, leaving me cold and exposed.

“Hey! Give those back!”

“Not until you take a shower and go on a walk with me. You need to leave this apartment.” She marches out of my bedroom, trailing my blankets behind her.

I scramble after her to get them back, but she tosses them into her bedroom and locks the door before I can get them.

I glare at her, hands on hips. “You know, no one roots for bullies.”

“You’ll thank me later.” She shoves me toward the bathroom. “Go take a shower. I’ll grab some clothes for you. I’ll give you your blankets back once you’ve had some fresh air.”

“Maria,” I protest.

“I bet it’s good for the baby,” she says, arms crossed. “You’re not just taking care of yourself anymore, you know.”

It’s the one thing I can’t argue with.

I go take a shower, grumbling the whole time.

Fifteen minutes later, I’m dressed in a cute sweater dress Maria picked out and strolling through our neighborhood toward Prospect Park. She also insisted I wear make-up and my favorite earrings. She said something about the positive psychological benefits of dressing as a way to improve your mood.

Honestly, I wasn’t listening that closely. I was just too tired to argue.

But when get to the entrance of the park, Maria steers us away. “You know what would be fun? Walking the border of the park. I always like seeing all these old buildings.”

“You don’t give a shit about old buildings,” I say.

She shoots me a mischievous look. “I’m evolving. Doesn’t the fresh air feel good?”

I blow out an annoyed sigh. “Yes,” I admit.

We’ve been walking for about ten minutes when she points to an empty storefront in an old Victorian building. It was clearly one of those places back in the day where a family had a shop on the first floor and lived above it.

“Wasn’t the place you wanted to buy for your community art center?”

“Yes,” I say. I’m pretty sure Gage will still give me the money he owes me for our fake engagement if I ask. But I don’t have the heart to bring it up. The last thing I want to do is take his money.

“Would you look at that? The door is open. Maybe we should go in and look around.” Maria breaks away from me and jogs across the street.

“Maria! What are you doing?” I call.

But she’s already ducking inside the open door.

I chase her across the street and follow her inside. “You can’t just walk into random buildings,” I hiss.

“Who says it was random?” I deep, familiar, masculine voice says from behind me. Every hair on the back of my neck stands up.

I’d know that voice anywhere.

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