Page 24 of Kissed By Her Fake Fiancé

“I wouldn’t say together,” Matt, who’d already taken a seat and opened his menu, said.

Brianna stepped back and looked over at him. “It sure sounded like it to me.”

Matt closed his menu and shifted his body toward them. “Someone on the crew told someone here in town that he flew all the way down there to tell her he loved her. And she loves him back. That’s all I know.”

That was a lot, especially considering it was about her own sister. Did her mom even know this information?

“And now you two are engaged,” Brianna said. “I heard you were getting married. I assumed your fiancé was somebody over there. Who knew it was our very own Holden Pryce?”

Faith opened her mouth to correct her childhood friend, but before she could say a word, J.J. spoke up. “They’re inlove.”

J.J. gave extra emphasis to the last word of that. Faith was both amused and surprised at how happy she sounded. She was grinning from ear to ear.

“The whole town’s talking about it,” Brianna said. “They all thought you were this quiet, super wealthy guy living all alone with your daughter. Little did they know you moved here because you’d fallen in love with our Faith.”

“It’s pretty awesome,” Matt said. “But I think we should probably let them enjoy their meal.”

“Oh,” Brianna gasped, looking from Faith to Holden. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Why don’t we get together for lunch one day? I’ll grab my business card. I’m Matt’s assistant now. Did you know that?”

Faith shook her head. What had just happened here? The whole town assumed that she’d been engaged to Holden all along? They’d painted her as the fiancée of the town’s millionaire. Or was he a billionaire?

Whatever the case, he definitely was the most handsome, wealthiest guy in town, which also made him the most eligible bachelor. And Faith had snatched him up. At least that was how it looked to everyone else.

J.J. was shaking her head by the time Faith slid back into her seat, tucking the business card into the zippered pocket of her purse. She didn’t know if she’d be able to get together with her old friend—or anyone in town, for that matter. Not as long as this lie was going on around about her.

No, for now, she probably should just stick with J.J. and Holden. The more she said, the harder it would be when the truth came out. And the truth would eventually come out. She couldn’t forget about that.

13

Holden slid the plate of scrambled eggs in front of J.J., who sat on the stool at the island, playing a game on his phone.

“What did I say about phones at the table?” he asked as he headed to the refrigerator to pull out the juice. “You don’t even have a phone yet and we’re already having this discussion.”

“I just have to finish this game,” J.J. said. “And besides, I’m not at the table.”

He rolled his eyes. His daughter was a talented negotiator, just like her father. He couldn’t get on to her for it. It would probably get her far in life.

“Good morning!” Faith called out as she breezed into the kitchen.

He nearly dropped the bottle of orange juice at the sight of her. He’d been hoping she’d be wearing the pajamas she’d had on when they watched a movie together a couple of nights ago. She looked so adorable in them. But instead, she was fully dressed in day clothes, having put on a pair of jeans and a thick red sweater. She’d even applied makeup. She looked like she was going somewhere.

“Reporting for work,” she said, probably noting his surprised expression. “I figured you probably have some things you need me to help with this morning, in addition to keeping an eye on J.J.”

J.J. spoke up then, eyes still glued to the screen. “You don’t have to keep an eye on me. I’m going to rehearse and then my coach comes over at two.”

Her wince at the end of all that told him something had happened in the game that she didn’t like. Finally, she grunted and set the phone down, then scooted her plate in front of her.

“I have a meeting with some potential investors this afternoon,” Holden told Faith. “I’ll be driving over to Knoxville. Really, if you could just keep an eye on things around here, it would be a huge help. We also need to discuss salary.”

“Eww,” J.J. said, holding a forkful of eggs close to her mouth.

At first, he thought she was talking about the breakfast. But she was staring at him, eyes narrowed.

“You’re not going to talk business stuff right now, are you?” J.J. asked.

Laughing, Faith started opening cabinets. “We don’t have to talk business.” She finally seemed to find what she was looking for. She pulled the glass down and set it on the counter before turning to look at J.J. “And your dad’s not going to pay me. Room and board are enough.”

“Absolutely not.” Holden shook his head. “The nanny’s quarters are for the convenience of the employer, not the employee.” He looked over at his daughter, who was eyeing her food with much more interest than the conversation. “And we aren’t talking business. We’re discussing our day.”

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