Page 8 of Kissed By Her Fake Fiancé

But now she was fake engaged to a dad. She was a future stepmom. That was how people would see her, anyway. Weird, but the thought of that was like that big, cushy blanket she’d snuggled beneath on her first-class flight here. Or maybe it was being next to Holden that gave her that feeling.

Safe. Secure. Like she’d finally come home.

“Daddy!”

The voice came from behind Mrs. Murray, who stepped back, pulling the door with her. She revealed a girl with long, wavy dark hair who wore a long-sleeved red T-shirt with the wordsSanta loves meprinted on the front. Her red-and-white striped leggings matched the stripes on her sleeves.

Holden stepped through the door and grabbed his daughter in a big hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed like she didn’t want him to get away again. Faith could only stand there, staring at the scene. It was the most touching thing she’d witnessed in as long as she could remember.

“She’s been asking about you all day,” Mrs. Murray said. “Couldn’t wait for you to get here.”

“We found a Santa tracker app,” the girl said, leaning back to look up at him. “Can you put it on your phone?”

“Sure.” Holden suddenly looked over at Faith, as though just remembering she was still standing there in the cold with the door open.

“Oh dear, come on in,” Mrs. Murray said, obviously realizing that at the same time he did. “It’s cold out there.”

“We should be going anyway.” Holden looked down at his daughter. “Go get your stuff.”

“It’s right there.” Holden’s daughter pointed to an area to the right of her against the wall. Faith couldn’t quite see that area from where she stood. “Are you my new nanny?”

That was directed at Faith, who hadn’t prepared an answer. Her gaze flew to Holden’s face for help.

He glanced at Faith before returning his attention to his daughter. “Why don’t we get going? I’ll explain in the car.”

As Holden scooped up a backpack and coat, the girl continued to stare at Faith. The stare wasn’t filled with suspicion or even animosity, though. She seemed genuinely curious about what was going on here, and how could Faith blame her?

“It was so nice having you here, J.J.,” Mrs. Murray said to the girl as her father helped her put on her coat. “Any time you want to come back and spend the night, you’re more than welcome. My kids are grown now, and I didn’t realize how much I missed having a little one around.”

Faith felt Mrs. Murray’s eyes on the three of them as they headed out the door. There was something about the way she watched them that said she was missing being a young parent herself. Faith had all that ahead of her—just not with this man. Despite how gloomy things had seemed twenty-four hours ago, she was now filled with hope for the future, thanks to the strange deal they’d struck.

Holden waited until they were buckled in and the car was started before introducing them. “J.J., this is Faith Ardmore. You remember Miss Ana, right?”

“Ana Ardmore.” J.J. gasped. “I got to be on her show.”

Faith smiled back at her. “That’s my sister.”

Although she’d twisted uncomfortably in her seat to look at Holden’s daughter, Faith felt far more relaxed now that she knew Holden’s daughter wasn’t going to hate her on sight.

“Miss Charity is Faith’s sister too,” Holden said. J.J. frowned and tilted her head slightly, at which point her father prompted, “We met her at the dinner theater, remember? With Nic.”

“I remember.” J.J. nodded. “They were nice.”

She still couldn’t believe she’d missed the news that her sister and Nic were back together. That her sister was dating someone seriously, period. How had she missed such important family news?

But Faith knew the answer to that. She’d been pretty self-absorbed for the last few months. Getting engaged was a big thing, and she’d already thrown herself into wedding planning. When combined with getting all her Christmas gifts purchased and shipped, she just lacked the mental energy to focus on anything but making it through the day.

“We have a secret to tell you,” Holden said.

He was twisted around in his seat too, but he didn’t have to twist quite as far. J.J. was seated directly behind Faith, making it easy for Holden to see her from the driver’s seat.

J.J. looked from her dad to Faith and back again. “You got married on your business trip.”

Holden didn’t say anything at first. Faith watched in her peripheral vision as his eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He was speechless.

But Faith wasn’t. “We’re pretending to be engaged.” She glanced over at Holden, whose expression had softened a little. He nodded in what she assumed was approval for her to continue. “Your dad needs a little help with work stuff for the next few weeks, and I just want the gossips to stop speculating about me.”

J.J. frowned. “So, you’re not my new nanny?”

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