Page 10 of Faking It with my Bestie's Billionaire Brother

Her eyebrow shot up, and she put her hand against her chest. "Me?"

I nodded evenly. "It would seem that way,” I said, schooling my gaze to stay on her face and not allowing myself to look at her hand resting innocently on the swells of her breasts. I swallowed hard, but this time, it didn’t have anything to do with the food.

"How would I be able to help you?" she asked with a furrowed brow, and I resisted the urge to reach across and smooth that brow with the pad of my thumb. I had the feeling that her hair and skin would be soft and smooth.

I shook myself back to attention when she gave me a dubious look. "It seems that our little run-in in the hall has caught some attention online."

She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "The kids posted our picture onto social media, didn't they?"

I gave her a tight smile. "On places that I didn't even know existed. Apparently, they're shipping us?" I asked in confusion.

She laughed, "Ah, I see. You'll have to explain to me how our little run-in being posted online makes me the best candidate to help you out, though." I hesitated, but she pushed me for an answer. “Whatever your plan is, rip off the Band-Aid. The suspense is killing me.”

I let out a long breath. "I have some bad PR coming my way about the company. I had to fire some employees who were engaging in some illegal practices, but they're not very happy about the fact that they got fired, so they're threatening to spread rumors that could do a lot to damage our company."

"It’s the scandal that Ralph warned Penny about the other day?"

I nodded. "Yeah, our lawyer got to her before I could, and I'm still not happy about that. I try to make it a point to keep her separate from the corporation because she doesn't like that stuff, and she doesn't need to worry about it. Unfortunately, this particular situation has the likelihood of getting out of control if we don't get ahead of it quickly."

She watched me intently, seeming to search my face, probably to gauge if I was being genuine. "Okay," she drew out. "I still don't get what any of it has to do with me, other than being a supportive friend to Penny while the family company is going through…whatever."

I rubbed a nervous hand over my jaw, then told her, "My lawyer came up with this…idea…I don't know if I would call it a good one or not, but one way to detract from the bad publicity is if I put forth a more family-friendly image. He went as far as to suggest that I hire someone to be my fiancée and that we get spotted around town. People would be so enthralled to see the future Mrs. Ashbury and so excited to root for her that they wouldn't pay as much mind to what some naysayers have to say. I thought the idea was ridiculous, but then you and I quite literally ran into each other, and it would seem that my fake fiancée has literally dropped into my lap."

She looked at me sharply. "Now, you wait a minute. I haven't done anything in your lap, thank you very much. Am I understanding correctly that you're actually proposing that the two of us run around town, pretending to be engaged?"

"That's the long and short of it, basically," I confirmed.

She looked at me with those big, brown eyes for a long moment, and then, she burst into laughter. I sat uncomfortably as she clutched at her side, laughing as her face turned a bright shade of red. Others started looking over at us, and I nodded to them politely, but I didn't laugh along with her. I just didn't have it in me at that moment. It was already a difficult enough situation without her laughing her ass off at me in public.

Finally, as she wiped tears from her eyes, I said through a tense jaw, "I understand that it's a bit of an outlandish idea. I thought so at first, too, but I fail to see what's so funny about it."

She looked at me incredulously. "Really? You don't see the humor in a twenty-something Italian American woman who makes her living by poking at clay suddenly getting engaged to some fancy pants CEO, who has never even had a taco before today? We would look ridiculous, the world would see right through us."

I shrugged. "The world likes underdog stories, and I think we would be…interesting, to say the least."

She looked at me like I'd grown another head. "That's putting it mildly. Look, I'm flattered by the offer, but it's just too much. I mean, pretending to be something I'm not for what? Just so people will keep their traps shut? They're not going to do that, anyway, and I don't think you being engaged would really be enough to detract attention away from whatever it is they want to say. People are always attracted to the negative stuff first, unfortunately. I'm afraid the answer is no, Duke, sorry," she said, grimacing and gathering up the rest of her food.

Little did Miss Moretti know just how determined I became when dealing with a challenge. She was about to find out, though.

Chapter seven

Ava

I was starting to suspect that Penny's older brother was out of his head or something because the words coming out of his mouth were absolutely insane.

I had already soundly rejected his bizarre offer, and I was working my way out from the seat of the picnic table when he looked at me solemnly and breathed my name. "Ava."

Something about the way he said it made me stop. I told myself it was because he sounded serious, but then again, when didn't he sound serious? But if I'd been honest with myself, there was a deep rumble to it that caused a tingle of extra awareness to surf through my body.

Was it just me, or was Spencer Ashbury actually looking…desperate?

"Ava," he said again as if it pained him, "please, don't go. Not yet."

I relented and sat back down, but I informed him, "Look, I don't know what you're about to tell me, but I doubt it's going to change my mind. This idea is just too weird."

"You think I don't get that? The first time Ralph even suggested the plan, I almost punched him in the throat."

I snorted.

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