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I glanced down at his hand on my lap, and the flash of midnight velvet peeking out from in between our fingers. “But… why?”
“Long story.”
“You’re kidding.”
“You don’t need to know the reason; you just have to—”
“Then no.” I made the decision right then and there. No. No way. This was officially taking it too far. And I didn’t think Alba would disagree with my decision if she knew. “I’m not doing it. I’m not willing to lie to your family for you,especiallywhen you won’t even give me a reason. This is where I officially draw the line.”
His features pinched in frustration. “We have a deal—”
“No.” He could call off our deal if he wanted because there was no way I was going to do this for him. It was shady as hell, and… icky. It felt icky.
Adrien huffed through his nose, his mouth pressing together. Then his eyes fell shut like he was regrouping.
“Fine,” he eventually ground out, “it’s my mother if you must know. She’s kept…insistingon setting me up on blind dates over the last few years, and they always go poorly. Without fail. And the amount of cleanup is usually… not worth it. Six months ago, after a particularly shitty experience, I caved and told her I was in a relationship.”
I slipped my hands out from under his warm palm and crossed my arms. “And?”
“And I can only keep up the lie for so long. Especially since I haven’t actually introduced them to the woman I’m dating… which is where you come in.”
That still didn’t add up. “Where the hell does the engagement piece fit? Shouldn’t it be enough for you to be in a relationship? Why does a ring need to be involved?”
He was already tired of having to explain himself. I could tell.
“It’s part of the long game. In a few months, I’m going to tell them that we split. A broken engagement with a person you think you’re going to spend the rest of your life with tends to have more impact than a normal breakup. It’ll… buy me more time before she starts insisting that I go on those awful dates again.”
“It can’t be that bad…” I muttered.
“The glitter bomb you found in my office was sent to me courtesy of someone I went on two dates with eight months ago. And it’s not the first present she’s sent me.”
I quirked a brow. “Why? What did you do to her?”
“What makes you think I did something?”
And because I wasn’t in the mood to answer dumb questions, I said, “Why don’t you just be honest with your mom and tell her how much you hate the dates?”
“She’s sensitive,” he insisted. “I’ve tried breaking it to her gently but... let’s just say this way’s better for everyone involved.”
I didn’t believe him.
Something was off. Not…clicking. There were about a million better ways for him to handle this situation, and he was smart enough to know that. So, either he was lying, or he was omitting a key piece of information. There was absolutely no way this was just about not wanting to hurt his mother’s feelings.
“What would this entail?” I asked him carefully. “Like… what would I need to do, exactly?”
His left cheek ticked, his jaw clenching momentarily. “We would need to act like a newly engaged couple. Happy, in love, and all that gushy bullshit. It’ll need to be convincing.”
Thu-thump.
“And how are we supposed to make it convincing? Just… like… hold hands in front of them?” I suddenly couldn’t think of what normal couples did in public. My mind was a blank slate.
“To start. Yeah.”
Thu-thump. Thu-thump. Thu-thump.
“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think—”
“I’ll let you out of the deal, write you a recommendation letter to provide to your future potential employer, and give Alba her old job back effective immediately after this trip.”
