We were barely a few weeks into this charade, and I was already exhausted by it. Tired of the lies and the maneuvering that we were doing to convince people this was the real thing. I just wanted to go home and take off this dress and flop down on my bed and go to sleep. Thankfully, Munchkin’s friendly dog walker had been by earlier to feed him and take him around the block, so I wouldn’t have to do any of that when I got home.
Our car pulled up to the curb, and we got in, waving to our friends and family. I could see Tori and Brooklyn standing with my brothers, exchanging self-satisfied looks of “told you so.” I wanted to tell them the truth—that what they’d witnessed between me and Ford earlier was a total sham, completely different from what they had with Stefan and Luka. That it wasn’t going to end up the same way at all, because Ford was just manipulating me throughout this entire process. Whatever he wanted, he got, and I was hardly an afterthought.
As we turned onto the street, I scooted as far away from Ford as I could, moving to the other end of the back seat. He didn’t say anything and didn’t attempt to stop me, so he must have known how livid I was.
We spent the entirety of the car ride in silence. I was too riled up to say anything.
Instead, I kept looking out the window, trying not to think about how incredible and yet awful the evening had been, but I couldn’t stop staring down at my lap, where the ring shone on my finger. I didn’t want to keep admiring it, but my eyes kept getting drawn to its sparkly glory.
At one point, Ford cleared his throat, and I thought he was going to say something, but he remained silent. I was glad. I didn’t want to get in a fight, and I needed some time to process everything. He knew I wasn’t the kind of person who’d be into a surprise fake engagement party—had he played it close to the vest because he thought I wouldn’t go along with it?
And all this after I’d been so clear with him about my expectations, about wanting to be kept in the loop.
Something else occurred to me then. When Ford had gone down on one knee with that box in his hand, before our friends and family had popped out of the fucking shrubberies, I’d stupidly hoped for thebriefestof moments that things between us had actually changed. What if he had kept the proposal a secret because he wanted it to mean something? Something real?
If so, what the hell? Was he into me that way or not? Was his attraction to me more than just physical? All the uncertainty was driving me bonkers. We definitely needed to have The Conversation, but first I had to get my head on straight.
Thankfully, we’d arrived at my apartment building.
I let Ford open the door for me, and then I swept myself out of the car and headed toward the entrance to my building without looking back. When I heard the car door close behind me, I expected to hear the car drive off next, and it took everything I had to keep from bursting into tears as I tried and failed to find my keys. But after the car had pulled away, I heard footsteps.
Turning around, keys still buried at the bottom of my purse, I found Ford standing there.
“What do you want?” I said icily.
“Can I come up?” he asked.
“You don’t leave me much choice,” I told him. “Your ride is already gone.”
He held up his phone. “I can call him back,” he said. “But I’d rather go up with you.”
It was an unusual request, and it threw me off guard. I couldn’t say no. “Fine.”
I got the door open and he followed me through the lobby and into the elevator. The small space felt even smaller with him in it, and I kept my eyes focused on my shoes as the car made its way up to the loft floor.
When we walked into my place, I allowed myself to foolishly hope that Munchkin might attack Ford with a nice bite in the ass, but of course he didn’t. Munchkin loved Ford, almost as much as he loved me. The two of them were thick as thieves. In fact, at this very moment, Munchkin was in Ford’s arms, wagging that stub of a tail as Ford gave him a good ear scritch.
“Traitor,” I muttered to my dog, dropping a kiss on the top of his head before swishing my way into the living room area and tossing my bag on the coffee table.
For a second I just stood there, wanting nothing more than to take off my dress and my shoes, my feet aching and my entire body exhausted by the past several hours. But it would have to wait. I was most assuredly not taking off a single article of clothing as long as Ford fucking Malone was standing there.
As if sensing my impatience, Ford put my dog down. Munchkin took off for my bedroom, probably to jump up and take a nap on the cushy mattress while he knew I was too distracted to kick him off. Meanwhile, Ford ran his hand through his hair and looked at me.
“I’m sorry, Em,” he said, finally breaking the ice. “I should have warned you.”
“Mm-hmm,” I grunted. I was surprised at the apology but didn’t show it, crossing my arms over my chest instead. No way in hell was I going to forgive him that easily.
“You’re my first fake fiancée,” Ford continued, trying for a conspiratorial smile. “It’s all new to me. I don’t know what I’m doing, and I fucked up.”
It wasn’t what I had been expecting.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
“Yeah, well, this doesn’t feel anything like the partnership we discussed when you do things like that,” I said, letting all my anger boil over. “What were you even thinking?”
He seemed a little taken aback by my passion, but he didn’t try to talk me down, just stood there and listened.
“We’re supposed to be a team,” I railed, venting the frustration I’d been holding in all night long. “I agreed to do this foryou—yes, there are some benefits to my family, but the whole reason we’re in this mess is because you can’t stand up to your parents.”
