AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This night is going better than I expected. She’s inviting me back to her place. Hold on, eager beaver. She wants to talk and see my body language. Does she think I’m money laundering or something ridiculous?
“I’ll be there in five.”
LAUREN
All the lights in my house beam to their highest setting, and the curtains remain open. No funny business happening between Mason and me. Just exposing the truth. I place a glass of water in front of him and sit opposite at the round table.
I angle my head to the side and stretch to release the tension building in my neck. The five minutes I waited for him gave me a giant knot. “I’m not going to trick you into blurting out the truth. I only ask for honesty. Can you give me that much?”
Mason nods. “Sure.”
Cinda trots over, sits at Mason’s shoes, and growls.
He looks down at her. “Did you train her to do that? She’s intimidating.”
“No. She’s just not used to you. And you’re in her territory right now.”
Mason leans down and scratches Cinda’s head. She snaps and growls even more. Mason pulls his hand to his chest. “How do I win her over?”
I laugh. “How about you feed her. There’s some pet food in the fridge.”
He raises a brow. “Can I give her some now, so she’ll get off my case?”
“Go for it.”
Mason heads for the kitchen, and I occupy myself on my phone, editing a video.
Behind me, the sound of the fridge opens and closes. Cinda’s panting tells me my little girl is warming up to the man. It’s challenging to stay growly at Mason.
“That a girl,” Mason coos. “Oh, she likes that.”
I glance over my shoulder to find ground beef in Cinda’s bowl. “Oh. That was meant for my spaghetti bolognese.”
Mason blinks at me. “Oh.”
“The canned dog food is on the side shelves of the fridge door.”
“Right.”
“Don’t worry about it. Come and sit.” I wave him over. “Time to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
His eyes widen. “Sure.” He gingerly approaches and retakes his seat.
I bite my fingernail and take a deep breath. “Has Gran specified in her Will that you must marry to receive your inheritance?”
Mason scrunches his brows. “No way. She’s not the manipulative type.” The edge of his lip quirks. “I mean. She wants to see me happily married. I’m sure she’d like to see her great-gran babies too.” A hint of sadness washes over him. “Too late for that. She may not make it to Christmas.”
My heart sinks, and my bottom lip puckers. I rub his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have accused you.” Mason never lied to me, and he wouldn’t start now. “You love her and want to please her. It’s not about money. You want to make her last days happy.”
Mason puts his hand over mine, and tingles fly up my arm. I slowly inch away. Not to be mean, but I’m enjoying his touch way more than I should, considering the reason he’s here.
“Dad has Gran’s Will. We talked about it months ago. She hasn’t updated it for eight years. It’s not complicated. Dad would’ve told me if there were any crazy clauses involving marriage.”
I touch my throat and breathe out the last bit of tension. “I want us to fake marry for her benefit. Not to scam her.”
Mason bursts out laughing. “Scamming old ladies. Yeah. That’s not a good rep.”
I join in his laughter. Maybe I do read too many historical novels. Of course, Mason isn’t performing for money. He has bucket loads. He doesn’t need Gran’s help.
