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Since our titles are total fiction, it’s a moot point, but…do I even want to get married at all? I cannot picture a guy who would marry someone who is hardly around. Once this job is over and I go back to a kitchen, though, do I want to keep hooking up instead of hitching up?
I shake my head at myself and keep washing. No point in wondering about all of that stuff now. It doesn’t matter. What matters is tonight went well, and from what I overheard, it sounds like Clint is interested in going through with the investment. Smart of him—if I were in his cowboy boots, I’d invest in Cormac, too. I might not know his business, but I know a solid investment when I see one.
And there is no one more solid than Cormac MacMillan. When he hugged me earlier, I felt it again. That block of muscle that is his body. God. It’s like he lives at the gym instead of the office. I’m not sure how he makes the time, other than he once mentioned that he usually works out at lunch. Whatever the case, it was hard not to picture him naked. Those shoulders, those pecs, that eight pack—
“Hey, Lily,” he says quietly as he walks into the kitchen.
“Oh, hey.” I was not just thinking about you naked.
“I just wanted to say it again. Thank you. For everything. You were amazing tonight.”
I laugh. “I’m happy to help—
“Seriously,” he comes closer, “don’t just brush this off. I won’t. You may have single-handedly saved my resort tonight. This is a huge deal for me, for my company, for hundreds of jobs in the area. It’s a shame that those people won’t know your name for that. But I will never forget what you did for me. Thank you.”
My heart is racing. I swallow hard and look him in those piercing blue eyes. “You’re welcome, Cormac.”
His little half-smile kills me. “And I hope it wasn’t too strange—
“No. I mean, a little, but no. Not really.” The dinner wasn’t strange, and maybe that’s what’s strange about it. But after Clint left…
“Good, good. How did you know how to do that?”
I frown. “Cook?”
He laughs. “No. How to be the perfect hostess and fake girlfriend.”
“Oh.” I shrug. “It’s not that different from catering to any other high net worth person, and my restaurant was usually full of them. Plus, all the chatter between them made for good fodder for tonight. I used to hear all kinds of conversations at the restaurant. A lot of it was business-type stuff, schmoozing and all that.”
“You did it flawlessly. I am not paying you enough.”
“That’s probably true,” I tease. It’s not true at all. If anything, he’s overpaying me.
He laughs. “And your bonus this week will reflect that. Anyway, I’m going to straighten the living room. The kids left their books out. Oh, unless you want a hand in here—
“I’ve got it. Almost done, anyway.”
He nods. “Thank you again, Lily.”
“Yeah.”
After he leaves the kitchen is when I can breathe again. I should have kept him in the kitchen just so I could absorb more of him. His scent. His cute little half-smile. My head drops, and I stomp my feet as quietly as humanly possible just to get the tension out of my body. It’s so hard to be around Cormac sometimes, but especially tonight.
I take a breath to clear my head. The supper was a lot of fun, and I should focus on that instead of what I don’t have. How nice it was to have a family dinner and meet a billionaire. It’s not every day that I do that while pretending to be my boss’ girlfriend. Plus, dinner turned out great, so I have that going for me.
And the best part of all, I helped Cormac.
Maybe I’m hopeless, but I enjoy helping him. I like being the person he can count on. I like being there for him. As much as the request had put me out, it also flattered me to be the person he thought of for this. He’s this guy with loads of money. He could call anyone to help with this problem, and of all the people in the world, he called me. It is strange to think of myself as reliable in that way. But maybe I’ve grown.
I chuckle, thinking about how my kitchen friends would laugh at the thought of calling me last minute for anything food-related. They know better than most that I am a planner. Hell, even at my restaurant, I had a template for the food. Because of seasonality, it was never the same twice, but the techniques and methods followed a pattern they could rely on. It simplified thing and made the kitchen less stressful.
Now, though…
There is nothing predictable when it comes to Franny and Aiden. Or, for that matter, Cormac.
Him asking me to pretend to be his girlfriend after everything? Never in a million years would I have thought he’d do that. Yet somehow, tonight’s evening went off without a hitch, and I actually enjoyed pretending to be his girlfriend. Especially with the nanny jab at him. And he played along brilliantly, just like I knew he would. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have said something so brazen.
Once the kitchen is clean and leftovers are in the fridge, I’m not sure what to do. Clint is in the living room, and I have to walk through there to get out of the house. Which means I have to walk past him. And I’m not quite ready to see him yet. Or to say goodbye to him yet.
