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The knot in my stomach tightens. The one that took shape when my mom called this morning. But I swallow it back down as I’ve been doing all day. “Yes, although I’m not sure I’ll be able to leave on Friday afternoon.”
“Did Miles reject your time off request?”
What? No.Despite the heads up HR gave me about my boss before I even met him, Miles has only ever denied one vacation request, and that was a few weeks after I started, when I asked for a day off to tag along with my new boyfriend to a work conference down in New York City. “No, it’s just that I might not be able to leave town until Friday night.”
“Why not?”
Trish is still digging around for the last jam while I fiddle with the crumpled pieces of paper in my lap. “My dad tweaked his back yesterday and can’t lift anything. My mom was calling this morning to ask if there’s any way I can bring my boyfriend to help out for the weekend.”
She twists to face me, her nose wrinkling. “Oh.”
“Right. Oh. Plus, she reminded me—again—how my youngest sister recently got engaged. As if I might have somehow forgotten the big news in the last month, just because I live in the city.”
“So you want to go but don’t want to get caught in a lie.”
Bingo. “You know how sick and tired I was of them comparing my dating life to a revolving door after those first few months down here. I thought one little white lie couldn’t hurt. I mean, we’re close and all, but they live hundreds of kilometers away and never come down to the city.”
“Please tell me you’re not thinking of calling Ryan.”
Crap. He was my first thought. I don’t meet her eyes. “He’s probably free—”
“Lauryn! Your ex is free because he’s a loser. You can’t tell me you’re seriously considering inviting Ryan—a.k.a. doesn’t have a job and still lives with his parents, Ryan—for an entire weekend together? Ugh. Plus, if your family thinks he’s your long-term boyfriend, he’d…” She shivers and shakes her head. “I don’t even want to think about how handsy he’d be.”
“Where else am I going to find a man I know well enough to bring home to my family? A guy who’ll pitch in and help out at the orchard on such short notice, and who I won’t be grossed out—”
“I’ll go with you.”
The low timbre of that familiar voice halts every logical thought in my mind and scatters them like leaves in the wind. My pulse skyrockets as his Italian leather loafers click on the linoleum. The sound echoes so loudly in the oppressive silence I don’t know how I didn’t hear him slip in.
Miles, my demanding yet devilishly hot boss, who’s competent but also unbearably standoffish, has been eavesdropping long enough to hear at least part of our conversation. And surely, I heard him wrong. I meet Trish’s eyes, which are as wide as mine.
“You?” I choke, narrowly swallowing the chortle that wants to accompany the word as I spin toward him. My gaze trails up his impeccably tailored navy wool suit before I bite back a smile and try to let him down gently. “No offense, Miles, but there is no way my family would ever believe I’m dating a man like you. They know me too well.”
A muscle in his jaw works, but it does at least half a dozen times a day, so I’ve been immune to it since day two.
“Because I’m your boss?”
“No, I’m sure they wouldn’t put two and two together on that front. It’s more so because you’re…” I trail off. How to put it? “You’re so reserved. Plus—”
“I can be very convincing.”
Yes, on paper or in court. For a hot second, I wonder why he’s volunteering to join me, the assistant he barely tolerates, for an entire weekend. Especially, when that means outdoor, physical labor when he basically hibernates in this glass-and-steel cage twenty-four seven.
Miles is from old money. He grew up in an actual mansion, and he’s probably never picked an apple in his life. Sure, he’s a hard worker, but that’s in a climate-controlled, eight hundred square foot office that’s bigger than my crummy studio apartment. He sits at a desk all week, and I’m fairly certain most weekends, too. He’s not used to being out in the sun and fresh air. And he probably doesn’t even own a pair of jeans.
I dip my chin. “Look, I can tell you think you could pull off the role of Lauryn’s fake boyfriend, but if you think I’m…what are the words you use? Oh yeah, spunky, spirited, loud, feisty—”
“Uninhibited, outspoken…”
He trails off when he realizes my question wasn’t actually an invitation to contribute.
“Yes, well, if you think I’m all of those things, you should meet my family. They’re ten times worse. And I actually need to convince them the man I bring is my boyfriend. At least, for a few days, and it won’t be easy.”
“So you don’t think I’m up for the challenge?”
“I didn’t say that. I just—”
“You don’t want me to join you.”
