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“Exactly.” He paused. “Do you want to tell your parents the truth?”
“No,” she said. “I’m still worried about your dad, though.”
“I said I’d handle him, didn’t I?”
“You did. But I’ve worked for him for a long time, and I know he pays attention to every little detail. I don’t think he’ll believe it.”
“I’ll convince him it’s real,” Noah said. His parents knew him pretty well, and he had a hunch it wouldn’t take much for them to believe he was in love with Mia. “Don’t you trust me?”
“You know I do,” she said, almost grudgingly. “What about the other principals at work? Will they be suspicious? What about Julia? David? Especially him—I never got the impression he liked me much.”
“What? Why do you say that?”
She shrugged and looked down. “I don’t know. I just don’t get a good vibe from him.”
“Mia.” He heard the hard edge in his voice, but couldn’t stop it.
She sighed. “It’s not a big deal.”
Why was this the first he was hearing of this? He attempted to soften his tone. “It is to me.”
“When I was first hired on, I messed up some of his appointments. I felt terrible and apologized—but not before he said your dad hired me out of pity and that I didn’t deserve the job. It’s always stuck with me, and I get nervous around him. Any time I mess something up, it feels like it always involves him. A few years ago, I failed to get an important message to him and he’s never let me forget it. Last week I misplaced a client contract, and naturally it was his client. I get all flustered and just mess stuff up, and he makes sure I know it.”
Noah’s short fingernails dug into the skin of his palms. David had been at the firm a few years before Noah started his internship, and Mia was already a fixture at the front desk. He’d had no idea she’d felt that way. And for so long. “You’re great at your job. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.”
“According to him it’s more than that.”
Noah had never cared much for David, and now he really didn’t like the guy. “Why haven’t you said something before?”
She arched an eyebrow. “What would you do? Defend my honor?”
Hell yes.“Maybe.”
She gave a rueful smile. “It’s not that big of a deal. But I guess he’s the one I’m most worried about finding out. If he knew I was committing insurance fraud through the company...”
“Stop saying that,” Noah said, firming his tone again. He lowered his chin and looked at her pointedly. “We’ve been secretly dating for months, and tonight I popped the question. We don’t see any point in waiting for a fancy ceremony, and we decided to get married next week. Now that you’ll be a kept woman, you decided to go back to school like you’ve always wanted. I don’t mean this to come out wrong, but I don’t think anyone at the office cares enough about you or me to think otherwise. People are concerned about their own business. They’ll believe what we want them to believe.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if convincing herself his words were true. Slowly, she nodded. “Right. Okay.”
“Want me to get down on one knee?”
Her eyes went wide. “No!”
He gave her a few seconds to process before asking his next question. “What about living arrangements?”
Her mouth opened and closed, and she stilled. “Wow, I really didn’t think this through.” Her eyes darted around the room as if she hadn’t been there a thousand times. “If we want everyone to think this is real, we have to live together, don’t we?”
Had she not considered that part? He sure as hell had. The idea of her being around all the time was equal parts thrilling and terrifying. They hung out enough that he was used to daytime Mia, going-out Mia, and lazy, let’s-stay-in-tonight Mia. It was the thought of first-thing-in-the-morning Mia that had made his heart lurch. It was the only side of her he didn’t know. The side reserved for roommates and lovers.
What was she like in those quiet, intimate moments just after she woke up, before makeup touched her skin or a stray thought made her anxious? Did she listen to music while she got ready or turn on the TV when she made coffee? Or did she, like him, enjoy starting her day in silence?
Would that version of her become his favorite?
He swallowed. “We probably should.”
She nodded, though she seemed a little dazed. “You have a house, so it would make sense that I’d move in here.” Suddenly she frowned. “But what’s Claire going to do? Our condo is too expensive for just two people. And Reaganjustmoved in. I’m not even sure Claire likes her yet.” She buried her face in her hands and groaned. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this.”
Noah squeezed her shoulder. “We don’t have to,” he said. “This is a choice, and you can back out anytime until we sign the papers. But don’t let things like living arrangements stop you. We’ll figure all that out. It won’t cost you anything to live here, and we could keep paying your share of rent at the condo until Claire finds another roommate. Hell, Graham might want to move in with them. He’s been complaining about his place and talking about looking for something else.”
