AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I reach for the back of an empty chair, surprised when the dining room staff, a young man whose name is Mike, clears his throat. A faint blush tinges his cheeks.
He reaches for the one beside it. “Ms. Morelli?”
“That one’s taken,” Sophia says, her eyes twinkling.
I glance back in confusion. “By who?”
The only Morelli missing from the group is my brother, Carter. He’s away on some geological expedition or whatever he does when he’s not teaching at Oxford. He isn’t due back in the United States until Daphne’s wedding next month.
Sometimes my father will invite one of his friends.
Or my mother would invite someone intending to set me up.
My eyes narrow. If that’s what happened, I’m not going to stand for it. I’m fake dating Finn Hughes for a reason. My mother should know better than to invite Alex Langley or whatever other older, plain, boring gentleman she wants me to marry.
“Hello, sweetheart.” The voice comes from behind me.
I whirl and find Finn standing there. He looks impossibly handsome standing in the doorway in black slacks and a light blue shirt, the sleeves rolled up. His hair is just the slightest bit wrinkled. It’s a different Finn than I saw at the underground fighting ring. And the handful of other dates we’ve been on: a Sunday morning farmer’s market, Daphne’s art show, and the Parkers’ fiftieth anniversary ball. Different from the quiet, frustrated Finn I saw the night I met his father.
This is a domestic Finn, I realize. The one that comes home from work every day, a little tired but still with that irrepressible charm. His hazel eyes sparkle at me. It always feels like we share some secret, even though clearly I’m the one who’s been left in the dark.
When I look back, my mother has stood to join us. “Darling, I knew you’d be pleased to have your boyfriend visit us. So I called him, and can you imagine? He was free.”
He was probably not free.
No, he was probably coerced by my marriage-minded mother.
I’m sorry, I try to communicate with my eyes.
His gaze just reflects amusement at the situation. Of course he wouldn’t show it if he had to leave work early for this. Actually, he’s probably leaving his father’s side. Guilt rises like bile in my throat. Or maybe he would have been with a woman. Or a man. Finn has liked both men and women forever.
I don’t believe he’d lie to a woman, but he could have sex with her.
After all, we’re only fake dating.
“Mom, he doesn’t need to spend time with the family.”
“Nonsense,” she says. “He needs to eat anyway. And besides, your father and I want to spend time with your boyfriend. It’s been so long since you were serious about anyone.”
A flush burns my cheeks. Please kill me.
“Happy to be here,” Finn says, smoothing everything over.
Usually that’s my job.
I turn, almost blindly, and find the empty seat I’m supposed to use. That puts me next to Finn Hughes. In the center of the table, it feels like we’re standing together in a spotlight. Sophia gives me a look that says she tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen.
That’s what I get for letting my defenses down in the gladiator ring.
“We don’t have to wait for Leo,” I say, because dinner won’t start otherwise. There are two chairs on my mom’s side waiting for him and Haley. “He had a meeting come up that he couldn’t put off. He’s going to be at the office until midnight, he said.”
Concern crosses my sister Daphne’s expression. She recognizes a lie.
My mother does not. She snaps her fingers to indicate that the servers can begin.
Several people in black slacks and white shirts come to pour wine and serve the appetizers, a high-end surf-and-turf offering with fresh lobster and Kobe beef seared in truffle oil. Clearly my mother spared no expense for this meal. The last time I saw her serve this particular dish, we had the Ambassador from Argentina at our table.
Apparently Finn Hughes ranks as high as foreign royalty.
