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“I guess my point is I could use a wife to help with the nanny situation and impress investors,” he said. “I could maybe get the investment money I want. But I plan to stay single until J.J.’s off to college. I want to give her my full attention. She deserves that. I just wish it wasn’t hurting me in business.”
“It’s just one investor.” She looked over at him again. “I’m sure there are plenty who will see you as an amazing man raising a daughter on your own while running what’s obviously a successful business. What is it you do, anyway?”
“Helicopter tours.”
He looked over at her. When their eyes met, she saw why it’d been easier to stare straight ahead. The air around them seemed charged when they looked at each other. It’d been even more intense when they’d shaken hands.
What would she do if he leaned forward and kissed her, right here, right now? Nobody was watching. Most of their surrounding passengers were asleep. Would she stop him? Absolutely not. She’d enjoy every second of it.
His gaze lowered to her mouth. He was thinking about it too. Maybe she should lean forward a little—
“Oh!” she said as the airplane jerked suddenly. It was slight—just enough to get her heart racing, and not in a good way.
She’d never really gotten comfortable with flying. A few flights back and forth to England didn’t make her a seasoned traveler or anything. Faith gripped the blanket tighter, clutching fistfuls of the cloth as she looked around.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Just a little turbulence. It’s to be expected.”
His voice was calming, soothing. And suddenly, he asked a question that was so out of place, it must have been designed to calm her nerves.
“What about you? What do you do for a living?”
That was not a question that eased her mind. Not one bit.
“I’m unemployed, apparently.” She laughed. “I was transferred to England for work, but I quit that job when my fiancé’s parents hired me to run their shop. I’m trained in hospitality management and have plenty of experience managing a store. I’m really good at running a business now, if you know anybody with a shop that needs managing.”
“Not off the top of my head.” He frowned and looked off into the distance as he seemed to think through some possibilities. “If I can get things going, I might eventually need some help. And my tour business sure could use someone to handle booking. We have software, but people still love to talk to someone on the phone.”
“I can help.”
Why had she blurted that out? She in no way planned to beg for a job from this guy.
“Do you have any experience as a nanny?” he asked. “That’s what I need help with most.”
That question pulled her attention back to his face, the drama with the plane slipping further from her mind. She shook her head.
But he continued to stare at her, studying her. His eyes narrowed. He was thinking of something. Coming up with an idea. And she suddenly found herself wondering just how much nannies were paid.
“I think I have an idea that would work for both of us,” he said. “Faith Ardmore, will you fake marry me?”
3
What seemed like a good idea forty thousand miles up in the air was sure to come crashing down once he was on land again.
And that was exactly what happened. With his feet planted firmly on the ground, Holden was questioning everything about this brilliant plan. A plan, by the way, that Faith had immediately dismissed as absurd.
Yet here they were, standing in the Ardmore family living room, explaining to a dentist and his well-educated wife that they were in love and planning to get married.
“I don’t understand,” Faith’s mom said, her eyes squarely on her daughter. “This isn’t the man you’re engaged to. This guy lives on a hill in Misty Lakes.”
“In Penny Pincher’s old house,” her dad, Dr. Ardmore, added.
“Penny Pincher.” Holden laughed.
It was a strange nickname, given simply because she’d put pennies on candy canes at Halloween back in the day. All he’d known until the gossip made its way to him was that an older lady lived in the house before him. After she died, her kids took care of putting the house on the market, and there it sat for several years until finally, he bought it.
“It was love at first sight,” Faith said with a shrug. “It happens. It only deepened on the flight over here.”
“We shared a common love for all things Misty Mountain,” he rushed to further explain.
