****
Lauren hated lying more than anything.
This was something she should never have agreed to. His family was … lovely.
Being embraced, left, right, and center, she couldn’t for the life of her believe Caleb would do this, but then, she’d been working for him for a few years now and knew what he was capable of to meet his own ends.
The drinks were free-flowing and the canapes sparse, and that was all because of a nice big dinner.
She didn’t get to sit beside Caleb, nope, they were opposite each other. His father at the head of the table, his mother down the other side, and everyone spread out. There was a separate table for the kids.
As everyone sat down and started to dish out their food, she paid careful attention to what Caleb put on his plate, following his lead.
Once everyone had their food, Timothy stood and tapped his fork against his glass. Silence fell and all attention turned to him.
“I want to thank you all for coming. It means a lot to me that as I celebrate this next step in my life, I’m surrounded by people I love and who’ve been there for all of us. You’re all rocks and the true reason why we’re all here today. A family. This is what I built our empire on and why to this day, I will still continue to focus it on family. Thank you all so much. First, I’d like to say a big congratulations to Cassie and William. They’re starting their own family as we speak.”
People congratulated around the table and those closest to Cassie hugged her. She smiled for the happy couple even as Caleb looked ready to throttle William, but his big-brother issues would just have to wait.
“I would also like to introduce everyone to my son’s girlfriend. Lauren. You’re new here, and I hope you find this family welcoming, and that my son doesn’t drive you away.”
Caleb winked at her.
“Let’s eat and enjoy,” Timothy said.
Picking up her knife and fork, she started to eat.
“So, Lauren, why don’t you tell us how you and my son met?” Timothy asked.
“You’re seriously going to start with the inquisition now?” Caleb asked.
“Your mother would like to know and I’m pretty sure everyone is curious as to how she managed to get you to settle down.”
She watched father and son face off. “I don’t think I’ll ever get Caleb to settle down. We’ve got kind of an … intense disagreement. To be honest, sometimes I don’t even know if I like him or not.”
Caleb shot her a glare.
“But you’re his girlfriend,” Louise said.
“Yes. When we first met, Caleb wasn’t exactly … how should I put this, nice? He told me to clean his stuff, not steal it.” She smiled at him.
“Excuse me?” Cassie asked. “My brother said that?”
“I think it should be clear that I actually work for your brother as his cleaner. I’m quite proud to say I’ve been cleaning for him for two years now, and he has yet to fire me.”
“And you thought a cleaner stole from you?” Louise asked.
“I did have a cleaner steal from me. I was doing it as a perfectly reasonable request,” he said.
“Son, you forget your mother was a cleaner. Her hard work all those years ago was what helped to fund the empire with which you are now privileged to,” Timothy said.
“I didn’t know that,” Caleb said.
“How does it feel to be the one not in the know?” Cassie asked, smiling.
“You knew?”
“Yep.”
“I hate you right now.”
There was laughter.
“I can only apologize for my son,” Louise said.
“Well, it’s his attitude that can really get on my nerves but beneath all of that, he has a lot of love. It’s why I was so nervous about coming to meet you. I’ve been working for him for so long and I felt it was unprofessional of me, and well, you know the rest.” She forced a smile to her lips. “Come on, sweetie, you know how this all goes. Why don’t you tell them?” She scooped up some potatoes and quickly put them in her mouth.
“Yes, she was a royal pain in the ass. She was so worried about what you’d all think, she didn’t even give me a chance to show her how amazing this all could be. Now, after Dad saw her, and we made up on our last fight, she knew how pointless it was to fight me.”
She hated him.
“So, Cassie’s pregnant,” he said, forcing their gazes down to his sister.
The rest of the meal went by without a single question and for that, she was grateful. After the dinner, there was dessert, and then everyone saw fit to retire for the night, so she ended up back in his bedroom.
She sat on the edge of the bed, ran her fingers through her hair, and blew out a breath. “End of day one,” she said.
“I think that went better than I imagined.”
“Really?”
“We’re still alive to tell the tale.”
“I don’t know. Maybe we need to come up with a better story of how we fell in love,” she said. “In case you didn’t notice, we only talked about how we met, that was all.”
“True, but people find each other in different ways.”
“I still don’t think we should do this,” she said. “Your family. What if your father finds out and his health declines even more?”
“It’s not going to happen.”
“It could happen.” And the guilt was clawing away at her.
Caleb advanced toward her, crouched down, and put his hands on her knees. “We’re good at this. We’re going to be fine.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little unfair just how good we are at lying?” she asked. It wasn’t lost on her just how natural it felt being with him. At the start of this façade, she’d expected it to feel strange, but it didn’t. Rather than seeing him as an asshole, she actually rather liked him, and she couldn’t even believe she was feeling that way.
“Look, we’ll get through the next couple of days. We’ll be out of here by Monday. We can do this.”
She blew out a breath. “Sure, you’re right. We’re doing this for the health of your father.” She put her hands over his. “Now, the bed situation.”
“What about it?”
“There’s only one bed.”
“We only need one bed.”
“Oh, come on, Caleb. Don’t be an ass right now.”
“I’m not being an ass. I’m simply stating a fact. One bed. It’s big enough. Besides, if my family decides to just invade and one of us is sleeping on the floor, what would they think?”
“You were an ass?”
“And you think I’d be the one on the floor?” he asked.
“Duh, yeah.”
He laughed. “Not going to happen.”
“You know this is unfair, right?” she asked. “You’re the guy. You should be willing to, I don’t know, sleep on the floor.”
“This is my bed.” He got to his knees and she watched him move a bunch of pillows down the center. “See, easy. I’m taking a shower. You’re quite welcome to take a bath.”
“You’re not going to see me naked.”