“So this thing is real?” his father asked.
“Yes,” they both said at the same time.
Caleb gripped her hip tightly.
She could do this. Lying was so easy. There was nothing wrong here. Timothy was ill and she was doing this for him.
“You’re a cleaner?” Timothy asked.
“Yes, one of the best.” She wasn’t trying to impress anyone, simply stating a fact. She was damn good at what she did. Nibbling on her lip, she waited, watching the man in front of her.
“Well, I look forward to hearing more about this. Caleb, you can’t keep having time away from the office.”
“I won’t.” Caleb let go of her waist and followed his father down the hall.
She stepped close and listened.
“If I find out you’re lying to me…”
“Dad, I won’t lie to you. Not about this. You know I don’t do relationships. I’m not going to lie.”
“You better not.”
“Why not try to show a little consideration for your son?”
“I know you, Caleb. Don’t let me down.”
“I won’t.”
The door closed and Caleb turned toward her.
“I can’t do this.” She turned toward the kitchen and opened his fridge, closed it, and then looked around, not knowing what to do.
“We have an agreement.”
“You heard your father. He doesn’t believe us.”
“I don’t care. He will believe us.”
“You know what this means though, don’t you?”
“That he’s going to be a little more testy than usual?”
“Stop trying to constantly crack jokes. They’re not funny.” She didn’t find any part of this even mildly amusing. It was all scary.
Caleb gripped her shoulders, forcing her to stand still. “Look at me.”
She shook her head.
“Come on, Lauren. Don’t be a baby.”
“I’m not a baby.”
“But I got you to look at me.”
She growled. “This isn’t a joke.”
“I’m not treating it as a joke.”
“You’re not going to be able to dump me after your father’s party. You know that, right? He won’t believe it.”
“I know and you can keep on playing the role of my girlfriend. It doesn’t have to be scary.”
“But it does. It’s insane what we’re planning on doing.”
“But together, we can get through this.” He pulled her in close and hugged her. She didn’t want to like his hug at all.
“We’re making a big mistake.”
“We’re not.”
All she saw was this lie getting blown out of proportion. She’d calmed down by the time Caleb left. She didn’t linger in his apartment, though. She made sure everything was clean and tidy before heading home. Once home, she collapsed onto her sofa.
Running her fingers through her hair, she felt exhausted and at the end of her tether. This was a stupid plan. One she never wanted to implement. Now it had started and she didn’t see any way to end it.
The hours ticked by and she didn’t move. Staring at the clock, begging for it to not keep moving. But time, pesky little thing, didn’t do as it was told, and all too soon, she heard her buzzer sound.
“Lauren, let me up,” Caleb said.
After getting to her feet, she walked toward her door. “I need a girlfriend break right now. Can we not do this?”
“I’ve got pizza.”
“Pizza?”
“Yep. Delicious pizza. It smells so good. My mouth is watering.”
Her stomach growled. “If I let you come up, can we have no conversation about girlfriends, or anything relating to relationships and lying?”
“You got it.”
She clicked the buzzer, opened her door, and went to her kitchen. She pulled out a couple of beers from her fridge and was walking to the sofa when he entered.
“I bring food.”
“Good.”
“And company.”
“Don’t talk about anything we’re supposed to be doing.” She tucked her legs beneath her, took a swallow of beer, and helped herself to a slice of pizza. Then she took a large bite, closed her eyes, and sank back against the counter, just enjoying the slices of heaven dancing across her tongue.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Do you care?”
“Yes, or I wouldn’t ask.”
“I’m fine. I’ll always be fine. When you get to know me, you’ll realize I bounce back pretty good.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
“You?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“I mean, I only think about the whole lying thing. You’re doing this to make your father happy so he doesn’t stress. I guess I never even thought about what this could be doing to you.”
“Don’t think about it. It’s not important.”
“You don’t think it’s important?” she asked.
“Nah, it’s just life, you know? You have to deal with it.”
“You’re doing a better job than most.”
“I do what I have to.”
Chapter Four
Pulling up outside his parents’ house, Caleb clicked the button for the gate and ignored Lauren’s panic attack. They’d been practicing their relationship since his father caught him, and she’d been panicking about it. This morning it had gotten worse.
It was Friday. His father’s birthday was Sunday.
An entire weekend with his family and extended family, as well as friends. A lot of people to perform for.
The gates opened and he drove in.
“Go slowly.”
“It’s not going to make this any easier.”
“If you could let me, you know, come to grips with actually doing this.” She took a deep breath. “I can’t believe I’m going to spend the weekend lying.”
“You’re going to be fine.”
“I’m going straight to hell.”
Nope, he was. While Lauren believed she was lying for a good cause, he was lying about lying. He was going to hell.
She took a deep breath. “I can’t do this.”
“You have to.”
She shook her head.
“Come on, Lauren, we had an agreement and stop worrying. You’re stronger than this.”
“I am, aren’t I?”
“Yes.”
“I can do this.”
“Yes, you can.”
She nodded. “Of course. I can do this. I can do anything.”
“That’s the spirit.” He parked next to his father. He spotted his sister’s car, along with his uncles’ and aunts’. This was going to be a long weekend, not that he’d tell his girlfriend that.
As he climbed out of the car, the front door opened, and he went to the trunk of the car. “Showtime,” he said.
His mother was there first, grabbing his face and planting kisses all over him as if he was three years old.
“It has been too long since I saw you last. I don’t accept this. You’re my son. I should get to see you more often.”