“Is that helping?”
I jumped up at the sound of the man’s voice, looking up to realize Ben was standing there.
“You followed me?” I scoffed.
“Can I sit?” He motioned to the chair across from me.
“Do whatever you want,” I grumbled. “Nothing matters to me anymore.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a little dramatic?” he quipped.
I stared back at him blankly. “Of course I’m dramatic. I work in advertising, where everything has to be so big and larger than life and beautiful and amazing all the time … or else it doesn’t sell. But even aside from that, I think I’m justified in freaking out this time. I have thirty minutes before I have to go tell my boss that I lied … or just lie some more. Either way, I have this sneaking suspicion that this will result in me being fired.”
“I’d say you could come work for me, but I have a strict ‘no lying employees’ policy.”
“Stoooop,” I whined, rolling my eyes. “Why are you even here!? Did you just come to rub it all in some more!?”
“No, I came to help,” he stated plainly.
I perked up in shock. “Help? How? And what makes you think I’d want your help now? You’re not the charming, nice guy I thought you were at the coffee shop.”
“You don’t think I’m charming anymore?” he fretted. But he changed his tune as he saw me squirming in my seat, getting ready to tell him to leave me alone. “Okay, okay. Sorry. My charm aside, I will still go with you to this dinner tonight if you want me to.”
I considered it for a moment. I didn’t know if I still wanted him to, but I was even more confused about why he was offering.
“Why would you want to help me now?” I puzzled.
“Because of what you said when you were storming off. You’re right. I don’t know what it’s like to be held back at work just because you’re a single woman. But I do know what it’s like to feel left out because you’re not married with kids. All my friends are settled down with families, and it’s a hell of a thing to be a bachelor flying solo at our age. And anyway, I love my job more than anything. It’d suck to be hindered at work just because you’re not paired off and knocked up.”
“It does. It really does,” I nodded.
“So … that’s why I’d like to help you.”
I sucked in a deep breath and couldn’t believe that I was actually considering still going through with the whole thing. Maybe the almost disaster of not having his help was a sign that I didn’t need to keep going with this huge lie. But showing up with Ben and playing along, with the promise of the client and promotion to follow, was a hell of a lot more appealing than any of my other options.
“Okay,” I sighed finally. “Let’s do this. It’s worth a shot. If something goes wrong, it can’t be any worse than what would happen if you didn’t show up with me tonight.”
“Hey, it’s the least I can do for lying to you about the kid and all. And just so you know … I’m probably going to be putting that bit to rest after all of this.” He flashed a big smile, one that I had to admit was still every bit as intoxicating as it seemed to be over coffee.
I quickly shoved down any lingering spark I felt for him and extended my hand to shake his. “Deal,” I said sternly, desperate to make the whole thing more like a business transaction.
“Text your boss and tell him we’ll be late,” he ordered. “I need to run home for a quick shower and change and then I’ll come pick you up.”
“Ugh, yeah. Me too. I have to change. I’ve sweated up a storm in this between the coffee date jitters and then the nightmare of everything that came after,” I confessed. “I live at the Marigold Apartments over on …”
“I’ll find you,” he insisted, cutting me off.
“Wait. What? Don’t you want the address?”
“I know the address,” he shot back, seeming so sure of himself. Almost to the point of being annoying.
“Oh … let me guess. One of your quickie flings lived there or something?” I mocked him, not even bothering to hide my snide tone. I figured we were far past playing niceties.
“No. I own the building.”
With that, he slid his hands into his pockets and strolled out of the shop, looking too cool and confident for his own good. I noticed the way the young woman behind the register stared and salivated at him as he left. I took another look, thinking my whole image of him had changed since earlier that day. He was arrogant and cocky in a way I didn’t notice when we first met. I was probably too blinded by his good looks, which must have been something that happened to a lot of women. Not to mention, he was a liar.
But … at least he was saving my butt at a time when I would have been completely ruined otherwise. I couldn’t say much about the lying part either, considering everything I had pulled that day. I just needed to get through the evening, and then he and I could part ways for good. I could forget I ever met him. After I landed the client and the promotion, I would find something else to make up to explain him away. And then I vowed to never tell a lie again.
4
Ben
When Kate answered her front door, I was waiting down on one knee with a small velvet box in hand. I waited for her to laugh, but all she did was snarl.
“What are you doing?” she huffed. “Get up before one of my neighbors sees you.” She yanked me up by the arm and pulled me inside. “What the hell is that?”
“Jeez, you really need to work on your sense of humor,” I groaned. “It’s a ring. Obviously we can’t be engaged without a ring.”
“Oh,” she replied, looking surprised. “I didn’t even think of that.”
She plucked the diamond from the cushion and held it up. I couldn’t help but notice the way her eyes softened as she studied it. Her expression turned dewey as she tilted her head and let out the faintest, “Awww.”
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, sliding it onto her finger.
“And now I can officially say I have proposed to a woman,” I joked. “Just in case anyone was starting to think I was totally hopeless.”
“I don’t think this changes the fact that you’re hopeless. But still, it’s lovely. Thank you. Now we better get going. We’re already late.”
She seemed nervous and grumpy as we made our way out to my car and jumped in. I plugged the address she gave me into the GPS and took off, hoping conversation would pick up some. But she was about as much fun to be around as a hive full of angry bees.
“Relax,” I told her. “I promise you I’ll be very convincing. I don’t like to sign up for things I know I’ll fail at.”
“Makes sense why you don’t bother with relationships then,” she quipped.
“Hey. Watch it. Don’t forget I’m doing you a favor.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I just can’t believe my big mouth got me into this mess. If they find out I lied … I’ll look like a total psycho.”