Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
I consider telling him that it’s not one-sided so he doesn’t think he’s the only one who has felt the connection, but before I can get the words out, a valet attendant steps up to my door and opens it.
“Can we continue this conversation after dinner?” I ask, hoping it will help make things less uncomfortable.
He went through all this trouble to have a fake fiancée on his arm, and I don’t want our personal issues to affect his work engagement.
“Of course,” he says, leaning over and kissing my cheek. “And in case I forgot to tell you, you look beautiful tonight.”
With my arm linked in his, we walk up to the hostess stand.
“Kingston,” Ian says, causing me to do a double take because did he just say …
No, I have to be hearing things, right?
“Yes, sir,” she replies. “Mr. and Mrs. Kingston are already here. I’ll show you back.”
I’m so shocked by their conversation that I nearly trip over my heels and Ian has to save me.
“Are you okay?” he asks, continuing to follow the hostess back.
“Who is—”
Before I can finish my question, a masculine voice calls out my name. And not Stacey, the name Ian thinks is my real name. No, he says Anastasia. My real name.
“Dad,” I whisper, my eyes meeting his.
“Dad?” Ian unhooks his arm from mine and takes a step back. “Wait, Anastasia?”
“Julian, what’s going on here?” Dad asks, looking at my fake fiancé.
“Who’s Julian?” I ask. “You mean Ian?”
But the second I say the names, my entire world turns on its axis because there’s only one Julian that I know of …
“This sounds like a rendition of ‘Who’s on First?’” a woman says with a giggle.
I quickly glance at her and notice she’s standing next to my dad. I recognize her from their wedding announcement. She’s Selene, my dad’s wife—my stepmom.
But I don’t have time to focus on her because I’m too busy mentally kicking myself in the ass for not doing proper research. I mean, I looked up the key players at Kingston, I know the names of the COO and CFO, as well as several other employees, but I was so busy tying up loose ends at Benson that I didn’t bother to look up pictures and details.
I told myself I would delve deeper once I was here and knew exactly who I was dealing with. I mean, the company has hundreds of employees working at Kingston’s headquarters. It would’ve been a waste of time to look up people who weren’t relevant. But that was dumb on my part because look where it’s landed me—fake engaged to Julian Parker, the COO of Kingston Limited.
“Samuel is your dad?” Ian—err, Julian—questions.
“Yes,” I snap, ready to go off on him until I glance at my dad, who’s looking at us in confusion because he knows I’m engaged, yet I’m arguing with my fiancé over our names. “And this is your boss, right?” I say with a fake smile, trying to cover my tracks before my story is blown to pieces.
Julian glances at my dad. “I thought your daughter’s name was Anastasia,” he says, stating the obvious, but not connecting the dots yet.
“It is,” I answer for my dad.
A look passes between Julian and me as he realizes that we’re both guilty of the same thing—lying about our real names.
“Wait a second,” Dad says, looking at Julian. “Is this your fiancée?” Then, to me, he adds, “You’re engaged to my COO?”
“Did you two not discuss the important things, like family and work?” Selene pipes in, looking at us in bewilderment.
“We did. Just not the specifics,” Julian says, pulling me into his side as I connect my own dots.
Julian wanted a trophy wife for the same reason I wanted a fake fiancé—to show my dad that he’s a family man because just like me, Julian Parker is trying to become the next CEO of Kingston Limited—which means … I’m officially fake engaged to my enemy.
“To be honest,” I lie, “we’ve been so caught up in each other that we didn’t discuss things like that. I knew he was a COO, but I didn’t know he worked for you.” I glance up at Julian, trying like hell to look like I’m in love before I look back at my dad. “We’ve been totally lost in each other, in our own little bubble.”
“So, this engagement is real?” Dad asks, sharp as always.
“Of course it is,” I tell him, laying my head against Julian’s chest to emphasize my claim. “I’m in love with this man, and I can’t wait to marry him.”
Dad nods slowly, his gaze flitting between the two of us, and I hold my breath, waiting for him to call us out on our shit. But then his face spreads into a smile, and the corners of his eyes crinkle with happiness.