Ellen is blushing as she stands up, pulling on her coat. I take a moment to admire her curves.
“Thank you, then.” She says as I stand. I wave away the waitress who is coming with the change, “Keep it. It’s yours.” She beams and I turn, offering Ellen my arm. She stares at me for a moment, as if she isn’t sure what she should be doing. Then she takes my arm like it is the most natural thing in the world and saunters out of the restaurant with me.
She really is a natural. Relief relaxes my muscles. I made the right choice. She’s going to do great and we’re going to pull this off. There’s no need for me to worry myself sick.
I smile as we step into the evening air.
CHAPTER THREE
ELLEN CASSIDY
We walk into the night and I pull my coat tighter around myself. The air is chilly, but pleasantly so and I take a deep breath. It’s clean and cool and I feel the fog from the restaurant start to lift.
The ring still glitters on my finger and I am not sure how I feel about it. A moment of euphoria, and a lingering sense that I am selling out. I glance out at the river as we near it. It’s lovely, with built-up banks and a wide, sweeping look to it. It’s really more of a creek – there’s not much to it compared to some of the bigger ones, but I think it is majestic.
Cade is staring at it too. He pauses and glances at me with a smile when he notices I am looking, “It’s stunning, isn’t it?” He continues, “It’s got nothing on you.”
“That’s cliché.” I shoot back, but I am blushing, warmth spreading from my cheeks to my toes. The night is magical and his words strike a core within me. I still feel a little dizzied from the evening, which feels like it passed in a whirlwind.
A laugh bubbles up in my chest, surprising me. Cade looks at me curious and I shrug, “You proposed on the first date.”
“I was enraptured by you and I just happen to keep a spare ring on hand.”
I laugh, a genuine one, and shake my head, “So you only date girls with my ring size?”
Cade nods, “It’s an absolute deal breaker if you’re any other size.”
I smile and the walk lulls into a comfortable, pleasant silence. I realize that I am still holding his arm, but it seems too late to pull away. So I just breathe in the river, the water, and the lights that glitter from the city.
It’s magical. This would have been the perfect evening, if not for the nagging doubt that I am being a complete sell out. I’m doing Cade a favor and he’s doing me one in return. We both have our reasons. I know his and I’m not sure whether or not he knows mine.
He needs to be married before he turned thirty, or he won’t inherit the money from his trust fund. I smile, remembering the conversation that happened as I cut his hair. He had been worried about it – I could tell, even through the easy confidence. As a joke, I had recommended he just fake a marriage, fake a relationship to make it through.
Cade had jumped at the idea and I soon found myself being propositioned. I would pretend to be in a serious relationship with him – possibly even marry him (for a little while), and he would compensate me by paying me serious money.
“You seem lost in thought.” Cade glances at me.
I shrug, “It’s been a bit of a crazy day, don’t you think?”
“Pretty average.” He teases.
I laugh and shake my head, “That’s one hell of an ‘average’ life you’ve got there.”
“You know it.”
We lapse into silence again and I am happy to let it happen. I have to let all this happen, after all. I need the money, even though he doesn’t know it. Sure, he realizes that I’m not making top dollar in my job, but there are medical bills mounting for my brother, an aging mother who cannot possibly do it all herself, a lifelong dream of opening my own salon and helping them all.
My stomach twists. I have to make this convincing. Cade is relying on me and so is my family. There is no room for being coy, no room for error. I glance at Cade. It shouldn’t be hard. He’s easy on the eye, wealthy and everything a girl should want. Sure he’s a flirt and I want to strangle him when he asks too personal questions, but I can make this work. I have to.
I bite my lip. It’s not easy to pretend we’re in a relationship, when I’ve never been in a relationship that was even close to as serious as this fake one. I blush. Cade kissed me with more passion in a relationship that is totally made up than expected, more than any other man has in the past.
I hurry to find something to say, something to cover the way I have started blushing, “What else do we have to do to prove this?” I look at him curiously.