GRAE
My jaw went slack,and I gaped at Caden. I clearly needed to get my hearing checked because those words could not have possibly come out of his mouth.
Caden’s hand lifted, and his fingers skated along my jaw to my chin, where he gently closed my mouth. “Wouldn’t want any bugs to fly in there.”
I shook off his touch—the feel of those roughened fingertips against my skin. “Did you get hit on the head this morning?”
He arched a brow.
“We can’t be in each other’s presence for longer than two minutes without fighting.”
Caden shrugged. “We can play it off as passion.”
“My family and friends know you’re the bane of my existence.”
I swore I saw a flicker of pain in his expression at that, but it was gone so quickly that I figured I must’ve imagined it.
He shoved his hand into his pocket, gripping something tightly. “Like I told the jackhole, love and hate are two sides of the same coin.”
I snorted. “Well, when it comes to you, murder is my love language.”
The corner of Caden’s mouth kicked up. “See, we’re making our case already.”
I studied him for a moment. His years away from Cedar Ridge had only made him more handsome. His jaw was sharper, his hazel eyes more hypnotizing. “Why would you want to do this?”
Caden met my gaze. “I hate that he’s bothering you. It’s crossing a million different lines. You shouldn’t have to constantly look over your shoulder, wondering when he might show. If we make everyone believe we’re all loved up, I know he’ll eventually back off.”
“You said this would help both of us.”
His focus flicked across the street to the lake for a moment before he spoke. “My dad is on my case about not being respectable enough. Wants me to settle down. If he thinks I’m serious about someone, it should buy me some time without him criticizing every move I make.”
“Your dad is a total prick,” I grumbled. Harrison Shaw had never been warm and fuzzy, but it had gotten so much worse after Clara passed away. Instead of letting his remaining children know he loved them unconditionally, he’d made it his mission to berate them and point out every part of them he saw as a weakness.
Caden grunted. “And that’s never going to change. Best I can do is get him off my case while I’m home.”
“And you think pretending to date me will help?”
“My mom has always loved you and your family. And as much of a douche as my dad is, he has a begrudging respect for the business your father built.”
My dad had created an outdoor gear company in his twenties that had taken off. He sold it when we were kids, giving him—and us—more than enough money so we didn’t have to work. But all of us kids had wanted to, and that was largely due to the work ethic my dad instilled in us.
I shifted my weight from foot to foot. Agreeing to this would be the dumbest thing in the world. Just seeing Caden around town was hard enough—remembering all I’d lost when he walked out of my life. Being near him and knowing I’d never really have him, even as a friend, would be like throwing acid on the wound.
“It wouldn’t be for long,” Caden hurried to say. “I’m hoping my dad will send me back to New York after The Clara Foundation gala in a few weeks.”
A heavy weight settled over me like one of those lead blankets they put on you when you get an X-ray. I knew that Caden loved Cedar Ridge and that he felt the most connected to Clara here, but because of his dickhead father, he didn’t want to stay. “Okay.”
The agreement was out of my mouth before I knew I’d consciously decided. Worries about Rance were forgotten, but the idea that Caden had to put up with his father’s vile criticism was more than I could take.
Caden’s mouth split into a grin that hit me low in the belly.Schnitzel.I was in such trouble.
“We can tell your brothers it’s just an act—”
“No,” I cut him off. “If we tell them, they’ll want to know why, and they know I wouldn’t just help you out of the goodness of my heart.”
Caden choked on a laugh. “Right. That whole murder-is-my-love-language thing.”
They would see through any supposed altruism in a flash and want to know why I needed a fake boyfriend. If they found out that Rance was paying me a little too much attention, they’d jump all over protecting weak, little Grae. They’d try to move me in with one of them, and I’d never have a moment of peace to just…be.
