“And how long were you secretly dating?” Mrs. Blake asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Almost two years,” Hayden replied.
I nearly choked on my sip of water. Was he really justgoing to act like we never broke up and had been together the whole time?
Maggie narrowed her eyes at her brother. “Then who were all the women on your arm in pictures?”
A jolt of pain hit me in the chest at the reminder of the women Hayden had easily replaced me with. Miles glared at his brother before giving me a look full of concern. He’d reluctantly agreed not to spill to the rest of his family that Hayden’s and my marriage was fake, but I knew he was still pissed at Hayden for how our real relationship had ended.
“They were nobodies,” Hayden said with perfect calm. “I didn’t want the media to bother Danielle, so I gave them something else to talk about that would keep them off her back.”
I knew that was a lie, but he sounded so sincere even I was tempted to believe him. Even his emotions were calm and sure.
The skepticism in Maggie’s expression implied that she wasn’t buying it. She looked at me. “And you’re okay with the fact that he was hiding you until a couple of weeks ago?”
No. I was mortified by the way I’d accepted Hayden never introducing me or showing me off, treating me like I was an accessory on his arm most of the time without seeing it as a sign of where I ranked in importance for him. But I couldn’t say that.
So I forced a smile. “I know what I mean to him,” I said. “I mean, have you seen this thing?” I held up my left hand to show Maggie the massive diamond on my finger.
“So he paid you.”
I bit back a laugh at how right she was. “He certainly tried.”
“I should have known no one in your family can be bought,” Hayden muttered, low enough that I wasn’t sure anyone else heard.
After a dinner spent fielding questions, we all gathered in the living room. Hayden claimed one of the armchairs and pulled me onto his lap like it was the most normal thing in the world. Apparently our married-couple act included being one of those couples that was very big on public displays of affection. Or maybe it was more like public displays of possessiveness.
I really needed to rethink the wrap skirts and slits. I liked them because they made it easy to move without restriction and gave me easy access to the bow I kept strapped to my thigh. But they also gave Hayden easy access to draw small circles with his thumb on my bare skin where my skirt parted.
Okay, so I wasn’t going to rethink it at all. If I was being completely honest with myself, I liked those caresses almost as much as I liked the arm he had banded around my waist. And that was bad. Very, very bad. I had to remember this whole thing had an expiration date.
I was here for Miles, so he could get his company, not to fall for my fake husband all over again.
A couple of hours later, Hayden and I were finally alone in Hayden’s childhood room. It was almost as big as my room back at his penthouse—complete with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the ocean, a dresser and walk-in closet, a bookshelf that held more sports trophiesand photos than it did books, and a single queen-sized bed.
“Dating for almost two years?” I asked the second the door was firmly closed behind us. “Are you seriously going to pretend that we never broke up?”
Hayden raised a brow at me. “You have no objection to me lying with my actions, but you draw the line at my words?”
He did have a point. I’d asked him to make the world believe he loved me. I hadn’t accused him of lying when he kissed me or pulled me into his arms. But words were different. They were harder to keep track of. It was easy to back yourself into a corner when you started lying with your words.
“And how do you plan on backing that story up? We have an eight-month gap in our supposed relationship. Besides, Miles knows the truth.”
“And he won’t tell anyone as long as you don’t want him to. As for the rest of my family, they won’t know the difference. If they ask about the past eight months, just tell them whatever you want and fill me in. Or better yet, tell them it’s none of their business.”
He didn’t wait for me to respond as he dragged his suitcase over to the dresser and began unpacking clothes.
“You can have the lower half,” he said without looking at me. “And take as much of the closet as you want.”
And just like that, he was back to the cold and unemotional Hayden who made me feel about as significant as one of his ties.
“Do you have a side of the bed you prefer?” I asked dryly.
“I can sleep on the floor.”
“That sounds uncomfortable,” I said, keeping my voice light.
“I think the word you’re looking for isthank you.”
