“I say a lot of things,” Esa said lightly. “It’s probably best you don’t pay any attention.”
“An excellent suggestion,” Andy agreed. “Esa, Nadiya, how about we take a few more turns with the sled? I’m sure Tom and Sameera have a lot to talk about.” He sent Sameera a meaningful glance, which Tom intercepted.
“What’s going on?” he asked, and the question had an edge to it. Sameera tried not to panic. This wasn’t how she wanted to have this conversation. Luckily, her sister stepped in.
“The truth is, I’m exhausted,” Nadiya said. “I’m ready to call it a night, and pick this up in the morning. Or maybe Andy will go ahead and pick it up by himself, like a big boy.” The look she shot the man in question was clear, the gauntlet thrown down. “Alternatively, you could get into your toy plane and fly away.”
“I never back down from a challenge, gorgeous,” Andy said.
“No, you just get other people to accept the challenge on your behalf,” Nadiya said with a sneer.
Sameera noticed Tom’s confused expression and grasped her sister’s elbow. “Let’s get you settled at the guesthouse.”
“Fancy,” Nadiya said, glancing at Tom. “I’m starting to see the appeal.”
Tom didn’t say anything, evidently still trying to make sense of the conversational currents around him.
“I’ll find you in the morning. We’ll talk then,” she said to him, and his face instantly relaxed into a smile as he looked at her.
“Okay,” he said softly.
Arm intertwined with her sister’s, they started back to the guesthouse, flanked by Esa, who pulled the sleds behind them.
“Brother, I think I’m in love.” Andy’s stage whisper drifted to them across the snowy landscape.
Beside her, Nadiya rolled her eyes. Sameera held the door open for her siblings to enter the guesthouse, and she couldn’t resist one last glance back toward the hill. She could make out the shadowy form of two men watching them in the dark before she closed the door firmly.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Yawning, Esa went straight to his room, while Nadiya followed Sameera. Her sister had only a small backpack, and she extracted pajamas before disappearing into the bathroom, leaving Sameera to think over the events of the night.
Nadiya’s words from earlier that night had spoken directly to her still-fragile heart, reminding her of all she had yet left unresolved: Her long-delayed conversation with her parents, her burgeoning feelings for Tom, even the situation with Andy were all coming into focus, thanks to her sister’s sudden appearance, along with Esa’s support. Knowing that Nadiya and Esa were here, that they believed her and loved her, made everything possible.
With a detached air, Sameera realized she hadn’t thought about work all day. She was still so far behind on her billable hours—and if she were being honest, she had known that catching up over the holidays was unlikely. The damage was already done, as her upcoming meeting with HR in the new year proved. Her only real chance was bringing in Andy as a client, and that chance had gone up in smoke when he had laid out his conditions on the ice. She couldn’t pay the price he demanded and live with herself.
She had known, on some level, that she wouldn’t be able to go through with deceiving Tom, like Andy wanted. It had taken her sister’s arrival and talking with Esa to cement the truth: It was one thing to enter into a fake-dating showmance, quite another to use Tom’s growing feelings for her against him.
Because he did have feelings. What they meant or where they would lead was almost irrelevant. She wouldn’t use them against him, just as she knew that he wouldn’t do the same if their roles were reversed. There was an innate honesty and goodness about Tom that she recognized, one she couldn’t bear to betray. He wasn’t like Hunter at all.
Of course, sticking to her principles would come with very real consequences: Once Andy realized she wouldn’t do his bidding, he would never hire her or her firm. Which meant that she would be out of a job very soon.
Sameera’s stomach hollowed at the thought. The drowning helplessness she had felt after she failed the bar exam came back to her now, as did the gut punch of Hunter’s betrayal. This felt both worse and better—yes, she was doomed, but at least it was for a good reason. Tom was worth the sacrifice.
She would be okay. She would continue to freelance. Unlike after graduation, when she was scrambling for a job, she knew more people in the industry now. Maybe Bee would have a lead. If necessary, she could sell her belongings and jewelry and, if it came down to it, her condo.
Maybe with some guidance from Tom, she could start making content for social media, too, she thought with a faint smile. She was pretty sure there was a market for an account devoted to lawyer jokes.
It would be hard, but she would figure it out, the way she always had. And if things grew dire, there was always her last resort: asking her parents for a loan.
Any of these options was preferable to manipulating Tom for Andy’s benefit. It was clear that Tom knew something was up anyway. Remembering his question to Esa about Cooke Place, and his earlier comments about Andy visiting Alaska, she suspected that on some level he had known all along that his friend was up to something; he just hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself.
She knew something about the lies you told yourself, to avoid a painful truth.
Nadiya emerged from the bathroom freshly showered, and Sameera quickly prepared for bed, joining her sister under the blanket. She hadn’t shared a bed with Nadiya since they were kids, and she remembered now that her sister was a relentless cover hog. What a relief to have her back.
“I mean, if youhadto fake date a stranger, I guess this isn’t the worst scenario,” Nadiya said.
“It helps that he’s Alaskan royalty, and lives in a castle,” Sameera agreed. They smiled at each other, but Nadiya’s smile faded first, and she braced herself for another lecture.
