“No, we haven’t.” I stepped forward and took her arm. “Honey, I thought we agreed to keep it quiet for now?”
“Well, sweetie, you know how it is,” Everly said. “A girl gets excited about these things.”
“Of course you’re excited,” Dad said. “Oh, Shep, we need to throw you an engagement party. Svetlana loves parties. She can help me plan. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything.”
Svetlana’s expression was uncharacteristically shocked. Her mouth moved like she was trying to speak but couldn’t find the right words.
“That does sound fun,” Everly said.
Oh my god. Grinding my teeth together, I tightened my grip on Everly’s arm and pulled her toward the bedroom. “Our schedule is already very full, Dad, but thank you. Everly, can I see you in the other room?”
I didn’t wait for either of them to reply. Just led Everly down the hall and shut the bedroom door behind us.
She held her hands up. “Okay, before you get mad—”
“What were you thinking?” I hissed. “Engaged? Why did you tell her I proposed?”
Her lips parted and those blue eyes of hers seemed to get bigger. “If you’d heard what she said—”
“I did hear what she said. Who cares what she thinks?”
Squaring her shoulders, she crossed her arms. “I care. I know that you don’t use people. I mean, sure, the women you date always fit the same mold, so it’s no wonder your relationships don’t last. But I couldn’t let her get away with saying those things about you. Not when she’s the one who uses people. She’s using your dad, and he’s one of the nicest men I’ve ever met.”
I almost asked her to clarify what she meant by no wonder your relationships don’t last. But we had a more pressing issue to deal with. “Did you hear my dad? He wants to throw an engagement party.”
“So?”
Groaning, I turned away. I’d simply have to tell my dad we didn’t have time in our schedules for a party. “I’ll deal with my dad. But you just made this much more complicated.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It just sort of came out.”
“Fine. I’m going to the office.”
“Now?” she asked. “You don’t have to leave. Shep—”
“I have things to do.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. “I’ll be back late.”
Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”
A very odd desire poked at the edges of my mind. I thought about gathering her in my arms. Comforting her. Rubbing her back while I smelled her hair.
I walked out, leaving her alone, before I did something stupid.
15
Everly
I hadn’t been this anxious at work since my first day. Then, I’d been worried about normal new job stuff, like whether I’d get along with my coworkers, spill coffee on my boss, or walk out of the bathroom with the back of my skirt tucked into the waist.
Not that those last two things had ever happened.
Okay, yes they had.
Today, I was worried about how mad my boss was after I’d accidentally elevated our relationship from fake-dating to fake-engaged.
Shepherd hadn’t come home last night until late. I’d been half asleep when he’d finally come to bed. He’d silently slipped beneath the sheets like he always did. And maybe I’d been imagining things, but it had seemed like he’d stayed even closer to the edge of the bed on his side than usual.
I hadn’t meant to blurt out that we were engaged. It wasn’t like that had been part of our plan, so I understood why Shepherd was frustrated. But Svetlana made me so angry. I was usually something of a conflict avoider—or conflict smoother-overer, really—but I just couldn’t deal with her. She had the nerve to say Shepherd was just using me? As if he’d been the problem in their relationship? Shepherd was many things, but at his core, he was a good man.
Maybe I should have just called her a gold-digging harpy and outed her to Richard. As far as I knew, he still didn’t know she’d dated Shepherd first. But Shepherd had asked me not to tell, and I wanted to respect that.
Although saying we were engaged probably hadn’t been a better tactic.
He came into the office and we went through our morning routine—minus the pleasantries and good mornings I’d grown accustomed to recently. I did my best to put it all out of my mind and simply do my job.
Besides, I already knew what I was going to do. I was going to tell Richard that I’d gotten ahead of myself. That I’d jumped to the conclusion that Shepherd was proposing based on something he’d said, but that we weren’t officially engaged. I’d tell him I cared about his son very much and apologize for putting everyone in an awkward position last night.
It felt like layering lies on top of lies. I hadn’t thought about that part when I’d agreed to the ruse. But sharp points of guilt pricked at me every time I looked at Richard. He was so nice and friendly—and so excited to see his son in what appeared to be a serious relationship. And I’d gone and made it worse, getting his hopes up that his son would finally get married.
But it was okay. I’d fix it.
I didn’t want to think about how we were going to tell him that our entire relationship was only for show. Maybe we’d have to fake a break-up. That wouldn’t be too hard, especially with the way Shepherd was currently ignoring me.
With a heavy sigh, I turned back to my computer.
“Everything okay over there?” Steve asked. He was wearing a navy sweater vest over a blue plaid short-sleeved shirt and he gave me a friendly smile.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just some personal stuff.”
“You know what I do when I’m stressed?”
“What?”
“Spend some time at the cat cafe.”
I blinked at him. “What’s a cat cafe?”
“It’s called Neko, over on Capitol Hill. They serve drinks and snacks, and you can hang out with their cats. Some are permanent residents, and some are still looking for their forever homes. It’s very relaxing.”
“Wow, I had no idea that sort of thing existed.”
He nodded. “I was there just last week. I’ve been thinking about adopting a brother or sister for Millie, but I’m not sure how well she’d get along with another feline.”
“That is an issue.”
“It’s important to consider the needs of your current pet when deciding whether to introduce a new animal into your home.”
“Of course.” My phone rang so I gave Steve an apologetic smile. “I should take this.”
He waved his hand, as if to shoo me away. “Of course, of course. Back to work.”
I picked up my phone, but it wasn’t a work call. It was Annie. “Hey, sis.”
“Hey, how’s your day going?”
I could practically feel Shepherd’s silent presence in his office behind me, the weight of his displeasure sitting heavily on my shoulders. “Um, it’s fine. How about you?”
“I’m good. Are you free for lunch? I’m downtown and I thought we could get together.”