“I clearly don’t do that,” Oliver says.
“I know, but I think it’s easy enough to explain. I can say that you are still with the company, but you also help with your family business. The only person who will give us any pushback is Linda, but I’ve gotten good at managing her.”
“You don’t think your dad will be suspicious?” Josh, his oldest brother, asks.
I shrug one shoulder. “He might, but I don’t know that he fully absorbs everything all the time. Sometimes we’ll have a conversation about something, but the next time we speak, he has no recollection of it. It’s horrible, but it just may save us a lot of questions.”
Oliver shakes his head. “I can’t believe I agreed to this. I think your dad is going to figure it out quickly.”
Josh turns to him. “Then you better get busy selling it to everyone, including yourself, that you’re in love with her because we have to pay the chef, kitchen staff, wait staff”—he lifts his hand when Oliver goes to interject something—“which we wouldn’t have hired for this weekend if you hadn’t booked the wedding. The plus side is that this family could use a bit of time together, and a wedding is a good reason to do that. We’ll stay in the vacant rooms and get a firsthand view of the staff.”
Stella speaks next. “And the more you act like this is crazy, the sooner someone will figure it out. So, you should stop.”
Oliver looks to Stella’s husband. “We truly have no money? You didn’t squirrel some of it away?”
He grins. “Nope.”
I know that look. I grab Oliver’s hand. “I know this isn’t ideal, but . . .”
“I know,” Oliver says. “It’s not just about that. I agreed to this to help you too, so I’m going to do what I can to help you pull this off. Now, what about your colleagues who are coming?” he asks me, his voice softening.
“My work friends will be there, but they’re all really . . . good . . . at pretending.”
“What does that mean?”
Yeah, this part is going to be super fun. As much as I’d like to get into it, I can’t with his family here, so I kind of dance around the answer. “I work for a security firm, and we are good at adapting to different scenarios that may arise.”
He blinks. “That’s vague.”
“Yes, and as my fiancé, you would know that since you work there too. It’s fine. We’ll get the story straight. As for everyone else I invited, the only people coming from our mutual past are Devney and Sean.”
“Great, my ex-almost-fiancé and her new husband she left me for.”
I cringe. I knew that them seeing each other was going to be really strange, but now, he’ll have to be around them constantly. She’s the maid of honor and he’s the groom. It won’t just be in passing. I feel terrible. “Is this going to be weird and horrible?”
Stella laughs and then turns her head.
Oliver groans a little. “Yes. No. I don’t know. Devney and I were fine two hours ago, so I’m sure it won’t be a big deal.”
Even though he says it, I can hear the turmoil in his voice. I read the way his body tenses and how he shifts just the smallest amount. He may not love Devney, but the circumstances of their breakup still suck.
She cared for him, and I know that was difficult for them both.
Just one more thing for me to feel guilty about.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m over it, Maren. I really am.”
There’s a cough from somewhere in the room, so I drop it. “Okay. I’m glad.”
“Me too. Honestly, the biggest hurdle is that I have a lot of stuff I need to do at the resort while also playing groom.”
“No worries about that,” Grayson offers. “Since you’re now part of the bridal package, all the work things will be handled by Stella. All you need to do is be the doting fiancé and get a tux.”
All of Oliver’s siblings start to laugh.
“Fuck off.”
Grayson chuckles and turns to me. “Your dad arrives in what, two days?”
“Yeah,” I answer.
“That means you have forty-eight hours to figure out how to convince him that you’re madly in love with her, can’t keep your eyes off her, and that he should let you have the thing he loves most in this world. As a dad of girls, I can tell you that you’re not good enough.”
“I’m aware of that.” Oliver’s voice is so low I almost missed it, but then his voice grows to a normal level. “I’m not worried about her dad. Dads love me. Everyone loves me.”
“I don’t always,” Stella adds on.
“Liar.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine, you’re lovable, but that’s not what we’re talking about, and you know it.”
He turns to me. “Will you be able to find me irresistible?”
The flutters in my stomach tell me everything. “I can manage it.”
“It’s because of my stellar looks and winning personality.”
I laugh, and it’s so big and heartfelt and real that I might cry. “Yes, because of all that.”
“See,” Oliver says while looking around. “She can’t resist me. Now, let’s talk about how we’re going to get the resort ready.”
They launch into business talk, and I spend time forming the rest of my plans to make this actually work.
Seven
MAREN
I open my suitcase and take out all the documents I need for today. Oliver is coming over to pick me up so we can head to the municipal building. He asked why we needed a marriage license when we weren’t really getting married, and I had to explain to him just how horrid Linda was. She would want to see it, and if we didn’t cough it up, she would throw a fit.
When I step into the living room, I find Sean playing a video game with Austin while Cassie is napping.
Sean looks up and pauses the game. “I think Devney and I should talk to Oliver today before all the lies and deceit really kick into gear.”
I huff. “It’s one white lie.”
“No.” He chuckles. “It’s a white gown and a big-ass lie.”
He glances to Devney, who looks up from whatever she’s reading. “It’s probably a good idea. I haven’t really gotten to talk to him since we got here because you pretty much stunned him stupid when you proposed.”
Sean chuckles. “You said he was enamored, not stunned.”
I glance at Sean. “What does that mean?”
“She mentioned he had a deer-in-the-headlights look when he saw you,” he explains. “She said he couldn’t stop staring and that he might have been drooling.”
I snap my gaze to her. “He did not. He was confused.”
Devney shrugs. “I was watching.”
“He was looking at you.”
She lifts one shoulder and then returns to her book. “I didn’t see it that way.”
I’m not sure what they’re talking about. I was watching Oliver too. He was uncomfortable the whole time. He only stared at me when I told him I needed him to be the groom.
A car pulls into the driveway, and all I can think about is how wrong Devney is.
However, I can’t change any of this.
There’s a knock on the door and the three of us stand. I release a heavy sigh and open it. “Hey.”
Oliver smiles. “Hi.”