“What’s wrong, mommy?” asks Roman.
He looks up to Reid, as if making sure he did something right. Reid winks and nods back at him. I can’t help staring at both of them open mouthed in complete disbelief. I doubt anyone is going to buy that Reid is a businessman in that getup, and Roman is wearing dirty tennis shoes with his nice clothes, but the fact that he is trying this for me is easily the sweetest gesture anyone has ever made for me. I’m not sure Roman would be calling me mommy already, but I can’t bear telling him not to. It’s too cute.
The doorbell rings again. My eyes go wide. “They weren’t supposed to be here for another hour. I turn to Reid, taking stock of his attempt at looking like he belongs in a suit. I reach to his collar and hastily straighten a crease behind his neck, trying not to get distracted at how good his hard, warm skin feels as my fingertips brush against it.
Reid grins. “There are children here, honey.”
He’s still using that goofy voice of his. I bite my lip. “Just talk normal, okay? Act like a normal person. Just don’t talk about cars.”
“Let me handle this, wife-to-be.”
I bite back a laugh, shushing him as I open the door. It’s the first time I’ve seen my parents in person in at least two years, and they look just as I remember. Alfred Williams III, and Collette Williams, dedicated mother of two and master of none. The two of them have never worked an hour between them, but they are worth millions and their fortune grows every day. They have a small army of people to invest their money and manage it so it keeps growing. As far as they are concerned, their only job is to uphold the family name and find newer and more frivolous ways to spend all their money. Well, being disappointed in me probably registers at least as a part time job for them, too.
“You live here?” asks my mother, Collette.
Reid steps forward, reaching to help my mother and guide her inside. He winks at me as he escorts them inside and toward my living room. I cross my arms and follow with Roman, listening as he ignores my advice and still speaks in that silly accent.
“This is just an investment property,” says Reid. “We’re bypassing some federal regurgitations by using it as a residence. You know,” he says.
Did he just say regurgitations instead of regulations? I want to cover my face and laugh or cry. Maybe both.
My father’s smile grows, but he doesn’t seem to notice Reid’s slip up. My parents are probably as clueless about real business as Reid is. They just pay other people to handle it for them. “Oh, of course. Collette and I know a thing or two about sticking it to the government. The more you can keep their hands off your money, the better.”
“Honey, where is your ring?” asks my mother.
I can’t believe I forgot that detail. My hand instinctively moves behind my back and I stutter, unable to think of a response.
“At the cleaners,” says Reid. “I can’t have my fiance wearing a dirty ring now, can I?” he asks.
Alfred purses his lips in approval. “Certainly not. I appreciate a man who pays attention to detail.”
“Oh, yes of course,” says Reid gravely. “Why, I swear. I could lose myself in the details if I didn’t have my lovely fiancée to keep me grounded.” He punctuates his words with a firm squeeze of my ass.
I turn to him, glaring while simultaneously feeling a rush of heat flood my body. My mother’s eyebrows flick upwards in surprise, but she only smirks. My father didn’t seem to notice.
“What would we do without our women,” muses Alfred.
Reid nods. “Exactly, exactly. I couldn’t agree more. Tea?”
“Please,” says my mother. My father nods.
Reid walks toward me and pauses. He gives me a slightly panicked look. “Do you have tea?” He whispers.
“Yes,” I whisper back.
“I don’t know how to make tea,” he says quietly enough so that only I can hear.
I roll my eyes, hardly believing I can grin at a time like this. I may have spent my whole life trying to stand apart from my parents and defying them. I may put up a strong front and say I don’t care, but the truth is, it’s not about caring, it’s about proving myself. The thing I’ve always wanted deep down is to show them they are wrong about me. I’ve want them to see I can make something of myself. I can find happiness and fulfillment outside their social circle, and that I can do it without their help. If they even begin to catch wind of my real situation, all of that work will shatter. No matter what happens after this, they will always remember the time they caught me in a web of lies and how pathetic my situation really is.
“Is Chamomile okay?” I ask, setting down the saucers and grabbing some sugar.
Roman, who has largely been silent so far, clears his throat. “Father. Will we be ‘questrian riding today?” He gives the same, adorable look of question to Reid after he delivers his line, as if waiting to see if he said it right.
Questrian? Does he mean equestrian?
“Of course, good boy. Just like we do every day.”
Alfred cocks a brow at me. “Really, now? I didn’t know your fiancé is into riding, dear.”
“Oh yes,” I say, forcing a smile that hopefully hides the panic I’m feeling. “Reid is an avid rider.”
“Is that right?” asks my mother.
“You bet your jimmies,” says Reid. He winks at me again and I have to stop myself from slapping the smirk off his face. He has no idea how bad he’s doing at pretending to be one of their kind. It’s a shock that my parents aren’t already calling him on it. For some reason they both actually seem to be looking at him with a vague sense of approval that I’m definitely not used to seeing on them. “How about a demonstration?” asks Reid, making as if he’s about to get on his hands and knees and have Roman ride his back.
“No, honey. Bad idea,” I say. “You know what I always say,” I add, laughing in too high a pitch. “No equestrian activity in the house!”
Reid straightens, brushing the creases from his slacks. He nudges Alfred. “She does always say that.”
“Well,” says my father, with a happy smile that I’ve only seen him use when he looks at my sister. “I have to say I was half-expecting Sandra’s business-minded fiancé to turn out to be one of those turnkey business owners.” He barks a laugh at that, slapping his knee and holding Reid’s gaze uncomfortably the whole time.
Reid handles it perfectly though, laughing right along with my father, grasping his stomach and throwing his head back. Roman watches his father and mimics the laugh. I have to cover my face to hold back the smile of disbelief forming on my face.