CHAPTER 13
CHLOE YAWNED AS she padded into the kitchen the next morning. She’d had a shower, changed out of her pajamas and brushed her teeth, but despite all that, she was pretty sure her eyes were still half-closed. Luckily her other senses had kicked into high gear and the scent of coffee proved enough to guide her to the safety of the mug cupboard.
Ben, who seemed to have none of the cognitive dissonance associated with being awake at five-thirty in the morning—Was it night? Was it day? Chloe’s body couldn’t decide—was lounging at the kitchen table, sipping coffee, reading something on his tablet and looking perfectly wide-awake. Damn his handsome, handsome face.
“Remind me why you’re up at 5:30 a.m. again?” she asked.
“I’ve got a lunch meeting today, so I’m going to hit the gym before work.”
“That is the grossest thing I’ve ever heard. At least I have to be at the store at six. I’ll be fired if I’m not there to let the plumber in to fix the leak.”
Chloe set her coffee on the table, and took the seat next to him at the small, square dining table. He looked up from his tablet.
“Yeah, well I...” he trailed off, staring at her with a really weird expression on his face.
“Well you...?” she prodded.
“I, uh...”
Chloe frowned at him. “What is up with you?”
“I’ve never seen you without makeup before.”
Her hand flew to her cheek. Oh, God. She never forgot her makeup. Not even at this ungodly time of the morning.
“You look different.”
“Different bad?” she guessed, wishing he’d stop staring so intently. Chloe felt more vulnerable in that moment than if she’d been sitting there completely nude with an audience watching them.
“No. Just different. Softer. I like it.” Ben reached over and dragged his thumb across her bare lips. Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in the softest, most sensual kiss she’d ever experienced. He thanked her when he pulled away.
“For what?” she asked as he got up from the table and put his coffee mug in the sink.
“For finally trusting me with the real you.”
“What? No. What?” That was not what this was. It had been a judgement lapse, the mistake of a sleep-deprived mind! An anomaly.
He kissed the top of her head and grabbed the duffle bag he’d left beside the door. “See you later, Chloe. Have a good day at work.”
What the hell had just happened?
She made herself stay calmly seated at the table until Ben had left for the gym, but the split second the door closed behind him she made a run for her makeup case.
* * *
THE PLUMBER WAS done long before Titanium Beauty was set to open, but instead of heading home, Chloe treated herself to breakfast before her shift and made a list of supplies she’d need for the looming dinner party. An earlier inventory of Ben’s cupboards showed he was woefully understocked in most of the necessities, from place mats to aperitifs to a decent cheese board.
Luckily, after work she managed to pick up the basics at decent prices. Thank God for big box stores.
Once she’d unpacked, washed and put everything where she could find it tomorrow, Chloe found herself at a bit of a loss. She’d prepped everything, the house was clean, and Ben probably wouldn’t be home until late.
She decided on some cereal for dinner, and afterward Chloe settled onto the couch with a blanket and a bag of microwave popcorn, excited to take full advantage of the fact that she had the place to herself for a couple of hours and Ben had a Netflix subscription.
She was scrolling through “Top Picks for Ben”—she was dying to know what he’d watched to get both Breaking Bad and Downton Abbey to show up in his list—when her mother’s special ringtone broke the silence.
There had been a pretty sizable spike in the frequency of her mother’s calls since she’d found out that her eldest daughter had managed to snag herself a man. And though it bothered her if she thought about how infrequent the calls had been before her fake engagement, she had to admit that talking to her mother wasn’t as bad as she used to think. In fact, it was kind of nice having her mom check in with her life once in a while.
“Hello?”
“Chloe, it’s your mom.”
“Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
“We’re downstairs.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“We’re in the lobby of your building, but we don’t know what button to push for the buzzer. There aren’t any names, and none of the numbers match yours. Yes, Daryl. I told her there aren’t any names.”
Chloe shook her head, trying to clear it. “You’re in Seattle? Right now?”
“Daryl, don’t just hit random buttons!”
Yep. This was happening.
“Mom? Mom, don’t push any more buttons,” Chloe implored, getting up from the couch. “I’m buzzing you in, okay?” Chloe hurried into the kitchen and hit the number on Ben’s landline that would allow them access. “Come up to the third floor. Apartment 325.”
Chloe hung up both phones and set them on the counter. Unbelievable.
She went through all the stages of shock before she heard her parents chattering in the hallway. She pulled open the door before they had a chance to knock.
“What are you guys doing here? When you asked for the address the other day, I thought it was because you were sending something. In the mail.”
“Well, I was going to. But since Caroline and Dalton are still on their honeymoon, and we knew that you wouldn’t be flying back to Buffalo to visit any time soon, we figured why not stop by for a visit and hand deliver our present on our way to Hawaii.”
Chloe forced a smile.
“We called the travel agent and had her change our tickets so we had an extra long layover in Seattle, and here we are!”
“Here you are!” Chloe repeated. She looked around. “Where’s your stuff?”
“Oh, we left it back at our hotel. We’re staying at the Four Seasons.”
Chloe sagged with relief. Thank God.
“Except for this!” Her mom grabbed the large gift-wrapped rectangle from her father’s grasp and shoved it into Chloe’s hands. “Are you surprised?”
“I really am,” she said, meaning the words on so many levels.
Her father cleared his throat. “Are you going to invite us in?”
“Yes, of course! Sorry, Dad.” Chloe stepped out of the way so her parents could enter. “You can just throw your coats on the bench there.”
Chloe turned and brought her present—a picture frame, there was no doubt in her mind—over to the coffee table, leaving her parents to trail in her wake.
“Where’s Benjamin hiding?”
“He’s still at work.”
“Good man. What time will he be home?”
“I’m not sure, Dad.”
“Well, that’s a shame. Your father and I were so looking forward to seeing him, weren’t we, Daryl?”
“Where’s the remote?”
Her mother perched herself on the arm of the couch, her eyes darting around the room. “What a lovely apartment this is, Chloe! The colors are exquisite, and it feels so homey. Who’s your decorator?”
Something disconcertingly like pride bloomed in Chloe’s chest as she handed her dad the remote, even though part of her brain was chastising her for it. “Actually, Ben and I did it ourselves.”
“Well, it looks amazing. And it goes perfectly with your gift. Why don’t you open it and see?”
Chloe had expected the frame, but the three black-and-white photos mounted inside it blindsided her. The top photo captured Ben twirling her on the dance floor. The bottom photo was taken from behind, showing her and Ben holding hands as they left the reception. Her favorite, though, was the middle one, where she was laughing and Ben was grinning at her.
Despite their fancy clothes and the glitz and glam behind them, they looked genuine. And happy. The memory of that moment—when “Sweet Caroline” had filled the room—made her smile.
“Do you like it?”
“Mom, it’s amazing. Really. I love it. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to hang it.”
The jingle of keys sounded, and she looked up as Ben pushed through the door.
“Ben! I wasn’t expecting you home yet. You remember my parents?”
He froze, but quickly recovered and flashed that smile of his. “Of course. Fiona, Daryl. Good to see you again.”
Her mother beamed.
“You’ll have to excuse me. I just got off work. Let me get cleaned up and I’ll be right out.”
“You take all the time you need, Benjamin. Don’t hurry on our account.”
Chloe frowned. Don’t hurry on our account? Who was this person, and what had she done with Fiona Masterson?
“We’re just thrilled to spend some time visiting with our daughter and her fiancé.”
Confusion rumpled Ben’s brow, and she remembered that she’d lied to him about explaining the true situation to her parents. She begged him wordlessly to play along. “Oh, yeah, right. Us, too. Chloe, can I talk to you for a second?” His voice was a little too level, and it raised the hair on the back of her neck.
“Of course, sweetie!” Crap, crap, crap. She followed him to the bedroom, but when he pulled the door closed and spun around to face her, she cut him off before he could open his mouth.
“Ben, I lied to you at the gift opening. I didn’t set them straight. I let them believe we’re engaged. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I didn’t tell them the truth.” Chloe wrung her hands, and the bite of her fake engagement ring pricked her conscience.
“Okay, yes, I do know why. I let them believe it because it made them happy. And I didn’t expect them to visit! They never visit! But they really like your apartment, and they really like the way the living room is decorated, and my mother’s been here for six minutes already and has only mentioned Caroline once, which is unheard of, and I just... I just wanted to hold onto that feeling, okay? But I’ll tell them the truth. I’ll go out there right now if you want me to and say that I lied to them, that we were never engaged. If that’s what you want me to do, I’ll do it.”
Chloe looked at Ben expectantly, willing him to understand, to help her out. His slightly dazed expression began to clear as he processed the situation. He opened his mouth to speak. “I—”
“Please don’t make me go back out there and break the truth to them! I am begging you. They’re staying at the Four Seasons tonight and they’re off to Hawaii tomorrow. You just have to pretend we’re engaged for one evening. A couple of well-timed endearments, a few half truths, and a peck on the cheek, that’s all I’m asking! I will owe you so big for this. Huge! Ask, and it shall be done.”
“You want me to pretend I’m your fiancé?”
“Yes, Masterson. Keep up with me here. We don’t have much time before our being in the bedroom is going to start looking suspicious.”
“Trust me, the irony is not lost on me that I’m the one who’s asking, but are you sure you want to do this?”
Chloe was dumbfounded. “Why wouldn’t I be sure? Aren’t we already doing it?”
“Chloe, this is your family.”
“So?”
“So that makes it different. Different than lying to a business acquaintance. Different than lying to your boss. It has to be.”
His naïveté was adorable.
“Ben, do you know the last time my parents visited me in the four years since I moved to Seattle?”
He shook his head.
“Never, Ben. They have never been here to see me before. This is their fourth trip to Hawaii during the same time frame. The only reason they came now is because I’m finally engaged. To a great guy, with a great job.”
He exhaled on a sigh. “Fine. If you’re sure this is what you want to do.” Ben pulled his suit jacket off and loosened his tie. “Give me fifteen minutes for a shower and I’ll be right out.”
Chloe couldn’t hold back a smile, relief tingling through her chest. “Thank you, Ben. I really appreciate it. “
* * *
“AND PRESTO! I’VE FINALLY made them disappear,” she joked a few hours later.
“I know they drive you crazy, but you were great tonight.”
She laughed. “No, you were great. I was just the unfortunate by-product they had to endure in order to bask in your awesomeness. But truthfully, that was the best evening I’ve ever spent with them.”
And that wasn’t hyperbole, either.
Ben gave her one of those long, hard looks that took the shine off her mood. “You realize you’re going to have to tell them the truth eventually, right?”
“Yes.” Chloe nodded, suddenly realizing that after tomorrow’s business dinner ended, so did pleasant evenings with her parents and sexy, sultry nights with Ben. Had it really only been a week and a half since they’d met?
“Speaking of which, what’s your own plan for that?” she asked. “The confessing? I mean, you’re going to need to come clean with your bosses someday.”
A slight frown marred his forehead as he loaded their wineglasses into the dishwasher and pushed the door closed. “Yeah, I guess I will. I hadn’t really put too much thought into that half of the operation. I’ll play the divorce card, I suppose.”
It was a weird topic of conversation, so Chloe wasn’t completely shocked when an awkward silence reared its head.
Ben broke first. “I’ve got some work I still need to get done tonight. I’ll be in my office. I’ll try not to wake you when I come to bed.”
He smiled at her, gave her a kiss on the cheek and left the living room.
“Okay, yeah. Sure. Don’t stay up too late,” she said.
And just like that, Chloe knew.
The cleaning, the prepping, the not wearing makeup. How many times had she seen her mother do the same thing?
With a flash of certainty that made her knees weak, Chloe admitted the painfully obvious.
She was in love with Ben.