We were on the flight to California—first class because Harper deserved the best for what she was doing for me. It was the second time Harper and I were together outside of the restaurant, and I liked it. I had realized on Saturday how different she was when she wasn’t at work, when the two of us were equals and there was none of this owner-employee shit to stunt our relationship.

Harper was funny and interesting, quirky even. At the restaurant, she was often subdued and professional. I liked this side of her.

I liked it a lot.

Not to mention she was fucking hot and every man turned his head and did a double take when they saw me with her. I loved it. I loved that she was with me and they couldn’t have her. Harper wasn’t officially mine, but the other men didn’t know that and I was selfish and enough of a dick to relish the thought that they didn’t know she was actually available.

Having a woman like Harper on my arm, even when it was only another business relationship of sorts, was spectacular.

I had taken a cab to her place and picked her up to go to the airport together. She looked stunning, as always. Her hair was down again and it was almost waist-long. I loved the stuff. I wanted to run my hands through it. It was a deep red and natural; rare and beautiful.

When we were in the plane, we ran through everything we needed to know. It was all business, but we were still spending time together. I was nervous about the meeting with the lawyer. To be honest, I was shitting myself. I had ordered a vodka tonic the moment we were in the air.

“I think the first meeting will just be to introduce you as my fiancée,” I said to Harper. “There won’t be anything to sign yet. It’s where we sell that we’re all in love so Danbury is convinced and he can draw up the paper work.”

“Seems simple enough,” Harper said.

“Do you think so?”

“Don’t be so skeptical,” Harper said. “How hard can it be?”

I was skeptical, she was right. It was hard to pretend something when we weren’t feeling it. But when I looked at Harper I thought it might not be so hard to pretend I was in love with her. I had been drawn to her from the start. I only had to guard my heart, but I had been doing that from day one with any woman I met.

“How often do you put on a face?” I asked.

“What?”

I hesitated. “It sounds bad, but don’t you put on faces for the people around you?”

“Every day,” Harper said.

I couldn’t hide my shock. I put on a face every time I charmed a woman to get into her pants, even when I didn’t give a shit about her personality. I did it every other weekend, maybe more often than that if I was lucky. I thought I was bad, but every day?

“How do you think I make everyone feel welcome at the restaurant, even when I’m in a bad mood or I don’t like them?”

“Oh,” I said. I understood what she was saying.

“How much different can it be to pretend I’m in love with you?”

The words shouldn’t have stung, Harper was just being practical, but they hit me like physical punches, anyway. Why the fuck did I feel like this? Why was what she was saying bothering me at all?

I downed the rest of my vodka tonic and put down the cup for the air hostess to collect.

“Alright,” I said. “I think we can pull this off.”

Harper nodded at me, smiling. The bit of alcohol in my system was just enough to take the edge off, and God knew it was a hell of an edge.

We went to the lawyer’s office straight after we checked into our hotel in LA. There wasn’t any time to waste—I wanted to handle this as soon as possible.

The lawyer’s offices were as drab I remembered them to be. Harper and I were escorted to an office rather than the conference room we had used before. The door had William Danbury’s name printed in gold on it and I knocked before we entered.

“Mr. Griffin,” Danbury said, with a smile that looked a lot more sincere than what I had seen on him last week.

“Call me Caden, please,” I said. “And this is Harper, my fiancée.”

Harper took Danbury’s hand and she smiled at him sweetly. I watched her transform in front of my eyes, that charm that had drawn me to her from the start just dripping off her. Danbury smiled and he only had eyes for her.

She was doing this on purpose, I knew that. But God, she was beautiful.

“Sit down, please,” Danbury said, when he finally let go of Harper’s hand. Harper and I each sat down in an armchair, but Harper shifted her chair a little closer to mine and held out her hand. I took it. It was the little things, wasn’t it? She knew exactly what she was doing.

“Tell me about yourself,” Danbury said, smiling at Harper.

“Oh, there’s not much to tell,” she said. “I work at Caden’s restaurant. That’s how we met—he needed staff for the restaurant and he hired me.” She glanced at me with eyes that shone like the stars. “It’s downhill from there. Like a storybook romance, so cliché.” She giggled. “We’re really lucky to work together.”

Danbury smiled, nodding. He glanced at me and I could see he was buying every word of it. Harper had him eating out of her hand. If I didn’t know it was all an act I would have done the same. She was so convincing, and she made what we had seem like it was so real.

“When are you planning on getting married?” Danbury asked.

“Oh, as soon as possible, I think,” Harper said, looking at me again. “Right, honey? I mean, it’s pointless postponing this any longer when we both know what we want.”

“Right,” I said. I hadn’t added much to the conversation. I had agreed with Harper here and there, but she had taken over the conversation and sold the whole thing.

“Well, I think I’ve heard everything I need to hear,” Danbury finally said, pressing his palms flat onto his desk. “I’m going to go on ahead and draw up that paperwork for you, Caden. Why don’t the two of you come back tomorrow? I’ll have it ready for you to sign, then.”

I nodded. That had been a piece of cake. Harper and I both stood, thanking Danbury for his time.

“Thank you for making the trip down here, Miss Donaldson,” Danbury said, and he shook both our hands.

When we left the office and sat in the cab on the way back to the hotel, I grabbed Harper’s hand and squeezed it.

“Excuse my language, but you were fucking good,” I said.

Harper smiled. “I think it worked.”

“Are you kidding me? You did so well I think even Danbury is in love with you.”

Harper chuckled and I could swear she blushed. Her cheeks turned a rosy red but she turned her head to the window so I couldn’t be sure.

“We need to celebrate this,” I said. “Dinner on me at the hotel restaurant.”

“You can’t keep paying for meals,” Harper said.

“See it as a business trip on me and everything else is included. Accommodation and meals.”

Harper wanted to argue about it but she couldn’t. Technically, I was right. But I wanted to treat her as a way to say thank you for what she was doing for me.

We arrived back at the hotel. It wasn’t the same hotel I had stayed at last week—I had wanted something a little classier for Harper.

“I’m sorry we’re in the same room,” I said. I hadn’t had the cash to book two rooms but I had booked a room with twin beds, at least.

“It’s alright,” Harper said, when we walked to the room. “The story will check out if they do follow up on us here at the hotel, somehow.”

She was right, although I doubted that would happen. Danbury fully believed us.

I dressed for dinner in the room, while Harper dressed in the bathroom. When she emerged she wore a cream colored lace dress that flared at the waist and she looked really cute. She wore nude heels with it and she had twisted her hair up in a bun or whatever it’s called. She looked casual and adorable.

I’d put on faded jeans and a collared shirt with my best pair of loafers. We looked great together, even if I had to say so myself.

On our way down to the hotel restaurant, heads turned toward Harper. She looked great. I wasn’t jealous, I was proud. We sat down and we had a great meal together, getting to know each other. The more time I spent with Harper, the more I liked her as a person. I had known she was a great girl when I had hired her—she’d made the cut above the rest for a reason. And over the past year, she’d proven to be a great employee. But there was so much more to her that I was getting to know now.

We drank wine while we ate and the alcohol went straight to my head. I felt light and airy. Harper was feeling the alcohol too, I could tell. She laughed more and she seemed relaxed. She hadn’t seemed uptight until I discovered what she looked like when she was completely relaxed.

“Shall we head back to the room?” I asked, when it started getting late. Harper glanced at her watch.

“I think so. It’s weird not being at the restaurant.”

I agreed. If we were back home we would be tidying up the restaurant right now.

After paying for our meal, we finished the last of our wine before we walked up to the room. Harper was unstable on her heels with the alcohol in her system and she leaned on me a bit. I liked having her body pressed up against mine. We walked to the room and I unlocked the door with the key card. Harper walked to the bathroom and closed the door, but it didn’t click shut. Instead, it opened again slightly and I saw her as she pulled the dress over her head. She wore white lace underwear and her body was amazing. I turned away.

I wasn’t going to be a pervert and stare at her when she had no idea I was looking, but God, I wanted her. The wine in my system made me horny and our little trip had blurred the lines between business and pleasure. I was starting to look at her in a way I hadn’t before. But this was Harper, I told myself. I couldn’t think of her as a one night stand. We worked together and I knew her as a person. It wouldn’t be right.

So, instead of making a move I put on my boxers and pulled a t-shirt over my head. I climbed into my bed. Harper came out of the bathroom wearing pajama shorts and a cute tank top. She crawled into her bed and we turned out the lights.

I tried to focus on falling asleep and avoid thinking about the woman in the bed next to mine. But my dick was hard and I was wide awake, the wine was making me feel lightheaded.

I heard Harper’s mattress creak and a moment later, my mattress dipped as she lifted the covers and slid in.

“I don’t like sleeping alone,” she whispered. I was tipsy so I didn’t consider the fact that she lived alone, and hence, slept alone every night. I turned to her and there was so little space in the twin bed that my movement rolled us together. My cock pressed against her crotch like a homing missile and Harper gasped. I pushed my hand into her hair and kissed her.