Chapter 12

Alice

My eyes went wide. I had no idea what to say.

I mean, “no” was the right answer. Connor and I had a little arrangement that was going to be us play-acting for a while, and that was it. But then again, our fun last night made it clear that this wasn’t all an act. But, of course, that wasn’t something Hunter needed to know about. I struggled to come up with some kind of an explanation for what was going on between Connor and I that would make sense to a kid, but I couldn’t.

“Alice and I are friends, and we used to be something more than that,” Connor said, saving the day. “And now we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”

I watched Hunter as the answer seemed to settle in his mind. By this point the waffles were ready, and as soon as Connor placed a plate of the thick, delicious-looking treats in front of Hunter, the boy’s curiosity about the situation seemed to flick off like a burnt-out light bulb.

“You sure you don’t want any?” asked Connor, waving the plate of waffles in front of my face like a magician about to perform a trick.

“Nah,” I said. “I, um, should actually probably get going.”

Connor set down the plate, picked up one of the waffles, dunked it into the pool of syrup on Hunter’s plate, and took a bite. His eyes stayed locked on me as he chewed, and I could tell that there was something on his mind.

“Come out to the balcony with me,” he said after swallowing.

I crinkled my brows as he headed off. Realizing that he was telling me, not asking me, to join him, I followed.

Once out onto the balcony, the cool morning air fresh and crisp on my face, Connor shut the door behind me.

“I need you to stay here,” he said, leaning back against the balcony and crossing his arms.

“Like, in the apartment?”

“Like in the apartment,” he said. “We’re engaged, remember?”

He pointed to the ring on my finger that I’d put on that morning without even thinking.

“We’ve got to commit to the bit, as they say,” he continued. “And it’s going to look strange if you’re in some little shoebox in Brooklyn while we’re preparing to be wed.”

He was right. Still, I felt a little weird about the whole thing.

“The spare bedroom is yours for the time being. And Hunter’ll be fine with you just being a friend that’s visiting—this little sham of ours is only going to last for a month or so, if that.”

Connor clearly had the logistics all planned out. But that still left the issue of what went down last night. I could tell by his business-like tone, however, that this was a matter he didn’t want to get into.

And truthfully, I didn’t know what to think about it either.

“This is fucking insane,” I said, pacing back and forth. “I feel like you’re making me get in over my head more and more by the damn second. And all for some stupid article.”

Connor was, of course, nonplussed by my frustration.

“But what an article it’s going to be,” he said with a smirk.

Only Connor could make me want to kiss him and rip his head off all at the same time.

“We’d better get started on that damn thing,” I said. “So far this has been a pretty damn one-sided arrangement.”

“How about tonight?” he asked. “They called me in to do a few hours of clinic duty today, but after that I’m all yours. All-access.”

He flashed another smirk, letting me know that the double meaning of “all-access” hadn’t been lost on him.

“Fine,” I said. “Tonight, you and I sit down and get some work in.”

“Sounds perfect,” he said. “But one more thing.”

Oh god.

“What, you’ve got a coworker who you want me to be pretend-married to, too?”

“Why,” he asked. “You got some free time in your schedule?”

I narrowed my eyes, but couldn’t resist a half-smile at just how audacious he could be. It was almost a relief to know that the Connor Rex who thought he could get away with anything was alive and well.

“No,” he said, “I wanted to know if you wouldn’t mind looking after Hunter while I’m at work. It’s too short notice for Eliza and I don’t want to have to take him back to his friend’s if his parents are fighting again.”

“Are you serious?” I asked. “I’m, like, the least kid-friendly person on the planet. I have no idea what to do with them.”

“That’s what everyone thinks before they actually spend time with kids. You’re already doing great with him—just take the little dude to the comics shop and grab a slice. I won’t even mind if you plop him in front of the PlayStation when you guys get back. It’ll fly by before you know it.”

Anxiety formed a tight knot in my stomach. I’d arranged my life to not have children be a part of it in any way, and now here I was, getting enlisted to be a damn babysitter.

But Hunter seemed like a pretty cool kid. And if it meant Connor and I could finally start on the interview, I supposed I was in.

“OK,” I said. “But next time I’m going to need a little more notice before you have me playing Mary Poppins.”

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll even get a flying umbrella for you.”

With one more smirk, he headed back into the apartment. Without thinking, my eyes latched onto his ass, my mind occupied with thoughts of just how good that ass looked last night. A little tinge flashed from my pussy outward through the rest of my body, and I had to shake my head to focus my attention.

It was going to be an interesting day, that was for damn sure.