Page 103 of Make-Believe Match

“Could I have a couple weeks? Let you know right after Thanksgiving?”

He paused. “Okay. I can do that.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it. I’ll be in touch.”

We hung up, and I set my phone aside. Folded my hands over my stomach. This office was nice—lots of dark wood and leather, big windows with plenty of natural light, a view of the mountain. It had belonged to Lexi’s grandfather, and when I inhaled, I could still smell the pipe tobacco he’d smoked. I didn’t mind. It was a nice, grandfatherly smell, and something about it was comforting.

On the large, sturdy oak desk was a framed photo of Lexi and Tabitha as kids. I reached for it and smiled.

They were sitting on their grandfather’s lap—Lexi a few years younger than Sara, Tabitha still a toddler—and he had an arm around each of them. Lexi’s front teeth were missing, but that hadn’t stopped her from grinning widely, proudly showing off the gap in her smile. Her dark hair was in two braids, the way she sometimes wore it now, and that dimple in her chin looked exactly the same. She might have been laughing at something, and I could practically hear the giggle echo in the room.

Tabitha had the blue-eyed, towheaded look of a doll, and their grandfather’s expression was one of complete contentment. Based on Lexi’s age, it had to have been taken before her parents’ deaths, and I wished I could go back in time and stop it right there so that little dark-haired girl never had to hurt.

But I was about to hurt her, wasn’t I?

Frowning, I replaced the frame on the desk. For the last couple weeks—ever since Boston—I’d been grappling with a sense of dread I hadn’t anticipated. When I’d asked her to marry me, I’d thought only about the legal aspect of it. The actual piece of paper that made us husband and wife. I hadn’t thought at all about the relationship aspect. How it would feel to live with her. Get close to her. Share a goal and a vision day after day and a bed night after night. I hadn’t worried at all that either of us would lose sight of the big-picture reasons we’d gotten married. I hadn’t anticipated how good the moment-to-moment would be.

The truth was, I had feelings for her that weren’t just going to go away when our marriage was no longer necessary. But something was holding me back from admitting that to her.

Rising from the chair, I wandered to the window and looked out. The chairlift taunted me, silent and still. Lexi had taken it up with the contractors several times, always making an excuse for me that hid the real reason I couldn’t go up.

I looked down at my hand and twisted the ring around my finger. Funny how used to it I’d gotten. I took it off and studied the plain gold band. The inscription on the inside.

Beloved.

I pictured us walking down that Vegas avenue looking for a quickie wedding chapel. Lexi in my Two Buckleys sweatshirt. Me in my jeans and ball cap. I remembered how she’d told me this wasn’t her real wedding. Someday she was going to descend the staircase at Snowberry wearing a white dress and her grandmother’s veil, and speak her vows in front of all the people that mattered to her.

I wouldn’t be there.

Because I was a leaver.

Wasn’t I?

* * *

When I left the office a couple hours later, I ran into Tabitha in the hallway outside the employee break room.

“Look at you working late on a Friday,” she cooed.

“Hey, Tabitha,” I said. In my opinion, Lexi’s cousin continued to act like a spoiled brat, but for Lexi’s sake, I was always friendly. I tried to imagine that little girl on her grandfather’s lap. “How’s it going with plans for the spa?”

“Great.” Her smile was more of a smirk. “Coming along just fine.”

“Good. I hear you’re going to join us for Thanksgiving at my dad’s house.”

“Yes.” She shook the ice in her plastic cup. “Any chance your brother Dash will be there?”

“I doubt it. He doesn’t get home too often, but I’ll ask.”

“Are you guys close?”

“We were close growing up. It’s harder now, living across the country.”

“Mm.” She took a sip from her straw. “If you get that job in Santa Monica, you’ll see him more. That will be nice.”

I froze. How did she know about the interview in Santa Monica? Lexi and I had agreed not to say anything about it. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Oh, come on, Devlin.” She gave me a poke on the shoulder. “You can be real with me. Gran might be fooled by this whole marriage scam, but I’m not. You married Lexi so she could inherit. You’re not actually in love with her. And you’re not going to stick around.”