Page 44 of The Fake Date (Brides of Beaufort 4)

Taking my laptop out of its case on the seat next to me, I opened it and pulled up the file of the contract I’d drafted. “So, the first item we should discuss—who’s in on the arrangement?”

“Um… that’s an item on the contract?”

“Well, usually what I do is have a page with specific items that we want to make sure to agree upon ahead of time and also a checklist of things we should simply discuss so we’re on the same page. This is from that list.”

She nodded slowly, leaning back against the booth. “Oh, got it.”

“It helps me to know who I need to be extra careful with and who’s in on it. But I have to let you know, the more people who know about the arrangement, the less secure it is. You ever heard that saying about two people being able to keep a secret if one of them is dead?”

She chuckled. “Dark analogy, but yes.”

“It’s like that. The fewer people we tell it’s fake, the better.”

“Well… can Layla, Aria, and Shelby count as one person since I’d never be able to tell just one of them and not the others?”

I peered at her over the top of my screen. “We could. Or you could just keep it from all of them. Might make it easier.” When she didn’t answer, just bit her full bottom lip between her teeth, I snorted. “It’s too late, isn’t it?”

“Just a little. I told them last night during the wedding.”

Several things made sense at that moment, and I shook my head. “Ah, no wonder.”

“What?”

“After we told Layla we were a thingfor real, she was super friendly to me. Then later that night I kept getting a death glare. I thought it might be her way of telling me not to break her little sister’s heart or something, but now I get it. She’s not pleased that we’re doing this?”

Lyndi swallowed hard and fidgeted with her braid again, sliding her fingers between the strands below the black hair tie. “No. She thinks… well, she thinks I shouldn’t put myself in this position.”

“Whatpositionis that, exactly?”

Her eyes bulged. “Um, all the faking, I guess. The lying. Anyway, can we get back to the other items on your list?”

“Sure,” I said, dragging out the word. “Next up, we should talk about the events we expect to attend together.”

“Okay, great. Well, the big one is my cousin Clara’s wedding.”

“Right, and when is that again?”

“May 4.”

“Are theyStar Warsfans?” I wondered if this would be another themed wedding with Storm Troopers and light sabers. That wedding had been a trip and a half.

She cocked her head in confusion. “What?”

“May the fourth be with you,” I said, slowly, but it didn’t help so I just laughed. “Never mind. It’s aStar Warsthing.”

“Right. And you know it’s not here in town, right?”

“Yeah, Zac mentioned it. How many days of leave would I need to take?”

“We’re heading over there Friday night and coming back Sunday after the wedding. Layla didn’t want to get a sub, and Zac didn’t want to take more leave since he’s taking a week for his honeymoon. Plus, Grayson’s still in school, so he doesn’t want to miss all the end-of-the-year fun.”

I grinned. “Ah, to be in first grade again.”

“Right?”

“Okay, so I won’t even need to take leave, then. Moving on.” I turned back to the screen, found my place and typed what she’d just told me in the appropriate spaces. “Normally, I only have to worry about one event, but since these circumstances are different, we’ll likely need to have more appearances together. So, let’s figure those out.”

She balked. “What kinds of appearances?”