Page 35 of The Fake Out

“So,” he began, flipping to a page he had marked, “what did you think about the whole proposal?”

“Who doesn’t like a good marriage of convenience trope.”

He set his book aside. “What do you mean?”

“Guy needs something from the girl. Girl needs something from the guy. Marriage seems the easiest way to get it. They’re both going into it clear-eyed, no pesky feelings.” I paused and took a bite of my sandwich.

“So, it’s a contract of sorts.” Chris watched me thoughtfully.

“Exactly. Pretty cut and dry. It sounds boring, but”—I held a finger up—“this is a romance novel, so… You put two people in close proximity by circumstance. They can’t leave. They can’t ignore each other. They’re married. It’s either kill each other or fall in love.”

“Sure. Sure,” he murmured.

“There’s always a happy ending in romance novels.” I took a sip of my tea. “That’s why we readers can believe a marriage of convenience is even a thing. I mean, in real life, this would be a disaster.”

Chris’s head cocked to the side. “You don’t think it could work in real life.”

With a huff, I set my cup down. “No. In real life, no one gets a happy ending.”

“That seems pretty cynical.”

“I’m not a cynic, I’m a realist.”

“You honestly think people can’t have happy endings?”

“Not really. Life is way too messy and unpredictable. No one can truly be happy always waiting for the next bad thing to happen.”

“Wow.” He rubbed his bottom lip, but I wasn’t distracted by his stupid opposable thumb this time. Not today, Satan. “That’s kind of sad.”

I shrugged. “It’s a fact of life. Like the sky is blue and cats are the best pets and… and… hair keeps growing after you die.”

“Well, actually…” he cut in.

“Seriously? Was there a Mortuary Sciences badge?”

He grinned. “Yes.”

“Liar.”

Silence fell as we both tucked back into our food. After a few minutes, I returned to the reason for our lunch.

“Since this is a romance, the whole marriage of convenience thing worked out for Elizabeth and Lord Hastings. He was accepted back into the peerage, she was protected from her father. They both found some new places on that ship to, you know, explore their relationship. I didn’t think it could get weirder than the plank, but…” I paused, eyeing Chris across the table. He was staring intently over my shoulder where a poster of a cat wearing glasses and reading Purr-ide and Prejudice hung. “Hello? You still here with me? You seem miles away.”

He blinked slowly. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, thinking about something.”

“So, they fell in love, our Elizabeth and Hastings. There for a moment, it didn’t seem like it would work out. But he managed to pull off a grand romantic gesture. They got back together. Lived happily ever after. The end.”

I finished off my sandwich and waited for him to comment. He did not. It was clear he was anywhere but in the room with me.

“You know, we don’t have to do this today if your mind is on other things.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, he began cleaning up his food, tossing napkins in the empty to-go box. “You don’t mind?”

“No.”

“Great.” He stood and tossed his garbage in the trash can. “Thanks for lunch. I have to go take care of something. I’ll see you later.”

Then in a very brotherly way, he gave me a pat on the shoulder and left.