The Boss's Fake Fiancée

by Susan Meier

  That was definitely catty. But Lila wasn’t really Lila here. She was Lila, Fake Fiancée. Almost like a superhero, playing a part.

  “Absolutely. I’m thrilled to be here to be part of your wedding.” A waiter set a glass of juice in front of her. “Actually, I’d love to hear details. It’s so beautiful here. I can only imagine how wonderful your ceremony will be.”

  “The wedding’s not here,” Nanna said as she motioned for staff to serve breakfast. “It’s at Julia’s family’s tiny vineyard.”

  She noted a little animosity there, but, again, none of her business. Particularly since Alonzo gazed at Julia with real love in his eyes. When he caught Julia’s gaze, her lips rose in a smile filled with an equal amount of love. Julia might have dated Mitch, but she truly loved Alonzo.

  Julia, Nanna and Mitch’s mom, Marguerite, began to talk nonstop about the wedding. There was a gala tonight, hosted by the Ochoa family. Then on Friday night, Julia’s parents would host an outdoor cocktail party. The Ochoas would host a second ball a few days before the wedding for out-of-town guests who hadn’t been in Spain for the first ball. A few days later, the bride and fifty or so of her closest friends and relatives would have a luncheon as a bachelorette party. Alonzo and his groomsmen and fifty or so of his closest friends would have a bachelor party. And, of course, the Ochoas would host a rehearsal dinner the night before the actual wedding.

  Lila’s head spun. No wonder Mitch and Riccardo had advised her to get so many dresses and gowns. She’d thought they’d exaggerated. Now she wondered if she’d bought enough.

  * * *

  Mitch lost Lila for the entire day. Pacing the sitting room, waiting for her to dress for the welcome gala, he admitted to himself that he knew why. While his mom stayed behind to supervise preparations for tonight’s ball, Julia, Lila and Nanna had taken one of the family limos into town to pick up her gown. Julia had kept them out all day. She also had been dropped at her family’s small vineyard first. Then Nanna and Lila had spent another thirty minutes returning to Ochoa Vineyards, and that left Lila only about an hour to dress.

  Why?

  Because Julia wanted to be the prettiest girl at the ball and she knew Lila could give her a real run for her money.

  He shook his head in disbelief. Who’d have ever thought beautiful Julia would be jealous of Lila? His mousy assistant?

  He was about to laugh when Lila’s door finally opened and she walked out of her room in a red dress that almost made his eyes pop. Low cut and cruising her breasts to her waist like a second skin, the gown belled out into a skirt that wasn’t full, but held yards and yards of material that swished when she walked.

  She glanced down at herself. “Too risqué?”

  “No!” Sweet mother of God. Who was this woman? How had he not noticed his assistant was so sexy?

  He frowned. He hadn’t noticed because he’d never seen her anywhere but work. She’d planned every one of his parties but she’d never attended any of them. For all he knew, the office might be the only place she dressed down. And why not? They were working.

  She walked over to him, the satin of her ruby-red dress swishing, the pale skin of her shoulders shiny in the glow of the lamp by the sofa, her gray eyes sparkling.

  She leaned in. Speaking in a conspiratorial tone, she said, “I have to admit I love this dress.”

  A floral scent hit him. Her shampoo. His assistant’s shampoo. Something he’d smelled a million times. A wave of recognition looped through him, but as quickly as the connection came it floated away.

  “You look wonderful in that dress.”

  She reached up and smoothed the collar of his tux jacket and straightened his bow tie. “You look wonderful.” She gave him a quick, approving once-over, then glanced up at him again. “I like you in a tux.”

  His breath stuttered, confusing him. Lots of women told him that he looked good in a tux. Yet for some reason hearing her say it stopped his heart and caused his nerve endings to crackle.

  He stepped back, cleared his throat and shook his head slightly to force himself to return to the real world, where he had to fool his family and keep the focus on Julia and Alonzo.

  Though he would have liked to ask her a million questions, this was one time they absolutely couldn’t be late. He motioned to the door. “Ready?”

  She smiled broadly. “Sure. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a party looking this pretty. It’s going to be fun.”

  What she said and her tone of voice caused the connection between the woman in front of him and his dowdy assistant to click again. If only for a few seconds, she stopped being two different people. She was his assistant in costume. Lila in a pretty dress. So, it baffled him that thinking of her chatting up a few of his friends or his dad’s acquaintances squeezed his chest with jealousy.

  “You’re not there to have fun. You are there to pretend to be in love with me.”

  She said, “Uh-huh,” as she headed for the door.

  He reached it two seconds before she did and opened it for her. The urge to remind her that she couldn’t flirt with other guests surged again but he stopped it. He wasn’t the jealous type. She wasn’t really his fiancée. And he could keep her at his side to make sure she didn’t ruin the ruse.

  He stopped just before pulling the door closed behind them, a little embarrassed by his need to be in control. This was Lila. When he gave her a job, she did it. He did not have to micromanage her. He had nothing to worry about.

  Except that she had a secret that caused her to negotiate a new job as her payback for pretending to be his fiancée.

  She worked for a winery, but didn’t drink.

  His grandmother thought she was pregnant, and would probably ask her a million questions—

  Unless she’d already asked them while they were out with Julia that afternoon?

  As they reached the sidewalk that led to the main house, he took her hand. Warm and smooth, it fit nicely in his palm. “So...did Nanna ask you anything that I should know about?”

  “Julia kind of monopolized the conversations.”

  He sniffed a laugh. That he believed. “So, Nanna didn’t say anything while you were waiting for Julia to try on dresses?”

  She looked thoughtful for a second, then said, “No. Nothing significant that I can remember.”

  “Did she ask about your past?”

  “Yes.” She winced. “I decided it best not to lie and I told her the truth.”

  Two feet away from the side door he’d been guiding Lila to, he stopped. “You did?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “And that truth is...”

  “Pretty boring. Just stuff about me being in foster care.” She laughed. “Which is why she accepted it so easily.”

  She took a few steps toward the French doors and servants opened them for her. Music from a string quartet poured out as Lila smiled at the doormen and began walking inside the house.

  Mitch scrambled after her. He stepped into the private entry just in time to watch Riccardo take Lila’s hands. “I see you put our money to good use.”

  Lila laughed and did a quick turn. “Isn’t it gorgeous? Would you believe I got it on a clearance rack?”

  Riccardo tapped her nose. “You’re not just good-looking. You’re smart. That’s why we love you.”

  A surge of a different kind of jealousy rose up in Mitch. Lila had always been more comfortable with Riccardo. Right now the easy way she spoke with him made Mitch angry.

  “Don’t toss too much praise her way. Remember she’s leaving us when we get home.”

  Riccardo’s happy, flirty expression deflated. “I forgot.”

  Lila shrugged. “It’s for the best.” She faced Mitch. “Shall we go in?”

  Mitch took the few steps that separated them, caught her el
bow and led her into the ballroom. They weren’t late, but early guests had already begun to arrive. Julia and Alonzo would make an entrance once everyone was seated. Mitch’s parents stood at the entry to the ballroom with Nanna, greeting guests.

  “Can I get you a drink?” He pulled in a breath. Realizing his mistake, he added, “Orange juice? Club soda?”

  She shook her head. “No,” she said, her gaze slowly circling the room. “I don’t want to be distracted. I want to remember all of this. It’s so gorgeous.”

  He shoved his hands in his trouser pockets. “It is pretty. My mom has wonderful taste.”

  “She does.” She faced him with a smile. “And she seems like a lovely person.”

  “She is.”

  “I guess I sort of knew that from the fact that you and Riccardo are such good people. Good people come from good parents.”

  Now he was talking to real Lila. Not the woman who was a mix of his assistant and his fake fiancée. But just plain Lila. The woman who was as loyal as anyone could be. The hard worker. The woman who’d grown up in foster care. He’d never thought much about her personally. But tonight, watching her reaction to his luxurious home, disgrace at his bad behavior with her enveloped him.

  She got along so well with Riccardo. Why had he and Lila never become friends?

  He quietly said, “I do know that I was lucky.”

  “In spite of the fact that my life is dull, I was pretty lucky too. Not every foster kid finds a way to make it through university.” Her smile grew. “And after a day with your former girlfriend, I also think you dodged a big bullet with Julia.” She leaned in close. “But if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it.”

  A laugh burst from him. Up until this trip, he’d never seen her sense of humor but clearly she had a great one. So maybe the serious way he attacked his work had kept her from getting comfortable with him?

  As more and more guests filed into the ballroom, Lila said, “Okay, here’s the way I see this. You are the best man, second son, who probably has to make one or two obligatory comments or maybe a toast or something, then for the rest of this event your job is basically to have a good time.”

  He hadn’t thought of it like that, but the assistant in Lila had looked at the situation and summed it up perfectly.

  “Sí.”

  “Okay, so that means no more serious talk. If you want to drink, go ahead. I’ll make sure you don’t say anything too far out of line or put a lampshade on your head.”

  “A lampshade on my head?”

  “It’s an old American expression for when somebody drinks too much and has such a good time they do foolish things.”

  He nodded but all the good feelings that had been welling up in him disappeared in a puff of smoke, as the truth poked its way into their good time again. She was funny here but he’d never seen her sense of humor in the office. She didn’t drink. She wanted another job. She was leaving him. How was he supposed to be happy around her when there were so many unanswered questions?

  Nanna swished her way over. Wearing a pale blue gown and long diamond earrings, she looked like the wealthy matriarch that she was. She greeted Lila first. “Darling, you look fantastic.”

  Lila said, “Thanks. You look amazing.”

  Nanna bowed slightly. “Thank you.” She peered around. “So? What do you think?”

  Mitch said, “Everything’s beautiful.”

  Nanna batted a hand. “You’re a man. Of course you say that.” She faced Lila again. “What do you think?”

  “I’m bowled over.”

  Nanna frowned. “And that’s good?”

  Lila laughed. “Yes. Very good.”

  “Sweetheart,” Nanna said, laying a hand on Lila’s forearm, “I left my small beaded bag on the table behind the receiving line. Could you sneak over and get it? I’d ask Mitch but he’d get drawn into the conversations with arriving guests, and we wouldn’t see him again until dinner.”

  Lila said, “I’ll be glad to.”

  The second she was out of earshot, Nanna turned to Mitch. “So did you ask her?”

  “Ask her?”

  “If she’s pregnant.”

  Mitch groaned. “I haven’t really had two minutes alone with her. Besides, you’re the one she talked to today.”

  Nanna batted a hand. “She told me about the foster child experience. Very sad. But it made her resilient. She’s a wonderful girl, but if she’s pregnant you need to know.”

  “Maybe she’s waiting until after the wedding to tell me, so she doesn’t steal any of Julia’s limelight.”

  The lie rolled off his tongue easily. But inside Mitch felt odd again. What if Lila was pregnant? She wanted a new job. Because she thought he wouldn’t support her through her pregnancy? Because he was a businessman who only thought of work? Because he hadn’t even known that beneath those glasses and dowdy clothes was a really beautiful woman, who was also very nice?

  She returned with Nanna’s bag. Nanna took it, leaned in and kissed Lila’s cheek. “Thank you.”

  Lila said, “You’re welcome.”

  Nanna turned and began talking to another guest, beside them.

  Mitch stole a peek at Lila’s flat tummy. She couldn’t be pregnant... Could she? And if she was, did she intend to raise a child alone? In New York City, where everything cost a fortune? Would not having a dad for her baby bring up bad memories of her own childhood?

  Wait. There had to be a dad. That was just plain biology. And Mitch couldn’t assume the guy didn’t want to be in his baby’s life. He could want to be in the baby’s life but for some reason Lila didn’t want him there. Maybe he was a loser? Maybe he was a thug—

  Mitch groaned internally. Now he was making up stories about an imaginary father for an as yet undocumented baby.

  He had to get some answers.

  Nanna redirected the couple she was speaking with to Mitch and Lila, introducing Lila as his fiancée. She played her role, leaning toward him so he could put his arm around her waist.

  They spent the next twenty minutes talking to guests that Nanna directed to them. Julia and Alonzo arrived to a blare of trumpets—undoubtedly Julia’s idea—then dinner was served. He and Lila sat at a long table with Alonzo and Julia, his parents, her parents and the entire wedding party. There wasn’t a second of privacy to ask the questions nagging at him, but even if there had been, Mitch had the sudden, uncomfortable feeling that he couldn’t ask for such personal information from somebody he barely knew.

  He wasn’t bold to the point of almost being ill-mannered like Nanna.

  He wasn’t friendly with Lila the way Riccardo was.

  He wasn’t anything.

  She might be in trouble, real trouble, and though Mitch had worked with her for a year, he didn’t know her well enough to help her.

  He wasn’t sure if he should be ashamed of himself or mad at himself.

  His father made the first toast. Julia’s father made the second. Then Julia’s mother declined a toast, dabbing tears from her eyes and saying Julia’s dad had said it all. Mitch’s mom was ready with a fabulous salute to her older son, then everybody looked at Mitch.

  He rose. He’d been thinking about this for weeks before this trip, so he very casually picked up his champagne glass and said, “To Alonzo and Julia, the perfect couple. May they have a long, happy marriage. Salud.”

  Everyone said, “Salud!” and took a drink of champagne.

  When he was seated again, Lila touched his arm. “That was perfect.”

  “I decided to think of myself as just an ordinary best man for my brother and gave the toast that way.”

  “Well, you were brilliant.”

  His father announced dancing, and Alonzo and Julia immediately took to the floor. After a first dance for the about-to-be-weds,
Mitch rose. “Our family goes out onto the dance floor immediately to signal to the other guests that they can dance.”

  As he helped Lila stand, she said, “Sounds great.”

  They danced the first dance a little stiff and awkward but by the second, they were much more attuned to each other. His hand on the small of her back relaxed. The hand she had on his shoulder shifted to be more comfortable.

  His nervousness settled. Lila was a great dancer. Very light on her feet. Very easy to guide around the dance floor.

  When the second song started, Riccardo cut in. Polite, Mitch smiled and excused himself, but he stood on the sidelines watching her as Riccardo whirled her around in a huge, looping circle to the music of the waltz that floated around them. She tossed her head back and laughed, and the weird jealousy rolled through him again.

  As soon as the song ended, he was at her side. “Thanks, cuz. We’ll see you later.”

  Riccardo excused himself and walked away, but the second the music started Lila was in Mitch’s arms again.

  “So what were you laughing about with Riccardo?”

  “He offered to give me his condo if I’d stay with Ochoa Online.”

  The possibility that she wouldn’t leave filled him with bubbly joy. “And you said?”

  “No!” She laughed and he whirled her around again.

  “Why don’t you want to work for us anymore?”

  “Maybe the better question to be asking yourself is where am I getting Lila a job?”

  “But Riccardo and I want you to stay.”

  “Really? Because if I stay then all bets are off and I’m not your fiancée anymore and you’ve got some explaining to do to your nanna.”

  “I know you think you’re very clever at confusing me. But I’ve caught you every time, and you’ve just been lucky with the plane landing, or Nanna insisting I chat with her or being late for breakfast.”

  He yanked her close, tight up against his body to show her that he was in control, and instantly regretted it. She felt wonderful. How could he make a point when he was tongue-tied?

  “Don’t forget Julia keeping us out all day.”