I sat down on the beach, not caring about getting my butt sandy as I took everything in. Across the lake, there were mountains covered in trees.
I’d always grown up in the city. This was all … so beautiful. I wish we could have done this as a family. Maybe if we had, things would have been different. Maybe my brother wouldn’t hate my parents, and maybe my parents would want to actually spend time with us. My lips pursed as I thought about my past. As I thought about everything I could have changed if I had been smarter. It doesn’t matter. You were a kid; of course you couldn’t have changed anything.
I glanced to the lake as Adam came up from the water, his eyes sparkling. “Done already?”
“Yea, like I said, not much of a swimmer.”
“Let’s go grab something to eat, then.”
“Oh, no I don’t want you to feel like you have to stop. I don’t mind just sitting here,” I said quickly.
He didn’t listen; instead, he made his way out of the water and towards me. His eyes sparkled as he held his hand out for me. I took it and let him pull me to my feet.
“What do you want?” he asked as we made our way along the sandy beach and toward the cottage.
“What?”
“For lunch, what do you want to eat?”
“Oh, um … I don’t know. Whatever is here.” I didn’t care. I would eat whatever was put in front of me. Adam snorted as we made our way up the steps and into the cottage. He still hadn’t let go of my hand. He pulled me over to the fridge and let go of my hand as he opened it.
My eyes widened. I hadn’t paid attention to how much food he had put in there. My jaw dropped a little.
Beep. Beep.
Adam glanced over to the counter where the noise was coming from. I knew it wasn’t mine. Mine dinged. He reached for his phone, unlocked the screen and stared down at the message that he’d just gotten, clearly not fazed by it.
“My family is going to be late. My dad will be working.”
“So you were right.”
“I normally am when it comes to my family,” he smirked. “I know them all better than they realize. Just like I’m sure Gabby is not pleased that she has to wait to see you.
Beep. Beep.
His smirk widened. He handed the phone to me. I looked down at it.
Gabby’s pissed. She misses your GF more than you probably would.
It was Becky who was texting him. I laughed softly, a blush touching my cheeks. I couldn’t help feeling a little important as I reread the text. It was probably one of the nicest texts I’d ever read.
I handed the phone back to Adam. “Your sisters are sweet.”
He shrugged. “I’m not really sure what you did to win them over, but they are all huge fans of you. So that’s all on you. If I ever bring another girl home, I’m going to have a hell of a time getting them to like her half as much as you.”
“If?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t plan on dating anytime soon?”
“You know how much I work. It’s not like I have the time for it. Between doing the work for my dad and getting set up for my own project.”
“Own project?” I felt like a dick. I had no clue he had his own project he was working on. “But I mean, your dad, right? He had a family and a business, and he seems involved.”
“He’s as involved as he can be. Always tries to make it to dance recitals and whatever else the girls have going on.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing. I stayed at home and watched the ones who weren’t busy.” He didn’t say it bitterly. He grabbed some cheese and bread out of the fridge and headed for the counter. I lifted myself up onto free counter space. “I didn’t feel the need to do a lot.”
“So what is this side project?”
He glanced over at me, skeptically. “You care?”
“Surprisingly, yes. I do. But if you don’t want to tell me, I get it ...”
“No. I … I’m just not used to people taking an interest. I … I’d like to, eventually, do something in the charity industry.”
I stared at him with wide eyes, surprised by what he had just told me. “Really?”
“I know, probably sounds stupid ...”
“No, I don’t think so. And you know, I’d bet my brother would care, too.” He shot me a look that told me he didn’t believe me as he cut cheese. He didn’t say anything. So I just kept talking. “What kind of charity?”
“I’m not sure yet. I know that I want to do something for kids, though.” I nodded, letting him know I was listening. He actually sounded really interested in what he was talking about. I didn’t want to get in the way of that. “I just know that I want to make a difference. I want …” He trailed off.
“What?”
He turned to me. “You know how you said you didn’t do a lot as a kid?”
“Yea.”
“Well, I don’t ever want to hear anyone say that. Me and my siblings were lucky enough that we didn’t have to worry about that kinda crap, but … I don’t want anyone to worry about that. I know the numbers, though. I know there are a lot of people who do worry about it. I want to make a dent in those numbers.”
I’d never really seen this side of Adam. He … was passionate about this, and he wanted to make a difference. Even though he was an ass for tossing me into this situation and the fact that he was going to make me out to be the bad guy in this fake relationship, he wasn’t a bad person. And talking with him right now reminded me of that.
“I think that is a really great idea.”
He turned to look at me, his brow furrowing. I knew he didn’t believe me, but I didn’t care. I did really think it was cool that he wanted to do that for a living. Despite the fact he could probably do whatever he wanted with the amount of money and connections his family had.
He shrugged, laying cheese onto bread and crossing over to where I stood. He handed me a sandwich and kept one for himself.
He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was happy I thought it was cool. He was grinning from ear to ear as he took a bite of his sandwich. I dug into my own lunch, thankful for something to put in my belly. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until we’d started talking about food.
I wasn’t even sure what to say to her. Most people thought it was stupid if I told them. I mean, why would I waste my time? And I had never told anyone as much as I had just told her. She knew why I wanted to do it, not just that I wanted to. She knew that I was working on it.
My parents didn’t think it was crazy, but they were probably considered crazy themselves. It seemed like it didn’t matter what my siblings and I wanted to do, it was always met with encouragement, even if it was kind of crazy.
I glanced over at my phone. I’d known they were going to be late, but I have to admit I was kind of happy they were. I wanted to spend more time with Fiona, just the two of us. There was something about being around her that made me feel like … I don’t know, just different. Something about her made me feel like I was different than how I felt around everyone else. I frowned and pushed the thought out of my mind. No. That’s stupid; I shouldn’t think like that.
I knew this was only going to last a little while and that there was no way I would have a girlfriend. A real one. I mean, come on. I’d learnt that when I was a little kid. I’d learnt that after what Kurt did. He had made it clear that, no matter what, he would get whatever he wanted.
I swallowed back anger. I didn’t want to get mad at Fiona. Not right now, not when we were actually having a good time.
“So ...” I cleared my throat, trying to fill the silence, “is there anything you want to do this weekend? I mean, you’ve always wanted to go camping, right? What did you want to do while camping?”
“Um.” Her cheeks went bright pink as she looked away from me.
I waited. And waited. But still, she didn’t say anything. I kept waiting for what felt like ages, though it was probably just a couple seconds.
“Well, what is it?”
“I … I never had a campfire growing up. I always wanted one, and my brother said he was going to make me one, but he never got around to it. It was too hard, and I knew that, for a sixteen-year-old. I told him it didn’t matter and not to worry about it. But …”
I smirked. “Sounds easy enough. We won’t be able to have good one, but I’m sure we can have a small one. And I’m pretty sure I put marshmallows away when I unloaded everything.”
“Really?”
“Yea. I mean, what’s camping without at least one fire, right?” I shot her a grin as I watched her eyes light up. A smile spread across her face as she looked at me.
“Awesome. Um, thank you.”
I shrugged like it didn’t matter because I was going to keep telling myself that it didn’t matter. It was just one of the ways I was paying her back for coming to deal with my family, right? I bit my lip. I knew I had to tell her before it was too late I just … wasn’t ready to.
So I did the crappy thing and avoided it. I stuffed the rest of my meal into my mouth and distracted myself with that. I had known my parents were going to get here late, but I wasn’t sure how late they would be. It was already the afternoon, but chances were it was just going to be Fiona and me for dinner. I glanced down at my phone as it buzzed, letting me know I had a text message.
How’s it going? How’s Fee?
I smirked. Josh had a way about his sister. He’d never admit how protective he was of her, but it was pretty clear to me. Not that I blamed him. I’d be protective of my sisters, too. It was a good thing none of them had boyfriends yet, between me and my dad we’d probably send the boy running for cover.
She is fine. We’re not doing anything, call her if you want to check in on her yourself. Unless you’re scared she will give you shit for being over protective? ;)
It didn’t take long for him to reply to me.
You know she will.
I snorted. I glanced up as her phone let out a soft ding. “It’s your brother,” I said before she looked down at it.
I watched her as she stared at the screen. “How did you know?”
“He’s running check up on me, too. I told him he should text you if he weren’t too scared.”
A smile touched her lips.
I couldn’t believe I was finally going to get my fire. Even Josh texting to check up on me didn’t bother me. Actually, I excitedly told him I was finally going to get a fire like I had always wanted. I just wish you were here, I thought. Not that I was going to tell him. I mean, I couldn’t get too sappy on him. He had a reputation or some shit to uphold. It’s not like he was ever the type to open up, like Adam. It was like they both had to be waterboarded to so much as spill a single emotional reaction. But I’m making progress with Adam. And I had, he had actually opened up a little. I couldn’t forget the small victories.
Putting my phone down after replying to my brother, I turned to Adam.
“Is there anything you want to do?”
He looked up at me, and for a couple seconds, he considered what I had asked him. “Stay sane.”
I gave him a soft smile. “I can help with that.”
I mean, that was why I was here, right? To help keep him sane and so his family would think he finally had a girlfriend. There must be more to it. I mean, no one just hired a girl so their family would think they had a girlfriend. That was shit out of movies, wasn’t it?
“Thanks, Fiona.” He honestly sounded like he meant it, too.
67. Chapter Sixteen
The day passed into night, and the sun set. Still, there was no sign of his parents. Adam and I both did our own thing for most of the day, choosing to read instead of talk. I had long been wanting to catch up on my reading, so that was fine with me, but I couldn’t help glancing up every now and then and asking where he was in the book. Since it was a children’s book, he was making his way through it fast. But it seemed like he was enjoying it.
I never thought a guy would read my favorite books from my childhood, but when I got a boyfriend, it was going to be a goal for me. I couldn’t put into words how much I liked knowing that he had seemed to take an interest in what I liked growing up. And he asked about it, too. He had asked what I had wanted to do as a kid, and what I had wanted to do when I wanted to go camping. Maybe he was just trying to make polite conversation, but I used it as a way to open up to him—to form a bond so that he would feel like he could open up to me.
I might not be in school yet, but I knew a thing or two about psychology. I mean, these days everyone did, right?
So I was finally putting it to use. And I was thrilled that it was coming in handy.
Buzz. Buzz.
Adam looked up from his book and reached for the phone. He unlocked it and stared at the screen for a couple of seconds.
“Well, looks like it’s just us.”
“What?”
“My parents won’t be making it until tomorrow. My dad just got home from work.”
I glanced over to the clock. It was 9:00, and he was just getting home from work. “Wow.”
“Yea, they want to hit the hay and drive up tomorrow morning.”
“Yea, that totally makes sense. I hope he gets some rest.”
Adam typed out a reply and put his phone down on the couch as he stood up. I watched as he headed outside. Maybe he’s upset, I thought. But I didn’t go out to check on him. Last time I’d gone to be supportive when he was upset hadn’t ended well.
“Look, it’s nice you’re pretending to worry about me and all, but there’s no one around. You don’t have to pretend that you like me or that you care about me. You can just leave.”
My brow furrowed thinking about it. The thing is, I did care. I hated that he thought I was just pretending to care. Sure, the relationship was pretend, but I was a caring person. I cared if he was upset. If there was something I could do to make sure someone wasn’t upset, I wanted to do it. Maybe I should go out and check on him.
No.
I wasn’t going to.
Not after last time.
If he was out there for, like, an hour or something, I’d check on him. Or maybe I can just peek out the window on him. Yea. I’d do that if he weren’t back in after a couple of seconds. That was a good middle ground. At least then, I could put my mind at ease.
The door opened. I stared at him, his arms full with wood. My brow furrowed as I watched him walk over to the small fireplace that was in here.
“I hope you don’t mind your fire being inside tonight. It’s pretty buggy out there, and the one thing my mother kept for her car is the bug spray.
“Oh.” That’s what he’d been doing out there? Getting firewood. “Um, no, of course not.”
I turned to watch him as he stacked the fire. I didn’t know the first thing about building one, but I assumed it wasn’t all that hard.
Within a couple of minutes, Adam had the fire going softly. He blew gently against the flames and then stood up. Turning to me, he gave me a smile. “There you are, miss. A campfire, just for you.”
My cheeks burned almost as hot as the flames. Why was he being so nice? It’s not like there was anyone around to pretend for, right? I looked around the room. Right. I felt silly that I actually had to check, but … if there was no one here, why would he bother being so nice? Why not wait until tomorrow and do it in front of his family.
He came and sat down beside me.
“There is one thing I have to tell you about this weekend …”
“What?”
“Um … well, uh, my grandma is going to be here.”
“Oh, okay.”
I hadn’t met his grandma when I went to dinner with his family.
“She’s … well, she’s a mean old bat, to be honest. She probably won’t like you. She hardly likes Kathrine.”
“So she’s your dad’s mom?”
“Yup.”
Kathrine wasn’t Adam’s real mother, not that it mattered to her. She see
med to treat him the same as she treated her daughters. At least, from what I saw.
“It must be hard on her. Kathrine, I mean.”
“I think she let it go a long time ago, but yea, I do think it’s hard. I mean, she married the man she loves, and her mother-in-law hates her. Grandma has never been nice to Kathrine. Then again, Grandma and nice don’t really go hand in hand.”
My stomach did a backflip. Was she really this nasty? I wished Adam had warned me about that so I could find a reason to bail. But it was too late now. I was going to have to tough it out for the weekend.
It’s not like I haven’t dealt with mean people before, I reminded myself.
Still, I didn’t like it when people didn’t like me.
I’d have to suck it up and deal with it. I didn’t want to make things harder for Adam. I glanced over to him. He stared blankly at the fire as he watched the flames flicker.
I sat there silently, turning to look at the flames. My heart welled with joy. I’d never had a fire before, and now here I was sitting so close to one that it warmed me.
“Thank you, Adam.”
“For?”
“The fire. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I can’t thank you enough.”
I stared at the flames as they danced.
“Actually, there is one thing you can do for me.”
My heart skipped a beat. I turned to face him. What was he going to ask of me? “W-what?”
“Just … keep me sane, and if I need an excuse to get out of here, I need you to be that.”
“Well, that’s what I’m here for.” I gave him a reassuring smile.
“Thanks, Fiona.”
He gave me a soft smile, and we fell silent. I couldn’t believe he had just asked for my help. That was a big deal coming from him, and I knew it. He wasn’t the type to ask for help. I moved closer to him and rested my head against his shoulder.
“It’s not … that I’m trying to be romantic or anything,” I said quickly as if I owed him some sort of explanation, even though I knew I didn’t. “I’m just tired.”
He snorted. “Whatever, Fiona.” I felt his arm wrap around me and pull me closer. My heart skipped a beat. It’s not like he’s trying to be romantic, though. He’s probably just getting comfy. Yes. That was it. Right?
Interview with a Billionaire: Billionaire Romance Box Set Page 44