Marlee giggled, her green eyes dancing with mirth.
“Wasted opportunity, Eva. Although I imagine you’d probably get splinters. Yeah, no - that wouldn’t be good,” she postulated more to herself than me. Before leading into a discussion she had with Arna today about my new boss and I.
By the time we returned with dinner, I was exhausted from listening to her assessment of how she and the girls were certain Cooper was harbouring some one-sided crush on me and I was a blind fool to what was so obvious. What they didn’t know was how wildly incorrect they were. How he popped my teenage bubble like a balloon in a storm leaving a bitter taste in my mouth for far too long, or how he so viciously reminded me of one of the most embarrassing days of my life. Reinforcing exactly who it was I was working for and how there was not a chance in hell he had feelings for me.
I would help him, sure. He’d always helped me whenever I needed anything, but that was the extent of it. I could share a space with him for a few months. I could be his fake fiancé and act madly in love with him, especially with the amount of money he was going to be paying, but as for feelings, this was purely platonic and that was how it was going to stay.
By dessert I was openly yawning, and Cooper still hadn’t mentioned anything. My patience was wearing thin and still a little pissy from his earlier reminder of exactly how he still saw me, I decided he needed some assistance.
“I think I’ll head off otherwise I’ll be exhausted tomorrow.”
“What’s tomorrow?” Marlee asked.
“My first day as an intern of Golden Spades Distillery,” I responded on another yawn and she grinned, looking between us mischievously.
“I’m glad you guys could come to an agreement. It’ll help you both out,” Seb said as Cooper shifted in his seat.
“It will,” I said with a smirk, enjoying how uncomfortable mybosshad suddenly become. “Although I’m not sure you'll be as glad when you hear the terms of ouragreement,” I stated with deliberate mockery, and Marlee leaned forward, face cradled in her hands, fully settled in like it was prime-time drama.
“What do you mean?” Seb asked, pitching his question to his friend more than me and I too looked towards Cooper to explain. This was his idea after all, and I was desperate to see how this played out.
“Okay,” he started, sending me a narrowed gaze of admonishment. “Hear me out before you lose your shit.”
Seb waited, while Marlee’s smile only grew. She was clearly loving every second of this, and honestly, her expression alone made bringing him worthwhile despite my own lingering apprehension. I didn’t have any other internship lined up so I was goingto accept his proposition no matter what Sebastian said, but still, I’d much rather have his support.
“Ev is going to work for me, but for four months rather than six weeks.” He let that settle as a little taster before continuing. “I’ll pay her, so she doesn’t have to work elsewhere and she’s going to stay with me, so she doesn’t have to commute as far. You know I’m barely there anyway.” He shrugged, trying to appear unfazed.
Seb turned his eyes to mine. He was as pragmatic as I was. A risk assessor with a logical mind so I knew he would be studying me for any sign of discomfort. “How do you feel about that?” He asked, confirming my assessment of his scrunched brows.
“It makes sense,” I offered. “I told him I wanted to see his kitchen before I agreed though, because if I can’t bake then I’d rather commute each day.” Seb nodded with a small smile, but didn’t offer more so I continued.
“But otherwise, it would be nice to have my weekends back. Your mate—” I flicked my thumb towards Cooper “—Is paying me a lot more than I was earning and I’m grateful to be able to work for someone I know. Some of my friends have had awful experiences with gross supervisors and some of my previous employers were jerks.” I admitted, not wanting to work for someone who was going to take advantage of me.
“You could stay here in the spare room though,” Seb offered but Marlee cut him off.
“No, she can’t.” He swung his face towards her, confusion marring his features. “I’m turning that room into a Pilates studio.” She explained with a grimace, as if she weren’t fabricating a ridiculous lie to make me stay with the man sitting beside me.
“You hate Pilates,” Seb stated, and Marlee leaned over and whispered in his ear. Whatever she said, caused him to choke on his own saliva, before she kissed him on the cheek and shrugged in my direction apologetically.
“Guess you have to stay with Coop,” Marls added, and I wanted to strangle her, and couldn’t believe Seb wasn’t seeingstraight through the manipulation. If it wasn’t my idiot brother I would have admired her work, but nope - just nope.
“It’s fine, she needs to stay with me actually.” Coop grimaced, causing Seb’s frown to deepen.
“Why does sheneedto stay?” Seb asked and Cooper glanced down at his hands before exhaling. It was clear he was dreading this part, and his hesitation only made my patience decrease. When he still hadn’t replied, I rolled my eyes before jumping in for him.
“Because for the next four months I’m also going to be his fiancée,” I said, clapping in faux excitement before adding, “Surprise!”
“Thanks, Evy,” he mumbled, and I grinned unapologetically.
“Sorry, must be akidthing,” I said to Cooper as I batted my eyelids and wished I could stick my tongue out at him.
“This is the best family dinner we’ve ever had,” Marlee whispered, reaching for her wine and leaning back in her seat.
“What the fuck?” My brother asked with clear confusion.
“I need to get my folks off my back, bro.” Coop explained. “They’re merciless now. Your sister agreed to go along with it, just until after their charity ball. It made sense to tell everyone we were engaged so there was no chance they’d find out otherwise.”
“But why engaged? And why Evangeline?” He sounded genuinely puzzled as he asked questions I too wanted to hear the answers to.
