I couldn’t believe I was even entertaining the idea of a date, real or not, with a Bailey?—
I gasped. “Your family.” The embarrassment choked me. The coolest family I knew would find out I was a popularity charity case. They’d hear about how I had to pretend to have a boyfriend while I was a full adult. “Oh my god. I can’t ask you to lie to them. That’s not very most valuable employee of me.” There were no parking spots for most pathetic employee either.
“Hey,” he said soothingly, ducking his head to catch my eye. “It’s fine. We don’t have to tell them. You’d be doing me a favor.”
I let out the most undignified snort, but unrefined was the theme of the night around Tenor. “How?”
He drummed his fingers on the countertop before answering. “It’s been a while since I’ve had a girlfriend. They think I’m hung up on my ex, and this’ll show them I’m not.”
Working over his words in my head, I couldn’t find a hole in them. Either that, or I was too relieved he was willing to go full ruse with me to look harder. “You’re willing to break the hearts of all the women patiently waiting for a date with you?”
“I can put a pause on my life of serial dates.” He smirked, but his eyes were shadowed. “You’ll be doing me a favor.”
I doubted that, but I wasn’t in a position to argue. The only other option was to tell the entire family I admired that I’d cornered their loved one into going out with me. “Okay. So we know what we’re doing.”
The flood of adrenaline that had been fueling me all night suddenly drained. I smothered a yawn with my hand. I still had to drive back to Bozeman tonight. The trip only took about forty minutes to get to my actual apartment, but it’d be close to midnight before I got home. Past my bedtime, and my emotions had been through the wringer tonight.
A lot of women my age were at clubs or even married and expecting kids. I didn’t even have a cat.
“Where do you stay when you close?” he asked.
“I commute. It’s not a long drive.”
“Every night?”
I nodded. “No big deal.”
His mouth formed a troubled line. “Why didn’t you say something? We could set you up somewhere.”
I was touched by his concern, but I squirmed under his attention. People weren’t usually concerned about me. “You don’t need to.”
“You’re my employee.”
Didn’t mean he had to worry about me. I shrugged and lifted my bourbon to my lips. He snatched the glass from my grip. “What?—”
“Not if you’re driving.”
“I’m twenty-five, Tenor. I can handle one drink before I drive.” I hadn’t planned to finish all of it, but pride was pride. My stomach growled as if to announce that I also hadn’t eaten.
“Twenty-five. Jesus,” he muttered. He dumped the bourbon down the drain.
I gasped and leaned over the counter. “That’s like thirty dollars!” And a pour was cheaper at the cocktail bar than anywhere else. I sat with a plop. “I’m not that young.”
“I’m thirty-eight, Ruby.” He pushed his hair off his face. “Thirteen years. Christ. People are going to think I’m robbing the cradle.”
“It’s not like I’m fresh out of high school. It’s not a big deal.”
“Normally, it’s not, but I haven’t...” The muscles in his jaw flexed and he looked away. Something bothered him. Something because of me.
I let out a sigh. None of this was his fault. He was allowed to have issues with it. “You shouldn’t have been dragged into any of this. I didn’t think, and I’m sorry.”
His steady gaze landed on me, the yellow flecks glinting. What was going on in that brilliant mind of his? “You can stay at Mama’s tonight, and we can get you something to eat.”
“I do not need?—”
“You’re my fake girlfriend,” he said, his tone challenging. “Isn’t that what I’d do for you?”
I snapped my mouth shut. “How far are we going with this? Staying at your mom’s seems pretty serious.”
