Pierce snorted and then covered his mouth. “It wouldn’t be a week in Pelican Bay if I didn’t do something to make the phone tree.”
The two of them laughed at their inside joke and I stood beside my fake future husband doing the one thing he’d hired me to do—smile.
“Well, she’s gorgeous and you two make a wonderful couple. I hope you will enjoy it here in Pelican Bay,” the woman said to me as she handed the bag across the counter at the same time Pierce exchanged it for a credit card.
I nodded and dropped the bag to my side, gripping it. “Absolutely, it’s a beautiful city.” I hadn’t seen much of it, and it was different in so many ways from San Francisco. The downtown could be a picture on a postcard and the whole thing would fit in one shot.
“Good, you’ll fit in here just fine,” she said with another smile as we walked out the door of the little shop.
I’d expected jealousy at Pierce’s earlier positive comments of Anessa, and I’d had a bit of nerves as we made our way into the bakery, but right then the only emotion I experienced was… guilt. We were lying to an entire town on what I was doing here, and if I succeeded and earned the two million dollars for my project in Guatemala, it would mean I duped these people into believing I was here to stay.
Maybe Pierce was a villain after all because what man would promise so much money to a woman for her to pretend to be engaged to him? Getting the town to like me had been one of his top priorities as well during our negotiations. It was double deceiving.
And how would I survive an entire six months of lies if I already had tons of guilty after two shops?
Pierce led me onto the street and we walked a few steps where a banner for an antique store hung from the window. It wasn’t your typical junk shop or rummage place where everyone took their old junk and called them antiques. Shelves lined the shop walls and antique items were displayed prominently. Each piece more perfect than the next.
“Are we going to all the stores in town?” I asked, taking a glance on the street and the long strip of them that ran to the ocean.
Pierce ran his fingers through his gelled hair. “Yes. This is your official introduction to the town. It’s a wonderful sign we’ve already made the phone tree, but after today’s expedition we’ll make sure absolutely everyone has heard of you, even the people in Clearwater.”
The guilt bubble grew. Pierce was going to a lot of trouble to win over the hearts of the town, which already seemed to respect him.
7
Mari
The next morning came too fast. I spent most of the night tossing and turning, asking myself questions on Pierce’s motive with the city and what he planned to do to the historic bed-and-breakfast. Just as I decided it was none of my business and he could do whatever he wanted, new questions came to mind.
Questions I had no business concerning myself with asking. Questions like where had Oliver been all day? Why hadn’t he joined us downtown? And would I get the opportunity to see him soon? When?
There were also concerns on what I would do for six months while pretending to be Pierce’s fiancée. Should I pretend to plan a wedding? Spend my days lounging around the mansion doing nothing? Would he expected me to accompany him to town every day and spend more of his money as we made friends with the locals? Pierce was a man with a plan. That was easy to see, but he hadn’t seen the need to tell me said plan. I didn’t enjoy being left out of the loop.
I wandered the first floor of Pierce’s home until I heard talking coming from the kitchen, and my steps found me wandering in that direction. Pierce had set up shop at the small breakfast table surrounded by bay windows off the back into the house. It had a breathtaking view of his private beach and the ocean beyond. My eyes followed the clouds lining the sky as seagulls swooshed in and out of the water catching their morning breakfast.
The same housekeeper who led me to my room on my first day in Pelican Bay fussed over Pierce’s cup of coffee until with a single wave of his hand he shooed her away.
With a crinkle he flipped the page of his paper, drawing my attention that direction. My mouth fell open when I saw the headline and the picture they’d plastered on the front page of the Pelican Bay newspaper.
Holy shit.
“What the fuck, Pierce?” I practically fell into the chair across from him to get a better view of the image.
Pierce flipped over the top and smiled across the pages. “Oh, you saw. Magnificent picture of us.”
He distorted half the article to look at me, and I snatched the paper away from his hands, laying it flat on the table so I could read. “It’s the front page!”
The picture of us as we sat on the small bench downtown and ate our muffins graced the cover of the very front page of the local newspaper! A headline ran across the top that read,Pierce Kensington Introduces New Fiancée to Pelican Bay.They caught us at a great moment. I was sitting on the bench beside him clearly laughing at something he said. My smile was bright, but I couldn’t remember that point in our conversation.
“It’s a small town, Mari. What can I say. Our engagement is news?”
Holy fuck. I’d been in the local gossip pages more than once when I lived in San Francisco. I was even once responsible for a headline much more scandalous than this. The same article cost me everything of my life in the big city, but I’d never made the front fucking page. The. Front. Page.
Pierce at one point said he wanted the whole town to hear about our engagement, and it looked as if he’d received his wish. I wouldn’t be able to walk on the streets now without someone recognizing me.
I slumped further my chair and the housekeeper, Melissa, stood beside me, giving me a questioning expression as if she thought I should be excited with the press.
“Maybe breakfast and a few eggs will make you feel better, darling,” Pierce said as she set a plate of scrambled egg whites in front of me and then a cup filled to the brim with milky brown coffee. I trusted Pierce already communicated my preferences.
