News flash—I was a Charlie. I was going to act like a Charlie.
Which meant Daniel didn’t have a chance. He never should have had a shot even if I acted like a typical McAllister, but then that was the whole crux of the problem.
I tried. I really did. There was a time I wore dresses, hung out with the “right” kids, and made sure I got straight A’s. And at the end of the day, none of it mattered. Eventually my need to stand up for myself would come out in a rush of scathing words and it would erase everything I’d done to earn her pride.
Well, silence had never been my style. Not really. I could bite my tongue for a limited amount of time before someone inevitably flipped the switch and activated my smart mouth. If there wasn’t a way to contain it entirely, why bother trying to contain it at all?
Charlie logic. You’re welcome.
She draped her arms daintily around my shoulders and bathed me in a cloud of Chanel No. 5. while giving me a quick air-kiss next to my cheek.
For a moment, I considered wrapping my arms around her the way I used to. A real hug like when I was a kid, before I realized it was possible to have the physical presence of two parents yet feel like an orphan.
“You’re looking lovely, dear. A little puffy, but we’ve got a few days to work on that.”
She whispered the barbs in a way no one else would hear them, but with a few sips of wine, and a group of people to cover her snide remarks with laughs, she’d get bolder. They’d become more frequent in the past few years as I pulled further away from the family and turned more and more into a person she just didn’t understand.
One she had no hope of controlling.
Normally, I’d say something; after all, I’m not going to make it easy for her to throw digs my way. If she wanted to go there, she’d have to work for it by taking a few grenades of her own. But this time I had Saint Nick on my side, so maybe I could let it roll off until the buzz of our “new relationship” gave her a dopamine hit strong enough it knocked the subtle and not so subtle digs clean out of her.
I will not kill her. I will not kill her. I will not kill her.“Gee, looking forward to it.”
Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Don’t be smart, dear. It’s unbecoming of a young lady.”
“Too bad you didn’t raise one.”
Her mouth pinched with disapproval before she plastered on a glowing smile for Nick.
“Nicholas, sweetheart, it’s so good to see you.” She took his hands in her own and beamed up at him. “Aren’t you just as handsome as ever.”
Fuck yeah, this was going to work wonders on the stick up her ass.
He leaned in, towering over us both by at least a foot, and kissed my mother on the cheek. “You look just gorgeous, Mrs. McAllister. I love the new haircut.”
See? Smooth fucker. He did everything with ease and was just naturally good at all the things. He hadn’t seen her in months. And now he was the new hairstyle spotter? The shit.
And they weren’t just words. The sleek bob was new and until he mentioned it, I hadn’t noticed.
I wanted to be mad, but he made eye contact with me over her shoulder and winked. For a second, the sting from her insult faded.
We were in this together. At least for the next five days—oh, excuse me, five nights and six days. I bet if I asked him, he’d know the predetermined length of our fake relationship in hours and minutes. He was a numbers guy after all.
“Nicholas! Just look at you.” Mrs. McAdams swooped in and curled into Nick’s chest. Mothers and sons. They were so weird.
I wouldn’t call Nick a mama’s boy. I remembered a few decent meals he cooked on the grill, and I’d seen him handle laundry so it wasn’t like he was waiting for someone to take care of him.
But moms… they just loved doting on their little boys. My mother did it with Chance while Eve and I navigated minefields. And I’d definitely seen Mrs. McAdams do it with Nick over the course of our lives.
I rolled my eyes and at about the point my gaze reached two o’clock, my eyes locked on the asshat from hell—a total waste of perfectly good air, Daniel Sloan.
Daniel’s expression slid from blasé to smug satisfaction, like he was such a fucking catch and how lucky was I that he’d shower me with his attention, especially on the single biggest holiday of the year.
Santa and his fucking lumps of coal.
And from the cocky determination on his face, the man whore had probably rewritten our history and cast himself as some sort of paragon of virtue. The selfless savior who swooped in to make the McAllister fuckup look good. The problem with Daniel, when he set up a lie, he ran it through his head so many times he started to believe it himself. Going toe to toe with him and battling it out was a complete waste of energy and would only result in tearing your hair out in frustration.
I loved a good battle, but Daniel had never been worth it. He’d been a walking red flag from day one. He hated animals, thought kids should be seen and not heard, and treated the doorman, a charming, stooped man of almost eighty named Mr. Barnes, like absolute shit.
