“You said that already,” she chuckles, and it’s like a little bell trilling. My feet take a few steps toward her on their own volition.
“Yeah, I guess I did.”
“Okay, Owen, it’s nice to officially meet you.” She turns back toward her door.
“Who were you talking to?” I’m not sure why I ask, but she looked upset.
Liv bites her lip, and I have to fight the urge to reach out and free it with my thumb. “My mother.”
“Ahh, I get it,” I say. “I have one of those, too.”
“The kind who’s always meddling in your life and trying to set you up with your dad’s business partner’s son to secure their seafood empire legacy?” Liv says with a heavy exhale.
“Well,” I chuckle slightly, “Not exactly, but my mother and two older sisters enjoy sticking their noses into my business like it’s their job. But it’s because they love us, right?”
She just huffs.
“So, this seafood heir…” I ask. “Is your fiancé?” And I don’t know why my heart pinches a little.
“No, I think I meant you actually,” she winces. “Sorry. My mom wants me to go to this stupid gala, and I just wanted her to back off, and I was surprised to see you in the lobby, and last night you pretended to be my husband to get that guy to leave me alone and…” She takes a big inhale. “I just blurted out that you were my fiancé.”
“Me?” I ask, surprised, but the word “fiancé” on her lips sends an embarrassing jolt to my groin.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to drag you into my family drama.” She scrunches her nose in a way that is wildly adorable, and I wonder if that’s where my involuntary Button nickname came from.
“I’ll go.”
“What?”
“I’ll go,” I shift towards her. “You told your mother you were bringing your fiancé, and I’m free tonight, so I’ll go.”
“No,” she says. “I don’t even know you, and I wouldn’t subject my worst enemy to an evening with my mother, much less a stranger.”
The door behind her opens, and a petite blonde, sporting a sky-high ponytail and oversized headphones, skips into the lobby. “Hey, Lollipop, I’m going to pick up the boys. I’ll see you later.” She spots me standing just a few feet from her friend, and a wide smile spreads across her face. “Heeeyyy,” she says, “Who’s this?”
“Andy, this is Owen. He’s visiting that guy upstairs. Owen, this is my roommate, Andy.”
“The old guy or the recluse?” Andy whispers to Liv, but she’s loud enough for me to hear.
“The recluse,” she whispers back, and I can’t help but laugh. I’m going to give Eli so much shit later when I tell him the other people in his building think he’s a shut-in.
Andy nods, as if that explains something, before digging a pink lip gloss out of her pocket and smearing it on her lips. “Well, he’s cute,” she says matter-of-factly before bounding out the door.
I watch her roommate exit the building. When I turn back, Liv is watching me.
“Why would you offer to go to the gala with me tonight? Is this some ploy to get in my pants?”
“What!” My voice clicks up an octave, and I can tell by the heat spreading across my collar and the smirk on Liv’s face that my face has turned beet red. “Not at all! I just…” I shrug, “…wanted to help.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. My parents always taught us that if someone needs something and you can help, you do. You need a date, and…I’m available.”
“Your girlfriend won’t mind?”
“No girlfriend to mind.”
Liv sighs again. “Fine, you’re right. I don’t want to face my mother alone tonight. Maybe a fake fiancé buys me enough time to survive this launch at work, and in a few weeks, I can tell her we broke up. One more way I can disappoint her.”
