The question I've been dreading.
"Then he doesn't approve." It’s the only answer I have right now. Because I already know he won’t approve.
"It's not that simple. He's your father. Your family's legacy is everything to you."
"No. It was everything to me. Past tense." I reach across the table and take her hand. "You're what matters now. If my father can't accept that, if the Legacy Council can't accept that, if the entire Thornhill dynasty can't accept that... then they can go to hell."
"You don't mean that."
"I absolutely mean that. I've spent twenty-one years being who they wanted me to be. Saying the right things, attending the right events, making the right connections. And I was miserable. Then you came along and called me a heartless asshole, and for the first time in my life, someone saw me clearly. The real me, underneath all the Thornhill bullshit." I squeeze her hand. "I'm not giving that up. Not for my father. Not for anyone."
Her eyes are shining. Not quite tears, but close. "That's the most romantic thing anyone's ever said to me."
"It's also the truth."
"Both things can be true."
We finish dinner. Dessert, some ridiculous chocolate thing we share because Isla insists she can't eat a whole portion alone. Coffee. The check, which I handle before she can protest.
As we're leaving, I pull out my phone.
"Photo for Instagram?"
"Contract requirement," she agrees.
We pose outside the restaurant, her in her red dress, me in my suit, both of us smiling genuinely. She posts it immediately.
Caption:Date 4/5: He cleans up nice. I clean up nice. We're both trying. #ThornhillGala #Valentine #OneMoreDate
The comments start rolling in before we even get back to the car.
You two are so cute it hurts
The glow up from date 1 to date 4 is INSANE
I'm invested in this love story now
"Love story," I read over her shoulder. "Is that what this is?"
"I don't know. What would you call it?"
"Complicated. Messy. Probably doomed." I open her car door. "But also the best thing that's happened to me in years."
She slides into the seat, looking up at me with those dark eyes that see everything.
"Tomorrow's the gala. Last date. Last chance."
"I know."
"What happens after?" She asks.
"Whatever you want to happen."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer I have." I close her door and walk around to my side. When I get in, I turn to face her fully. "Tomorrow night, we fulfill the contract. We attend the gala, we smile for cameras, we play the perfect couple. And then it's over. The obligation ends. After that... I'm going to ask you for a real date. No contract, no cameras, no auction rules. Just me asking you out because I want to spend time with you."
"And if I say no?"
