“You two look even better together in person.” She pulled out her recorder and notepad. “The photos didn’t do you justice.”
Photos? What photos? The original article hadn’t included any. I shot Kellan a panicked look, but he just smiled and pulled out a chair for Sandra.
“Coffee?” He touched the small of my back as he passed, and despite my anxiety, my skin tingled at the contact.
“Please.” Sandra’s gaze followed him to our tiny break room. She leaned closer to me, lowering her voice. “You know, when I first interviewed you, I sensed there was something special brewing. But seeing you two now?” She clasped her hands together. “Absolutely adorable. The way he looks at you…”
My cheeks burned. The worst part was, she wasn’t wrong about how Kellan looked at me. That intensity in his eyes when we were alone, the soft smile he saved just for me—it was all real now. But it hadn’t been then, when she’d first written about us.
“I mean, childhood friends to business partners to lovers?” Sandra sighed dreamily while flipping through her notes. “It’s like a romance novel come to life.”
The clinking of mugs from the break room provided a welcome distraction from my spiraling thoughts. I focused on that instead of the knot in my stomach, instead of Sandra’s knowing smile, instead of the voice in my head screaming that I didn’t deserve any of this.
“Here we go.” Kellan returned with three steaming mugs. His fingers brushed mine as he handed me my coffee—two sugars, splash of cream, exactly how I liked it. How many mornings had we shared coffee before this became real? How had I never noticed the way his touch made my pulse race?
Sandra pulled out her recorder. “Shall we begin?”
Sandra clicked her recorder on. “So, tell me about your love story. How did the engagement happen?”
My mouth went dry. But Kellan leaned forward, his easy smile never wavering.
“Actually, Tate proposed to me.” His eyes sparkled with mischief. “Sort of ambushed me right when I got off that bus.”
My cheeks burned. He wasn’t technically lying—that kiss had been my desperate move. But the way he told it made it sound romantic instead of what it really was: pure panic.
“If she hadn’t, I would have. I just couldn’t wait another minute,” he continued, reaching for my hand. “Being apart that long, you start to realize what really matters.”
Sandra clutched her chest, clearly eating up every word. “And you’d been holding these feelings in all this time?”
“Sometimes what you’re looking for is right in front of you.” Kellan’s thumb traced circles on my palm. “You just need a push to see it.”
The gentle touch sent shivers through me, just like it had last night when we’d tangled together in my bed, his lips trailing down my neck, whispering how beautiful I was. That had been real. This… this was a carefully crafted lie.
My stomach twisted as Sandra scribbled notes. She’d been nothing but kind, genuinely invested in our story. And here I sat, letting Kellan spin this fantasy version of events.
But was it really fantasy anymore? The way his hand felt in mine, how my body responded to his touch, the quiet moments we shared in the morning over coffee—all of that was true now.
“I think we both needed that push.” Kellan squeezed my fingers. “Sometimes the best things in life catch you by surprise.”
The sincerity in his voice made my heart ache. Because that part wasn’t a lie at all.
Sandra leaned forward, her recorder inching closer. “So, how did these feelings develop during the deployment? Did you exchange letters? Video calls?”
The coffee turned bitter in my mouth. We had exchanged letters and calls, sure—as friends. Nothing romantic. Nothing that hinted at more. My hands trembled around the mug.
“I...” The weight of weeks of lies pressed down on my chest. Every congratulations, every happy tear from his mother, every genuine moment we’d shared since that first desperate kiss—it all crashed over me at once. “We wrote, but?—”
Kellan’s fingers tightened around mine. A warning.
But I couldn’t stop the words bubbling up. The truth felt like acid in my throat, burning to get out. His family deserved better. Sandra deserved better. Even our clients deserved better than this carefully constructed fantasy.
My eyes burned. “Actually, we?—”
Kellan’s head snapped up, his expression urgent. He shook his head slightly, but the dam had broken.
The confession hovered on my lips. One sentence would unravel everything—the article, our reputation, this beautiful thing growing between us. But the guilt was crushing me.
“We’re not really engaged!” The words burst from me like water through a broken dam. “This was all a misunderstanding!”
