Page 47 of Fake it With Me

Eventually, the whales moved on, heading north to wherever their internal compasses were directing them. We watched until they were too far away to see clearly and the ocean was empty again.

Liza finally lowered her camera and turned to me. Her eyes were bright, her cheeks flushed with excitement and wind and joy.

“Thank you,” she said. “That was… I don’t even have words. That was one of the best experiences of my life.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Most of my research is done from shore, looking at data other people collected, analyzing patterns from a distance. I almost never get to see them like this, up close and in their natural habitat.” She shook her head, still smiling. “I’m touched that you thought to do this. I love that you support what I do enough to go to all this trouble.”

“It wasn’t trouble.”

“It was really thoughtful. Thank you.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I said.

“Enjoyed it? I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life.” She glanced at Daisie, who was still scanning the water hopefully. “You made your daughter’s day too. Did you see her face when that whale breached?”

“I did.”

“You’re really good at this, you know. At being a dad. At knowing what will make people happy and then doing it.”

“I just wanted to make up for last night.”

“Stop,” she interrupted. “Stop doing that. Stop deflecting every time someone tells you you’re doing something right. You planned this because you’re thoughtful and kind and you pay attention to what matters to people. Own it.”

“Okay,” I said. “I planned this because I wanted to make you happy. You deserve good things, Liza, and I wanted to give you at least one of them.”

She licked her lips. My eyes immediately dropped to her mouth. I had a feeling we were both thinking the same thing.

“Can we have lunch now?” Daisie asked, oblivious to the moment she had just interrupted. “I’m starving and the whales are gone anyway.”

Liza laughed. “Yes. Let’s definitely have lunch. I’m starving too.”

As we headed below deck where the crew had prepared food, Liza caught my hand for just a second, squeezed it, then let go.

“Thank you,” she said again. “For all of this.”

“You’re welcome.”

17

LIZA

Daisie had crashed hard after lunch, the combination of early morning excitement and fresh ocean air doing what it always did to kids. She was curled up in the lounge below deck, watching some animated movie about talking animals. Her eyelids were already drooping despite her insistence that she wasn’t tired.

Darek was up above talking with the captain. It made me feel good that he was comfortable leaving me with her. Almost like we were really a family. I didn’t forget the rules, though. Don’t get too close.

I left her there with one of the crew members keeping an eye on her and made my way up to the sun deck. The afternoon sun was warm but not oppressive. The yacht was moving at a gentle drift. We weren’t heading back yet. Darek had said something about wanting to stay out here for a while, let Daisie enjoy the water, make a full day of it.

That was perfectly okay with me.

I found one of the lounge chairs positioned perfectly to catch the sun and settled into it, closing my eyes and just breathing. The ocean air and the gentle rocking of the boat were perfect. More than perfect. I felt at peace. I loved the ocean.

After a minute, I sat up and pulled off my cover-up, stripping down to just the bathing suit I’d chosen that morning. The sun felt amazing on my skin. I stretched out on the lounger with a content sigh.

This was the life. This right here. I could get used to being with a rich guy if this was one of the perks. Not to mention the beautiful home with the refrigerator always full and the pantry stocked with name-brand everything.

I let my mind wander, thinking about the whales we’d seen and Daisie’s pure joy at seeing them. I couldn’t believe Darek had planned the entire day just to make me happy.