That leads to Angie pulling out her cell phone and googling if it’s possible for a Paybot sender to take the money back.
Angie looks up at me. “Looks like he can’t take the money back, Kaylee. Unless you send it back to him, it’s yours.” She puts her phone back down on the table.
Abigail shakes her head, waves, and then wanders off to check on her other customers.
Fi stares at me like she’s figuring out a riddle. “Hey, wait. You were late getting here tonight. Were you two having sex?”
“No! We’re not doing that anymore. Not since we made this agreement.” I decide not to tell them that we almost did it earlier. I feel my cheeks heat and decide it’s probably best if I change the subject. “My mom called. Chase talked to her. He was really sweet, actually. And then she wanted a selfie, so Chase and I went out on the balcony.”
Fi and Angie look like they’re going to burst from the excitement. “What?” I ask.
Angie goes first. “He talked to your mom? What kind of fake engagement is that?”
Fi ignores Angie and me and grabs my phone. “Forget talking to the parents, I want to see the pictures.”
“No!” I whisper-shout. But it’s too late.
Angie and Fi are hovering over my phone flipping through the pics.
“Oh my,” Fi says, “these are so adorable. How in the hell did he get you to smile without looking like you had a gun to your head?”
Angie frowns. “What kind of fake engagement is this? Because this beats four out of the last five actual boyfriends I’ve had. And he’s Chase Covington, serial dater. According to the tabloids, he’ll never settle down. But you two look like the real deal.”
“I don’t know about all of those stories. But he’s actually kind of sweet.”
Fi frowns. “Kaylee, do you like this guy?”
“Hey, it’s just a selfie,” I lie. I have to. I can’t admit to myself or to them that I’m starting to have feelings for him.
That’s when something dawns on Fi. “Oh yeah, can you imagine what these guys would do if they realized that you were the real fake fiancé? I eavesdropped on their conversations earlier and they’re in a photographer feeding frenzy. Somebody put out a bounty. Photographers who get high enough quality digital photos of you two get fifty thousand dollars. I just didn’t know at the time that it was you they were hunting”
“Shh…” I hiss.
Fi covers her mouth. “You’re right. Sorry. But this is all so exciting.” She studies my face then she frowns. “Hey, why aren’t you excited?”
I run my hand through my hair. “It’s all so complicated now.”
“How?” Angie asks. “You already have the money, and in a few days he’ll be out of your hair. If you ask me, that’s the best weekend fling I’ve ever heard of.”
Fi elbows Angie. “Tell us what’s wrong, Kaylee.”
A waiter comes back and sets down another tray of Mai Tais. I wait for him to leave and then take a sip. “No, Angie’s right. This should be really easy. All I have to do is take a few days off work to live my best tourist beach life and then I can concentrate on Scrumptious Chocolate again.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Fi says. We all raise our glasses and clink them together. Then we drink. For the first time all day, my life feels semi-normal.
Fi breaks the silence after looking at her phone again. “He’s so sexy. Tell us, girl to girls, what’s he like?”
“Oh yes, dish,” Angie says. She closes her eyes, then scrunches up her face and waggles her head back and forth while she does an imitation of what I can only guess is a combination of Monty Python and the Monopoly Guy. I swear, I can even half imagine her with a monocle. “Is he all oh yes, please do, that is the stuff that I like old chap?”
“Yes,” I deadpan, “he calls me old chap in bed.”
That brings another round of laughter. This time, it’s raucous, loud, boozy, and takes a while to subside. It feels comfortable. I just need a little while of this. It feels so good to finally have everything out in the open. I don’t like secrets and I’m an awful liar, so none of this situation is in my wheelhouse.
After a little while more of small talk, Fi turns serious. “What can we do, Kaylee? To help.”
I finish off my drink. “Just keep my secret. We have to convince his board of directors or whoever they are that we’re a couple by Sunday or he won’t be CEO.”
“How are you going to do that? Do they want to watch you two do it or something?” Fi asks. “Because that’s just creepy.”
I force myself not to laugh. “No, you’re right, that would be uber creepy and weird. Believe it or not, his plan to convince the board is to go house hunting tomorrow.”
“No way,” Angie says.
“Yup. First thing tomorrow I’ll be looking at beach front estates. I guess. He’s in charge of all of that.”
That brings a new squeal. “It’s just like lifestyles of the rich and famous!” Fi says. “That sounds like so much fun.”
“More like lifestyles of the fake and broke on my end,” I answer.
“Not anymore, girl,” Angie corrects. “Between the ring and the bank account, you’re pretty much set for now.”
“Well, broke has been my financial situation most of my life. So fake looking at beachfront real estate with my fake fiancé just feels wrong.”
Angie grins. “Either way, I want details tomorrow, Kaylee.”
“And text us lots of pictures,” Fi jumps in.
“Will do,” I say, getting up. “I gotta get going. Early morning.”
Then I get the group hug that I so desperately need. It helps. It’s only on the way back to Chase’s suite that I realize I have had a little bit more alcohol tonight than I usually do. I’m just so relived to finally get everything off my
