Marrying My Fake Boyfriend

Chapter 4

“So, how did you two meet?” Logan waved his fork to reiterate. “I mean recently. You said you met again a year ago?”

Brad gritted his teeth. He had already said several times how they had met during the meal, but Logan was intent on asking the same thing over and over again. It was like he was looking for the lie in their story.

Cherrelle didn’t bat an eyelid.

“We met in a pool hall, Pa,” she said calmly. “I have a regular game with a group of friends from university. We’ve been doing it for years.”

And, like the other times before, Logan showed his disapproval. “That’s got to stop, for a start. You never know what you’ll find in pool halls.”

Cherrelle and Brad exchanged glances. While things seemed to be going well, they had to be on their toes. Logan was diligent in asking the same questions to trip them up and Emily, although polite and seemingly bored with the entire conversation, was listening intently. Brad could see it behind her eyes; she was paying close attention to their answers.

Serena, on the other hand, wasn’t listening too intently. When they had gone into the dining room for lunch, the little chit had managed to snag the seat next to Brad, forcing Cherrelle to sit opposite. Now, she seemed more interested in rubbing her bare foot against Brad’s leg. It had started as simple touching, but now she was rubbing it blatantly against his calf, getting higher and higher as the meal went on.

It wasn’t comfortable for Brad, who kept trying to shift away or push her foot away, but Serena didn’t take the hint. Her foot was as high as his knee. How her parents hadn’t noticed that she was sitting in a kneeling position on her chair with her foot virtually in his lap, he had no idea. Cherrelle had noticed and she wasn’t happy, but she kept a smile plastered on her face.

This was going to be tougher than Brad realized.

“Well, anyway,” Cherrelle went on. “Brad was a surprise guest last year and…well, there was a spark. We got talking and things went from there.”

She sent a grin and a wink to Brad, who winked back. They hadn’t gone over the exact details, but they were managing to play off each other. The story sounded incredibly plausible. At least, it did to Brad.

“I take it you don’t live too far away, Brad?” Emily asked as she sipped her wine.

“I live on the far side of Fort Worth.”

“Interesting.” Emily’s expression was bored, but Brad could tell she was intent to sniffing out anything suspicious. The woman was as devious as her husband. “I wonder why you two didn’t connect before.”

Brad shrugged. “I was always traveling with my architect job. Then when I took over the car business, I was so focused on working there I barely had a social life. That was why I agreed to join in with Cherrelle’s friends so I could actually have a life outside of work.”

“Work,” Serena scoffed. “It’s so boring.”

Brad frowned at her. “You’re not even out of high school, are you?”

Serena gave him a saucy smile. “Another month until graduation. Then lots of sun and sea for me.”

Her foot was getting even higher, running across the top of his thigh. Her knee was above the table now. Brad was sure someone would notice, but when he looked at the parents they seemed oblivious. They couldn’t be setting him up, surely?

There was a sudden clang and Cherrelle gasped. “Oh, dear, my fork’s on the floor.”

“Let Madge get that later,” Logan said dismissively, shoveling a hunk of beef into his mouth.

“It’s okay. I can easily get it.” Cherrelle ducked under the table and Brad heard her scrabbling around. Logan heard it as well and growled.

“What the hell are you doing under there, Cherrelle?”

“Sorry, it got away from me. Ah, here we are.”

Suddenly, Serena let out a pained squeal and the leg she had in Brad’s lap shot back to her own chair. She was rubbing at her ankle as Cherrelle climbed back into her seat. She held up the fork.

“Here we are.” Then she gave Serena an insincere smile. “Sorry, Serena, your foot must’ve got in the way.”

Serena didn’t respond; she simply rubbed at her leg and glared at Cherrelle. Brad sent Cherrelle a grateful look. Her effort to get rid of her annoying sister had worked better than his attempts to push her away.

Emily didn’t seem to notice the interaction. She nibbled on her bread roll. “So, when’s the wedding?” she asked suddenly.

Brad glanced at Cherrelle. This was the part they hadn’t agreed on. Cherrelle looked just as worried. Brad spoke first.

“I only proposed to her last month, Mrs Mason,” he said calmly. “We’re still going through the preliminaries. There’s a lot to organize, you know.”

“Not that much. I can help, if you like.” Emily’s eyes glinted. “I’m good at organizing.”

“So am I,” Serena piped up eagerly.

“You’re good at something, but I’m not going to say it out loud,” Cherrelle muttered.

Logan frowned at her.

“Don’t be unkind to your sister, Cherrelle,” he scolded.

Cherrelle scowled but didn’t respond. Brad felt sorry for her. He was glad his father had never been like this and that he got away from his stepfather when he did.

“We’ll marry when we’re ready,” he said hurriedly. “With our schedules, it’ll be hard work arranging but we’ll get there.”

“When?” Logan demanded.

So, they weren’t going to be let off the hook that easily. This time Cherrelle piped up.

“We’ve got an initial date of around Christmas,” she said confidently.

“A white wedding.” Emily exchanged looks with Logan. “How beautiful.”

Brad glanced at Cherrelle, who smiled sweetly at him. “Anything for my girl,” he murmured.

*****

The rest of the visit passed quickly, although Cherrelle kept looking at the clock to see when would be the most convenient time to leave. Her parents were intent on grilling her and while she wanted to get away from their constant questions about her relationship with Brad, she didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of letting them know their questions made her nervous. Hurrying off would signify that she had something to hide.

Brad took things in his stride. He batted away Logan’s questionings without blinking and praised Emily enough that Cherrelle saw her softening somewhat. Serena was still a problem, however, sitting very close to him after dinner but Brad, ever the gentleman, politely told her to move away. Serena didn’t, so Brad did, sitting on the other side of Cherrelle on the couch. Serena didn’t give up, though, following him around the room and sitting very close to him. Cherrelle had no idea what Serena was up to but was sure her father was behind it. She wouldn’t put it past him to see if Brad would snap and stray.

But she was happy with how things had gone. Brad had appeared to be warm and affectionate to her and didn’t seem fazed by Logan or Emily, only by Serena.