An offer to good to refuse

"We'll be right behind you, Mom," Marcus said.

His mother gave us one last lingering look, then adjusted her silk shawl, and stepped back inside the hall.

The second the doors closed, I yanked my hand out of his.

"Are you insane?" I yelled, stepping back. "Fiancée? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Marcus didn’t even look apologetic. He just loosened his tie a bit, looking at me with an irritated expression.

"You're late. You didn't answer your phone, and right now, I don't have the patience for a performance. We need to go back in there."

"A performance?" I stared at him in annoyance. "I don't know who you are, and I don't know what you're talking about."

Marcus adjusted his cuffs, his dark eyes locking onto mine. "Look, I paid premium for a professional. Did you not read the contract Lauren sent over? Or did you just skip the part where it clearly stated you're playing my fiancée for the family?"

"Contract?" I asked. "What contract are you talking about? I didn't sign anything. I don't know anyone named Lauren, and I don't work for an agency."

Marcus froze. He stepped closer, studying my face, trying to find out if I was lying.

"What do you mean you didn't sign it? A signed contract was sent back to my office. And you fit the description Lauren gave me. She said your real name was Hannah, so I assumed 'Lena' was the name you'd be using in front of my family.”

"I don't know your fiancée, my name is Lena," I snapped. "I'm a guest here. Well, a guest of a guest. I'm Elizabeth Miller's friend. I came out here because I needed some air, not because I was waiting for a stranger to drag me into a lie."

Silence stretched between us. The look in Marcus’s eyes shifted as the reality of his mistake finally sank in. He reached into his jacket, pulled out his phone, and typed something rapidly.

"Damn it, Lauren," he muttered under his breath, as he shoved the phone back into his pocket. "She just received the message. Hannah backed out a few hours ago, something came up. She never even made it to the estate."

"Great. So it's a mistake," I said. "You can go back in there and tell your mother you got the wrong girl."

"I can't do that." He responded. "I just introduced you to my mother. If I go back in there and tell her I grabbed a random guest because I hired a fake fiancée to get them off my back, it would cause a scene and expose the lie."

"Honestly? That sounds like your problem, and not mine." I responded, turning to walk toward the side stairs that led back to the guest wing. Thankfully, I hadn't unpacked yet. I was going to take the first flight out of here tomorrow morning, go back to New York, and figure out how to piece my life back together without Liam.

"Wait," Marcus said.

I stopped, looking back over my shoulder. He wasn't looking at me with annoyance anymore, he was looking at me like a problem he was trying to solve.

"You said you're Liz's guest? So that means you're already staying here in the guest suites?"

"Yes," I answered warily.

He nodded slowly. "That actually works. We just need to adjust the story of how we met. Two years ago, I was in New York on a business trip. While I was there, Liz came for a visit and brought her friend, Lena, along. We got to talking, and we started dating. I recently proposed to you, so now you're my fiancée."

I stared at him. "Look, I don't think you understood what I said before. Whatever you're hiding from your parents, or whatever lie you told them, is none of my business. I don't want to get involved, you can contact someone else to play your fiancée."

I turned and began going down the steps.

"I'll pay you," Marcus called out. "Your services won't be free."

"I don't need your money," I replied.

"Maybe not,” he said. “But I don't think you're in a position to reject it either.”

I frowned.

“Two days ago, I overheard Liz on the phone with my sister," he continued. "She was talking about a friend who was accompanying her to the estate. She said her friend just recently graduated and was searching for a job because she couldn't afford to keep working shifts at a diner. Liz asked Eleanor if there were any openings at the company that matched her qualifications, she wanted to surprise her with it when they got here. So if you're Liz's guest I'm assuming you're the friend she was talking about.”

I stood still, unable to believe my ears. Liz was trying to get me a job, that's why she insisted I came along with her.

I'm not trying to insult you," Marcus said. "I just happened to remember the conversation.”

“I want to strike a deal,” he continued. “If you agree to help me, I’ll secure a job for you at the company, and pay you separately for your time.”

I desperately needed the money. This was the exact kind of financial miracle I had spent the last four years praying for while exhausting myself to the bone.

But it came at a cost. If I accepted, I had to stay under this roof. I would be forced to watch the boy I loved, the boy who had promised me a future, marry someone else.

"We just need to go back inside together for ten minutes to keep up appearances," Marcus pressed, noticing my hesitation. "Then you can go back to your room. Tomorrow morning, we can properly discuss the terms of the agreement.”

I forced myself to turn around and face him. "Even if I agreed to this, you just told your mother I drove here from the city. If I'm Liz's guest, wouldn't I have just come with her?"

"You didn't come with Liz because you arrived a few days early to visit a family member who lives in the city," Marcus answered smoothly. "You just arrived and would be moving into the guest suite with Liz. I haven't told my family anything about my fiancée yet, so they have no reason to doubt it."

"And what about Liz?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Liz knows me. She knows I'm definitely not your fiancée. What do you intend to do about her?"

"You can tell her the truth when you get back to your room tonight," Marcus replied. "She's your best friend, and she's my cousin. She'll play along.”

He looked down at his watch again. They're waiting for us inside," Marcus said, extending his arm slightly for me to take. "Are you coming?”