Page 107 of The Fiancé Hoax

I nodded. “I put them down half an hour ago.”

She looked disappointed. “I keep missing their bedtime.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Do you have a few minutes? I have something to talk to you about.”

“Sure. I have something to tell you, too.”

She followed me into the living room and settled on one side of the sofa. I sat in the armchair. My tongue felt heavy in my mouth. When I didn’t say anything for a moment, she spoke up.

“Hopefully, I'll be getting home earlier from now on. I just hired my first employee today.” She beamed.

“Really? That's great.”

“Yeah. I didn't think I had the money to pay a staff, but it turns out I do. I just put the job postings up this morning, and by noon I had several qualified applicants. One was ready to interview this afternoon for a sales position, and I hired her on the spot.”

I did my best to smile. “That sounds great, Felicity. I know you could use more hands around the store.”

“I want to hire a seamstress, too. Lauren says I should hire a manager, but I’ll see how it goes.” She gathered her hair and pulled it over one shoulder. “How was your day? How are the girls?”

“They're fine. They just miss you.”

Her face dropped. “I miss them, too, Cooper. But hopefully my workload will lighten with these new employees and I'll have more time.”

My stomach tightened. She was talking like we’d be together forever.

“Felicity, the trial is only three days away.”

“I know.” She heaved a sigh. “I can't believe it's coming up so soon. What does your lawyer say?”

I shrugged. “He says to continue with the engagement. The private eye we hired hasn't dug up anything on Gen.”

She nodded, looking down at her hands. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

My throat went dry as I looked at her beautiful face.

How could I do this? I wanted to back out, reverse direction. I wanted to pull her into my arms and cuddle her forever.

I wanted to tell her I loved her.

Instead, I had to break her heart.

“Felicity, I truly appreciate all your help with the girls and the custody trial. You've gone above and beyond everything I asked of you. And you've made a difference in their lives.”

She blinked at me, uncertain of where I was going.

I drew a deep breath. Everything inside me was screaming for me to stop. But I had to continue.

“For the remaining time we have together, I think we should return to the original terms of our agreement.”

She stared at me. “What do you mean?”

“We got our feelings all mixed up in this fake engagement.” I drove a hand through my hair, looking at the carpet. “We both got confused about what was real and what was fake. We need to remember this has an end date.”

I met her eyes. They were watery, as if holding back tears.

“You mean I got confused about what was real or fake, right?” she bit out. “You knew all along that you would say goodbye to me after the trial.”

I looked away from her. That wasn't true, but I didn't deny it. It would just hurt more.