Page 49 of The Fiancé Hoax

“Well, not everyone is you, Marsh. Investing in businesses is my business. It’s what I do. I don’t tell you how to run your law firm, do I?”

Marsh tightened his jaw. I had him there.

“The forecast for high-end boutique clothing is good. Market shares are expected to increase rapidly in the next ten years,” I said. “And your daughter’s talented, Marsh. It would be stupid for me not to invest in Moonstone.”

Marsh paused, then looked at me. “Well, I guess I can’t force you to do the right thing, Cooper.”

My gut twisted. “The right thing?”

“Let her go it alone.”

I chuckled. “No, you’re right. This one’s out of your reach. You can’t control everything, Marsh.”

We were both quiet for a while. Finally, he drained his glass and stood up. “I’ll talk to you later, Cooper.”

I exhaled. He was leaving, and I was relieved he hadn’t again questioned me about sleeping with his daughter.

I followed him out of the study, my whiskey glass in my hand. Felicity’s voice wafted into the foyer from the living room.

“All right, Marsh,” I said, hoping to usher him out the door.

But Marsh turned and walked to the living room. Damn.

I was on his heels as he entered the space. Felicity and the girls were seated on the floor around the coffee table, coloring in notebooks and chatting happily.

“I thought I told you girls to go upstairs,” I said.

Eva looked up. “It’s too early for bed, Daddy. We were bored.”

Marsh cleared his throat. “Felicity, do you need a ride home?”

Felicity straightened. “Um, no, thanks. I’ll order a ride later.”

My throat tightened as Marsh paused, taking in the scene one last time. God, he surely knew what was going on. He was drawing it out just to torture me.

“All right, then. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Dad,” Felicity said with a smile.

Marsh gave me a nod and trudged toward the front door. I heard Monica shut the door behind him.

With a heaving sigh, I plopped on the sofa.

Felicity looked up at me. She was clearly on edge, too. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine.” I peered at the girls’ work. “What are you drawing?”

“Clothes!” Eva held up her notebook to reveal a sketch of a girl wearing a long, yellow coat.

With Felicity’s help, Lily was working on a drawing of a purple dress.

“Hey, that’s pretty good,” I said. “I didn’t know you two could draw like that.”

“Felicity’s teaching us,” Lily said.

“Yeah, it’s really fun.” Eva bent back over her notebook to color furiously.

Lily nodded in agreement as she concentrated on her work.