Page 70 of The Fiancé Hoax

She sniffed. “That's ridiculous. I'm their mother, and they deserve to be with me.”

I shook my head. This wasn’t the first time she’d refused my offer to pay her off. She wanted ongoing income, and she wouldn't drop the charade.

The classroom door opened, and some of the other parents began to walk out, hurrying toward the parking lot so they could get to work.

Gen leveled me with one final glare. “See you in court.”

She stalked off, and my shoulders slumped.

Gen had played dirty as long as I'd known her. It was a shame her pride had to get in the way now when she could just take the money and be done with it.

I looked up as Felicity walked out of the classroom and stood beside me with a concerned look on her face.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“It is now that Gen left.” I smiled. “Are you okay?”

Her face brightened. “I'm amazing.” She lifted the collage Lily made for her. “I get to keep this.”

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close as we looked at the picture together.

“Thank you for being here for Lily.”

She looked up at me. “Of course. I wouldn't have missed it. I'm sorry if I caused trouble with you and Gen.”

“That trouble has been here for a long time. You had nothing to do with it.” I smiled. “It meant a lot to Lily that you came.”

She looked at the picture again. “You know, I never thought of myself as overly maternal. But now, with Eva and Lily, I'm starting to think…” Her voice trailed off.

She blinked at me, and her eyes grew watery.

“Are you okay, Felicity?”

She nodded, looking down. “I'm fine. I… I'm being silly, I guess. I should get to work,” she said hastily, digging in her purse for something. “It's time to open the shop. That LA Now writer is supposed to show up later.”

I took her hand in mine. “Good luck today. See you at home this evening?”

She smiled and gave my hand a squeeze. “Absolutely.”

I watched as she walked down the hallway, that goofy grin back on my face again. As I headed toward Eva's classroom, I couldn't help but notice the hope welling up inside me.

Maybe Felicity would find a reason to make our relationship real.

I froze in the middle of the hall. Realization dawned on me.

That was exactly what I wanted. To make things with Felicity real.

I didn’t just want sex. I wanted to be with her.

The thought felt good. No, more than that—it felt right. Like the way things were supposed to be.

But there was another part of me that rebelled against that feeling.

How could I go with what felt good? How could I trust my instincts?

Once upon a time, in the early days with Gen, that had felt right, too.

I shook my head and began to walk toward Eva's class.