Faking Ms. Right (Dirty Martini Running Club #1) - Claire Kingsley Page 0,17

choke on the bubbly I’d almost spit all over him. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Calloway.”

“Please, call me Richard. And this is my lovely date, Svetlana,” he said. “I’m thrilled to meet you. It’s about time Shep was serious enough about a girl to introduce her to his father.”

Shep? And Svetlana was his dad’s date? Suddenly everything became clear; I realized exactly why he’d demanded I come. I sincerely hoped his dad wasn’t aware that his son had recently been dating the harpy currently perched on his arm. Because that was just creepy.

Regardless, my boss needed me to put on a little show, and I had a feeling it was more for Svetlana than for his dad. The hostility in her eyes was fierce. If looks could kill, I’d have been dead on the floor already.

This was going to be fun.

“Richard, I’m so happy to meet you, too,” I said. “I’ve been telling Shep he needs to introduce me already. After all, has he been hiding me from you, or the other way around?”

“My thoughts exactly,” Richard said with a laugh. “Although I can see why he kept you a secret. I’d want to keep a beautiful woman like you all to myself as well.”

I smiled and scrunched my shoulders a little. “You are the sweetest. I can see where Shep gets it.” I gave Shepherd an obvious wink.

“So, tell me, how did you meet my son?” Richard asked.

“We work together,” I said, and Richard’s eyes widened slightly. That surprised him. “I know, it’s usually a terrible idea to date a coworker. But sometimes these things are beyond our control. You work closely with someone for a long time, and feelings start developing before you even realize it’s happening. Then one day it all comes out. Once that happens, there’s no going back.”

“I like her,” Richard said to Shepherd. “A lot. Keep this one.”

Svetlana was silent, still trying to murder me with her dagger-eyes.

I ran my hand down Shepherd’s arm and clasped his hand, twining our fingers together. “Don’t worry. He won’t be able to get rid of me so easily.”

Shepherd cleared his throat and for a second, I thought maybe I’d gone too far with the hand-holding. But he squeezed my hand and turned to look me in the eyes. “But why would I want to?”

My lips parted. He held my gaze, his blue eyes freezing me in place. “Why, indeed?”

Richard smiled. “I think they need me on stage in a minute or two. Everly, so happy to meet you.”

“You, too.”

Richard hadn’t seemed to notice Svetlana’s silence. I was surprised she wasn’t digging her fingernails into his arm. But he walked away with her as if nothing was amiss. As if he’d just had a pleasant interaction with his son and his girlfriend, nothing more.

Shepherd let out a breath and released my hand.

“Well, that was interesting,” I said. “Any more family members lurking? Should I be prepared to meet your grandma too?”

He shot me a glare. “No. Just him.”

“He was with—”

“I know,” he snapped. “Believe me, I know.”

He put his hand on my back again and led me to the bar. He ordered a Manhattan and glanced at me, his eyebrows raised.

“Same for me,” I said.

“And she drinks whiskey? Interesting.”

“It’s a classic.”

We waited a few minutes while the bartender mixed our drinks. Shepherd handed the first one to me, then took a long swallow of his. We wandered away from the bar to a tall table near the edge of the room.

“Are you going to tell me what that was about?” I asked. “What is she doing with your dad?”

Shepherd took another drink and cleared his throat. “My dad doesn’t know.”

“I kind of guessed that. She’s obviously doing it on purpose, though, right?”

“Clearly.”

“Do you know how they met?” It was so odd to be having such an in-depth conversation with him. I was having a hard time not zoning out, watching his lips move. They were very nice lips.

Focus, Everly.

“My dad owns the resort I sent her to. Apparently he decided to take an impromptu trip to figure some things out, whatever that means. He met her there.”

“Why on earth didn’t you pull him aside and tell him?”

He shook his head. “Not here. Not in public. My dad is… sensitive.”

I laughed, and Shepherd shot me a glare. “Sensitive? Really?”

“Yes, sensitive. This is going to be hard for him to take. He’s going to feel very violated and he’ll need time to process it. In private. Plus, he’s