My Fake Christmas Fiance (Kane Christmas #1) - Julie Kriss Page 0,19

kids.”

“Oh.” I was relieved. “So he’s your friend, too. That’s nice.”

Sophie bit her lip, and for a second all of the attitude left her expression. She almost looked…unsure. I suddenly wondered if Sam was handsome. From the look on Sophie’s face, I thought maybe he was. But I was the outsider here, so I didn’t ask.

“Anyway, Wes just let me sleep last night,” I said. “We didn’t go for dinner.”

“I don’t eat out much,” Sophie admitted. “Wes knows all of the good places, not me.”

Because Wes had taken a lot of women on dates. Right.

We pulled into the main lot of the Kane building, and to my surprise Sophie stopped the Jeep willy-nilly, putting it in Park and turning to me. “Look, Penelope, we need to get something straight.”

“Oh,” I said, putting my coffee down and preparing for some kind of attack. “What is it?”

“When Wes first told me he was engaged to you, I thought it was some kind of lie,” Sophie said. “I know my brother. He’s never once said that he wanted to get married. And I can say this because you probably know it, but women fall all over themselves for him.”

I nodded, thinking of Wes’s hand sliding the strap of my camisole off my shoulder, his blue eyes blazing into mine. It suddenly made me miserable, thinking of him doing that to other women. “I know,” I said.

“So I thought he was putting me on,” Sophie said. “Either that or you were putting something over on him. But it’s been a year. You haven’t had a baby, you have your own money, and the two of you are still engaged. And Wes hasn’t even looked at anyone else all year. He’s never acted like that before.” She shook her head. “Not only that, but he’s worked hard this year. Wes has always been devoted to the company, but this year he worked harder than ever. He’s hired good people, worked extra hours, turned everything around. Even when Dad got arrested, Wes held it together.”

“It’s been a hard year,” I said quietly. “I can relate.”

“I know you can,” Sophie said. “With Dad gone, Wes has taken over, taken everything on. He’s good at it, and he hasn’t been partying or dating at all. And the only thing I can think of is that it must be your good influence on him.”

I felt my lips part in shock. “What?”

Sophie nodded. “You’re smart. Everyone says you’re the real brains behind The Christmas Experience. I always thought that if Wes ever settled down, it would be with some silly bimbo he met at a bar who can’t string two sentences together. But he picked you, and your influence has been good for him.”

“Not my influence,” I croaked. “I don’t think—”

“Still, I have to warn you.” She ignored me and leveled her laser gaze on me. “Wes is my big brother. So if you break his heart, you’ll have to deal with me.”

Oh, God. This was worse than I had imagined. I’d thought people wouldn’t believe Wes and I were engaged. Instead, the problem was that they did believe us. They thought we were in love.

I swallowed. “I don’t want to break Wes’s heart, Sophie. I don’t intend to.”

She seemed to think this over. Then she nodded. “Okay then,” she said. “I’ll take you to the office.”

Chapter 10

Wes

It was Christmas in the office. Christmas everywhere you looked. On the first floor of the Kane building, the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the street were lit up, and the ornament-making workshop was on full display. Our workshop, where the public could stand and watch Christmas ornaments being made, was a local attraction in Denver, especially at this time of year. It was one of the things that made Kane special instead of just another business.

But even past the workshop, on the other floors of the building and in the offices, it was Christmas. There was a tree on every floor, decorated with Kane ornaments, and there were four trees in the lobby. There were garlands and model Santas and sleighs with reindeer. Even the warehouse had a tree, and the warehouse crew had put up their own decorations, some of them too raunchy to be seen by the general public. The naked Mrs. Claus ornament was a warehouse joke. If you worked in the warehouse, you never knew when Mrs. Claus and her large breasts would show up—in your work space, on a shelf, on the back of the toilet in the men’s