colors are hot this season. My goal is to salvage and recreate something that will last another fifty years.”
“What about”—she draws the word out for dramatic flair—“your fashion nevers? Do you have any?”
This kid. This kid is awesome.
“Hmm.” I consider the question carefully. I’m not sure anyone’s ever asked me this before, oddly enough. “I don’t know if I’m a ‘never’ kind of a girl. Sometimes you just have to give it a try, be outrageous, and if it doesn’t work, that’s okay.”
“Outrageous moments,” Bethany agrees. “Always.”
“In fashion, yes,” I clarify quickly, glancing at Warren. Because, as tonight reminded me, outrageousness in life is guaranteed to bite you in the ass.
“What about that kid who works with you?” Bethany asks, and I don’t think I imagine the curious tilt to her words. “He’s… fashionable.”
“Do not, under any circumstances, tell him that,” I say. “His ego doesn’t need any more boosting.”
“How old is he?”
“Too old for you,” Warren grumbles as we walk up the drive of the mansion.
“Dad, I wasn’t asking because of that,” Bethany says, rolling her eyes. “I just wanted to know where Audrey found him.”
“You know, I have no idea how I found him. He just sort of showed up and refused to leave and now he’s my pseudo-assistant even though I never hired him.”
Bethany laughs. “That’s cool. Maybe I can help out, too. Around the store. Like I could post dresses on the Tikity-Tokity for you.”
She gives me a little side-eyed grin when she says Tikity-Tokity and inside my heart swells. I glance at Warren, but he doesn’t say anything. He’s just doing that quiet observation thing of his, occasionally checking his phone but mostly just listening.
I wish I knew what he was thinking.
Why do I care what he’s thinking though? Fake relationship. Remember?
Fake relationship with a bonus side of sex.
What more could I want?
“What are we doing tonight, Dad?” Bethany asks, breaking me out of my sex thoughts. Thankfully. I know she can’t read minds, but still.
“I was thinking we could order in,” he says. “Catch me up on your life.”
“What about Audrey?”
“Audrey might be busy,” he replies with a quick glance in my direction.
He probably thinks I was planning on bookmarking porn again. Which I definitely wouldn’t be doing with his daughter home.
“Your live-in girlfriend might be busy?” Bethany scoffs, her eyebrows shooting up with all the flair of a disgusted teenager. “Oh, my God, you are embarrassing us all.”
“She has her own life,” Warren replies as we enter the mansion. “Runs her own errands. We can’t presume to know—”
“I’m free, actually,” I butt in, slightly distracted by the fact that he didn’t correct her when she said “live-in girlfriend.” Warren looks at me and I shrug. “I mean, I was planning some intense agility training for Gary, but I can always do that later.”
“Yay!” Bethany squeals. “This is going to be so fun.”
I blush. I have never, not in all my life, had a teenager want to be around me. Except Miller, but he’s a forty-seven-year-old man trapped in a teenage body. It’s exhilarating. They should bottle this, actually. It’s better than any drug I’ve ever tried.
“We should go out,” Bethany says.
“Chinese?” I suggest immediately.
“Chinese!” Bethany confirms. All before Warren has had a chance to interject or cast a vote.
Sorta fitting.
“So we’re going out?” Warren confirms, looking a bit befuddled by our enthusiasm over food. “I’ll need to take a shower,” he says, looking down at his somewhat dusty clothing.
Men.
“Off you go then,” I tell him, gesturing towards the stairs. “Quick like a bunny.”
“Oh, my God,” Bethany says. “I love you.”
Well. That’s one Russo, at least. Two if you count Duke.
Thirty minutes later, we find ourselves at a table at the Golden Dragon, a.k.a. the best-kept secret in all of Albany. As soon as we walk in, they go wild. Governor Russo might be able to win over a crowd everywhere else, but here, I’m the celebrity. Also Warren is out and about enough in Albany that most people don’t think it’s that big of a deal to see him in ordinary places.
“There’s my favorite customer,” the waiter says, waving us in. “And you brought guests!”
“You must come here a lot,” Warren says, as we sit and examine the menu. “For you to be their favorite.”
“I do know my way around a takeout menu,” I explain. “And also, I’m pretty sure they say that to everyone.”
“So, what’s it been like living with my dad?” Bethany jumps in, and I nearly choke on my water.
“Well,”