cute,” he said, glancing around the kitchen.
She raised an eyebrow but didn’t reply.
“I’m sorry. I’m doing this all wrong. I never meant to insult you or to suggest that I don’t want people to see us together. You’ll believe me once I tell you my proposition.”
“You have four minutes left,” she said before she bit into her pizza.
“In that case, I’ll give you the short version,” he replied. “I want to pay you to pretend to be my fiancée.”
Terri nearly choked. “What?” she demanded once she’d swallowed.
“Does that mean you want to hear the long version?” he asked before taking a bite of his own dinner.
While it was tempting to say no and tell the man to leave, she was too curious to do that. “Sure, why not? I can’t really throw you out until after you’ve had your cookie-brownie, anyway,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to that.”
Lucas settled back in his seat and slowly ate his way through a slice of pizza and a garlic knot. Terri forced herself to do the same, knowing that he was simply playing games with her and unwilling to let him win.
“Right, well, then, the long version,” he said after he’d finished everything on his plate. “I would be grateful if you don’t repeat anything that I tell you. It’s difficult for me to talk about and I’d rather it wasn’t common knowledge.”
Terri raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think you can trust me?”
He tilted his head and studied her for a moment. “I’d like to think that I’m a good judge of character.”
“So what don’t you want me to tell anyone?” she asked as he sipped his drink.
“My mother isn’t well.”
That wasn’t at all the reply Terri had been expecting. “I’m sorry,” she said softly.
He nodded. “Thank you. I won’t bore you with too many details, but we’ve always had a difficult relationship. We were estranged for many years, but in the past six months, she’s reached out to me to try to make amends. It’s, well, it’s not easy, but we both know she doesn’t have a lot of time left, so we’re doing what we can to work things out.”
“I hope you manage it.”
“The thing is, my mother wants me to get married,” Lucas said, sounding slightly sheepish. “She feels as if she’s old and alone and she doesn’t want me to end up that way.”
“Surely it’s better to be alone than to be with someone simply because you’re lonely?”
“I’m sure it is, but this isn’t about what I really want, this is about making my mother happy in the limited amount of time she has left. I’ve, well, I’ve told her that I have a girlfriend, someone that I’ve been seeing for a while, someone that I could get serious about, if I let myself. Obviously, my mother wants to meet the woman.”
“And you don’t want your mother to meet her?”
“I would love for my mother to meet her, if she actually existed. Unfortunately, the wonderful woman that I’ve told my mother about is entirely made up, and the woman I’m actually dating at the moment is not the sort of woman my mother would want me to marry.”
“Dessert?” Terri asked, feeling as if she knew where the conversation was going and not wanting to hear the rest.
“Sure, why not?” Lucas replied.
It only took her a minute to put slices of cookie-brownie onto plates and bring them back to the table.
“I’ll just refill my drink,” he said, getting to his feet as she sat down. “Do you want more, too?”
“Sure, why not?” she muttered, handing him her glass. As his fingers brushed against hers, she felt a rush of electricity race through her body. He has a girlfriend, she reminded herself as he poured their drinks.
“I needed to get away from the city and from my mother for a while, which is why I’m in Ramsey. When I met you last night, I realized that you are exactly what I need,” he told her as he sat back down.
“Really?” she asked dryly.
“I told my mother that my girlfriend was close to my age, smart, pretty, funny, well-educated, and quite capable of looking after herself. You’re all of those things.”
“I’m certainly smart enough to avoid getting tangled up in your web of lies.”
He winced. “It wasn’t meant to get this complicated. When she first reached out to me, Mother told me that she only had weeks to live. That was six months ago. I’m grateful that she’s rallied, but it has