Vivianne

This had been positively the worst evening I could have imagined. Never had I felt so unwanted by such a large group of people. And Dominic saying he’d ‘choose the family if I caused any problems?’ What kind of asshole statement was that, even from a fake fiance?!

I was just glad that I’d probably never have to see those people again. They were the most stereotypical, better-than-you rich assholes I’d ever met. Dominic fit right in. 

I glared over at him as he focused intently on the road. At least he had the decency to seem like he was as annoyed with them as I was. His jaw was tight, making it even more chiseled than usual. Which I suppose made him a little more handsome, if I cared anything about that.

Which I didn’t. Men like Dominic and my ex lost all their attraction by treating women like a commodity. I’d fallen for that kind of asshole once already, and I wasn’t going to be that stupid again.

Once he hung up the phone with Enzo, he leaned back in his seat and tapped the steering wheel. “I know the plan was to take you back to the office, but it’s still early. Could I at least try to make up for my family being douche canoes by taking you somewhere for dessert? Anywhere you want. My treat.”

I scowled, the thought of spending more of my precious free time with my boss making me cringe. Especially after the way he talked about me. But if I could get one of those chocolate strawberry crepes from the shop on Avenue A for free…maybe that would improve my evening just a little.

“The patisserie on Avenue A, across from the flower shop?” 

“Sure.” He flicked on the turn signal and moved into the right lane. “I really am sorry about the family. And that I didn’t give you very much warning. But they have the power to make our lives living hell if I don’t play by their rules.” 

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “What, are they part of the mafia or something?” 

“Or something.” 

All of the sarcasm drained out of me and a pit opened in my stomach. “I’m not in danger if I go through with this, am I?” The last thing I needed was to put a damn mafia target on my head over a fake marriage!

Dominic shook his head without looking over at me. “Nah, you’re fine. They all gave their permission, if begrudgingly. They probably would have been less dickish if you’d come from a high society family, but don’t worry about it. They don’t like me much, either.” 

“I could tell.” I huffed and returned to looking out the window. At least they were against Dominic’s playboy lifestyle as much as I was. That was definitely going to have to come to a stop until after our ‘marriage’ was over. I didn’t need my image further besmirched by my ‘husband’ cheating on me within six weeks of the wedding.

Even Zack had the decency to wait three years. 

Darkness was falling as we pulled into one of three parking spots in front of the quaint little French bakery. It was as stereotypical as you could imagine, a tiny brick storefront with a striped canopy over the door and cakes on stands in the window.

Dominic hurried around to open the car door for me, and again to get the shop door. I could tell that he was really trying to make up for the terrible dinner, and I did appreciate that. If there was one thing I liked about my boss, it was that he always tried to right the things he did wrong. 

The inside of the shop was brightly lit by fluorescent lights from above, and colored strands along the displays. I examined the pre-packaged offerings as Dominic and I made our way to the counter, even though I already knew what I was getting. My mouth started watering just thinking about the first bite of sweet-tart strawberries and chocolate. 

“One chocolate strawberry crepe with cream and white chocolate shavings, please,” I asked before the cashier could even ask. She smiled and entered the order, then looked expectantly at Dominic. 

He shrugged, stared at the menu above the counter, then shrugged again. “I’ll have the same thing, I guess.” He handed over his card, then led me to one of two tables. It was small, barely large enough for the two of us, and was covered by a red-and-white checkered tablecloth. 

Once again he pulled out my chair, pushed it in when I was settled, and generally attempted to act like he had any kind of manners at all. My hand went for the phone in my pocket to text Analise that I’d be late, but paused. Would it be rude to pull out my phone right now?

Nah. This wasn’t a date. This was hush money from my boss to keep me from ripping his head off. I pulled out the phone, sent my sister a quick text, and slid it back into my pocket. 

I rather wished I’d left it out, though. We sat awkwardly across the table, neither of us willing to look the other in the eye. Nor were we willing to break the silence that had dropped over us like a weighted blanket. But a hot one, made of sherpa that stuck to any rough skin and made you feel like you were a baked potato.

Finally, Dominic cracked his knuckles and cast his gaze over me. “I can’t believe how fast this week has gone by. We get married in what, three days?” 

“Yeah.” I shuddered at the thought. Three more days of freedom. At least this time I wouldn’t be changing my name, so I wouldn’t have to go through the bother of changing it back again when it was over. “If the other four weeks could go by just as fast, that would be ideal.” 

Once again, I thought I saw a flash of something like disappointment cross Dominic’s face. But as fast as it came it was gone, and he nodded in agreement. “Indeed. Then we could have the contract signed and all of this nonsense in the past.” 

Something about the way he said that made me think he was talking about more than just our marriage. But I didn’t care enough to pry, and I could see our crepes being placed in the window behind the counter. 

The cashier brought over the plates and I barely waited for her to move out of the way before digging in. The first bite I cut ended up being bigger than I expected, and when I tried to put it in my mouth, part of it flipped back and left chocolate syrup on my nose.

Dominic chuckled and grabbed a napkin from the dispenser in the center of the table. He reached across and wiped the chocolate away, eyes intense and hands gentle. I felt my cheeks and ears begin to burn and tapped into the vein of anger I always kept at hand, ready to wash away any other unwanted emotion. 

“Remember the deal about touching?” I growled, though I didn’t think this kind of thing was covered under the terms of the contract. 

He just laughed and placed the dirty napkin on the edge of his plate. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You just looked dumb with chocolate on your face like a toddler.” Dramatically, he cut a much smaller piece of his own crepe and pantomimed eating it a couple of times before it actually went in his mouth. 

I scowled at him, but to my surprise, I wasn’t actually annoyed. I felt…amused? That I was annoyed about. But as we ate our crepes, we somehow fell into a rather companionable silence. As much as I moaned and groaned about spending time with Dominic outside of work, if it was like this more often than not? Then I would be alright. 

When my plate was empty, I pulled my phone from my pocket again and powered on the screen just long enough to check the clock and the notification tab. Analise hadn’t texted me back, but she was probably working late as usual. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for her to stumble home at eleven or even midnight some nights. 

“Done dealing with me, then?” Dominic gestured to my phone with a bob of his head. “I know how you feel about your after-work time. If you’re finished, I’ll take you back to the office.” 

I nodded and reached for my plate, but he scooped it up before I could and took both of them to the rack by the door. “Come on, slowpoke. Let’s get you back to the office so you can have the quiet evening you always tell me you want.”

Yeah, that was exactly what I wanted.