Hired Love

"You're up early." Stacy looked up to see her mother stroll into the dining room. The woman was still young, at a strong forty-eight and sometimes she didn't look sick. But Stacy had learned a long time ago not to judge a book by its cover. It'd been only a month ago when her mom had told her she'd been diagnosed with liver cancer. The news had been painful to hear. Ever since then, everyone tended to walk on eggshells around her. Though Heather always got upset whenever she noticed it. "Good morning, mom. Couldn't sleep much." She got on her feet to kiss the woman's cheeks. Stacy wasn't surprised that sleep had deserted her. After the words Roman had thrown at her, she hadn't been able to close her eyes for more than ten minutes. As a result, she'd spent the rest of the night battling between wanting him to make good on his promise and convincing herself that it was wise to stay away from him.

He'd said he was crazy about her. Had he been playing the role then? He didn't have to. There had been no one else but they present in the room. She told herself his kisses didn't feel like he was acting. The urgency in his touch burned with a fierce desire. It should've been impossible to fake such reactions.

But Matt had told her he loved her. He'd promised that he would stay, even if every other person left. She'd believed him because it had seemed genuine. What if Roman was just acting? What if it was all a lie? "It's a beautiful day." Her mom gleamed. Stacy had already alerted the maids to set the table before the rest of the house came down for breakfast, so she helped her mother to some pancakes and syrup. "So," Heather started. Stacy braced herself; she'd been waiting for this since she introduced Roman as her fiancé. "Roman."

She chose silence, instead chewing on a strawberry. It was the best answer after all.

"When did that happen?"

Stacy had always been a terrible liar and her mother knew. "When did what happen?"

"The engagement,"

She narrowed her eyes, trying to remember the story Roman had fed them. "A couple weeks ago. I wanted to tell you, but I thought it would be better if I broke the news to everyone at the reunion."

Her mother raised a brow. The woman was hands down the smartest person Stacy knew. Heather had the nose of a hound. If something fishy was going on, she would sniff it out. "I can't say I wasn't surprised." Again, she didn't respond. It was better to not say anything at all than to say nonsense.

"Do you love him?"

Love him? She didn't even know him. "Yes, I do."

"Are you sure?"

She paused. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, it just seems like you don't love him at all. Or maybe I should say, he loves you way more than you love him."

Stacy would've laughed if she hadn't been trying to keep a straight face. Roman, love her? Hell, he was better at this than she thought. It took her back to what he'd said last night. If her mother believed it, and she was a hard woman to fool, then there had to be some truth to it.

Lust? That was probably it. He didn't know her enough to like her. They'd only met yesterday morning. Though Stacy thought the tingling sensation in her skin whenever they were close didn't feel like it had just been mere hours ago. It felt like they'd known each other for longer, maybe somewhere in some alternate universe, they'd had something special, something rare.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"You're thinking too much, mom. I love him and I want to marry him." She finally let out.

Her mother watched her for a long moment then sighed. "Alright. But if I perceive anything odd like let's say, you doing this just for the sake of it, I swear to God I'll put an end to it." By that time, they'd have been far away from her. She had nothing to worry about.

"No, no, Emily, send them to me. I'll go through them and then sign-❞

Aunt Emma tapped her son at the back of his head. "I told you, no work at the reunion, you big doofus."

Benedict moaned. "Let me call you back." He said into the speaker before ending the call. "But mom, you know how I get leaving the company by itself even if it's for two days"

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He kissed Heather on her cheek then walked around and kissed Stacy on her forehead. "Good morning, Ladies."

die."

"I don't care." Aunt Emma said firmly, taking the seat next to her sister. "The company is fine. You're just a workaholic. I keep telling you, you need to get yourself a nice young girl who'll take care of you. I want to hold my grandchild before I Benedict rolled his eyes, sitting on Stacy's left and grabbing a handful of grapes. "You already have a grandchild, don't be coy. And I don't need a woman, thank you very much. I have enough women in my life to deal with." His mother rolled her eyes.

Stacy chuckled, also taking some grapes. "Why get a woman when you have a thousand stupid shit to do in an enclosed space every day?"

He didn't miss the sarcasm. "Ha ha ha, very funny."

She stuck her tongue out at him. The twins were her favorite cousins and she loved them to bits. Though they were only about two years older than she was, they never let her forget it. She was their little sister. She didn't have a problem with it, as long as they stayed out of her business.