‘Could I just...?’ Lara said, indicating the paper Spencer was holding.
‘“Mr Jannes Henriksson and Ms Lara Hughes are delighted to announce their engagement”,’ Lara read.
She stayed silent for a moment, and Jannes could barely think, never mind speak.
‘We...we’re just surprised that they announced it already,’ Lara said, and he thanked God she was thinking better on her feet than he was right now. ‘We...um...we wanted to wait until we’d picked out a ring together,’ she said, glancing at her left hand, and Jannes realised she was looking for and plugging the holes in their story.
Mormor. Mormor had to be behind this. He would have to murder her. Or disown her. He couldn’t believe... Actually, that wasn’t strictly true. He could totally believe that she would do this. It hadn’t been enough for her simply to not believe that they weren’t really in a relationship—she had to up the ante and turn it into a fake engagement.
He glanced at Lara again. They had to brazen this out. He was so close to getting this funding. He took Lara’s hand in his, startling her into looking up and meeting his gaze.
‘I’m sorry, älskling,’ he said, hoping that they would be able to muddle through this together, playing off each other’s leads. ‘I must have given them the wrong date. Good job we’d planned to choose your ring this afternoon.’
‘Well, I’m delighted for you,’ Spencer said, positively beaming at them. ‘You’re a very lucky man, Jannes. But I do hope this doesn’t mean you’re changing your plans for the Transat.’
‘Oh, no. Trust me, nothing is going to change on that front.’
‘Well, good,’ Spencer said. ‘Because I’ve decided—I’m in. I already spoke with your agent, but I wanted to let you know in person. Now I’ve met you—and you, Lara—I see that you’re exactly the kind of person I want my business associated with. Now, I won’t keep you any longer as I believe you have some very important shopping to do.’
Lara made polite goodbyes and Jannes shook Spencer’s hand, not quite sure whether he was more in shock about the sponsorship or the fact that he’d suddenly found himself engaged to Lara.
They sat in silence for a few moments, watching Spencer leave.
‘Jannes, what the he—?’
He returned her stare, eyebrows high. ‘Mormor,’ he said. ‘She must have done this.’
‘Why?’ Lara spluttered. ‘That’s completely—You don’t just announce someone else’s engagement without even speaking to them about it. Especially when they’re not actually engaged.’
‘She’s calling our bluff,’ Jannes said thoughtfully.
‘What bluff? We explicitly told her that we’re not together. She’s the one person on the entire planet who actually had all the information about what was going on with us.’
Jannes shrugged. He couldn’t pretend to understand what Mormor thought she was playing at. ‘Maybe she thinks this will make it harder for us to deny there’s something really going on between us.’
And maybe she had an endgame of her own in mind. Because, as much as this was a completely bizarre turn of events, Mormor had been right in a way. He had been prepared to let this pretence with Lara fizzle out. Anyone could see that it had been a bad idea to torch the very careful barriers they’d erected between them right from the very start of their friendship.
* * *
‘So I guess we need a ring,’ Lara said at last. ‘Need to stick to our story.’
‘Lara, you don’t have to do this.’
‘You’ve helped me out. All the family stuff... And it’s not like we have much of a choice now. Spencer thinks we’re engaged. It’ll put your sponsorship at risk if we change our story now. You heard him. I’m part of your squeaky-clean image.’
‘Last night...’ Jannes started, and she wasn’t sure where that sentence was going but there was only one thing that they needed to say about what had happened, so she cut him off before he could hurt her.
‘We need to forget last night,’ she said. ‘It was a mistake.’
‘Well. That stings.’ Jannes looked startled, which he had no right to, considering they’d agreed all along that this was only for show.
‘You disagree?’ she asked.
‘No,’ Jannes said quickly. ‘Yes. I know we shouldn’t do it again. I know that if we give in to those feelings we’re going to end up hurting each other. And I don’t want that to happen. But I... I don’t take it back either. I don’t want to pretend that I didn’t have those feelings. I love you and I respect you, and it doesn’t feel right to lie to you and pretend that I don’t feel the way I do.’
Lara looked at him for a long moment.
‘Okay,’ she said at last, her shoulders set in a straight line. ‘You’re right; it wasn’t a mistake. But it was a complication. One that we can’t afford to repeat.’