Faith’s jaw dropped. “I beg your pardon?”
Katherine grabbed her hand, snatching her attention away from the boy-band lookalike. “Leon is from your father’s church.”
Faith looked to Darren for confirmation. Her father worked as an Anglican minister and had a wide social circle as a result.
He nodded. “It just so happens that Leon’s parents are also invited to the wedding. They’re family friends on the groom’s side. Your mother and I discussed the matter and decided we’d like you and Leon to meet. We thought he could be your date to the wedding.”
A flush crept over her cheeks until she was sure they mirrored her hair color. She couldn’t believe this. Her parents had brought her a blind date. One that she’d be stuck with for a week—because no question about it, they’d be staying at her place.
Oh, God.
She face-palmed. Could this get any more embarrassing? And why on earth was Leon going along with it? She couldn’t believe any sane man their age would encourage a ridiculous, parent-sponsored matchmaking scheme.
Finally, she dropped her hands and looked from her mother to her father. “I don’t need you to introduce me to a man.”
No, she met plenty of those herself. Just not ones she’d ever spend more than a few nights with.
Darren cleared his throat. “Clearly, you do. You’re twenty-seven and haven’t snagged one yourself yet.”
Snagged. What kind of person said that? Made it sound like she was fishing for a husband.
“I—"
“Just give Leon a chance,” Katherine said.
Mortification threatened to swallow Faith whole. She squeezed her eyes shut, and words burst from her mouth without any warning. “You didn’t let me finish. I don’t need you to introduce me to a man because I already have one.”
She opened her eyes to find all three of them watching her dubiously. Damn. Why had she said that? If they asked around, it’d be easy enough to refute.
“Who’s that, dear?” Darren asked.
At that moment, a key rattled in the lock outside. Faith groaned. As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, the object of her unrequited crush had arrived.
“Shane,” she muttered.
Her mother’s eyes widened and darted to the bedroom door. “Oh, Faith. You’re seeing Shane? Why didn’t you tell us?”
Of all the slips of the tongue.
But then an idea occurred to her. Why couldn’t she be with Shane? Her parents would be gone in a week. She’d babysit his children free of charge for a whole freaking year if he got her out of any awkward matchmaking attempts. She had all of twenty seconds to make up her mind, and then the front door opened.
With enthusiasm she didn’t have to fake, she ran into the hall and launched herself at him, seeing the whites of his eyes as they widened, then she dragged him into a thoroughly dramatic kiss.
Shane experienceda moment of utter panic as a body flew toward him, and then he was in paradise. Faith was in his arms. She was kissing him. He had no idea why, or whether it was even real—perhaps he’d drifted off to sleep on Logan’s couch—but he wanted it to go on forever. He’d dreamed of this moment since he first hired her to watch his kids and found her dozing in the armchair with Hunter curled on her lap and her spectacular cleavage displayed to full advantage.
Faith was everything Shane wasn’t. Vibrant, young, passionate, funny, and completely gorgeous. Now she was kissing him. Realizing he’d yet to respond, he looped his arms around her waist, pulled her tight against himself, and deepened the kiss. She gasped into his mouth, and he took the chance to taste her. She was sweet and addictive, as he’d always suspected.
Was this really happening?
But then she pulled away and hugged him, her cheek pressed to his. In his ear, she whispered, “Please play along.”
What?
He blinked as she released him, baffled by her words, and struggled to collect himself. He adjusted his spectacles, which were askew, and when his vision cleared, he noticed three people standing behind her. Two he recognized as her parents, whom he’d met a couple of times, and the third was a young man he’d never seen before. Shane was good with faces—as a teacher, he had to be—but he was coming up empty.
Then it struck him. The kiss hadn’t been real. Oh, it had happened, but it had been for show, not because she truly wanted to kiss him the way he’d longed to kiss her. For some reason, she wanted her parents to believe they were a couple. As if anyone could possibly think that. She was so far out of his league, he’d never even bothered stepping up to the plate.
Disappointment settled in his gut.