The Fake Engagement Read online

  Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2021 Sam Crescent

  ISBN: 978-0-3695-0499-9

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Audrey Bobak

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  THE FAKE ENGAGEMENT

  Sam Crescent

  Copyright © 2021

  Chapter One

  “I hate my boss.” Eliza Drake yelled the words at the same time she slammed through the door of the apartment she shared with her two best friends.

  “We’ve already got the tequila out,” Juliet Caves said.

  “And she made snacks.” This was Mackenzie, who shoved a bacon-wrapped jalapeno into her mouth. “Damn, that’s so spicy and good.”

  Eliza burst out laughing as she rushed toward her bedroom, throwing her jacket and bag onto the bed and moving quickly to join her two favorite people in the whole world on the sofa. Kicking off her heels, she slumped down. Juliet handed her a glass of tequila, which she knocked back, swallowing the dangerous liquid. She shouldn’t drink on a work night, but since she’d been given the job as PA by Preston Boone himself, she was working every night.

  “I needed that.”

  Mackenzie already held out a jalapeno delight. Eliza took it, biting into the rich, spicy food. The cheese, bacon, and jalapeno danced on her tongue. She closed her eyes, savoring the taste of the food.

  “So good! Another, please.”

  She was given another. This time, she didn’t play around, putting the whole thing into her mouth and biting down.

  There was nothing wrong with enjoying snacks for dinner.

  “Asshole boss?” Juliet asked.

  “Totally.” She sighed. “Well, he was … I typed up the letter exactly how he asked me to, and clearly, he was being a giant dick because he blamed me for all these typos and how he would never say certain words.” She growled. “I’m never going back to work.”

  “I hear you,” Juliet said.

  “And me,” Mackenzie said.

  “Was it a bad day for you girls as well?” she asked, looking at them in turn.

  Mackenzie sighed. “I think my boss’s son is trying to destroy the company. He’s trying to handle this multimillion-dollar investment even though his father has told him not to do it. He doesn’t want his company to be swallowed up in corporate. He likes to do everything old school, but his son doesn’t listen.” She pursed her lips. “I have a feeling we’re going to fall victim to a takeover bid. The sharks are circling.”

  Eliza knew how much Mackenzie loved her job. The firm she worked at was just a small place, but they offered some of the best advertising rates and also held the books of some of the most lucrative companies. Their advertising reach was far and wide. She knew this as her own boss had reached out to Doug’s Advertising. A simple name, and yet, they offered such high-quality work with amazing turnaround results.

  If they were going for a takeover bid, she had a feeling Boone could be one of those damn sharks.

  “My boss is looking to expand his reach into plus size, only he’s being advised to use a very slim model. Who wants that?” Juliet asked.

  Eliza looked at Juliet. “Why don’t you offer to model for it?”

  Juliet was so amazingly beautiful, with long, luscious brown locks and a figure that had most men drooling. She was plus size and wore it so well. Eliza had watched her; the way she walked and moved—she screamed seductress. Juliet would make an amazing model.

  Her friend wrinkled her nose. “No please, that is never happening.”

  “I thought you wanted to be a model?” Mackenzie asked. “Back in school, you even said that you wanted to be a role model to girls. To show the world that you didn’t have to be super slim and starve yourself to grace the cover of a magazine.”

  “Yeah, then I got real.”

  Eliza threw herself at her friend, pulling her in close for a hug. What got real was Juliet’s mom, tearing down her dreams in every single direction. Juliet’s mom believed only thin women were beautiful and always used every piece of ammunition to destroy whatever happiness Juliet found.

  Eliza hated the woman, and while they were growing up, she’d often asked Juliet around for sleepovers. At least her own mother had been supportive of her dreams.

  “You’re gorgeous, and your body would sell anything.” Mackenzie leaned back, giving Juliet a good looking over.

  “Stop doing that. Whatever it is you’re doing,” Juliet said.

  Mackenzie winked at her. “Yep, I totally could use you.”

  They all burst out laughing.

  This was what Eliza had needed. A day with Preston Boone was enough to put even the happiest person in the world in a downer. Of their little group, she was the one who usually saw a light in the darkest of tunnels.

  When Juliet failed one of her tests through college and thought her dreams were over, shattered, Eliza wouldn’t allow that. For three weeks straight, she forced Juliet to study her ass off until finally, she was more than ready.

  She’d aced that test.

  Positivity in life was the key.

  Glancing at Mackenzie, she remembered when she first started to work for Doug’s Advertising. She’d been so down. Where Eliza and Juliet had gotten work with some of the biggest companies in the city, if not the world, Mackenzie had struggled. There were very limited openings for her kind of skills as a design artist.

  There had been a time Mackenzie thought she would have no choice but to return home, but that didn’t happen. It may not be a big firm, but Doug’s Advertising was one of the best, and Mackenzie worked as one of their designers.

  They’d always wanted to move to a big city to follow their corporate dreams. This was part of their plan, to learn everything they needed to know before branching out into their own company, one that was female driven and competitive in the male market.

  She handed her glass for another tequila. “I’m going to have to quit.”

  “No quitting,” Juliet said. “Remember. That’s our motto. See the bigger picture. We’ll all be happy eventually.”

  “Yeah, there’s happiness and then there’s wasting your skills picking up your boss’s laundry. Or better yet, finding an adequate cleaner to handle his apartment. If that’s not good, maybe it’s a quick trip to a jewelry store to buy something to help him deal with his one-night stand?” She shuddered. In the past three years, she’d done all of that for Preston Boone. “I don’t get it. Why do women fall for him? He’s an asshole.”

  “He’s hot,” Juliet said. “Come on, guys, we’ve seen pictures of him, and you, Eliza, get to see him up close and personal every single day.”

  “Exactly, I know what a toad he is.”

  “You know what happens when you kiss a toad?” Juliet asked.

  Eliza glared at her friend. “You get toad lips, nothing else. There are no princes waiting in the wings. We all know this.”

  “True!” Mackenzie ate another jalapeno.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not going to worry about this.” She put her glass down and ran her hands over her face, trying to clear her mind of her worries. It wasn’t exactly happening.

  She was so tired, like all the time.

  Preston was a full-on, all-the-time boss.

&nb
sp; Even in the middle of the night. He’d called her to make notes. The first time he did that, she thought she was going crazy. She’d been working for him for two days, and he called her at three in the morning for her to make a couple of notes about what he wanted to broach at one of the meetings he had booked.

  The next day, he told her to scrap the ideas because they were the ramblings of a tried man. He rarely used the notes he asked her to take first thing in the morning.

  A giant asshole.

  She had gotten used to it though. Beside her bed, she slept with her cell phone, coffee, a notepad, and even some migraine relievers.

  A full night’s sleep was rare.

  “At least you made it home for girls’ night,” Juliet said, putting a hand on her knee.

  “Yeah, but look at us, we’re all tired,” she said.

  Juliet looked exhausted.

  Mackenzie kept stifling a yawn behind her hand.

  “We’re fine.” Mackenzie waved her hand. “It’s been months since we last got wasted and just stopped caring about what our bosses, or bosses’ sons, did. We need to learn to switch off, you know.” She nodded. “Give me the tequila and let’s turn some music on. We’re still young and carefree. I’m not going to let my boss put a downer on this evening, like ever.” She took the bottle from Juliet and gulped it down.

  It must have been worse than Eliza thought.

  For Mackenzie to drink from the bottle, it meant she wanted all her worries to disappear. They were all going to be in a bad condition tomorrow, but right at that moment, Eliza didn’t care.

  “You’re right. We need to shake off all parts of work.” She got to her feet and right there in front of her friends, who were more like sisters, she tugged open her blouse and then wriggled out of her pants. Standing in a pair of matching panties and bra, she held her hand out for the tequila.

  Mackenzie handed it right to her, and she took several gulps.

  Tomorrow didn’t matter. She was tired of being perfect, or at least trying to, and her boss finding small insignificant details to complain about. That was all he did, and she hated him for it.

  If she got the wrong coffee, he’d spend a good ten minutes telling her the importance of using the right coffee from the correct company. She had dared to buy him a bagel for lunch with full-fat cream cheese, and he’d started to complain about the damage of eating full-fat anything. Personally, to Eliza, if you were going to spend your time eating something, then eat what you loved. Don’t go for low-fat. Enjoy everything in moderation. It was how she worked.

  Yes, she was a fuller woman, on the heavier side, dressed in a size twenty most of her life, but that was life. She’d always been bigger. Her mother had never allowed her to be ashamed of who she was but had taught her to embrace her curves, to hold her head high, which was what she did.

  Always.

  Juliet turned on the music, and after taking a large gulp of tequila, Eliza handed the bottle to Juliet, throwing her hands up in the air and allowing the music to take over. She wanted to forget all about her job, about responsibilities, and to just think about letting go. About partying. About fun.

  Three years she’d been working for him. It was time for her to have some private time, and if that meant dancing, drinking, and enjoying some good food with her best friends, that was exactly what she was going to do.

  Mackenzie and Juliet had been in her life since kindergarten. They were the best of friends. Throughout high school, some people had called them the chubby trio, and she’d told them to go and get fucked. She’d been such a badass in school.

  There was no one else she wanted to spend her life with. They’d been with her through the good times and bad.

  The boyfriend who had slapped her across the face had been in for a surprise when she’d hit him right back, but she hadn’t stopped with a slap across the face. She’d hit him hard, followed by a kick to the balls, and the cops had been called. He’d demanded her arrest, but the bruising cheek had been evidence of his attack. It turned out her ex had a history of hitting and beating on women. Not this woman.

  Her friends had been there for her even though he tried to make them go away, trying to push them away.

  They were not just friends, but sisters. From the time they were a young age and little Peter Buttface punched Mackenzie and called her fat, they had been united. They had a pact, to be the best of friends through thick and thin.

  They had a bond, and nothing, no one, could separate them. If any guy wanted to date them, he had to get through her friends first, and that was a fact.

  ****

  Preston Boone glanced at his watch for the sixth time, surprised. His PA was late. He tapped his fingers on his desk and waited.

  In six minutes, he had a meeting with a prospective client he’d been trying to acquire for nearly seven months. Mr. Aguire held a large expanse of land that also homed multiple ranches. For many years, companies like his had been trying to buy the land from him. It was the perfect place for expansion. It would create jobs and add to the local investment in the area. It also helped that Mr. Aguire held multiple land contracts Preston was interested in.

  He knew to get him on his side would more than triple his own portfolio. He was looking to invest into real estate, just like his daddy did back in his hometown, but this was on a larger scale. He wanted Boone houses worldwide, which was why he was looking for the right price for Mr. Aguire.

  For seven months, he wouldn’t take a single phone call, and all of his letters had been sent right back to him, unopened.

  He didn’t know how Eliza, his PA, had arranged a meeting, but now she looked to be ruining his chances of building his dream. Of taking the Boone name to the next level rather than just being the complete owner of a small town.

  Pushing those thoughts to one side, he got to his feet and looked out over the city. His building was one of the largest he’d always dreamed about. From the time he was a little kid, he told his dad he planned to have the biggest company and the most employees, and he had acquired that.

  Each new goal he set out, he didn’t stop until he achieved it. The business world was cutthroat, brutal, and it was where he shined.

  Thinking about his business and how he handled it, he knew deep down his father would be disappointed in him. The town of Westcliffe Heights wasn’t founded on buying companies, tearing them apart at a man’s whims.

  His father had invested heavily in the town, which was why most of the companies there had Boone in the title. They pretty much owned everything, but the people there didn’t hate them. His father had never been a cruel man. He’d been a fair and generous man.

  “Where are you, Eliza?” he asked. He should have known she would let him down now.

  Three years she’d been working for him, and he was amazed at her track record. After his last PA quit and left him in a bind, he’d been so pissed off. She’d done it on purpose as well, messing up all of his accounts as she threw his job back in his face. He’d stepped out of his office, glanced over his employees, and pointed at Eliza, then told her she was going to be his PA.

  He’d never hired a person he needed so desperately in that way before. Just thinking about it, he couldn’t help but cringe.

  She had deserved a lot better than a finger point, a demand to get into his office, and to start doing her job.

  The following day, he’d seen how angry he was and intended to find the perfect PA. He was going to go to one of those agencies that helped to find the right person you were looking for on the job.

  That never happened because when he got to work, he found the five files that had been messed up the previous day. His cabinet had been rearranged, as had his desk. Notes had been neatly stacked per order of importance, along with an amazing coffee and a smiling woman.

  Now, that had been a highlight of his day.

  A very happy woman to come to the office to see.

  Of course, over the days that followed in the last three years, the s
mile became rare to see, not that he was surprised. He was a hard man to work for. Still, Eliza surprised him as she hadn’t quit, which was a relief.

  She made his life so much easier.

  “Brother! You know it’s so dull to be staring out of the windows, don’t you?”

  He’d been so lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t seen his young sister, Trudy, coming toward his office.

  He moved toward her and held her tightly for a hug.

  “I have missed you so much.”

  “And I’ve missed you.”

  Trudy pulled back and wrinkled her nose. “I have no idea what you see in the city. It’s so cold and everyone bumps into you. It’s like a freaking circus down there.” She walked past him, going toward the window and looking down. “Fuck me, that’s so far down. Is that what you do, pretend to be a king, glaring down on your subjects?”

  “Very funny. Trudy, you know I love you and enjoy your trips, but what are you doing here?”

  His sister never visited him at work. It was the one place she said she couldn’t stand him because it was so superficial. She liked to remember him being human, whatever that meant, but he wasn’t going to argue with her.

  “You know why I’m here, and you know why I know that you’re avoiding the subject.” She spun around, her arms folded as she looked at him. “Am I right about that?”

  He glared at her. “I’m busy right now. I don’t have time for this conversation.”

  “Of course, because tearing companies down and keeping all of their good parts is what you do now. You don’t call home. You don’t write.”

  “I make it home every single Christmas, and I send presents for birthday,” he said.

  “No, you stay as long as is necessary, and we all know you’re miserable because of it. Westcliffe Heights is in your blood. You can come here and act the big hotshot businessman, but you’re a Boone, Preston. Always have been. Always will be, and that means you’ve got to come home for this summer party. You know Mom and Dad have been planning this for years, and if you don’t turn up, it’s going to break her heart.”