6 - It's Only Acting
374 Words
The moment they stepped inside, the warm buzz of conversation halted.
His sister, a stylish brunette in her late thirties, looked up from setting the table and gasped. “Ava?”
Ava smiled nervously. “Hi, Lillian.”
“You two... together?” Her eyes bounced between them. “Wait—you’re dating? You’re actually dating?”
Ethan smirked. “Surprised?”
Lillian grinned like a cat who got the cream. “Beyond. I mean, I helped set up the blind date, sure—but this?”
Before Ava could form a coherent answer, another voice chimed in.
“Oh, goodness. Is this her? The Ava?”
Ethan’s mother appeared from the hallway. Elegant, composed—and beaming.
She pulled Ava into a hug without hesitation. “You’re stunning. Absolutely darling. Ethan told us very little, but I can see why he kept you to himself.”
Ava blinked. “Uh, thank you.”
She glanced at Ethan, eyes wide with a silent help me. But he just raised one brow and gave her a cocky little shrug.
Thanks a lot.
“You’re just what this stiff lawyer needed,” his mother continued. “I always said he needed someone to soften those sharp edges.”
Lillian leaned closer and whispered loudly, “He’s been insufferably smug since your first date. Wouldn’t stop grinning for hours.”
Ava’s cheeks burned.
Inside her head, she repeated one word: Acting. It’s all acting.
Still, it was hard to ignore the way Ethan’s hand rested lightly on her back. How his family seemed so convinced. How his eyes lingered when he thought she wasn’t looking.
He really is good at pretending, she thought. So good it’s scary.
But so was her heart when it did that little twist every time he looked at her like she meant something.
He’s handsome. And hot. And smart. And cocky. And sometimes I look too long and forget to look away.
Control, Ava. Rogue thoughts like these will be the death of our arrangement.
But as Ethan pulled out her chair at the dinner table and sat beside her like it was the most natural thing in the world, she had the sinking feeling that it was already too late.
- Writer
