Playing the Ice Princess

TWO

"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him."

-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

CHAPTER TWO: In which she devises a plan

After hearing that I agree, my dad started celebrating something that obviously needed no celebration, so three hours later after eating with my dad and stepmom, here I was in the dining room with family, forcefully keeping a smile on my face...

Deep breaths Liliana... the old man can"t know about what you"re about to do... just go with the flow...

My seventeen year old twin stepsisters, Kacie and Macie, both giggled and congratulated me as though I wanted to get married...

Knowing dad, he"d probably tell the whole world we were "in love"... mentally gag. So the only ones who knew about this horrible setup were the guilty parties (my parents and the guy"s parents) and the guy and I.... the guy whom I still do not know the name of.

Imagine how awkward it would be saying, "Hey you! Yes, you the guy whose name is too insignificant for me to know and remember, you peasant."

But I must survive this! No, I will survive this until I go on with my (probably will go wrong) plan.

I bid everyone adieu and walked up the stairs towards my room in a daze. Not knowing my stepbrother had followed.

My nineteen year old stepbrother, Adam, snapped his fingers at me, snapping me out of my thoughts like my dad had earlier. "Big sis? You there? Hellloooo?"

"Yes, I"m here. I was just thinking about my future husband..." Which wasn"t a complete lie.

"Oh, yeah? Are you two completely into each other as dad emphasized?" He questioned, raising a brow. Out of the entire family, he and dad understood me more than I understood myself, so it"s no surprise he wasn"t buying the act.

"Of course! Why would we get married otherwise... I-I mean, it"s not like I"m marrying a total stranger that I"ve never met in my life... Cause that would be impossible, r-right?" I rambled, accidentally stuttering a couple of times.

He looked at me with suspicion, easily noticing my stuttering. "Oh yeah? What"s future brother-in-law"s first name?"

Oh crap. I don"t know this... I swallowed and put on a poker face, "Peterson."

"I asked for his first name, not his last name, sis."

Quickly! Think of something, Liliana! Put that perfect 162 IQ to use! Quickly before he–I got it!

Putting on a causal smirk I said, "Well, he and I love to play the kinky game, if you get what I mean... Mr. Peterson and all..." I added a subtle wink.

He made a disgusted face but no longer questioned my (forced) fiancé"s name.

"If only the world knew you acted this way... they think you"re an obedient goody-two-shoes whose a walking freezer, oh God what a lie..."

I widened my smirk, "Oh my! Are thou going to expose me? Go for it. I"d be glad to play the role of the badass rebel after breaking my ice princess facade."

He thought for a minute but shook his head, "No thanks! The you right now is bad enough, but image a rebel you..." he shuddered to add dramatic effect.

Go Liliana go! You have to start the plan now!

I faked a yawn, "As much as I love to chat with you, it"s been a long day, I gotta catch some sleep."

He eyed me for a second before he nodded and slowly walked down the stairs, leaving me to start Phase One.

***

Alright, so from what I managed to Google, my future husband (ha, as if I would marry him) was named Adrian Peterson, and was next in line to be the CEO of Peterson Oils. And even though I hate to admit it, he was hot. Like supermodels look like crap next to him hot. With ebony hair and strikingly blue-silver eyes, a chiseled jawline, and good lord, a cough, cough masculine body, he definitely qualified to be known as eye candy.

And I expected him to be a player, but dang, this guy just had to be innocent... like scandal free... how is that even possible? Well, Liliana was also scandal free, but Lila, her middle know was basically scandal. I mean, this guy has had a couple of relationships, but they didn"t last long, as he preferred to stick his head in business rather than in women. (Dirty joke intended). I"m betting this is why dad paired him up with me, the innocent couple... my ass. Both totally inexperienced and ready to go served on a silver platter. Not happening on my watch!

But good news is, Phase One is complete. Googling this guy was a bit difficult since he didn"t have anything attached to his name... and he"s older than me by two years! How even did dad think of pairing me up with a pedophile! I mean, two years isn"t that much, but I"ll definitely use this as one of my excuses of not being with the guy.

Taking a deep breath, I dialed the number I haven"t dialed in a couple of months, awaiting the dictator to answer.

"Hello?" The feminine voice spoke.

Deep breaths, Liliana. You can do it. Think of your future! The famous Ice Princess can"t be tied down to some guy yet.

"Mum..." I said softly.

***