As we walked through the marbled hallway and entered our room, my jaw dropped. Holy, It was spacious and beautiful and moderately designed.

  The downside, however, was that I was going to be sharing it with Killian.

    I stared at the bed. The knowledge we'd be squished together rattled my nerves. It took only his lips on mine to shake me. What if I rolled over in my sleep and my fingers accidentally touched something? What if he decided to rile me up by flirting in bed? What if he was a naked sleeper?

    Irritation bit me from the ridiculous situation and the realization that it couldn't be helped. We needed to keep the guise going and I couldn't afford any room for slip-ups.

    Once the helpers were done and they'd left, I turned to him. "We might be sharing this room but I'm not sharing a bed with you."

    He turned, peeling off the first piece of his suit. "I don't bite, Hope. Well, not unless you want me to."

    I rolled my eyes. "I'll sleep on the couch."

       "You're pregnant. I will not let you sleep on the couch."

       "Then will you?"

       "I'm not that much of a gentleman either, and it'll look suspicious when the helpers come in tomorrow and find me on the couch. We'll both share the bed."

    I bit my lip, unconvinced.

       "I have no intentions of touching you Hope, not when you're very much fragile." He looked sincere. Was he though?

       "Fine." I conceded.

    A tiny frown marred his brow. "Fine."

    For dinner, when we filed down the stairs and emerged in the dining hall, Killian placed his arm in the small of my back and pulled me close—too close. I drew in a deep breath. My heart pounded in my chest when he didn't move away for several seconds. He smelled sinfully good. Body wash maybe? I remembered him emerging from the bathroom wet and glistening, still unshaven, with just a towel around his waist, and there I was, staring like a kid seeing a unicorn for the first time.

       "You're fidgeting." He whispered into my ear. "You have nothing to worry about, just act natural, okay?"

    His voice was calm and soothing. I swallowed a heavy lump in my throat and nodded, just about when he broke away to hug the woman who then approached us. 

       "You're looking so good, Killian." She mused, holding him in the tightest embrace and when she pulled away, she turned to me,  those huge sets of indigo eyes auditing me. "And you must be the lucky bride."

    I smiled tentatively, unsure of what to expect. "Yes, I am. It's a pleasure to meet you."

    A genuine smile stretched over her mouth as she looked at her Killian and then back to me. "Welcome to the family. I'm Gwendolyn, Gwen for short. You did my brother good. He isn't an easy man to love." She wrapped me tightly in a hug and I returned the embrace.

       "Enough, enough." Mary's voice sounded. "Hope come sit. It's time for dinner."

     I smiled and broke away from Gwen, muttering a quick prayer before going to sit by her in one of the large golden chairs.

    Killian took the chair next to me and quickly replaced the glass of wine placed in front of me with a glass of water. But his gesture didn't go unnoticed.

      "You're not drinking. Are you pregnant?" Mary asked and the lively chatter between Gwen and Eve stopped as they turned their attention to me.

   I felt panic creep up my throat.

        "No...I'm not."

        "Not yet," Killian inserted, lifting my hand and watching me as he intermingled his fingers with mine. "But we're not planning to waste any time getting you there after marriage, are we, sweetheart?"

    My face burned red. "No, we're not."

      "Isn't this amazing?" Gwen observed loudly. "I never thought I'd see my brother this in love and mushy again."

    "What can I say." Killian leaned forward and placed a chased kiss on my cheeks. "She brings out the best in me."

   I blushed, trying very hard to calm my beating heart as I was finding it incredibly difficult to focus on the task. Fooling an entire family into thinking we were in love wasn't going to be easy, especially with Mary's quick sense.

    I made a mental note not to slip up around her because the stakes were very high and many things could go wrong.

   Throughout our meal, we made a few talks here and there I  seemed to be doing a great job as everyone smiled and regaled at fictitious stories of our romantic relationship that I told.

   Eve awed, tucking her hand underneath her chin as she stared dreamingly at us. "That is so romantic. It's hard to believe my brother cares about anyone but himself."

       "Well I do," Killian pipped in. "I'm a changed man. Right my love?"

    My lying heart twitched a bit faster and I'd wished the heavens would strike me down because I was a horrible person for telling an untruth. "Yes, you are."

      "Indeed." Mary smiled. "My son is becoming the gentleman I trained him to be."

     Killian squeezed my fingers, a sign that I'd done a good job. "It's possible all because of her." He brought my palm up to his mouth and placed a kiss in the center. My skin tingled.

       "What do you do, Hope?" Gwen asked, sipping her wine with a casual demeanor. "Do you work?"

        "Gwendolyn—" Killian called in a scolding tone.

       She shrugged. "What? It's just a simple question."

      I chuckled. "It's fine, Killian." I turned to face her. "Well for starters. I'm a BA degree holder in marketing but finding a decent job in San Francisco is like looking for a waterfall in a desert. I didn't have a choice so to live I got a job at a diner. Joe's diner."

    Mary smiled. "How lovely my dear. Most girls your age would become strippers and escorts just to make ends meet. I'm proud of your choices and I too did menial jobs to get by. We all weren't born into wealth you see. Some of us married into it."

    Relief washed over my features and I smiled. "Thank you for understanding."

       "And your family, how about them?"

       "My mum works at a retirement home. My brother runs a small-scale company. He's married too."

       "What about your father?"

   I was silent for a moment. "I never met him. He left when I was little."

    Mary gave a long-suffering sigh. "We have a lot of things in common." She glowered. "My father abandoned my mother when I was only 5. We were three girls you see and my mother had to fend for all of us."

       "That must have been hard. I'm sorry."

        "Oh, it's fine." She chuckled, just about when the door shot open.

    Everyone swung around to watch the progression of a man with the golden staff. Involuntary shivers ran down my spine. I recognized him immediately from the large portraits I'd seen hanging in nearly every hallway. They had not done much justice though, because the man now standing at the center of the long dining table looked more intimidating in real life.

    He had small dark vacant eyes, the opposite of his son's indigos but they definitely shared the same disapproving look that made you feel like dirt.

       "Pardon my tardiness, I lost track of time." His voice held a deep commanding tone to it that made my chest tighten. He bent over and kissed Mary on her cheek. "How much did I miss?"

    She smiled and pushed the aged bangs out of her husband's face. "We've been having a wonderful time getting to know our son's wife-to-be." She said, guiding his intimidating gaze my way.

    I immediately rose from my seat and clasped my hand in front of me. Unease tickled my belly. Frankly, I had no idea what to do and his gaze made me lose all reasoning. But before I could decide what to say, Killian got up beside me. "Father," he laced my hands with his and squeezed. "I'd like you to meet my fiancee, Hope."

    He took short strides towards us and I gulped, bracing myself for the series of questions that were going to come but nothing like that happened. Instead, he just stared at Killian with such heavy intensity. And they stared...and stared...as though they exchanged words even without speaking. And then, out of the blue, his lips quirked up and formed a warm approving smile. "You've finally proven me wrong, Vaughn." He tapped his shoulder. "I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, father."

"And you." His gaze suddenly swung back to me, and the intensity softened. "What is it with American girls and looking so skinny?" He turned to Mary. "She's not leaving this house until she adds an extra pound or two. We'll feed her five times a day if we have to."

     Mary laughed. "I'll do right by your word."

   I broke a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

     "The pleasure is all mine." He hugged me softly. "Welcome to the family."

      "Yes!" Eve squealed with delight and clasped her hands together. "Father approves!"
  
     Thank goodness.