Read Online The Boss's Fake Fiancee by Inara Scott - Free Book Online

planned to bring a different date,” Garth explained. “But—”
    “That would be awkward,” Melissa concluded, “now that you’re engaged.”
    “Exactly.”
    Melissa tapped her finger against the armrest and considered the proposition. She couldn’t think of any reasonable excuse for saying no. “Fine. I’ll attend. And I give you permission to touch me while we’re there. But above the waist only, got it?”
    Garth’s eyes gleamed. “Got it.” He paused as they turned onto a smaller, two-lane highway. “Unless, of course, you go somewhere else first.”
    “What?” Melissa straightened so abruptly the seatbelt locked and held her rigidly in place. She forced herself to relax and sink back down so she could loosen the strap’s death grip on her shoulder and hip. “Excuse me?”
    He shrugged, and she thought she caught a hint of a tiny, genuine smile. “I’m just saying it’s tit for tat.” At her outraged look, his mouth actually quirked up at the corner. “Bad choice of words. All I’m saying is that I might not be the only one doing the groping. And fair’s fair, right? You go below the waist, I can, too.”
    “That’s not going to happen,” Melissa said darkly.
    “Of course not,” Garth said.
    “Why do you say it like that?” she demanded.
    “What?” He cast her a quick look, all wide-eyed innocence. “I’m agreeing with you.”
    “Hmph.” Melissa took a long sip from her cup of coffee. “Why are you in such a good mood, anyway? Did Solen Labs end up on the cover of Artificial Intelligence Today or something?”
    “Better. Orelian sent me an email congratulating me on my engagement. And she wants to see a draft funding agreement.”
    “Really?” Melissa turned to him in surprise.
    “Apparently she’s a romantic at heart.” Garth’s pleasure was obvious in the smooth cadence of his voice. “Now I just have to convince her to fund ThinkSpeak before you walk away and break my heart.”

Chapter Seven
    It took a little over forty minutes to get to Garth’s house in Scarsdale. Melissa kept her face carefully impassive as they passed through a large iron gate and wove down a long driveway. The last thing she wanted was to give Garth the satisfaction of ooh-ing and aah-ing over the ancient, spreading oak trees and expansive green lawns of his—well, his estate.
    His enormous, spectacular estate.
    She knew she was unlikely to maintain the façade. Melissa’s brothers had always teased her for her inability to hide her true feelings, whether they were horror at the sight of an ugly shawl her mother had found for her at a thrift store in The Village, or heartbreak when the boy she liked in high school referred to her as “one of those chess club geeks.”
    Melissa was, as they said, “an open book.” And Garth, she was quickly realizing, was astonishingly wealthy.
    Though Brit had made them all quite comfortable when he took Excorp public three years before, Melissa hadn’t grown up with money. Even after Excorp became profitable, she’d always deposited her share of the family fortune directly into an investment account. It wasn’t that she didn’t want the money—she fully intended to use it as a trust fund for her kids, if she was ever lucky enough to have any—but she refused to let herself become dependent on it. Melissa had spent her whole life living in the shadow of her successful older brothers, and once she’d had the opportunity to make her own way in the world, she’d left New York and vowed not to come back until she was just as successful as they were.
    And look how well that turned out…
    Melissa pushed the dark thought from her head and focused on her surroundings. Regardless of how much Brit had made, the Bencher family fortune couldn’t begin to rival this. After driving through what had to have been acres of green lawns, dotted with enormous old trees, the gardens began. It was October, so there was nothing in bloom, but throughout the carefully