Love Arranged (Lakefront Billionaires, #3)(16)

There is absolutely no way…

“What was it called?” Do I sound anxious? I can’t tell with the way blood is pounding through my ears.

“Eris?” She taps her chin. “No. Wait. Eros. Like the Greek god of something.”

“Love,” I say. “He was the Greek god of love.” My voice sounds so small.

“Yes! You’re right.” She is completely unaware of the damage she’s inflicting as she carries on. “I never heard of the Eros app before, but based on how much Lorenzo hated it, I assume it sucked.”

“He said that?” My heart feels like it was punctured with a thousand thorns.

“Yes.” She nods with pinched brows, only for them to dart up toward her hairline. “Wait. You just said you used dating apps too, right?”

“Yeah.” The word slides against my tongue painfully.

“Did you try Eros?”

“Briefly.”

“What did you think?” she asks.

“Wouldn’t recommend it.”

“He said as much too.” She laughs while I wish for a hole to open up underneath me.

“So he wasn’t looking for a real relationship?” All that time I spent talking to him, imagining a future together…

God. You’re so stupid.

“No, and the experience made him shy away from the idea until a month ago.”

“Why?” I rasp.

“A focus group pointed out how he lacked any deep connections to the town, and someone said maybe if he had a family, they’d be more likely to take him seriously…”

I’m no longer paying attention. Willow continues talking, but I’m too lost in my own thoughts to reply.

He realized finding someone on an app was a bad idea.

Someone or me?

The pang in my chest becomes unbearable, the throb impossible to ignore.

After spending all this time wondering why I wasn’t good enough to make him stay, I feel devastated. Deceived. And most of all rejected twice over, because for some reason, I wasn’t an ideal choice for his plan.

My heart feels like it’s being torn apart once more, and the dull throb in my chest whenever I think of Lorenzo transforms into a full-blown ache that can’t be ignored.

“Lily?” Willow asks, yanking me out of my spiral.

“Yeah?” I ask, shaking my head to clear it.

“Do you want to take a seat? You look a little pale.”

I take her up on the idea and have a seat on one of the counter stools beside her.

She shoots me a grimace. “I’m sorry for freaking you out. I didn’t mean to throw all that at you.”

I reach for my wine and take a long sip. “No worries.”

“Speaking of worries, could we please keep the whole fake-fiancée scandal between us?” She picks at a random cuticle. “I don’t want to get into any trouble, and if Lorenzo found out I told you…”

He’d what? Get mad at her? Try to silence me with a bribe or an NDA? I wouldn’t put it past him to fire Willow either, and I like her too much to let that happen.

“Of course,” I reassure her. “I have no interest in making your job any harder.”

The stiffness in her spine lessens a bit. “Thank you.”

I bump her shoulder with mine. “No worries. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Okay, enough about me. Tell me what’s up with you.”

I open my mouth to share my concerns about Rose & Thorn’s future, but then I slam it shut. After tonight’s revelation, I’d rather stick to easy topics because my heart can’t take any more.

It’s easier to pretend the shop I love—the shop I’ve poured years of my life and personal savings into—isn’t about to be torn down and rebuilt into some luxury commercial building. Just like it’s easier to pretend Lorenzo didn’t spend two months talking to me solely because he was looking for a fake fiancée.

It’s not the right choice, but I want to continue pretending for a little while longer. Tomorrow I plan on talking to Willow about the shop, but tonight…

I’m choosing to forget.




I do my best to ignore all thoughts about Lorenzo, the dating app, and my daunting future. It takes a few glasses of wine, but now that I’ve got a good buzz going, I’m no longer worried about anything but what song Willow wants to play next.

Or I wasn’t until someone knocks on Willow’s front door.

“Who’s that?” I ask, my brows rising at the sound of the heavy pounding.

She gets up from the couch and checks the peephole. “Shit!”

“What?” I ask.

“It’s Lorenzo,” she whisper-shouts.

I walk up to her side. “Tell him to go away.”

“My car is parked outside, so he knows I’m here.”

My sluggish brain forgot about that. “So? Establish some boundaries!”

“I know you’re in there, Lily, and yes, I can hear you,” Lorenzo says on the other side of the door.

“He’s so annoying,” I say.

“I heard that too.” His voice is muffled by the door between us.

I roll my eyes.

Willow snorts.

“Open up,” he commands.