“Is Ellen here?” Nigel asked.
“She’ll be along later. Your sister is very eager to see who you brought home.”
Sophie settled onto the sofa next to Nigel and across from Claire. She hadn’t realized she’d be this nervous to meet his family, but after their romp on the plane, she was a bundle of mixed emotions.
“Now, tell me how you met,” Claire said, clasping her hands like a proud grandmother.
“At the office,” Nigel piped in. “You know I have a policy about not dating employees, but Roselyn changed all of that.”
They’d discussed their story and decided to keep it as close to the truth as possible.
Claire’s eyes darted between them, then landed back on Nigel. “Do you always work? Wait, don’t answer that. I know you do. Do you at least take this poor girl out to dinner?”
“Of course,” Nigel replied, reaching for a lemon square. “We’ve had several work dinners.”
“Nigel Phillip Townshend,” she scolded.
He laughed. “I’m kidding. Relax.”
Claire turned her focus to Sophie. “You must be a saint to put up with him. He’s given me every one of my gray hairs, I tell you.”
Sophie settled her hand on Nigel’s knee. “Ignore him. One of the first things he asked when I started working with him was what my favorite food was.”
“For work meetings?” Claire asked, raising one perfectly shaped brow.
“For a real date,” Nigel chimed in. “I knew the second I saw her I wanted her as more than my consultant.”
“Office romance. Well, it’s your company and I think it’s romantic...so long as you keep romance in the relationship and not just in the form of a spreadsheet.”
“I like her,” Sophie laughed, glancing to Nigel. “You had me afraid to come.”
Nigel cringed and Claire let out a burst of laughter. “Did he, now? I’d love to hear what picture he painted of me.”
“I’d like to know what he said about me, too.”
Sophie turned to the entrance of the living area as a beautiful, curvy woman came striding through. Her long dark hair fell in waves over her shoulders and she looked as if she’d just come in from riding a horse given her tight black pants, tall brown boots, and bright red fitted jacket.
“Ellen, you’re just in time.” Claire came to her feet and kissed the woman who had to be her granddaughter on the cheek. “Nigel’s girlfriend was just dishing on workplace romance and what he truly thinks of his family.”
Nigel muttered a curse under his breath and rose to greet his sister. Sophie stood as well, nervous at encountering another family member. Maybe she could knock these little meetings out one by one and not be so nervous come the day of the wedding.
“Workplace romance?” she asked, eyeing Nigel. “Well, aren’t you all candy hearts and bouquets of flowers.”
“Actually, Roslyn doesn’t like bouquets,” he said. “She thinks they’re clichéd.”
She turned to him. “You remembered that?”
His eyes shifted from her eyes to her mouth and back. “I remember everything you’ve ever said to me.”
Sophie’s heart picked up and she knew then, Nigel wasn’t faking a relationship. He meant what he’d said. And she knew in that moment he was getting in just as deep as she was... But did he know? Was he aware of how he looked at her with his emotions in his eyes?
Dread filled her stomach at the thought of Nigel getting hurt in the end. She had never wanted to crush anybody except Miranda. All she’d wanted to do was come to New York, scope out some cutting room floor footage and talk to some crew members. She’d wanted to be in and out in a week’s time.
Yet here she was, spending the next five days in England pretending to be Nigel Townshend’s girlfriend when she really wanted to be his everything in real life.
“Wait a minute,” Ellen said, staring at Sophie. “You look familiar. I think I know you from somewhere.”
Sophie froze as Ellen’s brows drew in and she pursed her lips in thought. Sophie had not come this far to be outed, but her disguise wasn’t foolproof and Ellen was smiling like she might just know Sophie’s dirty little secret.