“I’m great,” I assure him, snuggling into his side. Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone glaring at us. It’s the same woman who attempted to come up to me several times throughout the weekend, Henry diverting us away from her whenever he saw her approaching. “Hey. Who is that?” I subtly gesture to the scathing gaze being tossed our way.

“Ah. That gem of a human is Bailey. Shit. Betsy? Remember how I told you my mom was insistent on setting me up with a family friend?”

“Yeah. It was your reason for hiring me in the first place.”

“That’s her. She’s bad news. She wants one thing and one thing only: money. I overheard her bragging to her friend a few years back about how easily she’d be able to get me to sleep with her and how much money she could get from me if she ‘accidentally’ wound up pregnant. Needless to say, I steer clear of her at all costs.”

“How horrible.” I frown in disgust. “I’m glad I’m here with you instead.”

“You and me both,” he agrees, pushing the hair away from the nape of my neck. He drops a kiss below my ear in the spot I’m learning is one of his favorites. The first launch of the fireworks display goes off, bursting rays of color against the dark night sky. “I don’t want to spend our last few hours here talking about her.”

“Me neither,” I concur, nestling deeper into his chest. “I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.”

“These have been some of the best days of my life, Emma, and that wouldn’t have been the case if you weren’t here. I know I’ve said this before, but thank you. Not only for joining me as my other half, fake or not, but for being so fucking wonderful. So caring and understanding. It makes me a terrible person to say this, but I’m so glad I lied to my mom. It gave me you. And I’ve never been happier.”

My head drops to his shoulder and I wrap my arm around his bicep. “Before we got here, I had this idea of what you and your family were going to be like.”

“What were you expecting?”

“More rigidity and uptightness. But there’s no pretentious behavior. No showboating. Yeah, you all live comfortably, but everyone is also so down to earth and kind.”

“My parents used to be different. More close-minded. I’m primarily talking about my dad. Mom has always been a strong advocate for women and women’s issues. In the last decade, though, they’ve shifted their focus.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, turning to face him so I can listen to his story properly.