“Mom?”
His gut almost exploded. Harper’s mom wore an expensive suit, shoes that probably set her back thousands and a purse that had probably cost more. The diamond on her left hand could have blinded him. All of Harper’s fears came into sharp focus for him. This was a woman who liked being rich, who thought more of money than people.
She reached out and caught Harper by the shoulders, hugged her, then kissed her cheek. “It’s so lovely to see you here.”
He thought the comment odd until he realized this boutique existed purely for wealthy clientele. Harper’s mom didn’t know her daughter was broke. She believed her daughter belonged there.
“And buying things!”
Her mother sounded thrilled, but also proud. Knowing appearances meant everything to her, he understood why she was over-the-top happy.
Harper, however, looked like a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming car. She opened her mouth as if trying to speak but couldn’t get any words out. Her eyes drifted to the stack of clothes, almost all packed into bags and boxes now.
Unconcerned about Harper’s silence, Harper’s mom faced Seth. “And who is this?”
He decided to pick up the dropped ball and held his hand out to shake Harper’s mom’s. “I’m Seth McCallan, Mrs. Sloan.”
She took his hand with a gasp. “Seth McCallan. Of course. I’ve seen you at a few charity functions. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. I’m Amelia Sloan. My husband is Peter. Please call me Amelia.”
He smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Amelia.”
Pleasure lit Amelia Sloan’s face. “What are you doing here with my Harper?”
“Just a little shopping.”
The salesclerk finished boxing Harper’s new clothes and casually handed the receipt to Seth.
Amelia’s eyes narrowed, then widened slightly as she figured out Seth was paying for Harper’s purchases.
“It’s not what you think, Mom.”
Amelia clucked. “And how would you know what I think?”
While the women seemed to be on the same page, Seth needed a minute to process why Harper was struggling. Drowning really. Here was the very person Harper wanted to keep her situation from, standing in front of them, seeing someone buying clothes for her daughter. She didn’t know Harper was broke or that she intended to pay Seth for the purchases. And he realized explaining that might make things worse. Amelia would ask why Harper had to have someone else pay for her clothes, everything Harper was trying to hide would come tumbling out and the thing he’d spent a week of torture to avoid would happen.
Amelia Sloan would blame Clark.
There was only one way to fix this...
“We’re dating.”
The words came out of Seth’s mouth in a rush, as if the quicker he said it, the quicker Amelia would stop going down a road that Harper didn’t want her traveling.
But where Amelia’s face glowed with happy surprise, Harper’s mouth fell open.
Her reaction would have ruined everything if Seth hadn’t thought to step closer and put his arm around her waist.
Amelia all but melted with joy. “You didn’t want me to know you were dating one of the most eligible men in Manhattan? Harper! That’s ridiculous.”
“No, it’s not. Because we’re not—”
Seth squeezed her waist. “We’re not serious. Just started seeing each other,” he said, trying to mitigate the lie.
Amelia’s eyes narrowed. “And you thought my Harper didn’t dress well enough for your rarefied world?”
“No!” Seth assured her, scrambling for what to say. “She said she liked something in the window.” Oh, crap. Another lie. “And I wanted to buy it for her.” He had wanted to buy her clothes. “Because it pleases me to give her things.” That, too, was the truth. Remembering the joyful expression on Harper’s face when the clothes she loved had looked so good on her, he’d give away half his trust fund to see that look on her face again.
“Well, that’s sweet.” Amelia hugged her daughter. “I’d love to get coffee and chat, but I have something this afternoon. Why don’t you and Seth bring the baby over some night.”
“I’m sorry. We probably can’t. We’re kind of busy, too,” Seth explained before Harper could answer. This might not be the perfect lie, but it would hold long enough to get Harper settled in a job and a house. Once they left the store and were away from her mom, he could tell her that. “But I’ll have my assistant call yours tomorrow and they can set something up like dinner.”
“That would be lovely,” Amelia said, her eyes glowing.
Seth quickly grabbed the packages and herded Harper toward the door. “We’ll see you then.”
Amelia waved.
Harper reminded stonily quiet.
When they stepped out onto the street, he wasn’t surprised that she pivoted on him. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“I got you out of the store without having to admit anything to your mom.”
“Yeah, but now she’ll start snooping.”
“Into what?” He laughed. “She can call the tabloids, if she wants, looking for times we went out, places we’ve gone. But she’s not going to find anything.”
“And she’ll get suspicious.”
“So what?”
“You are such a babe in the woods. I’m either going to have to come clean with her, and soon, or we’re going to have to keep up this charade.”
“Would it be such a big deal to keep it up?”
She cast him a long look. “You can’t date anyone while you’re pretending to be dating me.”
“I feel uncomfortable leaving you alone at night, anyway.” He sighed. He hated lying. His father had been the consummate liar. He’d used lies to control, manipulate, humiliate, belittle and bully everyone from his employees to his own children. If there was one thing Seth had vowed never to do, it was lie.
But this was a worthy cause, an unusual situation. Harper, a widow with a baby, needed time to get herself settled before she told her mom she was broke and it was Clark’s fault.
Plus, her mom hadn’t appeared on the radar of Seth’s life before this. He didn’t think she’d start now. Unlike his father’s master manipulation lies, this little charade wouldn’t hurt anyone.
“Needing to get out of this mess will step up your job search a bit and we might have to start looking for houses before you have a job...but I think I did what I had to do.”
“You’re willing to pretend to be my boyfriend for at least the next four weeks?”
The ramifications of that rained down on him. No breakfasts, lunches or dinners with any women except colleagues...and no sex.
She shook her head. “That’s a long time.”
Yeah, that was sinking in and not pleasantly.
“And my mother is relentless. You’re a catch. She’s going to want me to keep you.”
That, thank God, made him laugh. “My reputation will save us. When we break up no one will be surprised.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. You’re taking this all too seriously. It’s a few weeks. What can she possibly do in a few weeks?”