Fake Dating the Unsuspecting Heiress

Going to the post office should not be this big a deal. 

Addison Reginald’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the steering wheel of her parked rental car, peering out the passenger side window to the sidewalk in front of the post office. 

It was open, there was no doubt about it. The tiny town of Cyrano, Wyoming, might not have a crowded Main Street, but Addison would definitely call it bustling. Well, at least…it wasn’t deserted. Nine o’clock on a Tuesday morning and at least a handful of people had just passed by her car. 

No, not people. Strangers.

Her knuckles turned a shade whiter as she stared at them. Release the steering wheel, Addison. She took a deep breath and tried to obey her mental command. 

Her fingers had other ideas. 

Let go!

One by one she uncurled her fingers as she exhaled. She was being ridiculous. It was just a post office. She’d gone to several in her lifetime, often by herself. This was not something to be anxious about. It was just that ever since she’d arrived in town the day before, she’d been overwhelmed by the newness of it all. 

But that was the point, right? She was twenty-five, after all. She was an adult, fully capable of standing on her own two feet. Sure, this might have been her first time away from home on her own, but this was what she wanted.

Her phone lit up with a text on the passenger seat. It was her dad. Again. Just remember, sweetheart, you can always come home.

She frowned at the screen. Sometimes she could have sworn her father was psychic. 

Or maybe he just knew her. 

That thought had her scooping up the letters she needed to send and snagging her purse, irritation overriding anxiety—although she couldn’t say whether she was angrier with herself for being anxious over a stupid trip to the post office or with her father who expected her to fail at this newfound step toward independence. 

She went to reach for the car’s door handle but dropped her hand with a sigh. She’d better reply to him right away or there was a good chance he’d go all overprotective papa bear and sic the local police on her. Worse, he’d get one of his security goons to track her down. As the CEO of one of the country’s largest tech companies, her father had the sort of power and influence, not to mention money that got things done. 

His only daughter lost track of time in the library? The entire college campus security team had been put on red alert. She was late for dinner because her car wouldn’t start? He’d sent a police escort. If she failed to check in on her first day on her own in a new town?

He’d probably send out the National Guard.

She wished that was an exaggeration, but she wasn’t entirely certain it was. 

It’s only a month, Dad. I’ll be fine. She hit send before this new, persistent guilt could stop her. Technically, she was only here for a month. Vanessa, Addison’s best friend from college, had invited her to stay at her place while she was out of town for work. 

More than anyone, Vanessa had been her biggest cheerleader when it came to striking out on her own. But then again, for Vanessa being independent seemed to come so easily. Her college bestie might own an apartment in the town where she’d been born and raised, but Addison was fairly certain her friend never actually used it. Not for any length of time, at least. She’d gone off to college in California and since graduating she’d either been living in New York City or traveling the world for work as a hotshot marketing executive. 

These past few years, Vanessa had been living the dream while Addison had been living…in her dad’s pool house. Granted, it was a really, really nice pool house, but it was still her father’s. And it came complete with his twenty-four hour security surveillance and his hovering paranoia every time she so much as coughed.

Anyway, as far as her dad was concerned she was only here for a month. But if it were up to her—which is was, she reminded herself sternly—she’d be staying for much longer. Her plan was to look for a more permanent living arrangement while staying at Vanessa’s and focus her time and energy on the side gig she’d built up while still working for her father’s company. She’d given her notice months ago, and now she was free to pursue her passion full-time. 

She took a deep, shaky breath to keep from hyperventilating. Four weeks to make sure her part-time graphic design company could supply a full-time income so she could prove to herself and her dad that she didn’t need his help. Nope, she wasn’t panicking at all.

But if she could make it happen, then the world was her oyster. She would be her own woman, not beholden to her father for money or security. If all went according to plan, she’d be sticking around this quaint little town for a lot longer than a month. 

Her gaze darted up and down the street, taking in the low, squat buildings that lined Main Street. It was exactly as Vanessa described. Cute, quaint…charming. 

Her father would hate the idea when she eventually told him. He’d become convinced that she couldn’t handle life on her own. He meant well, he truly did. It was just that she hadn’t had the most normal of childhoods, and making friends hadn’t come easily for her. There may have been some times in her life when she’d trusted the wrong people. Like her ex-boyfriend, for example. 

And her mother.

But, just because she’d put her faith in the wrong people twice—okay, maybe a few times. Really, who was counting? That didn’t mean she couldn’t be trusted to be on her own. 

Taking a deep breath, she finally opened the car door, her purse and letters in her arms as she scurried around the back of the car and headed toward the post office. She’d just reached for the door when someone ran into her.

Her envelopes and purse went flying, and she might have gone flying too if the man who’d hurtled into her hadn’t wrapped his arms around her to hold her upright. Instead of falling flat on the hard ground, she found herself pressed flat against a hard body.

Shock had her gasping for air, and the rush of adrenaline from the collision made her shake.

“I’m so sorry,” the guy holding her was saying. 

She was stunned stupid. Her gaze was fixed on the guy’s throat, which was at her eye level. Her senses were on overload as she registered the heady, masculine smell of soap and sweat, her body rapidly taking note of the feel of hard muscles…everywhere. She was surrounded by them. His chest? Hard. The arms that were still holding her tight? Hard. The thighs that were brushing against hers?

Yup. Hard.