Falling For Her Fake Fiancé (The Beaumont Heirs 5) by Sarah M. Anderson Page A

so watchful. Not at all the kind of woman Frances had envisioned with Phillip.
    Which was not a complaint. Phillip was sober now and, with Jo beside him, almost a new man.
    A new man who’d tasked himself with making sure Frances toed the family line.
Ugh.
    “With the man who’s running the Brewery? Are you drunk?”
    “That is
such
a laugh riot, coming from you,” she stiffly replied. She felt Jo tense beside her. “Sorry.” But she said it to Jo. Not to Phillip. “But no, thanks for asking, I’m not drunk. I’m not insane, and, just to head you off at the pass, I’m not stupid. I know exactly who he is, and I know exactly what I’m doing.”
    Phillip glared at her. “Which is
what
, exactly?”
    “None of your business.” She made damn sure to say it with her very best smile.
    Phillip was not swayed. “Frannie, I don’t know what you think you’re doing here—either you’re completely clueless and setting yourself up for yet another failure or—”
    “And thank you for that overwhelming vote of confidence,” she hissed at him, her best smile cracking unnaturally. “I liked you better when you were drunk. At least then you didn’t assume I was an idiot like everyone else does.”
    “Or,” Phillip went on, refusing to be sidetracked by her attack, “you think you’re going to accomplish something at the Brewery.” He paused, and when Frances didn’t respond immediately to that spot-on accusation, his eyes widened. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?”
    “I don’t see what it matters to you. You don’t drink beer. You don’t work at any brewery, old or new. You’ve got the farm, and you’ve got Jo. You don’t need anything.” He had his happy life now. He couldn’t begrudge her this.
    Phillip did grab her then, wrapping his hand around her upper arm. “Frannie—corporate espionage?”
    “I’m just trying to restore the Beaumont name. You may not remember it, but our name used to mean something. And we lost that.”
    Unexpectedly, Phillip’s face softened. “We didn’t lose anything. We’re still Beaumonts. You can’t go back—why would you even want to? Things are better now.”
    If that wasn’t the most condescending thing Phillip had ever said to her, she didn’t know what was. “Better for who? Not for me.”
    He was undaunted, damn him. “We’ve moved on—we
all
have. Chadwick and Matthew have their new business. Byron’s back and happy. Even the younger kids are doing okay. None of us want the Brewery back, honey. If that’s what you’re trying to do here...”
    A rush of emotions Frances couldn’t name threatened to swamp her. It was what she wanted, but it wasn’t. This was about
her
. She wanted Frances Beaumont back.
    She turned to Jo, who’d been watching the entire exchange with unblinking eyes. “I’m sorry if this interrupted your night out. Ethan and I were almost done anyway.”
    “It’s not a problem,” Jo said. Frances couldn’t tell if Jo was saying it to her husband or to Frances. Jo then slid her arm through Phillip’s. “Let it be, babe.”
    Phillip gave his wife an apologetic look. “My apologies. I’m just surprised. I’d have thought...”
    She knew what Phillip would have thought—and she knew what Chadwick and Matthew and even Byron would all be thinking, just as fast as Phillip could text them. Another Frances misadventure. “Trust me, okay?”
    Phillip’s gaze cut back over her shoulder. Even without looking, Frances could tell Ethan had returned. She could
feel
his presence. Warm prickles raised the hairs on the back of her neck as he approached.
    Then his arm slid around her waist in an act that could only be described as possessive. Phillip didn’t miss it, curse his clean-and-sober eyes. “Well. Logan, a pleasure to meet you. Frances...”
    She could hear the unspoken
be careful
in his tone. She gave Jo another quick hug and Phillip a kiss on the cheek. Ethan’s hand stayed on her lower back. “I’ll come