Free Her Faux Fiancé by Alexia Adams

be interested in the process most people found boring in the extreme.
    “What did you want to do in Winnipeg?”
    “I need to pick up a few things. I didn’t pack for such a long stay. Plus, with all the events surrounding your grandparents’ anniversary, I need a dress or two. How fancy is the big celebration?” Her smile was tight.
    “It’ll be pretty formal. The women in my family will take any opportunity to break out their party dresses.” He salivated at the thought of previewing Analise in a dozen formal dresses. He envisaged low cleavage and lots of gorgeous leg. Shopping had never held such appeal.
    Taking the ring road, she drove to Polo Park mall, pulling into a stall near The Bay store. She handed Erik the keys.
    “Clothes shopping will probably bore you to tears. Why don’t you take the car, and I’ll meet you back here in a couple of hours?” she suggested as she exited the vehicle.
    “No, I’m good. I’ll come with you. I’m looking forward to selecting dresses for you to try on.”
    Analise put her hand on her hip. “I’m not a doll to be dressed for your pleasure. I shop alone.”
    He was about to argue, then remembered her former fiancé’s control issues. “All right. But we haven’t celebrated our engagement. Will you let me take you for dinner after you’re done?”
    “You want to celebrate a fake engagement?”
    He caressed the back of her neck before he lowered his mouth to hers. “If it were a real engagement, we’d have partied naked with a bottle of champagne, a bowl of strawberries, and some whipped cream,” he whispered against her lips.
    She stepped back, breaking the contact. “Dinner it is, then. I’ll text you when I’m done, and you can tell me where to meet you.”
    Wandering around the city alone was not the way he wanted to spend the day. But he was playing the long game. A strategic retreat now could mean a proper celebration later. “I’ll book a table at the Palm Room Lounge at Hotel Fort Garry. And I’ll get a room if you want to take a nap or change before dinner.”
    “Hotel Fort Garry? You don’t do things cheap, Prairie Boy.”
    “Not for my best fiancée.”
    “You got a second-class one stashed somewhere?”
    “Nope. You’re all the woman I need.”
    “We’ll see.” She turned on her heel and walked away without a backward glance.
    He locked his knees to stop from following her. He sensed there was something more than the deaths of her fiancé and grandmother bothering her. Was she preparing to run away again? Because he sure as hell wasn’t ready to say good-bye.
    • • •
    Analise dragged her weary body into the iconic Winnipeg hotel. She dropped her shopping bags in front of the reception desk.
    “My, uh … Erik Sigurdson said he booked a room here.”
    “You must be Miss Thordarson. Mr. Sigurdson has a room for you, and he’s left a note,” the receptionist said.
    Analise signed the registration document and then picked up the envelope.
    My darling Analise,
    I hope your shopping trip was successful. If you make it to the hotel in time, please feel free to pamper yourself in the spa. Nothing will be able to make you more beautiful, but perhaps you might enjoy a massage or facial. I’ll meet you at the restaurant at 7 p.m. But if you need more time, just call my cell.
    Your loving fiancé,
    Prairie Boy
    Maybe a little pampering was what she needed, to let go of the stress and worry for a few hours and recapture her peace. Which would evaporate the second she saw Erik and her body clamored for what it couldn’t have. She passed her bags to the concierge and headed to the spa.
    Analise fell asleep during her massage and facial. When she woke, her makeup had also been done. A coat of mascara was all that was needed to complete the transformation. She felt a million times better. More like the real Analise, not the tired-out, injured shell of a woman who’d slumped into town a few days ago. She was ready to take on the world. Or at