“Boys, just put those bags in Grandma’s room, and we’ll deal with them later,” Janelle orders her sons before turning her attention to me. “Mom, this is Penny, Jace’s fiancée.” She waves her arm out then up and down in my direction, looking like Vanna White showcasing the grand prize on Wheel of Fortune.
“She’s his fiancée?” The woman scoffs, and even if I can’t be surprised by her doubt, I’m still a little offended. I mean, I might not be a supermodel, but I think I’m pretty and have some great qualities—the first being my winning personality, the second, my ass.
I have a great ass.
Not that she can see that right now.
“Mom!” Janelle hisses.
“What?” She looks at her daughter, who is giving her a dirty look. “Fine.” She focuses on me. “It’s nice to meet you, Penny. I’m Janet.”
“Nice to meet you too.” I force a smile.
“I’d like to take a nap,” she announces loudly, as Daniel makes his way toward where I’m still standing next to the food, and he sighs audibly.
“Okay, let’s get you settled. Maybe you’ll be in a better mood when you wake up,” Janelle scold, then looks at her husband, who just started to grab a plate for himself. “Honey, will you go up and get a few more blankets while I get Mom to her room?
“Sure,” Daniel says, then his eyes come to me and start dancing with mischief. “Hopefully, she’ll suffocate herself with them while she’s sleeping.”
I snort. Even if it is inappropriate, it’s still funny. He chuckles, then sets down his plate and leaves the kitchen.
Alone once again, I take a bite of my sandwich, then watch Jace walk through the doorway.
“Everything okay?” he asks, stopping in front of me.
“Your grandmother seems delightful,” I tell him, and he smirks, taking a chip off my plate. “Also, we need to talk about how long we’ve been dating. The woman with the little boy asked, and I didn’t know what to say.”
“A couple of months.”
“Seriously?” I roll my eyes. “So we’ve been dating a couple of months, and we’re already engaged?”
“When you know, you know.” He takes my sandwich from my hand and starts to put it in his mouth.
“Hey!” I stop him quickly by grabbing his wrist. “That’s mine. Get your own.”
“You won’t share with your soon-to-be husband?”
“No,” I say, and he bends his head down and takes a bite anyways.
“Want some?” He holds the sandwich out to me.
“Ewww, no. Now it has your cooties on it.”
“Come on. You know you want a bite of my meat,” he taunts, putting the sandwich near my face and making me laugh.
“You’re an idiot.” I listen to him chuckle and watch him shove the last bite in his mouth, as the energy in the room seems to shift and get heavier.
Turning, I find the blonde woman from earlier standing near the open doorway watching us.
“I need to go make a couple of phone calls,” Jace tells me, then the next thing I know, his lips are on mine in a kiss that is over before I can even blink. “I’ll be back.”
“Uh… yeah. Okay.” I watch him walk off, taking his cell out of his pocket, and I rub my tingling lips together.
“I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself.” The blonde comes over to the counter, picking up a paper plate. “I’m Brice’s wife, Haylee.” She looks over at me, and I don’t know what she’s looking for, but it’s obvious she’s waiting for me to react.
“Awesome. And the little boy?”
“Dash. He just turned three.”
“He’s cute.”
“He is,” she says, then her head tips to the side. “Has Jace mentioned me?”
Oh goodness, now what?
“Mentioned you?” I ask, hoping that playing stupid works in my favor.
“He and I dated for a while in college.”
My mouth drops open.
She’s the “cut her losses because he worked too much” girl. Oh, Lord.
“I only bring it up, because I don’t want things to be any more awkward than they already are.”
“Oh.” I wave out my hand. “This is not awkward at all. Not even a little. At least, not for me. I mean, if you’re the one who’s slept with both Jace and Brice, I’m sure that’s totally weird for you, being around them both.” I close my eyes and beg myself to shut up. “I’m sorry,” I whisper when I can finally meet her gaze. “I’ve always had a horrible habit of rambling when I’m uncomfortable.”
As she stares at me unblinking, I shift on the balls of my feet. I thought I was uncomfortable before, but now I know what that word really means.
I’m so going to kick Jace in the shin for this. He should have told me that his ex-girlfriend was here and that she married his twin brother and had a kid with him.
Okay, first, I might give him a hug, because even thinking about him watching his brother marry the woman he was probably in love with causes unwanted sympathy for the man to hit me right in the chest. That had to suck big-time.
“It is weird,” she says quietly, finally breaking the silence, and my body deflates like a balloon. “I had no idea I would end up falling in love with Brice. It just kind of happened.” I watch her draw in a deep breath. “I’m glad Jace has you now, and I really do hope the two of you are happy.”
“Thank you,” I say, because what the hell am I supposed to say? Jace hired me to be his fake fiancée, because he doesn’t want another serious relationship and he’s still obsessed with work. Oh, and we just met a few days ago. “I’m gonna go outside for a bit,” I tell her, and she nods.
Taking my plate, including a new sandwich, with me, I walk out the back door, then down the stairs to the yard. Spotting a dock that leads out into the water, where there is a boathouse attached, I walk to the end of it and take a seat, resting my plate on my lap. As I take in the view and eat my lunch, my mind constantly travels back to Jace and why I’m here.
Did he really want me around to keep his mom off his back, or is it too difficult for him to be around Haylee and his brother, alone and without a distraction? I imagine it is. Then again, what the hell do I know? I hardly know the guy, and I definitely don’t know the kind of relationship he and Haylee had. I know he said she cut her losses because he worked all the time, but he obviously let her go, so did she even mean that much to him?
Really, I don’t need to know the answers to those questions.
I’m only here to help Jace and to make fifty thousand dollars so I can take my mom to Paris and pay off her bills and a few of my own.
Jace Ellis’s emotional wellbeing is not my concern.
Right?
Right.
But heck if I don’t know if I’m lying to myself.
Chapter 9
Clue
With the house quiet when I go back inside after I’ve eaten, I grab my phone from my purse and take it with me to the deck. On the screen, there are about a dozen missed calls from Christy, including a few texts. A rock settles in the pit of my stomach as I open up the messages from her. Each letter is capitalized, letting me know she’s yelling at me, and all of them are asking if I’ve lost my mind.