She gritted her teeth.
“I’m perfectly harmless.” He held his hands out at his sides. “I promise.”
She knew bullshit when she saw it. And she’d seen plenty of it in her dating life. Jay may not have been the most exciting man in the world, but at least she’d known what she was getting with him. Or at least she’d thought so until he pulled the rug out from under her. What were you supposed to do when even the “safe” guys, the ones you settled for, turned out to be cheats and liars?
She turned to Josh and jabbed her finger into his chest. “I don’t trust you.”
His smile didn’t even dim. “And you don’t have to. Just let me break up with you, and then I’ll be on my merry way.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “Let’s go get it over with.”
He held up his hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. We’re not breaking up tonight.”
“What? Why not?”
“We can’t. How suspicious would that look if we were just super sweet to each other and then I suddenly broke up with you? Your parents might see through it and realize you made up your boyfriend.”
“I did not make up my boyfriend!” she hissed, trying to keep her voice down.
“That’s a moot point,” he said, acting far too calm, considering the situation. “We need to focus.”
She took a deep breath, ready to vent her frustration. She couldn’t think of the last time she’d been this angry. Fights with Jay had run more ice cold and passive-aggressive.
“Fine,” she huffed. “Since this is your crazy scheme, I take it you have some kind of plan.”
“Tonight we act like a couple in love, then tomorrow, I’ll start acting like an ass.”
“You’re doing a pretty good job right now,” she said, eyebrows raised. “You take this bossy, condescending show on the road, and you’re golden.”
He heaved out a breath. “Do you want me to help you or not? If you’d prefer, I’ll call a taxi and have them come pick me up now. Then you can explain everything yourself.”
Her shoulders tensed. “You wouldn’t.”
He grinned. “Try me.”
“You’re an ass.”
“You already said that,” he laughed. “Oh, wait. No, you said you liked my ass.”
“Not likely,” she said in a snide tone, but she couldn’t be sure if she was telling the truth. Megan couldn’t remember saying any such thing, but her gram was right. He had a nice one. Alcohol had a tendency to make her spew out all kinds of truths, embarrassing or not.
Focus, Megan.
She began to pace. If she were smart, she’d march downstairs and tell her family everything, but that had never been her style. Yes, avoidance had been Megan Vandemeer’s philosophy long before this man had come into her life. The fact that she’d immediately broken it off with Jay after finding out he was screwing his secretary—and had been for months—was a huge step for her.
She stopped and turned to face the man in her room. Could he really be the answer to her problem?
“Did my parents really buy the whole thing about me calling you Jay even though your name is Josh?”
“Never questioned it.”
A knock on the door and Megan’s mother’s voice stopped her. “Megan? Is everything okay in there?”
The blood rushed from Megan’s head. How much had her mother heard?
Josh reached forward and opened the door, then stepped back next to Megan.
Her mother stood in the threshold looking suspicious. “What are you two up to? Megan, did you say you’d had an argument?” Her disapproving tone made it clear who she blamed for said argument.
Josh snaked his arm around Megan’s waist and pulled her close. “Sorry we disappeared like that, Mrs. Vandemeer. We had a small disagreement before, but we worked everything out. I’ve been ignoring my little lovebug lately.” He tapped Megan’s nose with his index finger, giving her a smug smile that dared her to contradict him. Then he turned to face her mother. “I’ve been really busy at work for the past few weeks, trying to clear my plate so I could get away for the wedding and honeymoon, so . . .”
Megan’s mother frowned. “But Megan said you were too busy to get away for a honeymoon. I thought you were flying straight back to Seattle after this weekend so you could head to work on Monday morning.”
Josh’s mouth dropped open. “What?” He turned to look at Megan with a wide smile. “What kind of husband would I be if I didn’t take my bride on a honeymoon?” He gave her mother a sheepish grin. “I wanted it to be a surprise.” Then he turned back to Megan. “Surprise, honey!”
Megan’s mother placed her hand on her chest, beaming. “I told Megan she needed to go on a honeymoon, but she swore you couldn’t get away and she didn’t want one. Where are you taking her?”
“Well . . . uh . . .”
“Yes, honey,” Megan said, lifting an eyebrow. “Where are we going?”
“Uh . . .” He truly looked stymied for a moment, but then he said, “The Caribbean,” acting as if it were a revelation.
“That’s wonderful!” her mother gushed. “Which island?”
“Excuse me?” he asked, clearly uncomfortable.
“Which island?”
Megan decided to take pity on him. She still didn’t trust him, and she was certain there was more to his motives than he was letting on, but he’d saved her twice. She owed him something. “I bet it’s the Virgin Islands, isn’t it? Ever since we met, I’ve been telling Josh how much I wanted to go there.”
“That’s it!” Josh exclaimed. “But now I’ve ruined the surprise.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Megan drawled, patting his cheek harder than necessary. “You’re just one surprise after another.”
He reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling it down to his chest, where he held it over his heart. Laying it on a bit thick?
“You still didn’t explain what you’re doing up here,” her mother said.
Megan was irritated. She was twenty-nine years old and her mother was still trying to control her.
Josh intervened. “Like I said, I’ve been working a lot . . . which means I haven’t spent a lot of time with Megan lately.” He dropped her hand and wrapped his other arm around her as he pulled her to his chest. “I assumed that you and Mr. Vandemeer would want us to sleep in separate rooms until the wedding, so I figured we could enjoy a little time alone together since we were already up here. If you know what I mean.” He winked.
Megan couldn’t believe he’d just said that to her mother. She kicked his shin, but his smile barely wavered.
Her mother’s face turned a pretty pink, which Megan didn’t find surprising. Everything her mother did only enhanced her beauty and sophistication. She wasn’t an ugly crier, so of course her blush would look like blush, not like the ugly splotches Megan got when she was embarrassed. There had never been any question as to why her father had married the Southern belle from Atlanta, who still carried her Southern accent around like a badge of honor. But she’d found it impossible to live in her shadow.