Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
I never got those words out two months ago. Instead, Jake showed up the night Walker was born with my brother and the rest of his teammates. He gave Walker one quick look and slipped out of the delivery room before I even had a moment alone with him to say what I was planning to say–before I’d even recovered from the exhaustion of giving birth.
Then he went clubbing with his friends, and I heard he had taken some random woman home with him.
It shouldn’t have mattered, but I felt so alone, and his actions hammered the point home. So I didn’t track him down to tell him. I told myself I’d let him know soon, though. And then being a parent took over. Time started creeping by, and now Walker has been on this Earth for two months, and Jake still has no idea he’s the father.
That makes me a terrible person, and I know it. So, I’m making myself a promise. I have one week to wait for a better opportunity to spill the truth. One week. No exceptions. If the right opportunity doesn’t come, I’ll just blurt it out when my time is up. If he’s not still in Frosty Harbor, I’ll shoot him a freaking text if that’s what it takes.
Jake grins a little. “You alright? You look a little constipated or something.”
I fold my arms and give him a dirty look. “We have barely talked in months, and you show up to save the day like a knight in shining armor. Then you ask me if I’m constipated?”
“That guy sounded too sure of himself. I wanted to see the look on his face when his plan got screwed up.”
“Well, I appreciate it. But I also don’t know what I’m going to actually do.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not like you’re going to marry me in six months. So I need to figure something out.”
Jake looks serious. “Here’s the thing…”
My stomach clenches, and my skin tingles all over. He’s not actually serious about this, is he?
“I’ve got some shit going on with the team,” Jake says. “They’re worried about my off-the-ice behavior. My agent told me I needed to find a way to convince them I was cleaning up my act. I got back in town last night, hung out with Jesse and Andi, and then decided to swing by and see you. And what do I hear? A golden opportunity for both of us.”
Now I’m scowling. “Explain.”
He’s still wearing that boyish smile, and I wish it didn’t make me feel like I was melting from the inside out. “You get your fake husband and keep the inn. I get a fake wife and my contract. We both win. Nobody gets hurt.”
I’m waiting for the punchline. There has to be a punchline because it sounds too good to be true and too stupid to make sense. “But?” I ask.
He considers. “We may want to keep the truth about this quiet. If the team finds out, I can kiss the contract goodbye. And I’m not sure this Peter asshole won’t find a loophole to say you haven’t breached the contract.”
I rest my chin on top of my hands, then shake my head and laugh as I actually consider it. “This is crazy. You realize that, right? We’ve barely spoken in a year, and now you want to pretend we’re engaged? You want to actually get married after our fake engagement?”
He shrugs. “I could think of a few worse people to get fake hitched to.” There’s that smile again. “Besides, we can always divorce once we’ve got what we want secured and bagged up. No big deal, right?”
“And you actually think we can keep the fact that this is fake a secret from all our friends? I can’t even tell Andi or Mia?”
Jake considers. He looks kind of dreamy when he considers things. Or when he’s not thinking much at all. Actually, he always looks dreamy. “Keeping it quiet would be safest.”
“None of our friends will believe it.”
“Maybe,” he says. “But we’ll just make this Peter guy think we’re already engaged. We can pretend we’re starting to date for our friends’ sake. Then we spring the engagement news on them once it feels more natural and pretend we’re rushing the wedding. Who says the timelines have to line up, right?”
I blow out a breath. “This feels like a bad idea.”
“What’s the worst that happens?”
“Um, I don’t know. Total and utter failure? Our friends furious with us for lying and Peter taking my B&B? Walker growing up homeless because his mom lost her livelihood?”
Something hard passes over Jake’s face. “You’re never going to be homeless, Caroline. I know we’ve had our differences, but I’ve always got your back. You understand?”
I feel like I’m being scolded for thinking it wasn’t obvious that Jake wouldn’t bail me out if it came to that. Realistically, he’d probably have to fight my brother, Jesse, for a chance to be the one to save me from destitution. I sigh, nod, and smile. “Thank you. And we don’t have differences. We just… drifted apart, right?”