She didn’t confirm it. But she also didn’t deny it.
“Dammit, Jocelyn.” Grant smacked his hand down on the counter. “Be reasonable.”
“I’m being reasonable!” She frowned at him. “I have a lot to consider here! I told you, I don’t have insurance. I need to figure out to make this work. When I can’t work for a little bit. And when I’ll have big bills to pay! Just leave me alone for a freaking minute!”
Grant blew out a breath. This was not his problem. She was not his concern. She was not his responsibility.
That didn’t seem to matter.
“I’ll give you the money.”
She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. As if counting to ten to gather patience.
Oh, she needed to gather patience to deal with him?
“That’s very nice of you,” she finally said calmly. “But we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars. I couldn’t take that kind of money from you.”
He had it. It would be no problem at all. But he appreciated someone not wanting to take a handout. Pride was important too. “You can pay me back.” There was no way he’d have her pay him back the full amount, but he’d figure something out when the time came.
“I can also pay the hospital back. They’ll have some kind of payment plan, I’m sure.”
Damn stubborn woman. “Mine would be interest free.”
“I wouldn’t be comfortable owing you that much money for the length of time this would take,” she said, lifting her chin.
Grant ground his teeth. “Borrow it from Aiden, then. He’s a friend. Someone you’ve known forever.”
“No fucking way.”
He ground his teeth harder even as he made a note that she evidently swore as she got more determined.
“You’re being ridiculous,” he told her.
“Maybe you should just leave,” she responded.
Yeah, maybe he should. Because he was tempted to call a friend of his who was a computer hacker to get into Jocelyn’s bank account and make a deposit. Or maybe he could just call the hospital and arrange to cover her expenses anonymously. That he could do, surely. He’d ask Cam about legalities and such. Hell, he’d have Cam just handle it, so the hospital wouldn’t even know who it was coming from directly so that Jocelyn couldn’t find out.
She would surely guess, but as stubborn as she could be, he could be so much more so. She had no idea.
“Fine.” He turned on his heel. “I’ll leave. But this isn’t over.” He stalked to the back door.
“I appreciate everything you did to help me tonight, Grant,” she said softly behind him.
He stopped and pulled in a deep breath. See? She was sweet. She was stubborn and feistier than he’d given her credit for, maybe, but she was also sweet and sexy and had a smile that did things to his heart that had never been done to it before.
“You’re very welcome.” He looked back over his shoulder. “Call me if you need anything. Please. I mean it.”
She didn’t reply right away.
“I promise not to yell or nag,” he added.
She snorted softly.
“I’ll try not to,” he corrected with a small smile.
“Okay. Thanks.”
She wouldn’t call him. There was a jab in his chest as he realized it. Dammit. Hopefully she’d call Zoe or Jane. But it wasn’t his place to tell them anything about this. Fuck.
He turned back and grabbed the doorknob, but then heard himself say, “Marry me.”
10
He gripped the doorknob, holding his breath, just waiting.
He wasn’t panicking. He wasn’t hoping she hadn’t heard him. He wasn’t hoping she’d laugh it off.
He really fucking wanted her to say yes.
Finally she did answer.
“What?”
He turned. She was staring at him as if he’d just announced that he was going to take her gall bladder out right here and now with nothing but a butter knife and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
“Marry me,” he said again. Firmer. “It’s the perfect solution.”
“To what exactly?”
“All of this.” It really was. He hadn’t even realized just how perfect until now. As the idea kept going through his mind, it became more and more clear. He nodded. “I want to help. This allows me to do that. You need help. This provides that. You don’t have insurance. This would give you insurance. We’ll add you to my policy. That won’t cost me anything more. I already pay the premiums, and we have an exceptional plan with excellent coverage and a very low deductible.”
Those were all true statements. He and Cam had found the best plan for their company. While the five partners were all healthy, single guys and didn’t need a lot of coverage, they needed to cover their employees as well, and they’d all agreed that a comprehensive plan that didn’t cost the employees much was going to be a perk of working at Fluke Inc. Cam had also agreed with Grant that they needed good coverage, not because any of the partners had chronic illnesses but because two of them had the chronic tendency to do things like travel in foreign countries on whims and skydive with only a couple of lessons.
“But we would have to actually be married,” Jocelyn said.
“Yes.”
“That’s… fraud.”
“It’s not fraud if we’re legally married,” he said. “They don’t need to know why we’re married. All that matters is that we have a legal marriage license.”
“But…” She frowned. “We would have to actually be married,” she repeated.
“Yes,” he said again.
“Why would you do that?”
“For all of the reasons I just listed.” He crossed the room, coming to stand right in front of her. “And because I can think of a lot of things far worse than living and sleeping with you every night.”
Her eyes widened. “You were just complaining about the fact that I was ‘making’ you stay here in Appleby longer than you’d intended,” she said, lifting her finger to put quotes around making. “Now you want to commit yourself to even more?”
Grant lifted a hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. She really was beautiful. She was sassy at times. She had more spunk than he’d anticipated. But she was sweet, and he knew she thought his inability to forget about her was romantic.
“Look, I’m going to be totally honest with you,” he said, his voice getting gruff without him even trying. He could convince her of this. He could sweep her off her feet. Not because he was so smooth and romantic but because she liked the idea of them having instant chemistry and a connection he couldn’t deny.
He didn’t want to use that against her. At least, not entirely. He wanted her to know the score.
Her bottom lip was trapped between her teeth as she studied his eyes.
“If it weren’t for your gall bladder I wouldn’t have proposed already,” he said. He gave her a little half grin and was gratified to see her smile in return. “But I wouldn’t have been leaving town any time soon either. I would have wanted to keep seeing you. I would have wanted to keep getting you naked. So this is going a little farther than all of that, I’ll admit, but it’s for a good cause.”
She just stared at him, but she took a deep breath.
“And I really need to know that you’re okay now that I’ve gotten to know you,” he said. “That’s who I am. I can’t stand leaving people more vulnerable than I found them.” He smiled. “You can ask my sister and my grandmother about how stubborn I can be when I decide I need to take care of someone.”
Jocelyn blinked. “You take care of your sister and grandmother?”
He nodded. “My sister and grandma needed someone to look out for them and I was that guy. I’ve helped them become a lot more self-sufficient and independent and I love that. But when they really needed help? Yes, I was there and insisted on it.”
She pressed her lips together as she searched his eyes. “Why do you think I am your responsibility?” she asked softly.
&
nbsp; He sucked in a breath and then let it out. He wasn’t going to lie to her about this being damned weird and out of character for him. But it was a very real feeling, and he wasn’t going to be able to shake it. She needed to know that too.
“I’m not really sure,” he admitted. “You clearly have a ton of friends who love you. I know your family is here and I’m guessing would do whatever they could to take care of you. I’m not the type to get deeply involved so quickly with women—or probably anyone outside my family and circle of friends. I’m not spontaneous. I’m not a gambler. But… there’s something about you. And the last time I felt this way—caring about someone so quickly—it was when I met Dax and Ollie and Cam and Aiden.” He shrugged. “And that’s turned out pretty well.”
She smiled, the worry lines on her forehead easing.
“And so I’m also not the type to argue against a good idea once I realize it’s good,” he said. He braced a hand on the counter beside them and leaned in. “And as long as we’re going to be seeing each other exclusively anyway and sleeping together, I don’t see why we shouldn’t have a piece of paper that says you can use my health insurance while we’re doing that.”
She swallowed. “When you put it that way, it almost sounds practical.”
He had her. He grinned. “And,” he said, because he felt compelled to lay it all out, “we can get an annulment or a divorce or whatever when you are fully recovered and the bills are all paid.”
That made her brows draw together. “Oh. Right.” She nodded. “True.”
He knew that took some of the air out of her romantic bubble. But they had to acknowledge there was a way out too. They barely knew one another. His life was in Chicago and hers was, clearly, very rooted here. There were lots—lots and lots and lots—of reasons that this wouldn’t work out long term. But as a short-term solution to this problem it was nearly perfect.
“How much is the deductible?” she asked.
This was definitely not the way he’d imagined a proposal ever going. Not that he’d ever imagined proposing.
“Two thousand dollars. Maybe three,” he said. “I’ll check.”
“I’ll pay you back for that much at least. And any percent of the bills that aren’t covered.”
He bit back the “No, you fucking won’t” that threatened to come out of his mouth. He nodded. “Or you could earn it.”
She lifted both brows nearly to her hairline. “Oh?”
He chuckled. “Not like that.”
Her brows pulled down. “Then what?”
“You can go with me to my seminars as my assistant. You can help with paperwork and AV and things like that.” This was perfect. He could let everyone there know she was his wife, and he could avoid any awkward moments like unexpectedly finding naked women in his bed.
Well, except for Jocelyn, of course.
She was clearly confused. “Seminars? AV? What are you talking about?”
“I’ll fill you in,” I said. “But I need an assistant on weekends once or twice a month. I have a seminar this weekend, in fact. You can come along and work off the cost of the deductible.”
Of course, he didn’t give a shit about the deductible, but he knew she did, so if this would make her happy, then fine. She needed time to get used to this, and she was clearly not going to be scheduled for surgery before Monday anyway. So he’d take her to Chicago with him. Maybe they’d pop into the courthouse and get married while they were there. Then everything would be ready to go by the time they got back to Appleby and got her surgery scheduled.
“I don’t know anything about AV,” she finally said. “But I like the idea of doing something for the help you’re giving me.”
“I’ll teach you.”
He reached out, slid a hand around her waist to her lower back, and drew her forward.
“Say yes,” he said softly and firmly.
She wet her lips and swallowed. “Yes.”
He was shocked by the emotions that rocked through him. Relief was there, for sure. He was going to be able to fix this after all. But there was also a healthy surge of happiness. He was happy about this. Was it unconventional? Absolutely. Was it spontaneous? Definitely. Was it completely out of character? Yes. Yes it was.
Would his friends want him to go directly to the doctor for a checkup?
Very likely.
But just as he was starting to feel a little hint of what the hell did I just do, Jocelyn leaned in, wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him. And that surge of happiness washed the rest away.
Getting married for the health insurance wasn’t exactly romantic. Or the way she’d ever thought she’d be saying I do, but it was maybe the most practical thing she’d ever done.
And honestly, Grant Lorre was very hard to say no to.
At least for her. She also had a suspicion that he was starting to figure that out. That might be a problem down the road.
Oh, who was she kidding? It was a problem right now. He was talking her into getting married. Because her gall bladder was about to bite the dust.
Ugh. This was absolutely not the swoony-tell-all-her-girlfriends-about-it situation she’d always imagined.
But her gall bladder stabbed against her side—she was imagining it with a little frowny face and a giant knife that it stuck into her from time to time insisting on being let out—and she realized that she didn’t really have a choice here.
She had to get her gall bladder out. No matter what she’d been telling herself and Grant, it was getting worse. And now that she knew what it was, she was freaking out a little bit. It made sense that her symptoms had been coming and going. It depended on what she’d eaten that day. She hadn’t put those things together, of course, thinking it was her shoulder, but now it made sense.
She did want to get it out. Thinking about having an infected internal organ swelling up inside her and making her sick, not to mention the associated pain, had definitely pushed this to the must do column in her head.
And the estimate the hospital had given her had made her feel even sicker.
But Grant was here. Offering a practical solution. That would work. And would keep him around longer, and yes, in her bed. In her kitchen for that matter. In her… life.
Josie knew that her romantic tendencies could be a problem. She knew that real life wasn’t like the movies. But… she wanted to date him. She wanted to get to know him better. She wanted to spend time with him. She absolutely wanted to have more sex with him.
Being married was one way for all of that to happen.
It wouldn’t be a hardship to let Grant move in here. He was bossy, and yet at the same time, had a way of being protective and caring. It was a potent combination.
She’d watched that combination with her father and grandfather toward her mom and grandma all her life. The men respected their wives and certainly encouraged their independence, but her dad, Chris, and her grandpa, Larry, also took care of them. They went above and beyond to make sure they were safe and healthy and happy.
The happy part had always been what she’d focused on. The little treats her dad would bring home even though money was always tight. The way he’d whisper in her mom’s ear and make her laugh. The way he’d go with her to school events—her mom was a fourth-grade teacher—and would haul boxes and set up huge science-fair displays and would dress up as Aristotle or Sir Isaac Newton without batting an eye. Because it made her mom happy.
He’d always wanted to take her to Italy, but unable to afford that, every year on their anniversary they went to a fancy Italian restaurant, and they’d watch Roman Holiday and Only You, her mom’s two favorite romantic movies, while snuggled up on the couch and would go over the fantasy trip itinerary that they’d started while on their honeymoon to Branson, Missouri instead of Rome.
It was sad that her father couldn’t take her mom on their dream trip. But the effort he made to keep that dream alive was incredibly romantic, and Josie swore that her mom was happier with their imagined
trip than an actual one at this point. The real thing might not have a chance of measuring up.
But now… looking up at Grant and thinking about something as mundane as health insurance… she had to admit that the “in sickness and in health” part of the whole getting-married thing could be romantic too.
Him wanting her when she was healthy and happy and fully able to be put on the kitchen island and coated with cake batter was one thing. But insisting on being with her after she’d puked on him—and likely would again—and would be costing him paperwork headaches, if not actual money, and would probably not be up for kitchen-island canoodling for a little bit was another thing entirely.
She lifted onto her toes and tipped her head, wanting to kiss him. But he was enough taller than her that he had to meet her partway.
Which he did. They kissed, but it was sweet.
That was nice. It really was.
But she wanted more. Josie arched closer, gripping the front of his shirt, and opened her mouth.
Of course, just then her bastard gall bladder decided to remind her that he wanted out and the sooner the better. She felt the stab under her ribs and gasped.
Grant seemed to realize it wasn’t a gasp of pleasure—or maybe it was the way she stiffened in his arms suddenly—but he lifted his head frowning down at her.
“Are you okay?”
Josie pressed her hand into her side even though she knew that wouldn’t help. She gave him a smile. Or she tried to. The way his frown deepened, she was pretty sure her smile had come off as more of a grimace. “Sorry,” she said.
“Jesus, don’t be sorry.”
He bent and lifted her into his arms, tipping her so quickly her head spun a little. He kept doing that—picking her up as if it were nothing.
She liked it.
“Let’s get you to bed,” he said, starting in the direction of the main part of the house. It was really the only direction to go from the kitchen other than out the back door again.
“This isn’t really how I imagined you saying that to me,” she said, pointing toward the staircase.
He started to climb. “Not how I imagined saying it either.”
Making Whoopie (Hot Cakes Book 3) Page 13
