by L. P. Maxa
The rest of brunch flew by. Both Cassie’s and my mom were too busy planning to ask us any more questions. Apparently this whole thing had just been taken out of our hands. When we got back to the house, Cassie went upstairs to put Wyllie down for his afternoon nap. Brice and I headed out to the back porch. It was cold outside, but the Huntingtons had the heaters on and deep red blankets sitting on the outdoor furniture.
Brice puffed out some smoke from his cigar. “Mom better not go crazy planning this little ceremony. I’m not shelling out a hundred grand for y’all’s fake wedding.” He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
I laughed quietly. “Stop being a baby. This whole thing is your fault. I could have talked Cassie out of it. Instead you talked her into it. And you have more money than you know what to do with.”
Brice’s eyes flew open and he scoffed, “Look who’s talking. That ring didn’t make a dent in your bank account.”
He was right. I knew the ring was expensive, but I could afford it. “It’s not the cost that bothered me. I can’t really explain it. I mean, it’s a fake engagement. I just thought maybe, one day, there could be a real engagement and I would make that ring the spectacular one. I don’t know, man. Never mind.”
Brice looked over at me, big goofy smile on his face. “You love her, don’t you? After all this time, after everything she just put you through. You love her.”
I shrugged. “Everything is just so messed up right now. There were so many lies, so much deception. From everyone. I just need time, I guess. I need to sort out how I feel about everything. About her.”
Brice nodded, puffing on his cigar. “I can appreciate that, it’s a lot to take in. Are you sleeping with her?”
I turned to my best friend. “I won’t hurt her. I care about her, and I love Wyllie. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Just answer me, are you sleeping with her?”
“Yes.” I don’t know why at that moment, I felt guilty. We were both adults. We cared about each other. Why should I feel bad about having a little fun?
“Cassie keeps her heart guarded, Dec. She doesn’t date. She doesn’t flirt. The only man she makes time for is Wyllie. She didn’t tell you about him because she knew you had the ability to break her heart. To shatter her carefully constructed world. I’m begging you, don’t break her, man.”
Chapter Seventeen
Cassie
“Come on, wild man, you have to eat something other than doughnut holes.” Wyllie clamped his lips together and shook his head. I’d fallen asleep when I was trying to get him to take a nap and we’d both woken up three hours later. When I came downstairs, the house was oddly quiet. I found a note from my mother telling me she went to see the florist and my dad needed to run to his office. Dec and Brice were both passed out in padded lounge chairs on the back porch, covered in blankets with a heater standing between them. Now I was trying my best to get some nutrition in my son’s belly before his grandparents got home and loaded him down with sugar. Sugar that neither Brice nor I were allowed to consume while we were growing up. “Wyllie, it’s yogurt. You love yogurt.”
“Hey, bud. How was your nap?” Dec walked in and ruffled Wyllie’s hair.
Wyllie grinned at his dad and I used the distraction to shove some food in his mouth. He scowled at me, but luckily he didn’t spit it out.
“Mommy’s ruthless, huh?” Declan picked Wyllie up out of his high chair and took the yogurt from me. He went to the kitchen table and sat with Wyllie in his lap. Dec took a small bite of the yogurt and then offered Wyllie some. Of course, Wyllie ate it without complaint. Declan was a natural with him.
I smiled at Wyllie. “Little traitor.” I opened the fridge and took out some green beans I’d cooked yesterday. “Here, see if you can get him to eat these.”
Dec ate a couple, then Wyllie reached his hand in the bowl and shoved one in his mouth. “Good job, buddy. Green beans are so yummy.”
“Where’s Brice? Is he still sleeping on the porch?”
“He left a few minutes ago, said he had a date.” Dec fed Wyllie another bite of yogurt.
I slapped the island, getting Dec’s attention. “Hey, I found all of our birth control.”
Declan raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it miraculously appeared back in our bathroom after we announced our engagement.”
Declan shook his head. “Our mothers are certifiable.”
“Word.”
Dec airplaned another bite into Wyllie’s mouth. “What do you want to do tonight?”
“I need to do some shopping. Wyllie needs more winter clothes, it’s going to be just above freezing the whole time we’re here. Do you want to come? Mom can watch him for us.”
“Sure. I’ll go with. We can grab some dinner too. What time is your mom going to be home? Did she say?” Declan smiled when Wyllie ate another green bean.
“No, her note just said she was meeting with the florist and she’d be home soon.” I grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and twisted it open. “Do you, um, have any preference on the flowers for the ceremony?”
Declan chuckled. “No. I’m sure whatever she picks will be fine.”
“Is there anything about the wedding that you have a preference about? It’d be best to speak up now before our moms go crazy.” I took a long drink of water, waiting for his reply.
“It’s a fake wedding, Cass. I don’t care about the details.”
I knew it was fake, but I felt like he’d punched me in the stomach. He was only going along with this as a favor to me. But I also thought that since maybe we’d been spending all this time together, been sleeping together… I guess I’d just hoped that maybe he’d care a little more. “Yeah, no, you’re right. The little things don’t matter. I’m going to head upstairs and get changed. You okay with him?” My words came out more clipped than I’d intended them to.
Declan nodded, his gaze curious. “We’re good. Are you okay? You seem pissed.”
“I’m fine.” I turned and walked out before he could see my eyes fill with tears. I knew it was stupid. I knew it was a fake engagement, but his indifference still stung. Did I mean nothing to him? Dammit. Three days with Dec was all it took. Now I was exactly where I didn’t want to be: second-guessing myself, second-guessing my decisions.
I should have never slept with him. I should have insisted that he stay in his own room. I felt so naïve, so weak.
My fears were coming true.
I needed to fix this, and fast.
***
It took me longer than necessary to get dressed. My brain was too focused on Declan. I stared at the clothes in my closet for a full five minutes before I remembered I was supposed to be finding something to put on. Perfect. My mind was on Declan, or my body was on Declan. My heart? On its way to Dec too.
“Hey, your mom just got home. Are you ready to go?”
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Damn sexy irresistible devil. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
He crossed the room and slid his arms around my waist. “Hey, are you sure you’re okay?”
I gave his arms a quick squeeze then turned for the door. “I’m fine.”
Declan grabbed my hand, bringing me back to him. “Cass. Talk to me. I may not have a lot of experience with relationships but I’m pretty sure that ‘I’m fine’ always means ‘You’re in a shitload of trouble, bubba.’”
I took my hand out of his and crossed my arms over my chest. “Is that what this is, Dec? Are we in a relationship? Or is this just you doing a favor, taking pity, on the girl who screwed you over?”
He took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of my bed. “Cassie, I…I told you before, I’m doing my best to figure all this out. I don’t want to rush anything here. We need to think about Wyllie and—”
“That’s just it, Dec. Us, sharing a room and sharing a bed? It’s too confusing for me. I can’t be confused. I don’t have the space in my head to think about this, I should be thi
nking about Wyllie. This isn’t what’s best for him, because it’s not what’s best for me.”
He threw his hands in the air. “So that’s how it works? What’s best for you is always what’s best for Wyllie? That seems a little off, Cassie.”
“You don’t get it.” I shook my head sadly. “You’ll never get it. You’ve always been so sure of yourself, sure of your choices, of where you stand.”
Declan reached for my hand again. “Cassie, come here—”
“Where are your mommy and daddy? Are they upstairs in their room? Let’s go see. Call them, say, ‘Mommy. Daddy.’”
“Mommy! Daddy!”
The sound of my mom coming up the stairs with Wyllie ended our conversation. Probably for the best. Since Dec had put on his sweet smile and I was seconds away from letting him take my hand and no doubt pull me onto his lap. “We’re in here, Wild Man.” I smiled when they came into the room and my boy lunged for me.
“Mommy!”
“You found me.” I nuzzled his sweet little baby head. His hair was so dark, almost exactly the same shade as Dec’s. I turned Wyllie on his stomach and flew him into Declan’s arms. “Tell Daddy bye, him and Mommy have got to run some errands.”
“Bye-bye, Daddy.”
My heart melted as Declan loudly kissed his chubby baby cheeks, making Wyllie giggle. “See you tonight, bud. Be good for Gigi.” He stood and handed him back to my mom.
“Oh, he is always good for Gigi. I’m going to put him in the tub. You two have a good time.” She kissed my cheek on the way out the door.
Declan waited for her to head down the hall before reaching for my hand again. “Cassie, let’s talk about this.”
I shook my head and took a step back, smiling. “Really, Dec, it’s fine. I’m fine. We’ll shop, and then we’ll go have some drinks, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” He dropped his hand by his side and followed me down the stairs and out the door.
I could feel his gaze on my back all the way to the car.
Chapter Eighteen
Declan
Cassie was a pro at shopping for Wyllie. She breezed in and out of the kid stores, grabbing what she needed in seconds. It would take me longer to pick out a pair of pants for myself than it took for her to buy an entire winter wardrobe for a toddler. She’d also picked up Christmas presents for my parents since now we were doing Christmas morning all together.
I used Amazon for everything. Toilet paper, golf clubs, the ruby necklace I’d bought my mother. All my Christmas shopping had been done while I was lounging on my couch in my underwear. Thank you, technology.
By the time Cassie said we were done, I was so ready to get out of the Galleria. It was packed. Full of rich kids and their richer parents. I’d forgotten how much I hated this place. I could see the exit, and it was the most glorious thing I’d ever seen. I could feel my face break into a smile. Almost there… A few more steps…
“Cassandra?”
Dammit, so close. I stopped when Cassie turned around.
“Jason? Oh my gosh, it’s so good to see you. How have you been?” I hated how genuinely happy Cassie sounded talking to this guy. I spun around just in time to see her step in and hug him. I mean, I’m not a chick, but this dude was good-looking. And he seemed so damn happy to see her too. I wondered if they had dated. I took a step closer to Cassie, just in case.
“It’s good to see you too. In town for the holiday weekend?” He shifted his bags around and moved a little closer to her. I narrowed my eyes. I could take him.
“Yeah, yeah, just visiting my parents. What about you? Are you still living in Austin?”
“Still in Austin. How’s Wyllie? And the store?”
“They’re both great. Thank you so much for asking.” He knew she had a son and that she opened her own store? Wonderful. Two things that she kept from me until a few days ago. Now I wanted to punch Jason and strangle Cassie.
I nudged her in the ribs. “Oh, I’m sorry. Jason, you remember Declan? He was a few years older than us. Dec is Wyllie’s father.” I nudged her again and looked pointedly down at her massive ring. “Oh, and he and I are engaged.”
My brain clicked. I remembered this guy. “That’s right, I remember you now. Didn’t you cheat on Cassie with Amber Kline?”
Jason threw his head back and laughed. “No, you’re thinking of Jeremy. Cassandra and I never dated in high school. She was way out of my league. I spent all my time with my nose in a book.”
Cassie reached out and grabbed Jason’s arm. It took all my willpower not to snatch her hand back. “Jason, stop it. You were wonderful then and you’re wonderful now. All that studying paid off too, I read that article about you in Time Magazine a few months ago. The work you’re doing with renewable energy? You’re a genius.”
Perfect. Non-cheater, green energy and Time Magazine? That’s the stuff fairy tales are made of these days. I reached down and took Cassie’s hand. Threading our fingers together. Pretty boy must have noticed my murderous glare, because he cleared his throat and took a step back.
“It was really nice to see you, Cassandra. You look beautiful. I swear you never age. And congratulations on the engagement.”
Cassie smiled and put her hair behind her ear. Was she blushing? I held my hand out to Casanova. “Have a good weekend, man. Sorry about the mix-up.”
He chuckled. “No problem.”
Damn. He didn’t hold a grudge either? How was I supposed to compete with this guy?
Cassie stepped forward and gave Jason another hug. I didn’t release her hand and she rolled her eyes at me over his shoulder. “Good to see you, Jason.”
I pulled her away and out the door. I wasn’t ashamed. I knew I should be, but I wasn’t. “Our engagement was an afterthought? What the hell, Cass?”
“It wasn’t an afterthought.” She jerked her hand out of mine, for the second time in one day. “I just forgot.”
“You forgot? How could you forget? We got engaged this morning and your ring is the size of Texas.” I opened her car door when the valet pulled up.
She waited until I got inside and we were driving away. “It’s a fake engagement, right? The details don’t matter.”
So that was what this was about. What I’d said to her five hours ago? Damn. It was going to be a long fake marriage.
“Maybe next time I ask you what’s bothering you, you can actually tell me instead of letting it stew in your crazy little head for hours. What I meant, this afternoon, was that it’s not our real wedding. So what difference do the details make? I wasn’t saying that there would never be a real wedding. I wasn’t saying that I didn’t care about you. I wasn’t saying that I didn’t want to date you. I was simply saying that this particular event in our lives is, indeed, fake.”
She didn’t say anything to that. She simply crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window. I took a deep breath and forced all the tension out of my shoulders. This woman was going to be the death of me. I knew what she wanted from me. She wanted me to kiss her and tell her everything was going to work out and we would end up living happily ever after.
The only problem? I wasn’t sure that was going to happen.
That’s what I’d wanted when I got home from London. I’d planned on finding Cassie and asking her out on a date. A real date where I dropped her off at her door with a chaste, but hot, kiss. And then we’d build from there, naturally. Now? We’d been back in each other’s lives for three days and she’d turned mine upside down by introducing me to my son. I needed time. I needed to be absolutely sure about how I felt and what I wanted from her.
Clouding those lines with sex? Probably not my smartest move. But damn, she was sexy and I just couldn’t keep my hands off her. I wanted her all the time, so damn bad. I’d always wanted her.
Was I being selfish? Maybe. Was I confusing her? Maybe. Shit. Did that mean I had to stop? I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t give her up. I wanted her, all the time. Even now, all I wanted to do was reach acro
ss the console and pull her onto my lap. I cleared my throat. “Where do you want to go for dinner, princess?”
“Whatever you want. You pick.”
I rolled my eyes. She knew I hated it when she was passive. “Fine. Sushi.”
“I don’t feel like sushi. Anything else is good.”
“Okay, then Greek. We can go to that place next to the hookah lounge.”
Cassie made a face. “No. No Greek either. But really anything else.”
“Are you kidding me? You don’t care where we go, but you don’t want Greek or sushi? Just tell me what you want, Cassie.” I knew I sounded borderline pissed, but she made me this way. The Huntington craziness was contagious.
“Italian, I feel like Italian.”
I nodded. “Okay, wonderful, I love Italian.”
Cassie snorted. “So I’ve heard.”
We stopped at a red light and I closed my eyes and counted to ten. Twice. “Cassie, I understand that you are upset with me. I now understand that you have been upset with me for a few hours. But can we please, for the love of God, call a truce long enough to have a nice dinner?”
I wanted to murder Brice for relaying all my European sexcapades to Cass. Could Brice keep anything a secret? Oh, that’s right, he’d kept the secret of my child all too well.
She looked over at me with innocent doe eyes. I could see her biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
“Is this funny to you, princess? Do you enjoy making me a crazy person?”
“I’m really starting to.”
I picked a nicer upscale Italian restaurant, like I wanted to impress her. I knew I didn’t need to, but I wanted to make sure she could see how much I cared about her. Even if I was unsure of our future and she was irritating the crap out of me right now.
We ordered food, probably more food than we could possibly consume in one sitting, and a bottle of wine. The silence between us wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, but I still wasn’t a fan of quiet, demure Cassie. I loved my spitfire.
“So, how did you reconnect with Jason?”
