AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Now the guilt is hitting me hard. I can’t look Paxton in the eye.
Paxton clears his throat. “Mom, have you called Dad yet today? You know how he worries.”
Her head bobs in agreement. “Oh, goodness, you’re right. Well, actually, I have some gift shopping to do for the folks back home. I’ll call him from the cab.” Then she looks right at me. “Vajacial!” she cries out, and squeals with laughter.
“No more wine for you, missy. You’re a lightweight.” I shake my head at her. She gives me a hug, then hugs Paxton, and then she departs. I set my bags down on a side table and look at Paxton.
“Aren’t you going to ask me what a vajacial is?” I ask him. “Not that I’m allowed to tell you.” I’m trying to lighten the mood, because I don’t like the look on his face.
“Damn it, Ruby, what have you done?” he demands.
I blink hard. “Well, I had a lovely day with your mother, and I did not in any way do anything to make her talk about babies, or even to think that we have any long-term potential. I swear on my life I did not.”
He shakes his head in frustration. “I know you didn’t. You didn’t have to. I have been trying to tell you all along, she’s way too invested in this. You’re going to break her heart, Ruby.”
That’s a slap in the face to me.
I take a step back.
“I didn’t mean to do anything like that,” I protest. “It’s not my fault that she showed up the one time this week I was at your house.”
He groans. “I know it wasn’t.”
“I did not do anything to encourage her to think we’re about to walk down the aisle.”
“I believe you. You wouldn’t do that to her. But here’s the thing. I know my mother, and she absolutely adores you now. She always wanted a daughter, and now you’re like the daughter she never had, and you’re the woman who’s going to save me from myself, and...”
I wince and stare down at the floor. His mother is a sweet, kind soul who adores her son and is starting to adore me, and I feel the ache of missing my own mother, and things are just all kinds of complicated now.
“This is bad,” I say quietly.
“This is bad,” he agrees. “We have to do something about it immediately.”
The solution hits me like a punch in the stomach. “We have to fake a break up,” I say quietly. “We have to end our fake relationship before your mother gets hurt any worse.”
26
PAXTON
Break up with Ruby James? I don’t think so.
I shake my head. “No, that’s not it,” I say, and take a step forward. “We don’t fake a break up. We make it real.” As soon as I say the words, I realize how long I’ve been wanting this. And how badly I’ve been wanting it.
My heart is thundering in my chest.
If she mocks me, if she looks disgusted... I don’t know what I’ll do. She has so much power over me right now that it’s scary.
Her jaw drops. Her eyes widen in shock. “Crazy man say what?” But she doesn’t move from the spot where she’s standing, even though I’m crowding into her space.
“You heard me.” I take one more step towards her, and we’re brushing up against each other now. It suddenly feels very warm in my apartment, despite the blasting of the air conditioning.
“Why would we do that?” She shakes her head, her cheeks flushing. “This relationship is an illusion. That’s kind of our thing. You blackmailed me, and now we’re mortal frenemies, which means we spend our days planning revenge against each other.”
“That’s how things started. But things change.”
“It works.” Her voice has gone faint. “Why mess with what works?”
Words spill from my mouth before I can stop them. “Is our relationship really fake, Ruby? Would I have done all of this for someone I don’t care about? Would I spend so much time with you, put so much time and thought into messing with you, would I have run to the jailhouse to bail you out, if I didn’t have feelings for you?”
