AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I know Izzy’s not my niece; she knows Izzy’s not my niece. But I have no sisters or brothers, and my mother was an only child. My father had a brother, but they didn’t like each other in life, and my uncle didn’t feel the need to keep up with my mom and me after he died. So it’s just the two of us, and I’m probably never having any kids. So sometimes I hang out with Danny when he’s watching Izzy and pretend she’s family because he is. I get her birthday presents, Christmas gifts, and sometimes we take her out to puppet shows and other kid shit that I don’t enjoy other than to see the smile it puts on her face.
“You know what I mean,” I say.
She nods, giving me that justice. “You’re good to her. I’ve always appreciated it.”
I care about Izzy, and now I’ll be in a position to make sure she gets what she needs without bankrupting Ruthie. My lie can be twisted into something good. All it will take is…
Breaking a promise I made to myself.
Sweat beads on my brow, and I grip the side of the table. What I’m about to say is insane, but it also feels strangely right—as if everything that’s happened today has led up to this moment. Clearing my throat, I say, “I can tell it cost you to admit that. It’s just… Like I said, I’m willing to do it, but we’d have to get legally married.”
Chapter Eight
Shane
Ruthie’s face drains of color, and I have to laugh. “You look like you’re the one who just got pissed on.”
She blinks at me and then takes another swipe at her nose. “I feel like I am.”
“You’re not doing great things for my ego right now.”
Giving me a smile that looks forced, she says, “You don’t need help with that. I’m guessing you’re talking about a marriage in name only. You’d stick to your life, and I’d stick to mine, except for work gatherings. No hanky-panky, no moving in together, no—” she waves a hand in the air, “—marriage shit.”
“You guess correctly,” I say, feeling a moment of relief, because it doesn’t sound so big when she says it that way. It doesn’t sound like a step that will change everything. “It would be a mutually beneficial arrangement that only lasts for as long as is mutually beneficial. You get the insurance, and I get the peace of mind that comes from only having partially lied to my boss.”
She thinks this over for a moment, then shoves at her ruined cake with the fork, pushing it toward me. “Have some.”
“No thanks.”
“It’s symbolic.”
I have to grin. “You’re sharing your broken heart with me?”
Something flickers in her light blue eyes, and I feel like an asshole, because I know her heart has been broken. More than once. “Fuck, I’m—”
“Eat my broken heart and choke on it,” she says, but she’s still smiling slightly.
So I do, because I’d like that smile to stay.
After choking down a forkful, I nod as if it’s the chef’s finest caviar. Not that I like caviar. Myles can have his private chef dress it up any way he likes, but there’s no ducking the fact that you’re stuffing your face with fish eggs. Still. I know how to impress people who don’t want to be impressed.
For some reason, maybe just the sheer amount of time we’ve known each other, I’ve never tried that with Ruthie. Maybe not even when I should have.
I look up at her from over my fork, and when our eyes meet, I feel an electric current running between us—perfect understanding, or as close to perfect as the two of us are ever likely to get. Then I grin at her and say, “Huh. Turns out a broken heart tastes like shitty grocery store cake. I’ll bet mine would be more like champagne.”
She balls up a napkin and throws it at me. I catch it, and see her studying me. It goes on for several seconds, and that current snaps between us, filling me with a sensation I couldn’t put a name to. Finally, she nods, and the moment ends. “Okay, asshole,” she says with a sharp smile. “I honestly can’t believe I’m saying this, but I will marry you. Even if it means Josie is right, which is frankly terrifying.”
Hearing her say that, I feel my pulse race, my hands get clammy. They’re words I never intended to hear from anyone. And they’re particularly jarring from this woman who enjoys thinking the worst of me.
Her smile turns knowing. “Oh, don’t get your panties into a twist, Vain. It’ll be a purely platonic arrangement. Like you said, it’ll be for our mutual benefit. Sounds exactly like the kind of thing you’d get off on.”
“What about you?” I ask, lifting my eyebrows. “You’re not looking for your happily ever after?”
Ruthie snorts, her nose crinkling, then forks up more of the substandard cake. “No. We both know marriage doesn’t last forever, right?” There’s a wry twist to her mouth, like she’s making fun of herself. Like she’s remembering all that time she spent getting her hair done for her wedding day, for a relationship that would only last a matter of months. I feel like I should acknowledge the past, but the moment passes like sand through an hourglass. There; gone. She takes another forkful of cake, then adds, “It would only be for a few months, until Izzy gets her surgery and you quit.”
“What are you going to tell Izzy?”
“As little as possible. You’ll tell your boss she’s your stepchild. But I’ll leave her with Danny or one of my friends whenever you need me to go somewhere with you.”
