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“No. As far as I’m concerned, he’s in your past and needs to stay there.” I frown hard, daring her to disagree, but she stays quiet for a change. “But in your immediate future is your cousin’s wedding. I know how upset you are about that, and that is something I can help with.”
“How? Are you going to kidnap Paisley? Because I’m not necessarily completely, one hundred percent opposed to that idea. At least in concept.” She’s joking, I think.
“You do remember that I’m not a spy, hitman, or criminal, right? Despite what my family thinks.” I’m joking back, but the serious truth sends her spiraling back down quickly.
“I know,” she sighs. “Just wishful thinking. Sorry. You said you can help. How?”
I wish I hadn’t squashed her teasing, no matter how slight. She needs to be lifted out of this funk she’s in. Hopefully, my next offer will bring the light back to her gray eyes. “I’m going with you to the wedding.”
I don’t know what I expect. A rush of rambled ‘thankyouthankyouthankyou’, maybe? But that’s not what happens. Instead, she laughs in disbelief. “What?”
“You said going alone to the wedding would be traumatic. Henry’s not going, but I can. I’ll be your date, stand by your side to have your back against whomever, and make sure you have a great time.” Spelled out, it’s a simple and easy solution.
Janey shakes her head, making her curls bounce around. “No, I couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t,” I point out, lifting an eyebrow in an imitation of her own frequent expression. “I’m offering, because you deserve better than Henry, and from what it sounds like, better than your family. You’re not in a mental place to walk into that lion’s den alone. And I understand what that can be like. So take me. Tell them I’m your boyfriend, and I’ll dutifully play the role. I’ve been undercover enough times that I can make it work. I can make anything work.” Okay, so humbleness is not one of my strengths, but I’m not wrong.
Janey blinks at what equates to my rambling the way she does. I’m a man of few words, but I’m suddenly turning into Chatty Chad to talk her into this. Why? I have no idea, but my gut feels like this is the right thing to do.
Maybe it’s because she worked with me on the cabin deal? Yeah, that’s probably it. It definitely has nothing to do with the damsel in distress deal she’s got going on, her beautiful looks, or her sunny personality that I hate to see dimmed by some fuckwit who didn’t know what he had.
“That’s really nice, but you can’t.” She shrugs and ducks her head. “Nobody’d believe that, anyway.”
I frown and snap, “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t they believe it?” I think she’s doubting the caliber of my undercover work, which is fucking top-notch. I might not do it often, since I can complete most jobs with surveillance and research, but I can certainly pull off a fake boyfriend appearance.
And if I had any concerns, which I don’t, I’d call my brother, Carter. He once had his best friend’s sister act like his wife for a business deal. It worked out in the long run, given that she’s my sister-in-law now, but it was pretty iffy for a while. But a little poke here and a small prod there, and he’d tell me the whole story of how that went down, which I could use as research for my own role.
Janey lifts her eyes to mine, and I can see the shine of tears there. Shit, she’s gonna start crying again and I’m trying to help so she doesn’t cry. At least about this. Her crying about dipshit Henry is her own business.
“You’re gonna make me say it?” She sounds a little choked, but eventually, she grits her teeth and says, “Look at you, Cole, and look at me. Nobody’d believe you would date me.”
“What?!” I’m louder than I intend to be, and Janey recoils as if I slapped her instead of only shouting. I force my voice back down and look at her intently. “The hell are you talking about? You’re fucking beautiful.”
Her eyes fall again, and quietly, she says, “You don’t have to say that.”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to.” I lift her chin with a finger, forcing her eyes to mine. I stare deep into her gray gaze, wanting to make sure she hears me and hears me good. “Because it’s the damn honest truth.”
I could say more—like that her hair makes my hands itch to grab handfuls, I want to bite her lower lip, and her ass is the stuff of my dreams as of late—but I don’t. That’d probably scare the shit out of her, especially when she’s so tender after last night’s call.
