He coughed into his fist. "It"s not an announcement. I mean, there is no announcement. There"s nothing. We"re just normal." He waved his arm in a lame "nothing to see here" gesture.
She held in a giggle. He was so cute when he was caught off guard. Much better than the corporate grump she"d met earlier. With his tie loose and hair slightly rumpled, he was actually s.e.xy. It didn"t hurt that he had broad, muscular shoulders and a trim waist. She shook the thought out of her head. She couldn"t go soft on him. He hadn"t paid enough yet for being such a jerk.
"Oh, I"m sorry, darling. Did I spoil the surprise?" She crossed the room and put her arms around his neck. "Jared asked me to marry him."
Patricia squealed and ran over, throwing her arms around them. "I can"t believe it!"
Jared"s face paled. "But you said no." He stepped back from her. "She said no," he said louder. "So, that"s it."
Patricia stepped back, confusion on her face.
"Oh, sweetie, I didn"t say no, I said let me think about it. And I"ve thought about it...and my answer is yes! We"re getting married!" She pulled Jared and Patricia back into a hug.
The room filled with instant conversation. The women hugged Madison while the men congratulated Jared. Sh.e.l.ly was so happy she had tears in her eyes, which brought instant guilt. She hadn"t thought about the consequences of her rash decision to announce an engagement. Seeing Sh.e.l.ly so moved made her realize these people were real, and she was lying to them.
The thought made her pause. Had she made a mistake? Sh.e.l.ly smiled through her tears and whispered, "Congratulations."
Maybe she had taken things too far, but everything would be resolved soon. Their pretend engagement would become a pretend breakup. His family might be a bit disappointed, but they really didn"t know her very well. How upset could they be? Besides, it was all Jared"s fault for lying in the first place.
Irene squeezed her hands. "This is wonderful news. We"re so happy for you."
Jared"s father pulled her into a tight embrace. He was a retired prosecuting attorney and he looked the part. Graying hair and the kind of body that used to be muscular but whose pot belly had taken over a few years ago. His face had a bit of a bulldog look to it. Sagging cheeks and a wide chin. "How did you hook him? I thought Jared would remain a bachelor the rest of his life." Madison shrugged and laughed off his comment.
Patricia flitted around the room, her hands covering her mouth. "I can"t believe this." Her eyes misted over. "We were going to wait until dinner, but now...well, Zachary has proposed to me, too!"
The room erupted once again. More congratulations and hugs were exchanged. Sh.e.l.ly cried again. Then Patricia turned to Madison, her eyes wide. "Oh my gosh, I didn"t mean to destroy your moment. I"m so sorry!"
Guilt once again plagued Madison. "No, this is wonderful. You didn"t ruin anything. I"m thrilled for you."
Patricia"s face lit up. "You"re the sweetest thing. I know we"re going to be close. Like sisters." Her face held a child-like innocence, large eyes and flawless skin. Madison couldn"t help but like her.
"I have the best idea." Patricia grabbed Madison"s arm. "We should have a double wedding!" She squealed, then turned to Zachary for approval.
Her fiance, the handsome laid back kind of guy, nodded and lifted his shoulders. "Whatever you want, honey."
Madison"s head began to spin. Patricia looked so happy. How could she say no? "Sure. A double wedding would be great."
Jared"s face turned red. He grabbed her arm in a vice grip and whispered, "We need to talk." And then louder he said, "Excuse us for a second."
He pulled her into a spare bedroom, shut the door and then rounded on her. "Have you lost your mind?"
Madison had never heard anyone quiet-shout before. "Hey, you"re the one who wanted me to lie. I"m just making it more interesting."
"This isn"t a game." He ground his teeth.
"You"re the one who made it a game when you brought me here to pretend-"
"I only wanted you to be nice and eat dinner." The quiet was diminishing and the shout taking over. "How could you do this?"
His anger rolled off him in waves. Before she thought about what she was doing, she put her hands on his chest. His muscles tensed.
"Relax. Tomorrow you can tell them we got into a fight and the wedding is off."
He stepped back, breaking the contact. "You don"t know what you"ve done."
His att.i.tude was beginning to irk her. "What?" she snapped.
"My aunt Sh.e.l.ly...she"s sick. All she"s been talking about for the past five years is how I need to find someone to marry before she dies. A double wedding? Can"t you see? That"s exactly what she wants. And you"re giving it to her...only to tear it out of her hands again."
A dull pain started in her chest and her throat tightened. "Well, maybe she won"t be so upset when we break up, because she"ll have Patricia"s wedding. Right?"
Jared swallowed and his eyes bore into hers. "You"d better hope that"s how it goes down. Because the last thing I"m going to do is break her heart."
She wrung her hands. This was not going as planned. She wasn"t doing this to hurt his family. If only his aunt didn"t want them to get married. A thought struck her. It was kind of far fetched, but it might work. "I know what to do. We"ll get her to suggest the marriage might not be the best idea." She poked him in the chest for emphasis, which was kind of like poking a bear, and she tucked her hands behind her back hoping he hadn"t noticed.
The corners of his mouth pulled down. "How do you propose we do that?"
"We make her think I"m not suited for you." Scenarios filled her head and she began to pace the room. "I"ve already acted a bit...raw."
Jared snorted. "Yeah. Raw. That"s one way to say it."
She ignored him. "I can amp it up a bit. Make her think we"d never work as a couple. With your personality, this should be easy."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Calm down. It"s not an insult. I"m just saying you"re a little...stiff."
He raised an eyebrow. "That"s not an insult?"
She stopped pacing, her high heels making her feet hurt. "No. You corporate people can"t have personalities getting in the way of your money making and things." The words weren"t coming out right, and she blew out a frustrated breath.
A twitch in his lip told her he was trying not to smile. "I see."
"Never mind. Let"s go out there and force your family to break us up." She plastered on a happy face and dragged him out of the room.
Chapter 4.
Madison tugged Jared into the kitchen where his family was gathered. An island held trays of vegetables, cheese, crackers and dip. A stack of small plates sat on the granite counter top.
She made a show of picking up a dish and looking at it. "Can I have a bigger plate? I"m starving."
Irene patted her back. "Of course, honey." She crossed the kitchen and opened a cabinet door.
"Never mind. I"ll just use this." Madison picked up the serving tray filled with cheese. She slid onto the bar stool next to Jared. His lip twitched.
"My, you"re hungry. No problem. I"ll get some more." Irene fussed in the cupboards and pulled out another tray, and then started slicing cheese.
No one said anything, but Madison caught a few strange looks.
Sh.e.l.ly turned to her. "How did you get a part in a movie from here in the Midwest?" She sat perched on a bar stool, her legs crossed and her hands on her knee. She did look thin and pale. Under her makeup, her cheeks were gaunt. Guilt wormed its way through Madison.
"I was living in Hollywood when I got the acting gigs." She stuffed a few pieces of cheese in her mouth.
"What brought you to Nebraska?"
She chewed the wad of cheese and swallowed. "I ran out of money, and wasn"t earning enough from my acting to stay in Hollywood, so I moved back in with my college roommate." Unfortunately she didn"t have to lie to look lame, she was doing a great job being pathetic on her own.
Sh.e.l.ly"s eyebrows rose. "What do you do now?"
Good question. She had no idea. Her plans were to get a job, save up more money and maybe try out for a few local productions. She hadn"t thought much ahead of that. "I"m kind of in between things right now." And just to spice things up, she said, "I"ve been thinking of trying street performance."
Patricia"s mouth dropped open. This was it. The moment when Jared"s family realized she was a flake and not worthy of his affections.
But instead of a look of disdain, Patricia smiled and clasped her hands together. "Zachary was in a small vocal group back in college and they performed on the streets of New York. They raked it in. It paid for half his tuition!"
"Oh, I love street performers." Irene patted her hair and got a faraway look on her face.
So much for that. But she wasn"t ready to give up yet. "I don"t sing. But did learn how to play the recorder in 3rd grade." She flashed her best dumb blonde smile.
Jared"s lip did another twitching thing, and he coughed into his fist.
Irene"s laughter bubbled up. "You"re so funny." Then she turned. "Jared, she"s a keeper. Don"t let go of this one." She patted his hand.
Great. That didn"t work at all. She stared at their faces, all smiling at her. What was wrong with them? Couldn"t they see she was off her rocker? His family was too accepting. What could she do to make them not like her?
She stole a glance at Jared. The smirk was gone, and his cheeks were pink. "No, she"s serious. She wants to play the recorder...professionally."
Irritation ran through Madison. There was Mr. CEO, trying to take over the situation.
Oh, heavens, he"s still talking.
"In fact, she told me she was trying to learn to play the recorder with her feet. Right, honey?"
Madison narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, but I gave up on that. Don"t you remember? It was the day you baked me a three-layer cake. You remember, sugar plum...the one you frosted in white and then added the little red roses on top?"
Everyone stared, their eyes wide.
Patricia giggled. "Jared baked a cake for you? Now that"s something I"d like to see."
Jared glared at her. "Oh, sure, I remember. That was the day you decided to practice your yoga positions and you somehow managed to fling yourself out the window."
Sh.e.l.ly gasped.
"It was a ground floor window, and it really was more of a patio door thing, so I wasn"t hurt. Which is funny, because Jared ran outside to see if I was okay, forgetting he had my frilly ap.r.o.n on. The neighbors kind of look at him strangely now."
The kitchen erupted in laughter. Jared"s face turned dark red. Then purple. He folded his arms across his chest. "At least I was wearing pants."
Heat crept up her neck as more laughter filled the room. "I had my workout shorts on."
"I"m not sure you can call those shorts."
"They"re a little skimpy, but you"ve got me beat when you wear your tiny pink Speedos."
Jared"s face darkened again, a shade somewhere between "You"re in big trouble" and "I"m gonna kill you."
"I do believe you gave me those Speedos, and I don"t think I"ve ever worn them."
Irene came up behind them and put her arms around them. "You two sound like an old married couple already."
As the evening progressed, Madison came to the conclusion she liked Jared"s family, more than she intended to. His father was pretty quiet most of the time. For a retired prosecuting attorney, he had more bark than bite. A distinguished air hung about him.
Sh.e.l.ly seemed to be the glue that held the family together. She was the typical mother figure, even though she was technically Jared"s aunt. When tempers flared, she was there to smooth things over.
Irene was a bit flighty, although very nice. Madison was surprised to learn she had been married to Maxwell for only ten months.
There was obvious tension between Mark and Jared. Maybe half-sibling rivalry. She wasn"t sure. They kept tossing glares and snide remarks at each other. Mark actually looked a lot like Jared. His eyes were more of an almond shape, but the half-brothers shared the same dark hair and high cheek bones.
Zachary and Patricia were the perfect young couple in love. Patricia positively radiated. She was chatty and likable, and laughed easily. Zachary was quiet, and maybe a bit shy in front of her family. He managed one of the stores in his family"s hardware business.
Madison enjoyed talking with and getting to know Jared"s family. Everyone seemed relaxed and happy...even Jared mellowed out. At least he wasn"t scowling anymore.
Patricia pulled out her engagement ring and everyone oohed and ahhed appropriately. The diamond was huge. Probably set Zachary back quite a bit.
"Where"s Madison"s ring?" Patricia asked, poking Jared in the side.
His eyes widened. He stammered a minute, before Madison took pity on him and said, "We"ve been to the jewelry store several times, but I haven"t found anything I like. I"m picky that way."
He nodded, his face relaxing. "Yep. We haven"t found the right one."
"Ooh, you should go to the little shop on First and Pine. It has amazing hand-crafted rings. I"m sure Madison will like something there."
Madison could tell what was going through his mind, as his mouth opened and closed. She could almost see green dollar signs shining in his eyes. She decided to save him again. "I have really simple tastes. In fact, I may wear my great-grandmother"s ring."
"Oh, a family heirloom! That would be so meaningful." Patricia clasped Zachary"s hand. "And romantic."
Mark ran his hand through his dark hair. "Wouldn"t it be more romantic if it was Jared"s family heirloom?"
Patricia scowled at him. "Hush."
"Just sayin..."