Page 17

“No, you look, Jax. We both got drunk and made a mistake. Now, thanks to you not getting this” – I gesture between us – “thing annulled and allowing one of your playboy friends to leak the video⁠—”

“It was my brother’s video and he didn’t expect the girl he slept⁠—”

“Oh, nice. Fucking around and stupidity runs in the gene pool.” He scratches his neck as he raises one eyebrow. It could be sexy, if it weren’t wholly annoying. “Except your sister. Sas is great. And I have a lot of respect for your dad and his sports agency. And I’d never be rude about your mom.”

“So it’s only TJ and me you think don’t have a brain cell between us?”

I roll my shoulders back as I realize how much of a bitch I’m being. I did marry him. Still, I’m stubborn as a mule, too. So I tell him, “If the shoe fits.”

“You know, this is exactly how I saw my first marriage ending, not beginning.”

Mitch and Lauren chortle from behind me – I spin to glare at them, then get back to my man-child husband. “Well, honey, like it or not, your ride is hitched to mine for the next three months. Then we’ll get a quickie divorce and you can move on to finding your second divorcee.”

“Romantic. I’m excited for us.” Our bodies inch closer – aggressively so – and our eyes lock as Jax stares down at me. My passionate dislike for this human has my heart pumping so hard, I’ll bet he can hear it.

I point a finger to the tip of his nose. “There will be no romantic, hotshot. Give me your phone.”

With a frown, he hands over the device from his pocket. I hold it to his face and he beams ironically. When the screen opens, I type into his notes app.

“Here.” I hand it back to him.

“What’s that?”

“The address of my short-term let. It’s nearby. I need to go get the keys now, then try to speak to Cheska and explain this whole charade in a way that means she’ll still employ me.”

Shoving the phone in his pocket, he says, absent-mindedly, I think, “I’ve seen you at work, you’ve got the gift of the gab, you’ll be fine.”

I still, taken aback by his words. Eventually, voice breaking, I tell him, “There’s no need for compliments, this isn’t a real relationship.”

“So the plan is to be dicks to each other for three months?” he asks.

I give him my best moody pout. “Just be at the address tomorrow. We can go over the ground rules.”

He glances to Mitch and Lauren. Though I’m still watching Jax and hiding how sweet it was that he complimented my work, I see them both shrug in my periphery. They’re enjoying this.

“Ground rules?” Jax asks.

“The rules of our fake relationship, or marriage of convenience, whatever you want to call it.”

I start packing my belongings into my bag. As I hoist it onto my shoulder, Jax is still staring at me. “What?” I ask.

“Nothing. Just wondering if you’re this much fun with all the guys you date.”

In a move that’s more the maturity level of Jax than me, I stick out my tongue. “We’re not dating. See you tomorrow.”

I blow Mitch and Lauren a kiss, where they’re engrossed in the live action minions’ show from the sofa. “You’re no longer my best friends,” I tell them, but secretly, I’m thrilled to see the color back in Mitch’s cheeks. They’re as relaxed as they’ve been since Las Vegas.

“What time?” Jax calls as I open the door to exit.

“Breakfast.”

“I eat breakfast at noon on the weekends.”

“Then act like it’s midweek, Jax, you’re in training. See you at 9 a.m., sharp.”

“Eleven!”

I step into the corridor and as the door closes, I call, “Ten, latest!”