Chapter Ten #5
He told you that. Yes, but then he’d also made love to her. Had he just fucked her senseless, that would be one thing, but he’d gazed into her eyes and kissed her within a fraction of her life.
Oooh, she wanted to slap the right thing across his face.
Tears flooded her bottom lids, and though the anger dissipated, hurt and betrayal burned behind her eyes.
“Excuse me,” she tried, her voice as soft as a whisper. “Hey!” she finally shouted when no one heard her.
All conversation ceased, and silence again fell over the group like a wet blanket. Five pairs of eyes fell on Aurelie, all of them wide with surprise.
“You all seem to have a very clear idea of what would be best for me, but not one of you”—and at this she locked eyes with each person, spending more than a full beat staring resolutely at Paige and Jace each—“has asked me what I think.”
“Aurelie,” Jace and Paige both said at the same time.
Her heart raced. They didn’t get it, did they?
They both saw themselves as heroes, knights in armor meant to shield Aurelie from any pain, real or perceived.
It would be honorable, beautiful, even, if they weren’t competing for the role right in front of her, if they weren’t silencing her voice to assuage whatever guilt compelled them to act like such overbearing asses.
She’d never stood for that before, and she wouldn’t today.
“No. You’re supposed to be my person, Paige.
I know why you haven’t been lately, and I don’t blame you.
But there’s a gap, you can’t deny that. It was big enough for this guy to walk in and make me think he held all the answers.
I know you’re only acting this way because you can’t reconfigure my role in your life now that you’re a mom and a wife, and I’m neither.
” Jace inhaled sharply. Aurelie had neither the time nor the patience to apply salve to his wounds as well.
“Not really, anyway. But that’s not the point. ”
“Then what is?” Paige asked.
“I know. Thank you, Jace, for agreeing to help me in my time of need. If I were stronger, if I’d had the guts to face the situation I put myself in head-on, I would never have accepted your kind offer. But I’ve got it from here. I think we should stick to our original agreement.”
When he shot her a look of confusion, complete with a half-open mouth, she continued.
“You married me to help me steer clear of my father. Afterward, you made some grand promises we both know you can’t, and shouldn’t, keep.
You’ve got a career in Hollywood, and you need to go back to that.
Even if you don’t, I think you and I need to go our separate ways after the hearing.
Until then, I’ll stay with Jackie in her hospital room while I’m able to help under my current license. ”
Aurelie was exposed, vulnerable, with all eyes on her.
It didn’t help that she was still in her night clothes and felt as if the bags under her eyes were growing with each passing minute.
If given the chance, she could sleep the week away.
If only she had the luxury of guaranteeing she’d wake up in Banberry on the other side of it.
“Aurelie, what are you saying?” Jace asked. The panic emanating from those five words sliced through Aurelie’s resolve like a warm knife through bread. Almost. It was unearned hope, pure and simple. And it wasn’t enough.
Nothing could paint over him telling her friends he’d married her because he felt it was the right thing to do. No other possibility could exist for Aurelie, not if she expected to walk away from him with no more than a broken heart and bruised ego.
“Um, I think we should give these guys their space,” Owen said. It was the first time he’d spoken since corralling them into the living room, and his booming voice roused everyone from the drama-induced waking coma they were in. Sophie and Brad muttered their agreement, moving toward the door.
“Aurelie, if you need to talk, I’m here. Just come over later,” Sophie whispered, pulling Aurelie into a tight embrace. The unexpected kindness was jarring, especially when juxtaposed against the immobility of her best friend.
“Thank you,” Aurelie responded. Her wan smile didn’t reach her eyes, though. Nor did her gaze leave Paige, who didn’t budge from her spot on the plush couch.
“Love?” Owen asked, directing his question at Paige. She shook her head at her husband, and her gaze remained pinned to Aurelie.
“No. I’ll follow you in a minute.”
He nodded and took their daughter before leaving the room.
When only Jace, Aurelie, and Paige were left in the living room, Paige finally addressed Aurelie.
“I was supposed to be the maid of honor at your wedding,” she said.
Aurelie barely heard the words, but they shot straight through her heart, breaking it in two.
Paige’s reticence to speak earlier became crystal clear.
Like Jace, Paige clearly believed that Aurelie got married for love and didn’t include her.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
“And you will be. When I get engaged for real, you’ll be the first person I tell. And when I walk down the aisle, I want you at the end of it beside me.” Jace winced. Aurelie let that slide right on past her. His fake feelings weren’t her concern at the moment.
Paige seemed to be considering Aurelie’s mini speech. “Okay,” she said, standing up. “I can deal with that. And we’ll get into our stuff later. But right now, what the actual hell is going on with your dad, and what do we need to do to make that right?”
“If I can interject,” Jace said, clearing his throat, “I’ve got that taken care of.
Right now it looks like she’s got a temporary stay of execution while they work on finalizing the marriage certificate.
On a side note, I’ve got my lawyers on Puckman now.
He shouldn’t be able to do more to this town without drawing too much unwanted legal recourse. ”
“Thank you, Jace,” Paige said. “You didn’t have to, but God knows you took on your lion’s share of drama with us.”
“It was my pleasure,” he added, his voice softer. “Aurelie, do you mind if I talk to you real quick?”
She couldn’t meet his gaze. He’d done so much for her, and that nagging sense of guilt still plagued her. In fact, it was infinitely worse now that she was using the marriage as the sham it had started as.
“Sure.” She got up and walked to the door, intent on seeing him out.
Her eyes stayed locked on the corner of tile that had cracked when Owen redid their floors last year.
The only flaw in a seemingly perfect union and home Owen built when he married Paige.
Aurelie wanted that, and remembered not two days earlier when she’d ached for that same connection.
How could she have settled for so much less so quickly?
“Aurelie, I didn’t mean what I told them,” he started.
“At least I don’t now. I want this to work, and I want you.
But if I acted like my proposal was built on anything other than a desire to help you, they’d write me off as a crackpot.
Because how am I supposed to tell you, let alone your friends, that I’m falling in love with you after just ten days? ”
Aurelie’s pulse quickened, and sweat dotted her brow. He moved in closer, and she inhaled the intoxicating scent of coffee and maple on his breath. Between that and his words, she could barely form a coherent thought. What the hell was he playing at?
“Jace.” She held up a hand when he opened his mouth to interrupt her.
“I know you think that now, but you have no idea who you’re dealing with.
My father won’t stop at a piece of paper, and I was a fool to believe that you could swoop in and fix this with nothing but that. I’m sorry I involved you.”
“Didn’t you hear a word I just said, Aury? This is more than just a fucking piece of paper. I’m falling in love with you.”
“No, you’re not, Jace.”
He sighed, ran a hand through his hair, making her jealous of the fingers that had his soft curls wrapped around them. Despite the fact that she couldn’t be his wife, it didn’t mean she didn’t want him fiercely.
“Don’t tell me how I feel,” he growled.
“I’m not trying to, but even if what you’re saying is true, it doesn’t matter anyway.
I have to be there for Jackie and Steve, and if your lawyers really did come through, I have to get back to work.
I don’t have time to date you right now, to work on a relationship that was never supposed to be more than a partnership. ”
She finished breathless, her pulse racing wildly. At least three times in as many sentences she almost stopped, chucked her good sense to the wind along with Jace’s future, and pressed her lips to his. Sheer force of will let her get her feelings out.
“Never more than a partnership, huh?” Jace’s voice wavered with emotion.
She nodded. “That’s what we agreed to. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to dissolve the marriage, but you have to know I’m grateful to you for helping me. I get to stay here and care for my friend because of you. Can’t that be enough?”
Ten minutes ago, she’d have given anything to have him tell her he loved her. But it was too convenient, the work of a good actor, nothing more.
A small twitch of the muscle in his cheek was the only proof of emotion that coursed through him. She wanted to kiss the spot, calm it, but she couldn’t have it both ways.
Her body revolted, burning her skin in each place he’d touched her, inside and out.
She was on fire, scorched and branded by him, and nothing, especially not leaving him behind, would ever cure her of that.
She just had to remember that she was breaking both their hearts for him as well. He’d never really wanted a family.
After an interminable silence, he spoke.
“If that’s what you need, then that’s enough.
” His lips were still parted, as if he wanted to say more, but he shook his head and walked out the door without another word.
Aurelie’s stomach clenched, and her eyes burned with heat.
She wouldn’t cry, though. Not for him. He’d never actually been hers to lose, so mourning his loss was a luxury she couldn’t afford.
Yet, as the door shut behind him, her body cried out, Go after him! This is your chance. You can have it all like the women in your books. He loves you! She shook her head, arguing with her subconscious. She wasn’t a character in a novel, and this wasn’t a fantasy.
No. No matter what it cost her, she had to remember why she was doing this. He’d unwittingly sacrificed so much of his career, his reputation, his life for her, and she’d finally figured out what she could give him in return.
His freedom. Ironically, it was what he’d wanted most in the beginning of this anyway. Wasn’t fate a wily bitch?