Chapter 9
Teddy was surprised to find Jessica sitting on the steps to his flat when he pulled into his car park.
“You know how you were having a weird week last week?” she said instead of hello.
It was going to be a long time before Teddy forgot about that. Kylee was still flirting with him, and he’d jumped behind a tree yesterday when he’d thought he saw Lena’s husband in Somers Gully. It wasn’t him, but tell that to Teddy’s heart palpitations.
“Apparently, it’s my turn this week.” Jessica stood and brushed her hands across the back of her jean shorts. She lifted a sixpack of beers and grimaced. “Can we talk? I need to ask for a big favour.”
Teddy didn’t know much about Jessica because she’d always kept to herself, and her world revolved around Sam. But he could tell it cost her something to ask for help.
“Sure,” he said, climbing the stairs to where she stood. “Want to go halves on a pizza?” It had been a long day, and he didn’t want to cook. Truthfully, Teddy never felt like cooking.
“Oh, no thanks, that’s okay. This won’t take long.”
“Alright.” Teddy shrugged again, unlocking the door and holding it open for her to enter first. Luckily, he’d cleaned up the other day, so his flat wasn’t a total disaster.
Late afternoon light poured through the arched windows that faced High Street and brightened the kitchen’s dark green subway tiles.
His stomach rumbled. “You sure about the pizza? I’m going to order one anyway. ”
“I think we should get married,” Jessica blurted.
The urge to laugh hit Teddy hard, but it was immediately overshadowed by a nagging feeling in his gut.
Laughing would be the wrong move, even though what Jessica had said was totally ridiculous.
Still, he couldn’t stop an incredulous smile.
“You don’t want to share a pizza, but you want to get married? ”
Jessica dragged her hands through her hair. “That’s not what I meant. I should’ve practiced this. Actually, I should’ve realised this was ridiculous. I’m going to go.” She reached for her canvas tote bag.
“Can I?” Teddy gestured to the beers she’d put on the small dining table. If ever there was a conversation that required beer, it was this one. He noticed that she’d brought his favourite: a smoked porter from a local brewery.
Jessica sighed, redirecting her frown at her sneakers before slumping into one of his dining chairs and burying her face in her hands. “Help yourself.”
Teddy twisted the cap of his beer and waited.
“My dad died recently,” Jessica told the table before groaning. “Damn it. That’s no better. What is wrong with me today? Can you please sit down? You’re making me nervous.”
Teddy uncapped another beer and slid it across the table so it was in front of Jessica. “Didn’t think anything made you nervous.”
Suspicion clouded her features, and Teddy added, “Confidence is never a bad thing. That was a compliment.”
“I never knew my dad.” Their eyes met, and then she looked away. “My mum lied and said he died when she was pregnant.”
“Wow. That’s shitty,” Teddy said quietly.
He didn’t feel like he could comment further because if there were a gold standard for the perfect childhood, it would’ve been modelled off his.
Maybe there could have been a little less roughhousing and wrestling, but four boys were always going to need to burn off their energy.
And Teddy had never gone to sleep wondering if he was loved.
He chewed on his bottom lip because, fucking hell, he’d been so lucky.
“It’s … whatever it is.” Jessica waved away his words, some of her normal aloofness reappearing. “You can’t change the past or control how other people think or behave.”
No truer words had ever been spoken. Teddy was only now beginning to realise how much his actions had impacted others, even when he’d thought everyone was on the same page.
“And he passed away recently?” Teddy prompted Jessica, who was staring at the footy training schedule on the table like she needed to know which session was drills or strength.
She nodded. “Remember the guy at the bar the other night? In the suit?”
“The one who wanted to talk to you?” That wasn’t the best descriptor.
With her big, striking blue eyes and wild, dark hair, there were always men trying to catch Jessica’s attention.
As far as Teddy was aware, she’d never given any of them the time of day.
Not that he made a habit of keeping track of people’s love lives.
That was strictly his mother’s wheelhouse.
“He’s a lawyer, and my father left me some money.” Her tone was completely without emotion.
“That’s good, right?” It was always dangerous to make assumptions, but Jessica had a million jobs.
And ever since she’d started at the pub, she’d worked every weekend except for one Friday a month because Wyatt insisted she have a night to herself.
Owen had never said anything about her custody arrangement, but it was widely known that her ex had been a gambler, and that was how she and Sam had ended up at Kathleen’s Place.
Small towns and secrets never mixed well.
“It’s complicated. I don’t know how I feel about it, actually.
Other than acknowledging how much I could do for Sam if I didn’t have to scrimp and save for everything.
But if I want to claim my inheritance, I can contest the conditions he put on it, or I can get …
” she trailed off and bit her lower lip.
Suddenly, it all made sense.
“Married?” Teddy finished for her.
“Yeah. But I’d pay you. It wouldn’t mean anything.”
And just like that, the weirdest week of Teddy’s life officially became the weirdest fortnight.
Proposing was stressful.
Even when it was fake.
“I didn’t think it was possible to shock you, Teddy,” Jessica attempted to joke, but her words landed on the floor with a big ol’ splat.
Which was fair enough because her first reaction to this ridiculousness hadn’t been all that dissimilar to the shock on Teddy’s face.
But the more she’d thought about it, the more it had made sense.
Hadn’t it? Once she’d got over her anger at her father—because what an asshole move to swoop in and save the day from beyond the grave when he’d never even said one damn word to her—she’d realised she’d be a fool to refuse his money.
Even if it meant dancing to the tune of his ridiculous demands.
She could use it to buy Joan’s house. Or a different one.
If Rob was determined to push for them all to move to Sydney and they ended up back in court or mediation, being a property owner would surely help her case to stay in Wattle Junction.
She’d be able to pay Owen properly this time, too.
Who cared where the money came from when Sam would benefit from it?
Teddy scratched at the label on his beer, his brows pulling together with concentration. “You don’t want to fight it? Because that’s a bullshit condition. No offence to your dad.”
Teddy could say whatever he liked about her father.
Jessica had considered this as she’d sat on the couch last night after uploading all her new product reviews.
The problem was time. If she contested the will—how is this my life?
—it would take months, maybe even years.
Phillip had explained that discharging the trust wouldn’t happen immediately anyway, but she’d be able to remove an initial lump sum which would be enough to secure Joan’s house.
But seriously, how unlucky was she that the guy who’d literally proposed to her last week wasn’t marriage material?
And Rob really wasn’t. One, regardless of what was going on between them, she wanted to be supportive of Rob’s recovery, but hello, he didn’t have a good history with money.
Two, she didn’t love him, but he clearly still had significant feelings for her, and Jessica would never toy with someone’s affections like that.
She and Rob were tied together forever because of Sam, and adding another legal layer to their already complicated family dynamic had bad idea written all over it.
That’s where Teddy came in. Because while she didn’t love him either, there was a key difference: he didn’t love her. Teddy didn’t love anyone. This was one of the rare situations where being a charming fuckboy was beneficial.
Because if the rumours about Teddy were true, he’d been gifted with several superpowers. And Jessica wasn’t referring to the ones about how talented his supposedly enormous dick was.
Teddy didn’t get attached.
Teddy didn’t make promises.
Teddy was the king of no complications.
And he needs a fake girlfriend.
“I’m sure Owen could help you with this?” Teddy said.
“I’ve already spoken with a different lawyer about it.” A twinge of guilt reappeared, but if she and Teddy did this, it’d have to be a secret.
“How would this work exactly?” Teddy asked after a beat.
Her heart sped up and Jessica licked her lips. “We’d get married at a courthouse as soon as possible. No one else would know.”
“Which is why you didn’t go to Owen,” Teddy murmured. “I appreciate you not putting him in an awkward spot.”
“As soon as we’re married, I can get some of the trust, and I can pay you then. Then, once the rest of the money clears, we get divorced.”
Teddy pulled his long hair loose and ran his hands through it before scratching his beard.
“I didn’t wake up this morning thinking you’d be proposing to me, Jessica Sonoto.
” There was something about the way he said her last name.
There always had been. A little bit of extra emphasis on the long vowel sounds that so many people got wrong.
Like maybe he’d listened the first time she’d explained how to properly pronounce it. And then he’d remembered.
“We wouldn’t have to be married forever, either. Just until I can access the entire inheritance, which shouldn’t take more than a year. And we’d have a prenuptial agreement.”
With millions of dollars at stake, there was no way Jessica wasn’t going to dot her i’s and cross the t’s. Twice.
“What about Sam?” Teddy asked, and she sagged into the chair opposite him. This was the bit she’d struggled with the most.
She’d always promised that she’d never lie to Sam, but these were extenuating circumstances.
This money could change their lives. It would provide a home, yes, but also so many different opportunities that would otherwise remain out of their reach.
Hell, it could change Sam’s children’s lives if she were smart.
“Nothing changes with Sam. You can be his friend.”
Teddy nodded. “I could do that.”
“And in return, I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend for as long as you need. Help you with the blonde who wants to have your children. She came into the bar earlier and asked if I was coming to your company picnic. I didn’t know what to say.”
Teddy picked up his beer. “So, we’d be secretly married and fake dating?”
Okay, yes. It sounded ridiculous when Teddy said it like that.
Because it is ridiculous.
Jessica nodded.
“I need to think about this.” Teddy stood.
That was a perfectly reasonable reaction.
It made sense for Teddy to consider the implications and potential consequences of what she was suggesting.
The logical part of Jessica’s brain understood all that.
Respected it, even. But the illogical part?
The secret corner that had been crushing on Teddy for years? All the wind had gone out of its sails.
“I’ll get out of your hair.” Jessica was almost at the door when she realised Teddy hadn’t asked her the most obvious question of all. “Don’t you want to know how much I could pay you?”
Teddy leant against the counter and crossed his arms. “Nope. If I do this, it won’t be about the money. It’d be about helping a friend.”
“Because Sam’s going to be your friend?” It was necessary to have boundaries so her crush didn’t get any bigger.
“I know you don’t need anyone and try not to sigh when I say this, but we’re kind of friends too, Jess.” Teddy’s charming smile reappeared.
Well, damn. There went her crush. Getting bigger.