14. Ember
FOURTEEN
EMBER
I gaped at Jack in horror, my spoonful of oatmeal dangling halfway to my mouth. “Say again?”
It was Thursday. Yesterday, we’d done our usual walk down Main Street while sipping hot drinks and nodding to all the people staring at us like we were a freak show. We hadn’t kissed. Not that I was keeping track, or anything.
Today, Jack had a different plan for our daily public appearance.
“A run,” he repeated, turning back to the blender where he was preparing a smoothie. “We can do it along the water on the hard sand.”
The blender screamed. I stared at his broad back, waiting for the noise to die down. “I don’t run,” I told him when it was quiet again, barely suppressing my shudder.
He frowned over his shoulder at me. “Really? I could have sworn you were a runner. I’m sure my grandmother told me we had that in common.”
Uh-oh.
He was right. We did have that in common…in the pack of fiction I’d crafted on my matchmaking application.
My face must have betrayed me, because Jack’s gaze sharpened. He turned to face me fully, the big blender jug forgotten on the counter. “You’re hiding something,” he noted, curious, casual. He tilted his head, watching me.
I wasn’t fooled by his friendly demeanor. This man was on the hunt for all my secrets. I could see it in his eyes, in the way he studied my face like he could read every microexpression that crossed it.
“I’m not hiding anything,” I said, spooning oatmeal into my mouth. I chewed and swallowed, then added, “I’m an open book.”
“Ha,” Jack replied. He grabbed a glass and poured some smoothie into it, then turned back to watch me while he took his first sip.
He leaned against the counter, one broad hand curled around the edge, the other wrapped around his glass.
His long legs were crossed at the ankle.
Nothing to see here, his pose announced, just a casual man having a smoothie in his kitchen, looking at the oatmeal-eating intruder like she’s just a simple curiosity.
I studiously ignored him as the hairs on the back of my neck prickled. The space between my shoulder blades itched, and I had to fight not to fidget. Mm, oatmeal. So fascinating. Scoop, chew, swallow, repeat.
“Another thing I find interesting,” he mused, waving the glass of pink, frothy liquid around, “is how you claim you’re not motherly. My grandmother told me we were a ninety-eight-percent match. How could we be such a high match if you’re not motherly and being a parent is a huge part of who I am?”
I swallowed the bite of oatmeal that was quickly turning to glue in my mouth.
He’d found me out. Of course he had! I’d revealed myself to him.
I’d wanted him to like me. I’d shown him the parts of myself that I usually kept hidden.
I was meant to be an uninteresting actuary who liked numbers more than she liked people.
Numbers liked me back more than people did too.
But Jack saw through that, and now I was in trouble.
My eyes slid to the door. I had to get out of here.
My brain provided me with logic to try to quell my panic: Even if Jack found out I’d carefully planned and crafted a fat stack of lies for my application, it didn’t change the fact that we had a deal.
He could find out I was the literal devil, and we would still have a contract.
I would still pay him. We would still go our separate ways.
But something had changed between us, and I was in unfamiliar territory.
Did I want us to go our separate ways? Did I care if Jack hated me? Why was I now thinking about the kiss we’d shared in my bedroom?
His steps were slow and measured as he made his way across the kitchen.
I kept eating my oatmeal, staring at a big black knot in the middle of the pine dining table.
He stopped beside me, putting one hand on the table and the other on the back of my chair.
I felt his thumb against my shoulder blade, and I leaned forward slightly to break the contact.
“Ember,” he murmured.
“What?” I scraped the side of my bowl and took another bite. My eyes slid toward the door to the hallway. It was time for me to escape.
“Ember, look at me.”
I looked at him.
His eyes were the clear blue of a summer’s sky.
They were utterly serious. There was no hint of that teasing light I’d come to love, no amusement or fondness or fun.
His breathing was steady, and the way he leaned over me made me feel like I had nowhere to run.
He smelled like strawberry smoothie and a hint of his cologne.
He’d found me out. He knew I’d lied on the application.
We weren’t a good match. Jack had come into this with the belief that a powerful computer algorithm had determined we were nearly perfect for each other, and that had informed how he acted and the way he saw me.
Even when I was weird or in the way, at the back of his mind, he knew we were supposedly meant to be.
That fact had made me more interesting. It had made it worth his time to get to know me.
Now he was about to find out we really weren’t a match at all. When I was a burden on his and Darby’s lives—which was all the time—there wasn’t some magical computer that was going to tell him I would be worth the trouble.
Why did it feel like my heart was being crushed into a little ball? None of this was a surprise.
“Ember, did you lie on your application?”
A lump of burning emotion was stuck at the base of my throat. I blinked, caught in the snare of his gaze. “I might have embellished a few things,” I croaked.
“Did you look me up before you applied?”
My ribs were steel vises, slowly crushing my lungs and heart to a bloody pulp. “Yes,” I whispered.
“You wrote your application in order to be matched with me.”
Jack was a smart man. How had I ever believed he wouldn’t find me out? Maybe before I met him, I hadn’t cared. He’d been a means to an end. The signature at the bottom of the contract I’d pushed across the table toward him. The vessel upon which I’d ride to collect my million-dollar inheritance.
But he was so much more than that now. I knew I’d never actually had a chance to be with him, but it still felt like I’d lost something. Whatever tiny spark of potential for a happily-ever-after had been snuffed out.
And he was watching me, waiting for an explanation. I swallowed thickly, then nodded. “Out of all your brothers and cousins, you’re the one with the biggest online presence. You’re the face of your company, so I was able to find some interviews you did over the years…” I trailed off. Bit my lip.
He studied me, unblinking.
“It wasn’t ideal that you had a daughter,” I whispered. “That complicated things. But I figured it was a short amount of time, and it would be worth it for both of us. For all three of us.”
His eyes flicked between mine. The pressure bore down on me, immense.
Finally, I wasn’t able to take it anymore. I slithered out of my chair, putting it between us, and took a step toward the hallway. “I should go,” I said, and whirled.
Jack caught my wrist and tugged me toward him.
I crashed against his chest as his other hand banded across my lower back.
His eyes were alive, his body thrumming with energy.
“You devious little liar,” he muttered, and his lips curled into a smile.
“Every day I spend with you, you surprise me more and more.”
I sipped in little breaths, trying to stay conscious. Slowly, his words penetrated. “You’re not mad?”
“Babe,” he answered, voice warm. His smile spread. “How could I be mad at something that brought you here to me?”
My stomach swooped. He couldn’t mean…
The kitchen door flew open, and a woman’s voice called out, “Hello, hello!”
Jack’s arm tightened around my back as I tried to push off him, and we both turned toward the voice.
Gabi stood in the opening, her eyes wide as she took us in. “Oh!”
Today, her hair was in a glossy, swinging ponytail, and she wore a tight navy wrap dress with no jacket, all the better to show off her curves. A delicate necklace dangled between her breasts, drawing the eye. She wore light makeup, and she looked beautiful. I was sure it was by design.
“Ever heard of knocking?” Jack growled. He still wouldn’t let me go, and I remembered I wasn’t supposed to be fighting him every time he touched me. I snuck a glance at his face and saw his clenched jaw, his narrowed eyes.
My stomach did another tumble.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt…” Gabi’s gaze flicked between us. Her throat bobbed. She brightened, but it seemed forced. “Is Darby ready for school?”
“Here,” Darby said, clomping her way into the kitchen.
I pushed against Jack’s hold once more and he finally loosened his grip, but he didn’t let go.
He held me at his side as Darby’s gaze slid over us.
She crossed to the counter and poured some of Jack’s leftover smoothie into a travel mug for herself.
She took a sip and looked at Gabi. “I’m ready. ”
“Have a good day,” Jack said, finally disengaging from me. Darby came over to give him a hug. I watched him soften and press a kiss to the top of her head. They were so beautiful together.
Then, to my surprise, Darby took a step toward me and threw her arms around me in a quick squeeze. “See you, Ember.”
“Have a good day at school,” I replied. “Good luck on your algebra quiz. You’re going to crush it.”
“I know,” she said, flashing me a wide, confident smile. We’d spent last night preparing for the test.
I laughed. She was such a gem of a girl. No wonder Jack adored her. When I glanced up, Gabi’s eyes were wide, and she was blinking rapidly. She recovered quickly, smiling big. “Isn’t that wonderful? Come on, girl. Victoria’s waiting for you. Do you have your P.E. gear?”
“Yes, Gabi,” Darby replied, hurrying out the door in front of the other woman. Gabi threw us one last glance and left with a frown on her face.
I was truly my father’s daughter, because I took great pleasure in the other woman’s distress. I looked at Jack. “Does she usually walk in without warning?”
He frowned at the door. “No.”
I remembered the look on his face when he’d snapped at her. I didn’t think Gabi would be doing it again.
Flickering flames spread through my chest and stomach. I bit my bottom lip, trying not to smile.
Jack sighed, shook his head, and grabbed his forgotten smoothie. He took a sip and met my gaze. “So. Running?”
I groaned.
Jack laughed. “You’re the one who lied on your application. Now you need to see it through.”
“You’re evil.”
“Only sometimes. Besides, a lot of the gossips in town go for early walks on the beach,” he told me, turning back to the sink as he grabbed the blender jug. “It’ll be the perfect opportunity to be seen and get them talking about how good we look together.”
“I’m not sure I’m going to look good in this situation.”
He shot me a smile over his shoulder as he ran water over the dirty blender jug. “Babe.”
I was reconsidering my stance on pet names. When Jack said it like that, it made me feel like I was floating.
Still, I scowled at him. “You want me to stumble along the beach, gasping for breath, and you think that will convince people I’m in love with you?”
His grin widened as he turned back to scrub the dishes. “Yesterday, Marigold Jenkins caught me outside the hardware store and asked me about you. Said she hasn’t seen you around in a few days, and wondered how you were settling in.”
“And you said I’m a homebody, and I was settling fine, right? You told her it was none of her business?”
“Ember,” he said, smiling. “That’s not how it works. We need to give them something to go on.”
“Just tell them you’ve tied me to your bed and you won’t let me leave. That’ll get everyone talking.”
He froze, the sponge squeezed in his hand.
His eyes turned intent, and I regretted my grumbled words.
“First, you tell me you’re an exhibitionist. Now you tell me you’re into bondage?
Ember, Ember, Ember…” He clicked his tongue, shaking his head.
“This goes on much longer, I won’t want to divorce you at all. ”
My heart kicked hard.
“Unfortunately, that’s not up to you,” I said, crossing to the table so I could scrape the last of my oatmeal out of the bowl and shove it into my wayward mouth.
I put the bowl in the dishwasher, feeling Jack’s gaze on me the whole time.
When I’d swallowed my bite, I gave him a tight smile.
“I’ll go get my exercise clothes on. Meet you back down here in fifteen. ”
JACK
I watched her go, unable to hold back my grin. Sneaky little liar. On the outside, Ember was prim and proper and intelligent and buttoned-up.
In reality, she was complex. Interesting. Bewitching.
I, at least, hadn’t been lying to her; every day I spent with her, I fell a little harder. I wondered if she could tell.
Glancing at the door, I remembered the way Gabi had barged in like she belonged here. How surprised she’d looked at seeing Ember in my arms. The way Ember had instinctively tried to pull away, like we were doing something wrong.
I frowned.
It was time for me to make good on my word and prove to everyone—my wife included—that she was the only woman for me.