Chapter Six
“What I’m doing isn’t crazy or stupid,” Noelle said. “It makes sense because I’m getting paid a good chunk of money.”
It was Friday afternoon, and Noelle was staring at her reflection in her bedroom mirror, giving herself one last once-over before Jeremiah arrived to take her to Heart Beach.
She was wearing a red and white gingham tube top with matching capris and red platform sandals.
Her braids were arranged in a half-up, half-down style, and she wore matte red lipstick on her lips.
She looked fun and flirty, like she was about to enjoy a summer traipsing through Europe.
Yesterday, she and Tati had taken the train into the city to shop.
She’d bought the gingham set from a boutique in SoHo, along with the other clothes she’d purchased for the weekend.
At first, she felt weird about using Jeremiah’s credit card, but then Tati reminded her that unless she wanted to show up to the Smiths’ beach house wearing her Hidden Gems T-shirt and old denim shorts, she’d better get used to swiping.
That realization helped Noelle get over her unease real fast.
“Exactly,” Tati said now, appearing behind Noelle. She grinned at Noelle in the mirror. “You’re not crazy. You’re a businesswoman. An entrepreneur, really.”
She spritzed Noelle with a few squirts of perfume. Noelle inhaled the summery, beachy scent as she continued to stare at her reflection. She turned to face Tati.
“I look okay, right?” she asked as her heartbeat picked up pace.
“For the millionth time, yes,” Tati said. “You look better than okay. You look gorgeous. And you have no reason to be nervous! You do this stuff all the time. You play a role and then you get your money and leave. This isn’t any different.”
“But this is different. They’re the Smiths! I’ve been eating their cookies and sweets my whole life. They’re a culturally relevant family, and Jeremiah is so…”
She swallowed hard and trailed off, not wanting to finish her thought.
Tati smiled slyly. “Jeremiah is so what?”
“Nothing. Never mind.” Noelle shook her head and crouched down to zip up her suitcase. Jeremiah would be arriving any minute. “He’s my client. That’s what he is.”
After their dinner last week, Noelle had solicited the help of her “lawyer,” otherwise known as André, Tati’s boyfriend.
He was a paralegal who was applying to law school soon, so he’d be a lawyer eventually.
He’d drafted up a contract, roughly based on Noelle’s Bridal Bestie contracts.
Her contract with Jeremiah outlined the duration of their agreement as well as the payment schedule.
André had also added rules of conduct. Like no physical contact that hadn’t previously been discussed and green-lit.
Noelle sent the contract to Jeremiah and expected him to take at least a day or two to look it over, but he’d electronically signed it and sent it back within minutes, followed by a digital transfer of $1,750.
Noelle tried to picture how she’d look standing next to him as they presented themselves as a couple to his family. Would they buy it? Or would they see through her new clothes and suss out immediately that she was a fraud who’d agreed to this farce because of the money?
No, no. Tati was right. Noelle was overthinking. She knew how to play a role. She could do this. And anyway, she didn’t have much of a choice. She needed that second half of Jeremiah’s payment.
Just as she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, Jeremiah texted that he’d arrived.
“He’s outside,” Noelle said. She grabbed her suitcase and her new cat-eye Ray-Bans and looked at herself in the mirror one last time as Tati squealed and clapped. She grabbed Noelle’s suitcase handle and rolled her suitcase into the hallway.
“Come on!” she called. “Rich bitch life awaits!”
Outside, Noelle spotted Jeremiah in the parking lot.
He was leaning against his car and wearing a well-fitted, white polo shirt and denim shorts with white sneakers.
A pair of sunglasses hung from his shirt collar.
His face immediately broke into a smile when he saw Noelle, and she felt the energy of his smile zap her straight in the abdomen.
He pushed up off his car and walked toward them.
He opened his arms for Noelle, and without a second thought, she stepped into his embrace.
“Hey,” she said, letting his arms envelop her. His body was warm, and his hold was secure. She wondered if anyone had ever told him how great his hugs were.
“Hey.” He pulled away and looked her up and down. His lips curved into an appreciative smile. “You look great. I’m digging the red and white.”
“Thank you,” she said, cheeks warming.
“She does look amazing, doesn’t she?” Tati said. “Hi, I’m Noelle’s best friend, Tatiana.”
Jeremiah turned to Tati, still smiling. “You work at the hair salon across from the bookstore.”
“Yes.” Tati beamed, clearly pleased that he remembered her. “You should know that if anything bad happens to Noelle, I will hunt you down myself and make your life a living hell.”
Jeremiah nodded solemnly. “Noted. She’ll be taken care of, I promise.” He looked at Noelle. “For real.”
“I believe you,” she said, nudging Tati in her side.
Noelle wouldn’t have agreed to join Jeremiah this weekend if she thought she’d be in some sort of danger.
A quick Google search confirmed that he was exactly who he’d said he was.
There was his LinkedIn account for one, proving that he was the director of business development at Good Boy, Inc.
She’d also found his social media page, which was private, but his profile picture was a candid photo of him taken mid-laugh, and his username was JSmith2.
All of the Smiths’ social media accounts were private, except for Amara, whose account was devoted to pictures of her paintings.
It looked like she was currently working on a series of scenes from popular horror films. Her most recent post from a week ago was a painting from a scene in The Shining of Jack Nicholson frozen in the snow.
There were several photos online of Jeremiah and his family, though.
Most were taken at fundraisers and events over the years.
By all appearances, they seemed like a happy and successful family.
She didn’t know what they were like behind closed doors, of course, but she was about to find out imminently.
As Jeremiah placed Noelle’s suitcase in the trunk of his car, two of her younger neighbors whizzed by on their bikes.
The boys came to a screeching halt at the sight of Jeremiah’s car, and they gawked in awe.
His car definitely stood out in their complex, where most of the parked cars were pre-owned Hondas and Toyotas, including Noelle’s used 2009 Honda Accord.
One of the boys scooted his bike closer and asked Jeremiah how fast his car was able to drive.
“Pretty fast,” Jeremiah said. He closed the trunk and beckoned the boys to come around to the driver’s side and take a look at the steering wheel.
The boys oohed and aahed, and Jeremiah grinned.
Noelle watched him with a slight smirk on her face.
As if he could feel him watching her, he glanced up.
Satisfied with their exploration, Noelle’s neighbors thanked Jeremiah and pedaled away.
“Ready to go?” Jeremiah asked her.
“Yep.” Noelle took a steadying breath and turned to Tati. She squeezed her close in a quick hug. “Thank you for helping me shop,” she whispered.
“That’s something you never have to thank me for,” Tati whispered back. “Text me when you get there.”
Noelle promised that she would. Then Jeremiah jogged around the car and held the passenger side door open for her.
Huh. Maybe chivalry isn’t dead after all.
She shook off that thought, reminding herself that Jeremiah was a client. Him treating her with kindness and respect was to be expected. And more men should open car doors! Why had they stopped doing that?
The inside of Jeremiah’s car smelled like his spicy cologne, and his seats were buttery smooth. He drove out of her complex and through Brickton toward the parkway entrance. Noelle checked her phone and saw a text from her mom.
Have fun at the beach this weekend, honey! Love you!
Her mom knew about her bridesmaid side hustle, but this situation with Jeremiah was a bit harder to explain.
She didn’t want her mom to worry about her or ask more questions, so when she’d talked to her mom on the phone yesterday, she’d told her that she was spending the weekend at the beach with one of her brides.
She responded, Thanks! Love you too!
Then she put her phone away and dug around in her purse for the mini client bible that she carried with her during gigs. She flipped the journal open to her current page about Jeremiah and the Smiths.
“I think it would be a good idea if we went over the details again,” she said.
After Jeremiah had signed the contract, she’d FaceTimed him to hear a more thorough rundown on his family.
Jeremiah had been sitting at his kitchen table.
He’d unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt and leaned back in his chair, drinking a can of Dr Pepper.
A fancy coffee machine sparkled on the countertop behind him.
He’d looked tired as they’d talked, and his voice sounded a bit deeper from exhaustion.
But otherwise, he’d been game as he’d answered each of Noelle’s questions with as much detail as possible.
They decided that they would tell the truth about how they met, but they’d lie about when.
Their official story was that they’d met in early May at Hidden Gems Books.
Noelle had helped Jeremiah browse for books, and he’d asked her out to dinner. They’d been inseparable ever since.