Chapter 5 #2
When he pulled away, he smiled, his gaze holding hers for a moment, before it lifted, and he peered over her, looking behind her. Then he returned his attention to her. “Do you think they bought that?”
It was like a cold bucket of water had been poured over her, shocking her back to reality, and all the warm sensual feelings evaporated. His actions were a part of the role he was playing. Well, of course they were!
It was in that moment that Chelsea realized she was in over her head.
She liked kissing Jagger. She liked the way he tasted and the shivers his kisses sent coursing through her body.
But it was dangerous to let herself go there.
She couldn’t fall for the man whose actions were a deception to keep custody of Kaden.
If her reaction to this short kiss was any indication, it would be all too easy to develop deeper feelings for him.
What concerned her most was she might find it difficult to separate out the fiction from the reality if he continued to kiss her like that as part of his act.
The lines might blur. Her hormones liked him.
It would be too easy for her heart to follow them, to develop feelings deeper than this plan allowed.
Since he was clear that he didn’t see love in their future, falling for him would be dangerous to her heart.
She should change her mind, right then and there, because she wasn’t sure she was strong enough to be on guard in protecting her feelings and her heart 24/7.
He took her hand and pulled her toward the blanket.
“Kaden and I were just about to eat. I brought extra, hoping you’d come.
” He flashed her a smile. Not the devilish, flirty one, but something worse.
It was tender, grateful, making her heart warm to him.
He pulled her hand up, brushing his lips over her knuckles.
“Danger, danger,” went off like a siren in her mind.
She started to pull away, but he stopped again and looked at her.
“This means a lot to me, Chelsea. Kaden is my life.” There was so much gratitude and relief in his gaze.
And just like that, she was going to follow through.
She nodded and was about to continue to the blanket when she decided to share another concern.
“Jagger, what if being married isn’t enough either? What if Kaden’s mother suc—”
He pressed a finger to her lips. “I refuse to think about that. I’m going to do all I can to make sure he stays.”
For a moment, she wondered just how far he might go to keep Kaden. She knew Jagger socially, but she didn’t really know what he was capable of. She was starting to get a sense of it.
He smiled, and the dazzle of it blinded her for a moment. “I promise, it’ll be okay.”
Feeling a bit helpless, she nodded.
“Miss Beemer!” Kaden jumped up and ran to her.
“Are you staying with us?” She wondered if Jagger had talked to Kaden about their arrangement.
Well, not their arrangement, but the possibility of their getting married.
Her heart did a little twist in her chest at the word marriage. She was completely nuts.
“She’s joining us for lunch.”
“Yay! Come sit with me.” He sat on the large, thick blanket spread under a grove of trees and patted the spot next to him.
Complying, she sat.
“Miss Z packed our favorites.” Jagger sat across from them and reached into the large basket. “PB and J for Kaden. Roast beef for me. And one more of each so you have a choice.”
“No barbecue?”
Jagger grinned. “We haven’t mastered that yet. Perhaps you’ll be able to make some for us.”
“I’ll have the roast beef.”
“We also brought potato chips and carrots.” Kaden waved a baggie of carrot sticks.
“It’s not a picnic if you don’t have those things.” She put an arm around Kaden and gave him a little squeeze. “I brought cookies.” She reached into her oversized purse and pulled out a large plastic bag with chocolate chip cookies.
“Ooh, can I have one?” Kaden’s bright blue eyes pleaded with her.
“Eat your sandwich and carrot sticks first.” Jagger sat across from them. “After we eat, we can go down to the river. Kaden likes to skip stones.”
“Do you skip stones?” Kaden pulled a carrot from his baggie.
“I do. I’m pretty good at it too.”
“Really?”
“I’ll show you.”
Once they’d eaten, they left their picnic items and made their way to the river. While Charlotte Tavern had some crime, most people felt safe leaving their doors unlocked and their picnic items unattended at the park.
As they walked, Jagger took her hand as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Kaden ran ahead, his arms out to his sides, pretending to be an airplane. Once again, second thoughts about their plan swirled through her mind. “Do you know your brain rattles when you think too much?”
She glanced at Jagger, who bore an amused expression. “There’s a lot to think about.”
He turned his head, watching Kaden disappear around the bend. “Hey, Kaden. Wait where we can see you, buddy.”
Kaden reappeared, flying toward them. “I can see the water.”
“Wait there to make sure it doesn’t go anywhere.”
Chelsea laughed. They caught up to Kaden and then walked with him to the river’s edge.
“Will this rock skip?” Kaden showed Chelsea a rock.
“You want to find flat ones.”
He dropped the round rock and went on the hunt for another one.
Chelsea scanned the ground, found a skipping rock, and picked it up. “Kaden. Here’s one.”
He ran over to look at the gray stone sitting in her hand. “Will you skip it?”
“Watch this.” She moved to the water’s edge, gripped the stone by its side, and threw it parallel to the water. It disappeared and then reappeared, skipping four times before getting lost in the water.
“Wow. Four skips.”
Chelsea laughed. Sometimes it was so easy to impress children. She found another rock and handed it to him. “Hold it like this and throw it from the side.”
Kaden’s face scrunched into serious determination as he made his way to the river’s edge. He threw the stone, which skipped once.
“Just one.”
“All it takes is practice.” She handed him a few more stones. She kept one, extending it to Jagger. “Do you want to try?”
He took the stone, his fingers lightly brushing hers, sending little shocks through her skin.
He stood by Kaden and threw the stone. His stone only skipped once.
“I guess I need practice too.” He set a hand on Kaden’s shoulder, and she realized he’d muffed his throw on purpose. “You keep working at it.”
“Aren’t you going to too?”
“I’m going to help Chelsea find rocks.”
Kaden shrugged and went back to throwing rocks, every now and then distracted by a stone or stick sitting on the riverbank.
Jagger returned to Chelsea’s side, watching Kaden play along the river. While this plot felt like a scam, she could see his love and determination were very real where Kaden was concerned. He wasn’t a bitter man wanting to get back at and hurt Kaden’s mother. He truly loved the boy.
What she wasn’t sure about was how she’d be able to keep their plan from her friends.
Not only would they be hurt if they found out she’d lied, but Chelsea wasn’t sure she could keep such a big secret.
At the same time, she didn’t want to tell them because she was sure they wouldn’t take it well.
First, it was a crazy idea, and second, they’d be offended she didn’t accept their help instead.
“Would it be okay if I let Lexie and Mitch know about this?”
Jagger turned to her, adjusting his position so he could talk to her and still keep an eye on Kaden. “We can’t tell anyone, Chelsea.”
“Why?”
“Because if it got back to the judge, it would probably work against me.”
“I trust my friends.”
He studied her for a moment. “Then consider plausible deniability. It’s possible there will be an investigation into our fitness to care for Kaden. If your friends know the truth, you’ll be asking them to lie to a court-appointed investigator.”
He was right. Chelsea blew out a breath. “I don’t want to put them in that position.”
“I don’t want to put my staff in that position either. So it’s just between you and me. Okay?”
She nodded. “Yes. Okay.” They stood together for a moment. “Do you think we should go over our story? Maybe learn a little bit about each other?”
He gave her an amused smile, as if he thought she was over-thinking the situation. But Chelsea knew her friends. They’d grill her and if she didn’t have a good response, they’d be suspicious. She already knew they were going to be surprised and probably worried. Especially Mitch.
“What do you want to know?”
“Well, since Mitch told you to stay away and you ditched me at his wedding—”
Jagger had the decency to wince at that.
“How did we start dating?”
“That’s easy.” Jagger picked up a rock, studied it, and then dropped it. “We reconnected because Kaden was in your class. We kept it on the down-low because we didn’t want to get you in trouble at school.”
“And you in trouble with Mitch?”
“I can handle Mitch.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Then why’d you ditch me?”
He took a deep breath. “At the time, I was respecting his wishes. I know he’s like a big brother to you and he takes that role seriously. Now it’s different. We’re getting married. I may not be what he wanted for you, but you could have done worse.”
Chelsea couldn’t imagine how she could do better, except, of course, by marrying someone who loved her and whom she loved back.
“What about your family?”
“What about them?”
There was a marked change in his tone, from light to dark.
“Well, what are they like? What was your childhood like?”
“People aren’t going to ask you twenty questions. Besides, I think I’ve already told you all you need to know.” He walked several steps away.