Chapter 6 #2
Jagger pulled her closer. “My intentions are sincere, Mitch.” Although Jagger found himself feeling guilty for saying so.
He hadn’t thought it would be so hard to pull of this deception, but now he understood the ramifications.
They were lying. It had to be worse for her because these people were her closest friends. Her surrogate family.
“All I care about is her happiness.” Behind his words, spoken through clenched teeth, Mitch was saying if you hurt her, we’ll have problems.
Jagger took a deep breath. He didn’t want to hurt Chelsea. But when this rouse was over, they’d be divorced, and Mitch would hate him. As much as Jagger hated losing the one friendship he had in Charlotte Tavern, he’d do it in an instant to keep Kaden safe with him.
“Well good, because we’re getting married.”
Even Jagger flinched at the way Chelsea blurted out their marital intentions into the world. Mitch turned a whole new shade of red. Lexie, who initially seemed pleased by their dating status, now pulled her brows together in a combination of worry and confusion.
“You’re what?” Lexie and Mitch asked in shock.
“Jagger and I are getting married.” She held out her hand to show the ring he’d just given her.
Lexie glanced at it before turning her sharp green eyes back on Chelsea. Mitch scowled at Jagger.
“You hardly know each other,” Lexie finally got out.
“That’s not true.” Jagger pressed a reassuring hand to Chelsea’s back. “We’ve known each other for years.”
“It’s too fast.” Lexie’s eyes shone with concern.
“Seriously?” Chelsea stared at Lexie with raised brows. “How long did you know Drake before you agreed to marry him?”
Lexie rolled her eyes and pursed her lips.
“Two weeks,” Chelsea answered for her. “How long after that before you were married? One day.”
Lexie studied her, and Jagger hoped they could keep up the pretense under her scrutiny.
“You saw Drake and me then. You saw the attraction. I even talked to you about it. I haven’t seen you and Jagger. You never talked about him.”
“Well, we couldn’t. He was the guardian of one of my students.”
Lexie bounced her baby, who’d started fussing, but her gaze remained intense. “You’re my best friend. How could I not notice?”
Chelsea closed her eyes, and Jagger could only imagine the guilt she was feeling at lying to her friend, especially now that it appeared Lexie was feeling bad for not being a better friend. “You have Drake and the babies filling your life. That’s how it should be.”
“Still.”
“No, Lexie. You’re a good friend.” Chelsea reached out and touched Lexie’s arm reassuringly.
Jagger snuck a glance at Mitch and knew for sure if looks could kill, he’d be dead, or at least maimed.
“Well, congratulations.” Sydney stepped forward, giving Chelsea and then Jagger a hug. “What a surprise, but such a happy one, don’t you think, Mitch?”
Mitch grunted.
Chelsea put her arm through Jagger’s, causing him to look at her.
Her eyes were watery but defiant as they stared at him.
He initially patted her hand, but it was too small of a gesture when she was clearly hurting.
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “It will be all right,” he whispered in her ear.
She surprised him by pressing her cheek against his, as if she needed the contact to strengthen her resolve. He’d thought her tears were out of remorse at lying to her friends, but now he wondered if she was hurt by their reaction.
“That was so fun!” Kaden ran out of the exit. “Can we get ice cream?”
Mitch, who still said nothing, stepped back and the tension dropped a degree.
“Absolutely.”
Kaden deserved ice cream as far as Jagger was concerned, since he’d interrupted what was proving to be an intense moment.
“Ice cream sounds good.” Sydney put her hand in Mitch’s and gave him a nearly imperceptible squeeze.
Jagger wondered about that kind of communication between couples. He and Chelsea probably wouldn’t develop it because it required a love and intimacy they didn’t have.
Mitch scowled at Jagger for another moment before turning and smiling at his wife. “Do you want pickles too?”
Jagger could see the love between them and again, jealousy sharply speared his gut. He pushed it away. He’d tried to find love but discovered his father had been right all along: Jagger wasn’t a man worthy of what Mitch and Sydney had. Or what Lexie and Drake had.
Then Mitch’s words finally got through his brain. “Ice cream and pickles. That sounds like news.”
Sydney beamed as she affirmed his assumption. “Yes. We’re expecting in about six months.”
“Congratulations.” Jagger leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Like Drake, Jagger had known Sydney from New York.
In fact, when he’d first moved to Charlotte Tavern, he’d tried to date Sydney.
It was clear early on that she and Mitch were in love, even if the two of them hadn’t realized it yet.
So Jagger had stepped aside. “To celebrate, I’ll buy ice cream all around. ”
“Yay!” Kaden jumped for joy.
Chelsea stood next to Jagger as they watched Kaden fly by on the large swing.
She inhaled the scent of kettle corn and used her exhale to push away the final bits of tension in her body.
Telling Lexie and Mitch about her engagement had been more difficult than she’d anticipated.
She hated lying to them, but knew she couldn’t tell them the truth.
She hadn’t been surprised by Mitch’s response to the news, but she’d been hurt by Lexie’s. Chelsea knew she shouldn’t be since the whole situation was a lie. Still, Lexie didn’t know that, so her reaction stung. While they had ice cream, she could feel Lexie scrutinizing her and Jagger.
“You okay?” Jagger’s voice was soft, laced with concern.
She looked over to him and noticed the tension around his eyes had lessened, suggesting he was relived the ice cream social part of their day was over with as well. “I’m glad telling Lexie and Mitch is out of the way.”
“You and me, both, although I would have liked some time to better prepare.”
One auburn brow rose. “I told you we needed to get our stories straight for them.”
He smiled. “You did. I just thought we might have them for dinner and plan our announcement, as opposed to running into them and working off the cuff.”
She agreed that would have been a better option.
“Jagger! Miss Beemer!” Kaden’s hand waved as the swing circled above them.
Chelsea waved back. “How come we’re not up there too? It looks like fun.”
Jagger gave her an amused smile. “Do you like carnival rides?”
“Absolutely. The more thrilling, the better.”
“Well then.” Jagger scanned the carnival. “How about that one?”
Chelsea followed the direction of his nod toward the Death Drop, a ride that lifted passengers straight up and then dropped them in a free fall.
“That’s a good one.” However, she didn’t need that ride to feel the rush of her stomach doing a loopty-loo with Jagger grinning at her.
“But that’s probably not a good one for Kaden. ”
“We’ll watch you.”
She cocked her head to the side. “You wouldn’t go with me?”
He looked over at the ride and winced as the seats dropped and screams tore over the park. “I’m not that brave.”
The swings stopped and Kaden rushed toward them. “I want to go over there.” He pointed across the way. “They have toys.”
Chelsea looked to the game section of the fair.
“You have to win those, buddy.” Jagger rested his hand on Kaden’s shoulder.
“I want to win one.” Kaden tugged on Jagger’s hand. “Can I?”
In Chelsea’s experience, most carnival games were nearly impossible to win. But Jagger indulged Kaden, paying for him to fish out a plastic shark and toss a ring around an old-fashioned milk bottle.
“It’s too hard.” Kaden pouted.
“Maybe you should try.” Chelsea smirked at Jagger.
His brows rose. “Do I detect a hint of doubt in my carnival game ability?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Can you, Jagger? Can you win me something?”
“How about the basketball hoop?”
“Do you play basket ball?” Chelsea wondered if he’d played sports in school, as she had.
“I played lacrosse.”
She rolled her eyes. Of course he had.
“It’s all hand-eye coordination right?”
“Let’s see what you’ve got, Michael Jordon.” Chelsea laughed and took Kaden’s hand as they walked with Jagger to the basketball hoop game. Twenty-five dollars later, he’d won a five-dollar stuffed turtle for Kaden. It only took him another fifteen dollars to win Chelsea a tiny stuffed bear.
“Can you win something, Miss Beemer?” Kaden asked as they left the basketball hoops.
“The only game I might be able to win is the target shooting.”
“You can shoot a gun?” Kaden looked up at her with wide eyes.
She nodded. “Yes. I used to hunt with my brother.”
“Did you kill animals?”
Chelsea was well aware that some people felt hunting was for boys and was cruel for killing animals for sport. For her family, as for many other rural families in the South, hunting wasn’t a game. “We hunted for food. I’m famous for my venison burgers.”
“Really?” Jagger cocked brow hinted at intrigue. “BBQ and now venison.”
They reached the shooting game and Chelsea set her money on the counter.
She hadn’t hunted since she was a teenager.
Without Brian, it wasn’t the same. Mitch invited her along when he went, but she declined.
Since he was always bringing her ground venison, it seemed he hunted enough for both of them.
She hit only two targets on the first try, but on the next two rounds won a stuffed tiger for Kaden and a stuffed banana, which she gave to Jagger.
Thirty minutes later, Jagger carried a nearly sleeping Kaden to the car. Chelsea walked with them, carrying their winnings. Jagger opened the door to his SUV and strapped Kaden into his car seat.
“I want to go on rides.” Kaden’s words were heavy with sleep and his lids drooped.
“We need to get ready for Miss Beemer to come to dinner tonight.”
“’Kay.” His lids closed the rest of the way.
Chelsea smiled. “He wore himself out.”
“Me as well.” Jagger shut the door and then turned to her. “I may need a nap too.” He took the stuffed winnings, except her bear, and rounded the SUV to put them in the back. He shut the back hatch and then returned to the driver’s side where Chelsea was watching Kaden sleep.
“Today was nice.” Despite the awkwardness of their picnic and dealing with Lexie and Mitch, Chelsea had enjoyed the day.
Watching Jagger with Kaden, and witnessing his determination to retain custody, had endeared him to her.
He was attentive and loving, yet firm with boundaries when needed, which wasn’t often as Kaden was well behaved.
Jagger smiled. “I’m glad you think so. It worked out as a first date.”
She laughed. He was right. If this had been just the three of them enjoying the day, and not the start of their ruse, it would have been a perfect first date.
“I regret even more that I listened to Mitch.” Jagger reached out and gently tugged on a strand of her hair.
Warmth spread through her body at his words and gesture, but Chelsea fought against it, reminding herself that it wasn’t real. “You managed him pretty well today.”
“He didn’t shoot me.”
“Well, he didn’t have his gun on him.”
“Would you have protected me if he did?”
She cocked her head to the side and pressed a finger over her lips as if she was considering his question. “For Kaden’s sake, yes.”
He laughed. “Speaking of which, I should take him home.”
“Of course. What time should I come tonight?”
“About seven.”
“I’ll be there.”
He studied her for a moment and then stepped closer, leaning his head toward her. “Thank you, Chelsea.”
Up so close, his eyes seemed even bluer. His male scent even more masculine. It was all she could do to keep from sighing. His gaze dropped to her lips, before lifting back to her eyes. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her, but then he straightened. “I’ll see you at seven.”
Chelsea swallowed her disappointment. “Seven.”