Chapter 7
“Higher this time.” Kaden swam into Jagger’s waiting arms. Jagger lifted and tossed Kaden, who landed with a splash a few feet away, his water wings pulling him to the surface, where he emerged laughing.
The time at the fair with Chelsea had been pleasant if he ignored the scowls from Mitch.
Once Chelsea’s friends had gone their own way, and it was just the three of them, the day had been nearly perfect.
Initially, pretending to be in love had been awkward.
He’d never been a hand-holder or someone who showed affection in public before.
But as the day wore on, he didn’t think about how to act, he simply did what came naturally whether it was brushing his thumb across her lower lip to wipe off cotton candy or tugging at a beautiful auburn curl blowing around her face.
When it was time to say goodbye, he nearly carried natural instinct too far by kissing her.
God how he wanted to kiss her, especially since he teased himself earlier with her taste.
Their agreement was to show affection only as part of the ruse.
He might have been able to get away with it in the parking lot, except there would have been nothing fake about it. At least on his end.
Once they’d returned home, Kaden napped while Jagger checked on the horses. They decided to swim before Chelsea came for dinner.
“Again.” Kaden paddled his arms back to Jagger.
“You’re going to grow gills.”
“Like a fish. No, a dolphin.”
Jagger was pretty sure dolphins didn’t have gills, but it didn’t seem worth explaining.
Not every minute had to be a learning moment.
Would that be different with Chelsea there?
As a teacher, would she seize every opportunity to impart knowledge as Kaden’s step-mom.
..or actually step-niece? Jagger laughed at the sound of that.
“Mr. Talbot.” Grayson’s voice broke through Jagger’s thoughts and Kaden’s splashing in the water.
“Yes, Grayson.”
“Detective McKenna is here.”
Of course he is. “Bring him out here. See if he wants anything to drink.”
“Higher, Jagger.”
“This is the last time, sport.”
“Aww.”
“I’ve got to meet with Mitch and you need to get cleaned up to see Miss Beemer.
” Jagger wondered what he should have Kaden call Chelsea now.
It seemed a little too formal to call her Miss Beemer.
He’d been in Virginia long enough to know that most children didn’t call adults by their first name.
He’d received some odd stares from people in town when Kaden called him Jagger. So maybe she’d be Miss Chelsea.
“One more after this,” Kaden pleaded with wide eyes and a demure smile. Cuteness usually got Kaden a lot, but not this time.
“Last time. Are you ready? I’m going to throw you way up this time.” Jagger swore he could feel Kaden’s anticipation ripple through the water. “Ready?”
“Ready!”
Jagger lifted and threw Kaden. He’d gone a little higher, but not too far. While Kaden wore water wings and Jagger was in the pool with him, he still didn’t want to take any risks.
Kaden sputtered to the surface. “Again!”
“Sorry, champ. We’ll do it again tomorrow.”
Kaden swam toward him and Jagger dragged him to the stairs. By the time they’d exited the pool, Mitch and his scowl were standing on the patio.
Chelsea blew out a breath to steady her nerves and rapped on the door. She was relieved when Jagger opened it instead of his butler.
He smiled, his blue eyes twinkling, and as usual, they dazzled her into confusion.
“Come in.” He stepped back to give her room.
She walked in and stood, feeling awkward. His hand snaked out, wrapped around her, and pulled her to him. He bent his head, pressing a kiss to her jaw, sending delicious spirals of sensation through her. “Remember, we don’t have to hide anymore.”
He lifted his head, his gaze capturing hers in an expectant stare.
She supposed he meant someone was watching and they needed to put on a show.
She wasn’t sure what compelled her to slide her hands around his neck, threading her fingers through his short hair, except maybe her desire to take back some control in this out-of-control situation.
Or maybe it was that she couldn’t stop thinking about tasting him after he’d pulled away from her in the parking lot.
She pulled him to her and kissed him, long and hard. He groaned, and one of his hands tangled in her hair, pulling so her head tilted back farther and he could take the kiss deeper, and as he did, her control slipped away, replaced by an edgy need.
When he finally came up for air, his expression was amused. “We’re out back.” He put his arm around her, guiding her on the same route they’d taken before. She didn’t see anyone else along the route, until they reached the terrace, making her wonder what the show in the foyer was all about.
Kaden sat on a porch swing, reading to Mrs. Stanton. The butler stood next to the swing, his features looking stern, making Chelsea wonder if it was a requirement of butlers. Not that she’d met many butlers, but on TV, they’d always looked so serious and severe.
“Miss Beemer!” Kaden scooted off the swing and ran to her.
She knelt, giving him a hug as he reached her arms. “I was reading the book you said I should get. Mrs. Stanton got it at the bookstore for me.” He turned, ran back to the swing, plucking the book from Mrs. Stanton, and returned to Chelsea. “See?”
“Yes. That’s a good one. Are you enjoying it?”
“Some of the words are hard.”
“You’ll learn them and then your brain will grow and grow.”
Kaden’s eyes widened and one hand went to his head. “It won’t grow out my ears, will it?”
Chelsea laughed. “No, your skull will grow too.”
“Where’s Miss Z?” Jagger scanned the terrace.
“Finishing things for dinner.” The butler nodded toward the French doors as a stout woman stepped out carrying a tray with a pitcher of lemonade and glasses toward a table set for three.
“I can help you.” Chelsea made a move to assist, but the woman shot her an annoyed glare.
“I can do it.”
Chelsea flinched and stepped back.
Jagger’s hand caressed her back. “She’s sensitive about her kitchen and duties.” He kissed her head and then turned to his staff.
“Chelsea, this is Grayson and Miss Z, and you know Mrs. Stanton.”
“Hi.” Chelsea lifted her hand in a hello gesture.
“Everyone, this is Miss Chelsea Beemer.”
Miss Z stopped fussing over the table settings and stood, with her hands clasped in front of her just like Mr. Grayson.
“She was my teacher.” Kaden took her hand and swung it with excitement.
Miss Z and Grayson nodded their acknowledgements.
A prickle of unease formed in her belly.
She was going to live in this house with these cold, distant people.
It made her think of the movies in which an ordinary girl went to live with rich people and never fit in because she didn’t know the rules of polite society.
“While you’re all here, I have an announcement to make. Chelsea and I are getting married.”
Mrs. Stanton’s brows shot up, disappearing into her hairline. Grayson’s face remained impassive, but he shifted slightly. Miss Z’s frown drew tauter. Not good.
“We want to get married as soon as possible. Next weekend before the trip to New York. Any help you can give us with that will be appreciated. More importantly, I expect you to include Chelsea as part of the family.”
Gazes shifted from her to Jagger and then to each other, but there was still no congratulations or outward signs of response. Chelsea’s prickle was quickly morphing into indigestion. It was clear no one knew what to make of the announcement.
“I’m not pregnant,” Chelsea blurted.
Jagger flinched next to her.
She looked into his surprised but amused expression. “It’s all so sudden that they might think I’m with child...but...well, I thought they should know we’re doing this because we want to, not because we have to.”
His hand rubbed her back and he winked before turning back to his staff. “She’s right. We’re getting married because we’re in love. I know it’s a surprise...shock even, but I know you’re happy for us.” The last part had force behind it. As if he was giving a command.
“Well, congratulations.” Mrs. Stanton stood, giving Jagger and then Chelsea a hug. “How wonderful.”
Chelsea hoped she was better at pretending she and Jagger were in love than Mrs. Stanton was at pretending she was happy for them.
“Congratulations.” Grayson extended his hand to Jagger. “Welcome to the family.” He reached out to shake Chelsea’s hand.
She took it, but like Mrs. Stanton, it seemed like he was only going through the motions.
“A week? I can’t even plan the menu in a week, how will I have the food prepared and served by then?”
Jagger laughed, giving Miss Z a hug. “I’ll hire extra help that you can boss around.”
“Harrumph.” She pursed at Jagger. “Married? Who’d’ve thought? So, you gonna eat or what?”
Chelsea sat with Jagger on the back terrace of his estate, she with a glass of wine and he with a beer.
They’d had a nice dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread with Kaden.
Mrs. Z might be a hard woman, but she knew how to make garlic bread, and Chelsea indulged in more than one piece.
After dinner, they’d gone for a walk to the stables, and then Mrs. Stanton had taken Kaden to put him to bed.
Now they were alone, discussing the logistics of their plan.
“What’s the trip to New York?” Chelsea had been so preoccupied with the response of his staff to their marriage that she’d nearly missed his comment about going to New York.
“I go about once a month, usually by myself, but this time we’ll all go. I’ll need to work on Talbot business for a day or two, but it will also be a good cover for a honeymoon.”
Honeymoon? They had to fake that too? “I don’t need a honeymoon. If you need to work, I’m happy to stay behind.”
He frowned. “If this were a real wedding, would you want a honeymoon?”
Since marriage was so out of the realm of possibility, she hadn’t thought about it much. When she was younger, a honeymoon, usually somewhere secluded, was definitely a part of the plan.
“I guess I would.”
He had that annoyed expression again as he leaned closer and spoke in a quieter voice. “I promised I wouldn’t touch you and I won’t. But this marriage needs to look real, including a honeymoon. I can’t have my staff or Mitch questioning this.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry about Mitch.”
He sat back and waved her apology away. “It’s not your fault. I knew he’d confront me.”
Chelsea didn’t understand where Mitch’s animosity toward Jagger came from, but Jagger seemed to have his own issues with Mitch as well. “You two used to be friends.”
He took a sip of his beer. “That was before I asked Sydney out and he accused me of attacking her.”
Chelsea gaped. “You asked her out?” Well, of course he had. Sydney was closer to being the type of woman Jagger would be interested in. Although she was less glitzy, she was from his big city money world.
His brows drew together in irritation. “That’s what you got out of what I said?” With a slight shake of his head, he turned his gaze to the darkness of the night.
“Well, I know you didn’t attack her.”
“I didn’t go out with her either. I asked her out after he said I could.”
“Mitch said it was okay to go out with Sydney?” That didn’t seem right, although Mitch hadn’t been very welcoming to Sydney when she first arrived in Charlotte Tavern.
Jagger looked back at Chelsea. “Yes.”
“He just doesn’t want me to get hurt. He’d be like that with anyone.”
“Chels, you okay with this? Are you having second thoughts?”
She shook her head. “I said I’ll do this and I will.”
He studied her. She worked to keep her face resolute even though inside she was afraid she was making a gargantuan mistake.
He turned his gaze away, taking a gulp of his beer.
When he turned back, there was heat in his blue eyes.
“I don’t want to hurt you and I’m going to do whatever I can to make this as comfortable and not awkward as I can.
I know what you’re giving up and that you’re worried about your friends, about deceiving them.
I also know I’m not the man you’d pick for a husband.
So if there is something else you need to make this more palatable, you let me know. ”
There was a terseness in his tone she didn’t understand. Especially when he said the word “palatable.” It was almost as if he thought she was repulsed by him.
“I don’t know if you’re the man I’d pick for my husband because I don’t know you and we’ve never dated.”
His jaw tensed. “I know I’m not right for you, so you have to know too.”
He was saying he wasn’t right for her, but the truth was, she wasn’t right for him either.
“I’m desperate and I’m grateful for your help. Kaden is all I have. Without him…” He shrugged.
Her eyes narrowed, curious at the mercurial state he was in. Did he get like this often? “I think what you’re willing to do for Kaden is extraordinary. I wish you were given more credit for how you’ve been there for him when others couldn’t or wouldn’t.”
He lifted his beer to his lips. “Maybe you can mention that to the judge.”
She stared at him, wishing she knew what to say or do to help him.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m ruining the end of what was a lovely day.”
She sent him a wan smile. “I know the situation with Kaden’s mom is hard for you.”
“It is. I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose him.”
Her heart ached at the agony in his voice. Unable to stop herself, she stood, walked over to him, and leaned over to hug him. “Let’s hope you never have to find out.”
Initially, he stiffened at her touch, but then he relaxed, resting his head against her. She held him for a moment, then straightened and smiled down on him. “I should probably go.”
He set his beer on the table next to her wine and stood. “I’ll show you out.”
They walked in silence through the house and out the front door. He opened her car door. She lifted her hand to his face. “You’re a good man, Jagger. That’s why I’m willing to do this.”
His eyes flashed with surprise and then narrowed as his gaze swept down her face, hovering over her lips.
When his lips touched hers, sparks radiated through her body, causing all neurons to fire.
Just as she was about to give in, he pulled away, his piercing blue gaze watching her.
How long would it be before her reaction to him waned?
It was maddening how he inflamed her libido and then just as quickly doused it.
“Was someone watching?”
He shook his head. “No. That was for me.”