Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Does he actually need to go, or is he escaping? Can’t blame him if he makes a run for it. I only wish I could go too.
“Why don’t we get started on the wedding details. I’ll clue Jackson in when he gets back.” Mr. Lowry says.
Mom practically bounces out of her chair in her excitement, her disappointment over my behavior a long-lost memory. Meanwhile, I wonder if anyone would notice if I slid under the table and hid.
The minutes tick by slowly, and the seat across from me stays empty.
“Allie, you must be lookin’ forward to the day. I know Jackson is,” Mr. Lowry says.
I try to keep from grimacing, pasting a placid smile on my face. “What girl wouldn’t be looking forward to her wedding day?”
There. Perfect.
Or not? Since my mother’s warning glare tells me I didn’t hit the mark.
Where the hell is he?
Mr. Lowry must be able to read my mind as tension fills the air. He glances around like he’s looking for his son. The lines etched over the bridge of his nose tell me he’s more pissed off than he wants us to know. “Maybe he fell in.” He laughs, but it’s more like a grunt. “I’m sure he’ll be back in a jiff.”
“This is a very large venue,” Mom says with a gentle laugh before turning to me. “Allie, sweetheart, why don’t you fetch your fiancé? Maybe he got lost on his way back.”
Fetch him? Like a puppy off his leash. All I can do is shake my head as I grudgingly get up, leaving my napkin on my chair. I grab my white clutch from beside my place setting and head toward the restrooms. For fuck’s sake, couldn’t he have saved hiding in the bathroom until the second date? I’m almost to the bathrooms when I pass a quiet, wood-paneled lounge off the dining room. I spot him standing by the bar.
Motherfucker. I grit my teeth against the sudden rush of anger filling me. He’s flirting with the pretty blonde from earlier, the one with the ass he couldn’t stop staring at.
“I would love to bring you out to the ranch sometime,” he tells her.
Wow. He sounds friendlier now than he ever did back at the table.
She gives him the kind of uncomfortable laugh every girl knows. The laugh that says I’m humoring you because I’m afraid of what will happen if I don’t.
“Thanks for the offer,” she says, inching away from both him and the bar. “But I don’t think my boyfriend would like that very much.”
“Your boyfriend ain’t here right now, is he?”
When she pivots to walk away, he snatches her wrist. “Don’t walk away from me when I’m talkin’ to you.”
I’ve seen enough. “Jackson?” I’m quiet and discreet. The way Mom would want me to be because this douchebag isn’t worth the drama.
He drops her wrist like it burns, and she hurries off as soon as she’s free.
“We’re all waiting for you,” I tell him.
“And?” He polishes off the drink he ordered at the bar and plunks the glass down. “What, did my dad send you after me?”
“Not exactly.” Now it’s the two of us without our parents, so I can drop the act a little. “Can’t say I expected this night to be great, but I certainly didn’t think I’d have to chase my fiancé down while he tries to fuck another woman.”
Okay, so maybe this is worth a little drama.
“Give me a fucking break.” He snorts. “My fiancée—like I give a shit. And if you have any self-respect,” he continues with a smirk, “you won’t call yourself that again. This is business, that’s it. Sorry if I’m ruining your little fairy tale.”
“I know damn well this isn’t a fairy tale,” I snap. More like a fucking nightmare.
It’s kind of a miracle—all I want is to scream at this asshole and maybe throw a few things straight at his head, but I’m actually calm—well, for me—as we face off. Saint would be proud of me, that is, if Saint were talking to me. “We both know what this is, so don’t act like you’re hurting my feelings or setting me straight. I get that neither of us wants this, but I won’t let you disrespect me, and that’s what you’re doing.”
“Thanks for letting me know.” He gives me a look that makes me feel small and useless as he brushes past me. Nope. Not happening. “Now let’s go pretend we give a fuck about each other.”
Oh. Fuck that.
I snag his arm and shift my shoulders back, giving him the perfect innocent princess routine I’ve perfected over years of dealing with assholes like him.
The same act Kade sees through every single time. “Oh, now honey, we wouldn’t want the parents to think we weren’t getting along, would we?” I bat my lashes and watch as his jaw sets, and he knows he can’t be the dick he wants to be right here in public, where everyone can see right through him.