by Holly Rayner
She bit her lip.
Jackson continued. “A few hours at a dinner… that’s it.”
“But it’s a lie,” Bianca said, obviously grappling with this fact. “I hate lying, Jackson. It makes me sick to my stomach.” Her big green eyes met his, and he could tell how genuine she was about this.
It made him like her even more.
“It’s for a good cause,” he said. “It’s hard to explain, but that old house means a lot to me. It’s a piece of my past, and I don’t want to lose it. Your help could turn everything around. My mom would just love you, I know it. And the food at these charity dinners is always good.”
She reached up and tugged on a stray strand of hair.
A few seconds of silence passed. Jackson could almost hear her weighing the pros and cons in her head.
He decided to sweeten the pot further in order to tip the scales. “How about this. I’ll give you ten thousand dollars if you help me out with this. That’s how much it means to me. Ten grand, for just a few hours of work. What do you say?”
Her eyes widened slightly. “That’s a lot,” she said. “Just this Saturday night?”
“That’s all,” Jackson assured her.
She hesitated for another split second, but then nodded her head. “Okay. I’ll do it. I can’t turn down an offer like that.”
“Great,” Jackson said, just as a soft bump reverberated through the boat—they’d reached the dock. From the corner of his eye, he saw a server approaching.
Jackson reached for Bianca’s dessert plate, then stood and held them out for the waiter. “We’ll take these to go,” he said, before helping Bianca up.
She was quiet as they waited for the boat to dock, accepted their to-go boxes, and then thanked the crew. He wondered what was on her mind but didn’t want to pry.
Once in the car, he turned on music to fill the silence. It wasn’t until he was a block from Bianca’s street that she spoke. “I feel sort of foolish for assuming this was a date,” she said softly.
Jackson turned to look at her.
She met his gaze and spoke again. “I was so excited that you’d asked me out to dinner. But this was what you had on your mind the whole time, wasn’t it? This ruse that you want to pull on your mother.”
Jackson lifted the corner of his mouth in a relaxed smile, his eyes peeled for the correct street sign. When he spotted Robin Lane, he took the right turn and then glanced over at Bianca. “Actually, I would probably have asked you out whether I needed this favor or not,” he said. “You’re beautiful.”
He saw a smile flit across her pretty lips. It encouraged him. “Even if it wasn’t for this thing with my mom, I would have wanted the chance to get to know you.”
“Oh yeah?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. “You said you don’t like first dates… but I actually enjoy them. It’s a chance to get to know someone new… enjoy pleasant company.”
He eyed the houses that passed, peering into the darkness in search of Bianca’s single-story home. When he spotted it, he slowed. “It’s usually not until about the fourth or fifth date that I freak out,” he said with a soft chuckle, as he put the car into park.
She eyed him. “So you’re one of those guys who’s afraid of commitment, hm?” Her fingers slid across the leather of the door’s interior until they landed on the handle. She let them rest there.
“Maybe something like that,” Jackson said.
Bianca reached for her purse, which was resting on the floor mat by her feet. She pressed the door open and began to step out onto the pavement before Jackson even had time to get out and open the door for her.
“I guess that’s why you’re in need of a fake fiancée,” she said. “Not interested in having a real one, right?”
She said it breezily, as if it barely mattered. But Jackson sensed an undercurrent to her words, something chilling and strong. He’d always felt that he was good at reading people, and he realized now that Bianca was just as good. She’d felt into the depths of him, constantly reading between the lines.
Maybe she knows things about me that I’m not even aware of, he thought.
She stepped out of the car swiftly, then offered a quick wave before striding off toward her front porch. It wasn’t until she was already inside that Jackson realized she’d forgotten to take her box of chocolate truffle cake.
He pulled away from the curb, her words on his mind. I’m forty-one, he thought. Most of my friends are married with children. Yet I’m perpetually single. What does that say about me?
The depths of his being rumbled with answers that he wasn’t ready to listen to as he pressed on the accelerator and headed for home. The nagging sense that his trust issues were the real reason behind his bachelor lifestyle seemed to follow him for the entire drive.
No matter how fast he went, he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling.
Chapter 6
Bianca
Bianca stepped through her front door and switched on the interior lights. Peaches, snoozing on her dog bed by the love seat, got to her feet and stretched her long, golden-fur-covered body.
With her mind on the conversation she’d just had with Jackson, Bianca slipped her phone into the pocket of her jean jacket and then patted her thighs so that Peaches would join her at the door. She clipped the end of a leash onto the dog’s pink collar and then once again exited out into the night air.
The houses that lined the street were decked out in red and green lights for the holidays, and they shimmered and blinked in her peripheral vision. Bianca loved Christmastime. They didn’t have much money growing up, but her mom always made Christmas special. She had fond memories of baking cookies, making handmade ornaments, going to see Santa, and attending the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. Bianca’s relationship with her mom was probably closer because her dad wasn’t around.
That made Bianca think of Jackson and his mother.
I can’t believe he wants to lie to his mom, she thought as she took off after Peaches, who led the way toward her favorite patch of grass down the block. I can’t imagine trying to pull a fast one on my mom like that. Mom would see right through it!
Then again, Mom and I are close.
Jackson barely knows his mother.
What would that be like?
Though she searched her mind in an attempt to understand Jackson’s position, she found she couldn’t imagine what it would feel like for him.
Regardless of how distant she’s been in the past, wouldn’t it be easier just tell his mom how he feels? she thought. Peaches tugged against the leash, and Bianca stepped off of the sidewalk so that Peaches could water a nearby bush.
Family dynamics can be so complicated, Bianca realized. Maybe I shouldn’t even try to understand the whole thing… I’ll just go along with it. I won’t have to pay him back the five thousand dollars, and on top of that I’ll collect ten thousand more. It’s not like I can turn all that down.
She thought about her delinquent insurance payments and decided that was one of the first debts she’d pay off with the money she earned that upcoming Saturday.
As her mind was roving over the other debts that would be good to pay off, she had a sudden thought. Shoot! I’m scheduled to work this Saturday!
It didn’t take her long to realize that she’d better call Nicky, who would definitely be awake because she was on shift that night.
Nicky picked up after just a few rings. She spoke in a hushed tone, “Hey, what’s up? Aren’t you off tonight? You should be asleep.”
“And you should be taking vitals,” Bianca joked. It was nearing ten, a time when LNAs at Riverside were supposed to make rounds into all of the patient rooms to take a blood pressure, pulse rate, and oxygen saturation reading for each of the residents.
“I know,” Nicky said. “I’m procrastinating and doing Sudoku instead.”
“Don’t let Gail catch you.”
“She’s off tonight.”
“Lucky yo
u!” Bianca said. It was always a treat when the bossy night manager called out for a shift. She went on, “Hey, I have a favor to ask you. Do you think you could cover for me this Saturday night?”
“This Saturday… let’s see… That should work. Actually, it would be a good excuse to get out of bowling with my brother and sister-in-law. They beat me and Mike every time, and Mike always gets all riled up about it. Why? What are you doing?”
“I was invited to a charity dinner at the Heritage Manor,” Bianca said. The sentence sounded surreal coming from her lips. She rarely even went out for fast food, let alone out to fancy, overpriced dinner parties.
Nicky laughed and then paused. “Wait a minute—you’re kidding, right? What are you really doing? Is your mom sick or something?”
Usually, when Bianca looked around for work coverage, it was due to some issue or another with her mom’s health.
“No, Mom’s doing okay,” Bianca said. “Besides being stuck in a nursing home and dealing with a paralyzed left side, that is. No emergencies, though.”
“Wait… so you’re serious about going to the Heritage Manor? Isn’t that one of those fancy private estates out by Blue Valley Acres?”
“I’m serious,” Bianca said. She and Peaches reached the end of the block. Though it was the place where they usually turned around during evening walks, Bianca turned left and continued down the sidewalk. Peaches trotted along happily at her side, apparently excited that their starlit walk was going to extend farther than usual.
“To be honest, I’m not really sure where it is,” Bianca said. “I’ve never been there.”
“But now you’re going to go to a charity event there? Who invited you?”
“A guy I met,” Bianca explained.
“Oooh,” Nicky said, with obvious excitement. “You mean the hot guy you met when you were late for work?”
“The one I rear-ended.” Bianca giggled.
“No way,” Nicky said. “I can’t believe this! You said you thought he was a movie star or something. Is he?”
“No… but he is really wealthy, and he needs a date to this charity dinner thing. I said I’d go.” She let her explanation stop there, because she wasn’t sure how to put the details of Jackson’s request into words.
She could feel a pang of embarrassment still lingering in her chest, due to the turn of events that the evening had taken. She’d felt so blissfully flattered by Jackson’s attention early on in the evening, but that warm feeling had shattered when Jackson had laid out his proposal.
“That’s incredible!” Nicky said, still trying to whisper but clearly having a hard time keeping her excitement under control. “Details, please.”
Bianca pinched her lips together. She wasn’t sure what to say.
“Come on,” Nicky pressed. “You’ve got to fill me in. What’s the deal with this guy? Are you interested in him?”
Bianca passed a yard that contained an arrangement of blow-up holiday figures. A six-foot-tall Santa waved a green-mittened hand, reindeer bobbed up and down in the light breeze, and a round snowman that was lit up with a spotlight grinned a coal-toothed greeting out to the sidewalk.
Nicky stayed silent, and Bianca knew she wouldn’t be let off of the hook until she put her feelings for Jackson into words.
“He’s a good guy,” she said. “Intriguing… quick-witted… super funny. He’s got a laid-back, easy-going personality, but beneath it I can tell how smart and sharp he is. And oh, man, is he handsome. But I don’t think he’s interested in a relationship. He asked me out because he needs help with this family thing he’s working on.”
“You mean like an illness? Are you going to take care of one of his family members? That would be such a cushy job.”
“No, it’s a temporary thing.” Bianca knew she was being cryptic, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to go into detail about her arrangement with Jackson.
It felt wrong.
“You mean it’s temporary as in you’re just going to go to this charity function with him?” Nicky said. She sounded confused, and Bianca didn’t blame her. The whole thing sounded very strange—because it was strange.
It barely made sense to Bianca. She knew she couldn’t frame it in a way that would make sense to Nicky.
“Right,” Bianca said. “Just Saturday night.”
“I don’t get it,” Nicky said, “but whatever. I’m happy for you. Even if this guy just needs help with some family matter, it could lead to more, you know. Maybe this charity dinner could lead to a real date. He sounds like a real catch, and you deserve that. You’ve been with some real losers lately.”
Bianca frowned. Nicky was goodhearted and upbeat, but sometimes put things bluntly.
Losers? Bianca thought. She opened her mouth to protest.
Thankfully, a commotion on the other end of the line saved her before she could embarrass herself with defensiveness. The low-toned, electronic alarm was faint, steady, and rhythmic. Bianca recognized it; the tone signaled that one of the residents needed help getting out of bed to use the bathroom.
“I’d better let you go get that,” Bianca said. She thanked Nicky quickly for agreeing to cover her shift and then hung up.
Have the guys I’ve dated in the past really been that bad? she wondered. The end of the block was just ahead, and beyond it a busier, two-lane street stretched out, marking the border of the residential area. Bianca whistled, signaling for Peaches to turn around.
Once they were heading back toward the cottage, Bianca let her mind wander over her past few failed relationships. She realized that what Nicky had stated so casually was actually true—she’d been with some no-good guys in the past few years.
Well, what about Landon Chiddister? she thought. He was nice. Very clean-cut, responsible… kind.
She frowned when she realized that she’d dated Landon just after graduating high school—when they were both eighteen.
That was sixteen years ago! she realized with a shock. No… that can’t be right.
She did the mental math again, this time using her fingers to count out the final few years; yes, sixteen years had passed since then. Where has the time gone? she wondered.
She’d felt as though time sped up after buying her house. It had been so exciting to sign the papers with the bank on her twenty-eighth birthday. It had been after a particularly messy breakup, and she’d wanted to treat herself to something nice. Something to prove to herself that she was okay on her own.
Well, she thought, maybe I wanted to show my friends and acquaintances—and maybe an ex-boyfriend or two—that I was just fine on my own.
She’d been working a high-paying retail management job at the time and felt certain the mortgage would be a breeze to pay. She remembered daydreaming about one day falling in love with a man who would possibly move into the cottage with her, and they’d start a family. Sometimes, in her daydreams, they’d rent out the cottage and buy a home together. She wasn’t worried about the specifics; she was just excited to have an asset under her belt.
But her retail job had petered out as the online clothing industry started booming, and the unemployment that she’d endured afterward had drained her bank account. She’d gone into caretaking in a move of desperation, but she’d been pleasantly surprised to find that it was fulfilling work.
When her mother had suffered a stroke, Bianca had been eager to work at the Riverside Assisted Living home, which had offered a discount on a room for her mother. The situation was far from ideal—her mom’s room was pretty small—but Bianca made the best of it. She’d brought in her mom’s favorite pictures and knickknacks, pillows and blankets. Her favorite bedside lamp was on the nightstand to make it feel like a home. Though the staff did as well as they could, they were overbooked with patients to care for, but with Bianca there watching out for her mom, she received good care.
The job wasn’t the highest paying, but it was at least a way to stay afloat. Bianca realized that she’d been on a treadmill o
f sorts; she’d been getting through each day the best that she could, but had little time for anything besides work and taking care of her ailing mother.
Maybe that’s why my relationships have been so poor, she thought. The last good guy I was with was freaking Landon Chiddister—sixteen years ago.
The last time she’d seen Landon, he’d had a pretty wife on his arm and two elementary-school-aged children in tow. In fact, most of the peers that Bianca had gone to high school with now had spouses and children.
Bianca wondered what it would be like to dress a little girl in a pretty pink skirt and sweater for her first day of kindergarten. Or to help a little boy choose his first lunchbox. She grinned at the thought of helping him pick between a firetruck, dinosaur, or his favorite superhero.
There were so many things she longed to do with children of her own: early morning snuggle sessions in bed, stirring blueberries into pancake batter on Saturday mornings, walking hand in hand to school…
She turned the corner onto her own block. Many of the houses had family-sized, shiny new cars in the driveway, and kid-friendly holiday decorations in the yard.
What would Christmas be like if I had children? she wondered. She could imagine the joy of seeing her son or daughter light up at the sight of a tree in the living room, surrounded by wrapped presents just waiting to be torn open.
As it was, she hadn’t gotten a real tree this year. She couldn’t afford it. Instead, she’d pulled out the tabletop aluminum one she’d had as a kid. The shiny, crinkly branches now sported a variety of handmade ornaments, some passed down for generations. All the other ornaments were on her mom’s small tree at the nursing home.
One day… she thought dreamily. One day, maybe my husband and I will go out on the day after Thanksgiving and choose a tree. Our children will help us pick the perfect one. He’ll put it up so it’s perfectly straight, while I make hot chocolate for the whole gang.
She smiled at the fantasy. It took her a moment to realize that as the dream-like images flashed through her mind, she’d pictured Jackson playing the role of her husband.