by Holly Rayner
Bianca’s penetrating gaze softened slightly. “But you visited her there, right?”
Jackson shook his head. “Nope. Dad had full custody of my sister and me. Mom was out of the picture. Last night was the first time I’ve seen her in thirty-one years. I had dinner with her, and that’s when the topic of my relationships came up.”
“I see,” Bianca said slowly. “You mean… she wanted to know about your romantic life.”
Jackson nodded, remembering the way his mother’s face had lit up at the subject. “She thought I said I was married, and she acted like it was the best thing I’d said all night. I could see it in her face… like it was written there. She approves of marriage, Bianca. It’s something she can relate to. It’s something she values. It’s grounds that the two of us can meet on. Without that, she’s going to write me off as being just like my dad.”
“Which means?” Bianca prodded.
Jackson looked out at the shoreline, which was drawing nearer. The storefronts and restaurants that lined the street adjacent to the river glowed in warm gold, yellow, and peach tones. Some had Christmas-themed decorations glittering around door frames and window panes, which made the scene even brighter. The cruise boat chugged steadily toward the dock from which they’d departed, and Jackson knew he didn’t have much longer alone with Bianca.
“My dad was a businessman,” he said. “Though I wasn’t aware of it when I was a child, looking back I can see pretty clearly—he chose work over my mother. He prioritized his company, not her.
“When she left, it was like a slap in the face for him. It woke him up. I remember he spent more time with Danielle and me after that, but it was too late for his marriage. Mom never saw that side of him. To her, he must have seemed cold and calculating, valuing his business opportunities more than their relationship. If my mother thinks I’m like that, she’ll just figure I’ve turned into a version of him. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but—”
“It does,” Bianca said with a nod.
He felt relieved. She understands, he thought.
“People make unconscious associations all the time,” she went on. “I see it at my job all the time. It’s not like I only care for the elderly; I care for their families as well. I’ve learned a bit about family dynamics over the years.”
“So what do you think?” Jackson asked hopefully. “Will you help me? It would entail going to one dinner, this Saturday night at the Heritage Manor, and playing the part of my fiancée. After that, you’d be all done, and we could call it even in terms of our car accident. You wouldn’t owe me a cent.”
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 nigh
t 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 you!” 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 residenti
al 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.