She pasted on a smile. “I’m fine, why?”
He motioned to her plate with his chin. “You hardly touched your dinner.”
“That’s because you insisted on buying me the supersized fries to go with my burger.”
He took hold of a strand of her hair and rubbed it between his fingers. “Nothing’s too good for my girl,” he said with a grin.
His girl. That sounded nice, even if it wasn’t entirely true. Her sister’s wedding was the day after tomorrow and seemed to loom over her like the sword of Damocles. She was in no rush for the big day to happen because that meant her time with Trent could possibly come to an end.
Why on earth did she do this to herself? She had to fall for the one guy who was being paid to date her. She could just pummel herself.
She took a sip of her ginger ale then stared down into the glass, thinking that—and her spirits sank at the thought—maybe it was for the best that their relationship end quickly before she got further attached.
“You know Ryan has been giving me the death stare since we left the church,” Trent commented, looking half amused and half pissed off.
“Really? What did you do to him?”
“I didn’t do anything. Except stand in the way of him trying to play nursemaid to you.”
“Oh, I doubt that. Ryan never struck me as the nurturing type.”
“Well, jealousy does strange things to men. I guarantee you that if I wasn’t here, he’d be all over you,” he grumbled.
“Hmm…”
Trent narrowed his eyes. “That’s all you have to say? Hmm?”
“I’m sorry. Should I have said something else?”
“Yes. Like how about…I’m glad you’re here then. Or better yet, how about…it doesn’t matter that Ryan would be all over me because I would never take him back—oh, and he has hands like a girl.”
She laughed. “You wanted me to say he has girl hands?”
“Yes. No.” He shook his head. “But I mean, you have to admit, no normal man has hands that smooth.”
“He did always wear gloves when he worked,” she mused. “Oh, and speaking of work, Chef Dean emailed me a contact to call about a job. There’s an opening at La Mer near Faneuil Hall in Boston.”
He smiled. “That’s fantastic, Maddie. I’m sure you’ll get the job.”
“Thanks. If I don’t, Ryan told me during rehearsal that he would put in a good word for me at a restaurant in the Back Bay.”
Trent’s expression suddenly darkened. “Oh, did he now? You were going to accept help from a guy who caused you to lose your job in the first place?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t take him seriously. I assumed it was his guilty conscience speaking.”
“Guilty conscience my foot.” A muscle ticked along his jaw. “He wants you back.”
“Wait. I’m confused. Who is the jealous one here again?”
“Obviously, he is, since he can’t take his eyes off you. In fact, you should probably kiss me now so he’ll stop staring, and then I won’t have to go over there and make him stop by punching him in both eyes.”
He looked so disgruntled she almost laughed again, and because she found his petulant behavior so charming, she leaned over and brought her face close to his. “My hero,” she said, her mouth moving closer until her lips pressed against his.
Her heart thumped wildly as he kissed her back. She loved the touch of him. Even a whiff of his cologne temporarily blanked out her mind. There was no doubt she was going to be in trouble come Sunday morning.
Someone behind them cleared her throat. Pulling back, she gazed up at her sister with a sheepish grin.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Louise said with a roll of her eyes, “but Michael told me to tell Trent to go meet the rest of the guys outside on the deck. No women allowed apparently. Something about Scotch and cigars.” She made a face.
Trent’s mouth quirked up. “Well, if Michael insists…”
Louise smiled. “Unfortunately, he does.”
He glanced at Maddie as if seeking her consent. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she assured. She couldn’t remember ever meeting a man so damn considerate. If only he’d perform one selfish act. Just one. Maybe it would squelch her growing feelings for him and give her heart a fighting chance. “My hand is fine. Go.”
Trent leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Text me if you need anything.”
Louise watched him go, her brow dipping into a deep V. She finally turned toward Maddie. “I’m sorry,” she announced.
Confused, Maddie raised her brows and waited for her sister to say more.
“I’m sorry for feeling sorry for you. For thinking that I was the lucky one in our family.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand, Louise.”
“My career at Earthbound Publishing has been going great and then I meet Michael and quickly get engaged and…”
“My career is in the pits along with my love life?” she finished ruefully.
“I used to think that. But now, I envy you. So much so that I feel I’m making a mistake with Michael.”
Panic turned Maddie’s body cold. “Wh—what do you mean you’re making a mistake?”
“I look at you and Trent and I’m thinking, I don’t have that. But I want it. Why should I settle for anything less, right? I could be setting myself up for a divorce a few years down the line. You never lost hope, and look who you met up with again after all these years. Trent is your soul mate.”
She gaped at her sister. Oh, holy heaven, what have I done? “You think Trent is my soul mate?”
“Of course he is. He’s perfect. Everyone with two eyes can see that.”
“Uh, he’s not that perfect,” she uttered lamely.
“Don’t try and make me feel better. Trent is completely devoted to you. I love Michael, but he’s never acted with me like Trent does with you. I’m so confused. I don’t know how to break it off. What do you think I should tell Michael?”
Maddie leaned over and grabbed her sister’s arm. “Nothing. You will say nothing and you will marry that man and live happily ever after. He loves you and you love him. You’re just getting last minute wedding jitters.”
Louise gazed at her, her eyes clouding with tears. “I don’t think so.”
Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh. Maddie was ruining everything. All because she was worried what other people would think of her. All because she hired a fake wedding date. She had to stop this train before it completely derailed her sister’s future. “Please listen to me. You’re making a mistake if you think that Trent and I have a perfect relationship.”
“But I know what I see. And what I want.”
“No. You don’t, because it’s all been a lie. And apparently a very good lie. I’m the one who should be sorry, Louise. Trent and I are not soul mates or in any kind of relationship. He’s not even a real wedding date.” She took a deep breath, but her words still drifted into a hushed whisper. “I hired Trent to come with me.”
Chapter Ten
Maddie held her breath for what seemed like hours as Louise continued to stare at her. Unfortunately, when her sister finally did compose herself enough to open her mouth, nothing came out.
“I know it must seem completely idiotic to you,” Maddie said, hoping to coax at least a grunt from her, “hiring a date to your only sister’s wedding and all.”
Louise slowly nodded.
“I mean, who does such things nowadays, right? Women don’t need men for anything. Well, they do need them for one thing. But that’s all—and, really, debatable depending on your sexual orientation.”
Louise lowered her head and pressed two fingers to her eyes. Uh-oh. Her sister didn’t look well. Complete hatred toward her or maybe a migraine was imminent.
Maddie licked her dry lips. “Louise, please, say something. You’re making me nervous.”
“Why would you feel the need to lie to me?”
The hurt in her sister’s tone m
ade her feel small and like the worst sibling on the planet. “I’m sorry, Louise. I—I didn’t want you fussing and worrying about how I feel on your wedding day. You should be happy and enjoy your day. Then there was Veronica’s smug comments that day at the dress fitting. Everything hit me then. I wasn’t thinking that far ahead—or plain thinking at all—when I told you I was bringing someone to the wedding. I was just tired of coming off as the loser of the family all the time.”
“You’re not a loser, Maddie. I have never thought that.” Louise looked down at her hand and began twisting her engagement ring. “Does Mom know you’ve been lying?”
Her shoulders sagged. “Of course not. And you can’t tell her. At least…not yet. She’s practically the president of the Trent Montgomery fan club.”
“And I was about to become her vice president. He fooled us all.” She heaved a sigh. “I’m really going to miss him after the wedding.”
I’m going to miss him, too.
“How on earth did you end up hiring him?” she asked.
“He works for Match Made Easy. It was just a coincidence that we went to high school together. Dumb luck, really.” Dumb, dumb, dumb, cursed luck.
“Gosh, I feel so stupid now. To think I almost called off my wedding because I thought my relationship wasn’t as good as yours.”
“Don’t be. It’s all my fault. Trent and I were better actors than we thought.”
Louise gave her a long look, her eyes narrowing into two blue slits. “Was it really all an act?”
Maddie swallowed, debated on telling her sister how she felt about Trent and how he could be feeling for her. But in the end, she decided her confusion about their relationship might only hurt Louise and Michael’s wedding. And that was the last thing she would ever want to do.
“I… Of course it was all an act,” she lied. “That’s what I’m trying to explain to you. What you saw between Trent and me wasn’t real. So don’t follow that. Follow your heart and what you feel for Michael.”
“But I’m scared, Maddie. All this curse talk has me worried. I mean, I think about Mom a lot. Why would Dad leave like he did? He seemed happy with us. He loved us. He had to. Then all of a sudden he was out of our lives. Why would he do such a thing? I even tried to contact him. Sent him an invitation to the wedding and everything.” She lowered her gaze to her lap. “He never responded.”
Maddie banked down twenty-some-odd years of hurt herself and put up a brave front for her sister. “Screw him. It’s his loss.”
Louise gave her a reluctant smile. “Really?”
“Absolutely,” she said with a confidence she didn’t feel.
“Yeah, I guess it is his loss,” Louise said, her smile broadening.
Maddie took hold of Louise’s shoulders and met her gaze. “Now you be honest with me. Take out all the talk about the curse and Trent and everything else, and tell me how you feel about Michael.”
Her sister didn’t hesitate answering. “I love him,” she said simply.
Thank God. “Good. I fully believe—and you have to, too—that there is no perfect relationship. Only a person who is perfect for you. And Michael is that person.” Maddie had the same abandonment fears as Louise but felt her sister really had a shot at true happiness with Michael. At least Louise never seemed to have the man problems she had always endured.
Louise leaned in and gave Maddie a heartfelt hug. “You’re right. I feel better about everything now. I guess I really was suffering from pre-wedding nerves.” She paused, biting down on her lip. “So what happens now with you and Trent?”
Good question. “The charade must go on,” she said with a shrug. “I still need to save face in front of Veronica and the rest of the family. Plus, Aunt Lois will be heartbroken if she finds out her duct tape bracelet is a flop.”
“Duct tape bracelet?”
She held up her hand like a stop sign. “Long story.”
Trent and Michael came back into the restaurant just then, smiling and laughing with each other. Sourness pooled in the pit of her stomach at the sight of them, like they were the best of friends.
More lies. Trent’s actions weighed on her and made her chest grow tight. Or was their friendship real? She was deathly afraid to know for sure.
“Oh good, the guys are done and probably smelling of smoke,” Louise said, wrinkling her nose. “It’s a shame you and Trent aren’t really dating. It looks as though they are hitting it off.” She waved at her fiancé, and Michael blew her a kiss.
Maddie smiled at the sweetness of his gesture. Thank goodness Louise hadn’t thrown away her future with Michael over something so meaningless as her temporary relationship with Trent.
Suddenly she felt, rather than saw, Trent’s gaze on her. Out of curiosity, she glanced at him. Sure enough, when their eyes locked, she was hit with that same fluttering against her ribs she’d come to experience whenever she had his attention. So not good. Could a person fall for another in such a short time frame? It had to be the high of the wedding atmosphere that was making her go all tingly and hopeful.
Louise glanced back and forth between Trent and Maddie with a look her sister knew all too well; Louise’s mind was definitely working overtime. “Are you sure Trent’s devotion act is just part of what you hired him to do?” she whispered.
She wanted to say no. That Trent was no longer the player he’d been in high school and college and there was something more between them than just mere attraction and an escort service contract.
Against her better judgment, Maddie snuck another peek at Trent. Her breath caught in her throat when he gave her a smile that was steamier than a mug of hot chocolate. “Uh…” She swallowed hard. “Yes. He’s very experienced at this sort of thing.”
Louise fanned herself and muttered, “You can say that again.”
Trent took hold of Maddie’s uninjured hand and guided her down the few short wooden steps that led out to a deserted beach. He’d had enough of wedding chitchat, and of people in general, so before heading back to the house, he suggested a pit stop. After the ordeal at the hospital this afternoon and then the exhausting rehearsal dinner, he needed some downtime. Just him and Maddie. And now that they were alone, walking along the rocky sand with nothing around them but the lull of the waves and the moonlit sky, nothing felt more…perfect.
He hadn’t thought he could ever feel this way. Wanting to put his heart on the line again. For so long he’d felt…unlovable. Even a failure. He could thank his parents and ex-fiancée for that. But Maddie was different. Her family was different. They liked him for who he was, not for who he’d been or what he could do. He was more himself around them. They welcomed him into their world as easily as breathing.
But then again, they thought he and Maddie were in a real relationship.
He had the chance to make things right, though. Maddie had become important to him. He realized it even more when he’d heard she was in the hospital. Hell, she was more than just important. He was falling for her. He felt it. Not to mention those sparks of attraction that went off whenever they’d touch in even the smallest ways.
She had to feel it, too. There was no denying that. But he’d wait until after the wedding to tell her the truth. Once they were back in the normal world away from the wedding hype and talk of curses, he’d explain everything about his cousin’s business. How he was just helping Kennedy out and had no intention of trying to fool her or play games like the old Trent. Surely, she would understand that.
They continued to walk in silence. Despite her best effort to hide it, Trent caught Maddie’s slight shiver. He removed his suit jacket and draped it across her shoulders, making her look as if she’d been wrapped up in a blanket instead.
“Better?” he asked.
She smiled. “Much. Thanks.”
“It looked as though you and Louise had a nice long sisterly chat at dinner tonight.”
They were mostly in shadows, but he still caught her smile dim a little. “Yes, I guess we did.”
He hesitated. “Everything all good?”
“All good on the sister front.”
“But not good on another front?” He hedged. Maddie seemed reserved tonight. Like they had gone in reverse or something. And he didn’t like it.
“All other fronts are exactly as they’ve been.” Then she turned and began walking again.
He followed, feeling a little off balance. It prompted him to open his mouth. “I like you,” he blurted.
She stopped, didn’t turn around.
“I really like you, Maddie.” His voice was but a whisper in the darkness.
She finally looked at him, giving him a weak smile. “I like you, too. But I think we’ve established that already.”
He shook his head. “No. You don’t understand. Ever since Candace, I haven’t really liked a woman in a long time—let alone allowed myself to have any stronger feelings than that. There was a long time in high school when I barely even liked myself. When I think back on those times, I’m glad I didn’t know you then.”
She gave a self-depreciating laugh. “Fatty Maddie was way out of your league anyway.”
“Maddie, don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t put yourself down like that. You have a way of flashing your inferiority complex like an FBI badge. I was a spoiled, rich athlete who sought approval from other rich, spoiled athletes. You had every right to hate me back then. If anything, you were the one who was out of my league. I just had to do some growing up to realize that.”
“Trent, why are you telling me all this?”
Why am I telling her this? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he wanted to be honest about something with her and that he didn’t want this weekend to end. Maddie had been hurt in the past by men. He didn’t need a degree in psychology to figure out she had trust issues. And she was also a woman who desperately wanted to be loved. Which was why he was so determined not to mess this up but, because he evidently was an idiot and way out of practice, he was fumbling it.
He shook his head at himself. “I want you to know that I’m having a good time. I didn’t think it was possible, but this wedding preamble has been sort of fun. But more so because it’s been with you.”
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