“I’m staying.”
“You didn’t sign up for this. Christmas Eve at hospital is not part of the fake-boyfriend rules of engagement.”
JoJo was blathering, her nerves on full display but I understood. “If we’re sticking with calling us fake, could you at least switch out the words and call me a fake partner?”
“What about fake-man, if you don’t like being called a boy?”
“That’s my girl.” Even under extreme pressure, she had spunk and fire. Holding her into my chest, I could smell the wafts of coffee, gingerbread and sunscreen mingled with her vanilla shampoo. Inhaling and trying not to get a hard on in the middle of a hospital waiting area.
Not when she was fighting to hold her fears at bay.
My photo had been buzzing with a thousand messages. Ignored for the immediate priority of comforting JoJo and watching her brothers’ pace. Men of action unable to sit down and wait patiently. About to ring my eastern state contacts and try and get the inside scoop, my phone rang.
I stifled a sigh when the glossy haired blonde with expensive cheekbones and boobs appeared on my screen. Sending her to voicemail before JoJo could see. The blonde in my arms could talk to me all night and I’d never be bored. The other, well, she had nothing I needed to hear.
If I hadn’t been waiting for inside news on Robert Methven, I would have turned off my phone. Instead, each time the blonde called, I quickly checked until JoJo raised her head from my chest. “Just answer it and make whoever it is, go away.”
We didn’t need to wait long for her to call again. “I’ll be back.”
Barely waiting to get to the deserted corridor, I snapped, “This better be good.”
“Noel, I need you.”
Bitch.
JoJo
I had no right to be jealous.
If the woman meant anything to Noel, he’d have taken her call the first, second or even fifth time she’d called.
Then again, if she meant nothing, he would have blocked and deleted her number. Changed the photo attached to her profile. Or at least told me he had an ex who was not exactly a stalker but unwilling to let go.
I tried to justify who she was and why I shouldn’t care.
One; we’d only been together for three days, and not even really together for every minute of those three.
Two; we started out as fake because I needed a boyfriend on my arm. We’d never had the conversation about whether he already had a girlfriend, steady fuckbuddy, or partner. A light joke about whether he had a Mrs. Claus.
Three—there was no three.
Noel had made promises we should talk after Boxing Day, but that didn’t mean we had a day after. Or at least that we would last past returning to Sydney.
Just because I was falling—had fallen—in love with him, didn’t mean the feelings were reciprocated.
“Steph!” It took hearing my real name several times to realize Paul was talking to me. He’d stopped pacing and had grabbed me by the elbow. “Come and let’s see if we can find a vending machine or something.”
“We have sandwiches.”
“Water or drinks, something.”
I understood, he didn’t want to risk breaking down in front of Shane and Bradley. Me, he could. His little sister who used to sneak into his room at night and comfort him after a day of being teased at school, plastered him up after he ended up worse for wear after fighting with Shane, and listened as he crushed on love after unrequited love.
We’d always been close, and with me, he didn’t need to be the brave brother.
I nodded and followed him through the same doorway Noel had exited. Thinking there had to be a vending machine in one of the corridors for families and staff.
We both heard Noel, even though he was faced away. I could tell even five metres away his shoulders were rock hard, and his voice shook.
“I’ll see you when I get there … no promises … I know it’s been too long but … I promise I’ll call … I just don’t want it to be awkward when I tell her …”
Tell me what? Paul didn’t know about the fake start to our relationship, but even he stopped at the next words we heard.
“Are you sure you’re ready for marriage? I’m not about to make it easy for you.”
“No.” I whispered, not expecting Noel to hear.
He whipped around, confused and then the realization that he’d been caught talking to his girlfriend—no—fiancé hit him. Not as hard as it had hit me, but still.
I think Noel killed the call, but by the time he tried to chase me, I heard Paul’s fist connect with something and I was trying to remember to not run screaming into the waiting room. I needed to be composed, not give my brothers more to deal with. And I was under no misapprehension about what they would do to Noel.
They couldn’t do anything about daddy. But given the chance, and they would certainly do something to defend my honor.
Fiancé.
Had there been a sign? Warnings that I’d missed?
Perhaps the week of planned drinking had more to do with a bachelor party and avoiding the fidelity of impending marriage, than avoiding Christmas. Perhaps the missed calls from his father, and yes, I’d seen him push enough of those through to voice mail, were more about not having to explain my presence.
At his side.
In his car, and bed.
Damn Noel.
Damn me.
“Sweetheart, please.”
I shook him away. Paul tried to come in between us, but Noel wasn’t going to give my brother a second chance at an unexpected blow. I wanted to draw comfort from the reddening mark on Noel’s left chin but couldn’t.
Just because I hurt, didn’t mean I wanted him to.
“Whatsup?” Bradley had noticed we were no longer the loved-up couple and reacted to Paul’s black rage.
“Not here.” I urged as a hurried doctor swung the doors open that separated the triage and waiting area. Ignoring my personal shit-storm, we turned, en mass at his call, “Is anyone here for Mr. Methven? Robert Methven?”
“That’s us.” Bradley took control, herding my brothers and I towards the swinging door to follow the doctor.
I turned for one last look at Noel, who’s phone was buzzing. I tried to smile, shaking my head. “You’ve got calls to take. Don’t bother waiting.”
Noel
“Mr. Roberts?”
The doctor had no reason to approach me. I wasn’t family and if I didn’t get to JoJo in time to explain before she kicked my ass to the curb, I wouldn’t be anything at all.
Not a boyfriend. Or partner. Or even a male friend with benefits.
“Yes?”
“Peter Samire suggested I look in on your father-in-law. I’m Professor Robert Edison, the head of oncology here and Robert Methven is one of my patients.”
“Thank you for coming in.” The white coat didn’t hide the golfing shorts and casual shirt.
“I understand the hospital will send you a note, thanking you for your generous donation.”
He looked as happy to deliver the news as I did turning up at my last dental examination. Being summonsed on his day off didn’t sit well with him.
“How is Robert?”
“He’ll be ready to go home shortly; the family is dealing with the paperwork.”
“Home? But he collapsed.”
“From low blood sugar.” Edison allowed the news to sink in. “Not everything is cancer related.”
“So, he’s okay?” Better than my relationship, I thought.
“I’m good at what I do,” Edison snorted in typical Australian humility. I’d been assured that Edison was not only a leader in his field, but his current research threatened to rewrite colon cancer treatment protocols.
“Thank you.”
“Make sure you date your cheque for next year. Thanks to you, I’ll make my yearly quota by the end of January.”
“More time for the golf course?”
“More time for my patients.”
He left without taking my outstretched hand. Now, all I could do was wait for my angry girlfriend and her family. Luckily, my Jeep could seat all seven of us.
“Can you give us a lift back home?” JoJo appeared from the triage area, sandwiched between Shane and Paul who refused to leave her side.
“Can we have a minute?”
“Not even a second.”
“At the house?”
“Before you pack your stuff and get the hell away from my sister.” Paul growled before turning to his mother who looked fifty shades of pale. The day hadn’t been good to her, and even a fool who’d never met Isabella Methven before could see the toll her husband’s condition had taken.
“Mum, you don’t have to push dad in that chair. Let Bradley.”
“I’ve been pushing your father around our married life; I’m not going to stop now.”
Like mother, like daughter. If she’d let me.
“Sweetheart, can you come with me to bring the car around? That way, your parents can wait in the air conditioning until I pull up.” I was beyond caring if her brothers saw my desperation.
“You could ring when you get close.”
“I could, but what if you don’t answer.”
“Fine,” she snapped, but at least pulled away from her brothers’ protection.
Nothing was fine, but given half a chance, it would be.
“You overheard my phone call with Candy.”
“Typical.”
“What?”
“She looked like a Candy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” We hadn’t gotten to the car and already this conversation was sinking, fast.
“Nothing.” JoJo’s response deserved an answer, but it was madness to try and talk to her while she was concentrating on not falling over with the crutches.
“I could carry you?”
“Or you could drop dead.”
“Keep looking at me like that, and I might.”
“After about an hour, I’ll never have to look at you again.”
“That’s it!”
I swung JoJo in my arms, carrying her bridal style across to the Jeep. The heat was too bloody hot, and I needed every second for explaining, not walking.
“Would you put me down!”
“Or not.” I panted. JoJo felt a lot lighter when she wasn’t wriggling to get down. We finally made it to the car. When she got into the back seat, I turned on the air conditioning before joining her. She didn’t realize the child lock would keep us contained. I could climb back to the front seat and unlock the doors, but she couldn’t.
Trapped by her own pigheaded, stubbornness.
Damn, I loved this woman.
“I dated Candy for eighteen months.”
“And now you’re getting married.”
“What?” The idea was so ridiculous that I couldn’t hide my shock. “Her? No! Hell no, a thousand times over.”
“I think your words were, ‘are you sure you’re ready for marriage, I’m not going to make it easy for you’. Does that ring a bell?” She snorted, “Then again, don’t bother. Let’s get my parents’ and then you can get the hell out of my life.”
“Give me two minutes to explain.”
To my surprise, she got out her phone, played with it before showing me the stopwatch. “One minute, fifty seconds.”
“Restart it. I wasn’t ready.”
“One minute, forty seconds.”
I’d take as long as needed to be heard.
“Candy is the woman I told you about, the one I did all the compromising for.”
“Beautiful girl. Lucky you.”
“Lucky dad. We broke up and a few months ago, she turned up on my father’s arm. Apparently while he was concerned about his strumpets trading up for me, Candy was looking the other way. Dad has all the time and money to throw at her without feeling the need to compromise.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s the truth.”
“And the photo you chose to keep of her—I assume your father approves?”
“I don’t care whether he does or not. I paid for those cheekbones, and her boobs. I keep that photo to remind me of what money can buy, and what it can’t.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Dad’s lawyer emailed me yesterday, apparently Candy is a keeper and dad has decided to get engaged. Since then, dad and Candy have been trying to talk to me.”
“What a cozy little three-some you’ll make.”
“JoJo!” It was my turn to snap. “I cut her out of my life for a reason. Whatever dad wants to do with or without her, is his choice. My father couldn’t be bothered telling me in person—how do you think it felt to get the email from his lawyer? Now dear old dad can’t stop emailing and leaving messages.”
“You kept putting him through to voicemail.”
“For a very good reason.”
“I thought you didn’t want to tell him why you were going to Adelaide.”
“I’ll shout that from the rooftops if you want. I don’t want to hide anything about you or us. Although, I’d prefer your brothers find out how we met after they are back overseas, for my own safety.”
At least, JoJo graced me with a smile. She was thawing. Slowly, but I took the risk of reaching for her good hand. When she didn’t resist, I went further with a kiss. “Sweetheart, the reason Candy called was because I was ghosting my father.”
“She was very persistent.”
“Which is why I finally took her call, and because you told me to. I figured that perhaps something happened to my old man and even though we aren’t on the best of terms—”
“You’d just seen what happened to my father.”
“I want my father to be healthy, and I guess if Candy makes him happy, I want that for him too.”
“The other things you said?”
“I can’t see the marriage lasting more than five or so years. Dad hasn’t been with anyone long term since my mother and Candy can have strong opinions.”
“Unlike me!” At least now JoJo had her sense of humor back.
“I find it hard to compromise now. Because of her.”
“I hadn’t noticed.” Her sarcasm lacked malice and she didn’t pull away when I wriggled across to be next to her.
“Look, according to Candy, dad’s had his own recent health scare and he wants to rebuild our relationship. I really only answered her call because I didn’t want her to keep calling and for you to misunderstand—”
“Too late.”
“Waiting to get the news about your dad, I started to think all the what ifs. What if dad died or was in hospital? This entire day has been a huge wake up call to me, of how quickly things could change.”
“We’d better go and get my family.”
The stopwatch was still ticking over. I’d asked for five minutes, been granted two but taken almost ten.
“I’m not dating anyone else. I’m not getting married.”
“Do you have any pets?”
At that, I smiled. Her Christmas presents had been wrapped and were already stashed beneath the large Christmas tree.
“What if I said, sort of?”
“What sort of answer is that?”
“Do you trust me?”
“No.”
“Ouch, we have to work on your honest delivery without stabbing me in my heart.” I pretended to pull a knife out of my chest.
“Or you could work on not asking stupid questions.”
“Trust me until we get back home?”
“To Sydney?”
“Okay, get back to your parents’ home. If you can’t trust me, can you at least wait until then?”
At least her brothers took their cue from JoJo. We settled her father in the front seat and JoJo sat behind me in the middle row. As much as possible, I drove with my right hand, my left reaching behind me, unwilling to let go of hers.
“Christmas is ruined,” Isabella wailed as we pulled quietly into
the driveway. The guys had been warned not to wake the kids and from all accounts, JoJo’s sisters-in-law were still jet-lagged, exhausted and had turned in.
“Mama, we still have daddy.”
“Yes, but I had a very detailed plan to get all the food prepared for tomorrow. I wanted us to be able to enjoy tomorrow as a family.”
“Ma’am, the one thing your daughter and I haven’t done is cooked together. It would be a true test of our relationship if you could leave us the list, and we’ll see if we can put Christmas on the table.”
“Without killing each other?” Paul half-joked, reminding me I still had some explaining to do. He’d overhead the same half conversation that JoJo did.
“That’s the plan. Although if you want to stuff my corpse, I think apricots go well with brandy.”
“This boy is a keeper,” Isabella mused, and I caught her smile in the rear-view mirror.
“How about you taste my potato salad first.”
“What do you use as mayonnaise?” JoJo asked, sharing a look with her brothers.
“You mean, it doesn’t come out of a jar!” I mocked and ducked as a Bradley threw half a sandwich at me from behind. “Watch it, I’m driving.”
“As long as we keep you away from round abouts.” We might not have been together for very long, but already we were starting to build a private language, filled with snippets that made us, an us.
JoJo
I’d had time to think in the twenty-minute ride back home; and time to avoid what seemed like twenty questions peppered at Noel and I in a confined space.
“How did the two of you meet?” Mum asked. An innocent question but would only lead to more complicated answers or lies and I didn’t want either.
“I saved her from being carried away by a man in uniform. Wasn’t his name Tristan?” Noel winked at me through the rear-view mirror, and right then I could almost kiss him for giving my family a version of the truth.
“He said I could call him Tryst and I didn’t need saving.”
“What was he doing to her?” Paul didn’t hear my joking, going straight into protective brother mode.
Her Surprise Christmas Noel: Four women, one pact: find a date for Christmas (Christmas Kisses Book 2) Page 10