Not Actually Engaged (Otherwise Engaged #1)

by Jan Hinds

  Not Actually Engaged

  Otherwise Engaged

  Book 1

  By

  Jan Hinds

  Published by Jan Hinds

  Copyright© 2016 Jan Hinds

  ~~~

  License Notes

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author and publisher. For information contact janhindsauthor@gmail.com.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, incidents and locations are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not the intent of the author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  A Word From The Author

  About The Author

  Chapter One

  Paige Vaughn double checked the meager balance of her bank account and contemplated how long she could survive. One more week, if she was lucky. Two weeks, but only with eating taken off of the menu. Unwilling to worry Tina, her roommate, until she figured out her finances, she holed up in the campus library to work on her budget. Her bills fanned out over the library table in front of her, mocking her poor financial decisions.

  Cell phone, credit card, car loan, insurance, another credit card—I’m an idiot—bank student loan. Why didn’t she defer that? Oh right, she planned to graduate debt free. Better add delusional to her resume. She’d already cancelled her Netflix, and other subscriptions. Thank goodness her Xbox Live Membership was a gift or gaming would be history too.

  Without much left to trim from her budget, Paige needed a job that paid enough to survive, or a second job, and a cheaper place to live. No way would she ask her parents for help.

  She could live out of her car. She jotted down a list of stores open all night where she could go to get warm when she got evicted. For ten dollars a month she could work out, shower, and, if it wasn’t busy, catch a nap at the gym. Being homeless sounded better than the fallout if she went home broke and unable to finish her degree.

  As she reorganized her bills on the library table, her mother’s scathing prediction of failure echoed in her mind. No. Failure wasn’t an option. Neither was ever living in her parents’ home again.

  The thought of groveling to her parents for help twisted her stomach into knots. Mainly because her dad wouldn’t blink an eye about helping her—no matter how bad things were going for him at the store.

  One of Paige’s best friends, Angie Robeson, sat across from her. “Are you okay?” she whispered as she gathered her books and shoved them into her backpack. “I’ve got to get home before dark or my dad…”

  Paige snapped her attention to her friend and saw again the flash of fear in her eyes. “What will he do?”

  Angie waved a dismissive hand. “Never mind me. What about you? You look worried.”

  Paige sat up straighter. “It’s nothing. I’ll figure something out. I always do. Are you coming by the apartment to watch the game tomorrow?”

  “Yeah. That’s one thing your friendship has done for me. You’ve turned me into a football junkie.”

  Paige smiled at her friend and waved goodbye. Melancholy enveloped her at the thought that this might be one of her last football parties with her friends.

  With a renewed determination, she rechecked her bank balance using the calculator function on her phone. Next, she reshuffled her bills and stretched out the payments for as long as she could without going past thirty days. Two weeks. At most. She jotted onto a Post-it note the date she’d plunge off her personal financial cliff.

  Brushing a single escaped tear from her face, she turned on her laptop and searched for job openings in Fort Wayne.

  “Hey, are you all right?”

  Her head tilted up to find handsome chiseled features etched with concern, and warm, chocolate brown eyes peering down at her. Cooper Jennings. She blinked twice. Of all the people to come upon her while she was decked out in sweats and on the verge of tears. Can this day get any worse?

  He picked up the Post-it note. “What happens on November 11?”

  She snatched the note away from his perfect long fingers. “Um—that’s the day I starve to death if you must know.” She tried to force a grin and couldn’t manage one, so she shrugged instead.

  He repositioned his crutch under his arm and leaned toward her. In a whisper no one else could hear, he said, “You know starvation diets aren’t healthy.”

  His eyes traveled over her generous curves, currently hidden by formless fleece. Emotions flooded through her. Mortification. Humiliation. Embarrassment. Indignation. Her face burned till her cheeks felt like tiny needles prickled them. She held his gaze until moisture rimmed her eyes. Blinking rapidly, she tried to shake it off as she gathered her papers and stuffed them into her bag. Her intended joking tone came out forced and a little harsh. “Are you calling me fat?”

  Cooper staggered back and caught himself on his crutch before he fell. “No. I mean—No. Not at all. You just looked upset and—I wanted to see if I could help.” His broad shoulders seemed to deflate. “I know we joke around a lot with each other, but I hope you consider me a friend.”

  He grimaced as if in pain and she felt terrible for snapping at him. He was a nice guy who had become a good friend. He’d simply caught her at a bad moment. The poor guy had been through the ringer the past two years. What was her bruised ego and pending financial ruin to his lost dreams? “I do consider you a friend. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. Look, I’m having a rough patch. I’ll figure it out.”

  He arched a perfect brow, waiting for her to elaborate.

  That blasted eyebrow crumpled Paige’s resolve to keep her troubles to herself. “Fine! If you must know, I need to find a second job and maybe a cheaper place to live.”

  Cooper’s face broke into a wide grin. He sat down next to her and looked at the want ads she had been searching. He scrolled to an ad for a personal assistant. “You should apply for this one.”

  Her face flamed again as she moved her head close to his to better see the screen. His sent of spice and musk triggered a fluttering in her heart. Warmth coursed through her at his nearness. She cursed her pale complexion and its tendency to flash bright splotches of pink across her cheeks. It took all her strength of will to focus on the words on the screen. She skimmed over the add until a few key words registered in her mind.

  She tilted the screen to see it better. A
new design company needed a PA. “This sounds perfect,” she muttered. “Thanks.”

  She quickly emailed her resume to the coded account and shut down her computer and began gathering her papers and stuffing them into the pocket of her bag. “You’re here late. I thought you left earlier than this on Fridays.”

  Cooper grinned showing off flawless bright white teeth. “You noticed? Or are you stalking me?”

  “Of course not. I just noticed.” Her face flamed again.

  “I have a confession. I saw you come in here and was waiting for your friend to leave so I could talk to you.” He motioned his head toward the door.

  She managed a genuine teasing grin. “So you’re stalking me?”

  He chuckled. “Maybe a little. May I take you to dinner? I have a proposition for you.”

  Dinner might postpone starvation for another day. “Food and intrigue? How can I refuse?”

  She glanced at him and did a double take, shocked to see Cooper Jennings blush. “Do you mind driving?” he asked. “I haven’t been cleared to drive yet and I hate calling my parents or a taxi to take me on a date.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “This is a date, Mr. Jennings?” She looked down at her rumpled sweats. “You caught me on laundry day.” He didn’t need to know her current laundry regimen was handwashing her clothes because she couldn’t afford the Laundromat.

  “Don’t worry about it. We’ll go someplace casual. You pick somewhere you feel comfortable.” He held the door for her with his crutch, and then she in turn held it for him to hobble through. As if in an afterthought, he gave her a reproving look. “Call me Cooper, by the way. Mr. Jennings is my father.”

  “As you wish, Cooper Bytheway. You can call me Paige.”

  He smiled at her teasing grin. “After being in the same classes for the last three semesters and all the time we spend together, I should have known you’d say that.”

  Teasing him highlighted her day and lifted her spirits. “Oh, my, have you realized I am a stalker?” She hoped her feigned humor masked the real palpitations she got just being near him.

  He laughed. “You mean that you just happen to arrive in time to open the classroom doors for me every day? And don’t think it skipped my attention that you time your departure to hold the door for me after classes too. I’ll take your brand of stalking. I’d hate to think how many times I’d have face planted with my crutches without your help.”

  The fondness in his eyes stirred a nest of hornets in her chest. His voice grew tender. “Every time I miss a class you email me your notes. I’m also well aware that you don’t need my help studying, yet you ask me to help you study, which is your left handed offer to help me.”

  Did he also notice the enormous crush she had for him? She shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal. “Listen, my car is parked pretty far from here. Why don’t you wait over there?” She pointed to a bench near the street. “I’ll pull around and pick you up.”

  He crinkled his handsome face in a frown and she longed for his dimpled smile to return. His uncertain gaze shifted from the bench to the distant parking lots. “You’re not going to ditch me there since I was rude to you?”

  The vulnerability in his expression and voice prompted her to reassure him. “And lose a free meal? Not a chance. Come on. I’ll walk you to the bench and you can watch my backpack for me until I get back to pick you up.”

  He nodded and the relieved smile on his face made her wonder if she’d given him a reason not to trust her. Perhaps he didn’t trust anyone.

  She waited until he sat down and placed her bag next to him on the bench. Call her selfish, or paranoid, but she didn’t want some other chick to come along and sit next to him.

  She jogged to her car—not a pretty sight with all her jiggling bits—and managed to recover a normal breathing rate by the time she pulled up in front of Cooper.

  Her heart sank at the sight of three skinny girls clustered around him.

  She turned on her hazard lights and got out of the car, uncertain if Cooper had changed his mind. She wedged between two of the girls and retrieved her computer bag. “Are we still on?” she asked.

  Cooper gripped her free hand to help him up. “Absolutely, honey.” He stood on his good leg, leaning on her shoulder and pulled her close against his side. “It was nice meeting you ladies, but my girlfriend and I have plans, so if you’ll excuse us.”

  All three girls looked Paige up and down with raised eyebrows. She’d never been more humiliated in her life. Okay, honestly, it was a close third place. She looked up at Cooper as if to beg him to put her out of her misery when he pressed his lips to hers. A tingling flush spread from her lips to her toes. Time stood still until their lips parted. When she opened her eyes the three girls were a block away.

  Cooper’s stunned expression must have been revulsion. He couldn’t possibly be as affected by the kiss as she was, but instead of gagging, he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and his voice sounded low and husky when he said, “Shall we go?”

  To her horror, somehow his sweater had become fisted in both her hands. She released him and patted his hard chest with her palms. “Uh, what was that for?”

  His mouth quirked up in a playful grin. “I thought it would be the quickest way to discourage those girls.”

  Her gaze followed the retreating beauties. One of them looked back at Paige and shook her head. “In the future, can we work out a signal when you’re going to use me as fan repellant?”

  She moved the passenger seat of her Elantra back as far as it would go and helped Cooper get situated comfortably in the car. After stowing his crutch and their backpacks on the back seat, she got in and drove away from the curb.

  Staring out of the windshield with his hands resting on his thighs, he said, “I don’t have fans.”

  She couldn’t suppress the smile from her face. “Of course you have fans. What do you think those three Victoria Secret model wannabes were?”

  He turned his palms upward and looked at his empty hands as if the ghost of a pigskin rested in them. “I’d have to have a future as someone important to have fans.”

  Just because she felt compassion for his pain, didn’t mean she was going to let him wallow in it. “So football was meant to define your entire life?”

  He jerked his head and looked at her with fire in his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Her ears tingled as heat flushed her face. She turned onto Coliseum and glanced at the glower on his face. “Answer the question.”

  “What question?”

  Her voice softened without cutting him slack. “Was football the only dream you ever had?” After a lengthy silence, she turned right onto Coldwater Road. “Do I need to answer for you?”

  Cooper folded his arms and quirked up that eyebrow. “What makes you think you know me well enough to answer that?”

  She waited for a green light to pull into the queue at a fast food restaurant. “First of all, if football was the be all and end all of your existence, you would have quit college your junior year at Purdue when the NFL tried to recruit you and Sawyer Pierce.”

  Cooper winced at the mention of his former teammate and rising star in the NFL.

  She followed the line of cars waiting for the drive-thru window. “You waited until you graduated with a degree in architectural engineering. When you were drafted again, you were injured your first season and within one goal of breaking Sawyer Pierce’s first season touchdown record.”

  Cooper dropped his hands to his lap and stared out the side window.

  She felt compelled to touch him, so she reached for his hand and squeezed it. “You’ve had two surgeries, and in spite of the heartbreaking news that you can’t play football, you dove right back into college to get a second degree in interior design.”

  His brown eyes looked at her with an intensity that made her feel like molten lava bubbled in her chest. “How do you know all this about me?”

  She shrugged and hoped that di
stracted him from her flaming cheeks. “Because I am a fan. I watched all your games. My brother even played against you a few times in college. I love how you never quit. No matter how hard you get hit, you shake it off, get back in the game, and keep going.”

  His brow furrowed and he looked straight ahead. “Not any more. I’m washed out of the game.”

  His sad countenance nearly broke her heart. “You may be out of the game of football, but you’re not out of the game of life. I’ve been watching you.” Could her face get any hotter? “I’m not a stalker, so don’t take out a restraining order. I’ve seen how no matter how difficult things are, you just keep trying. You inspire me.”

  His lips parted and his eyes never wavered from hers. “How do I inspire you?”

  Paige took back her hand and thrummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “You may not have noticed, but I’ve lost sixty pounds in the past year. I see you attending class no matter how much pain you’re in and it motivates me to keep trying. To work out longer and eat healthier.”

  She shrugged and turned her face away to look out the side window. “When I was working on my hopeless budget back at the library, I was tempted to give up and ask my parents for help, and then I thought of you.” Her face flamed remembering that for a split second when she looked up at him, she’d thought she was imagining him there to give her a pep talk.

  Cooper touched her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. “So what decision did you make when you thought of me?”

  She hitched up one shoulder. “That I need to try harder to get another job and a cheaper place to live.”

  Cooper smiled at her. “After we get our food, there’s a place I want to show you.”

  She pulled up to the menu order station and the chipper voice of a young man asked for her order.

  “I’ll have two double hamburgers, two orders of loaded chili fries, and two large chocolate milkshakes.” She looked innocently at Cooper. “Did you want anything?”

  His mouth dropped open in a moment of horror before he saw her teasing grin. He laughed. “Make one of those a double chili cheeseburger,” he called through the open window.