Not Actually Engaged (Otherwise Engaged #1)

by Jan Hinds

  By the time Angie finished, Paige had step-by-step instructions telling her how to coordinate her preparations to have the dinner ready on time.

  Cooper hobbled into the kitchen. “Ladies, we’ve got everything set up for the game. What are you up to in here?’

  Paige told him about everything Angie did to help prepare the meal for their parents.

  “Hothouse daisies, Angie. Thanks for all the help,” he said.

  The girls looked at him with stunned expressions, and then they all three laughed.

  Cooper shrugged. “Paige told me I couldn’t cuss so I figured hothouse daisies was better than hot d—”

  Paige covered his mouth with her hand and giggled. “Nice. Don’t ruin the effort.”

  Angie and Tina took bowls of chips and dip to the living room.

  Cooper pulled Paige into the laundry room and when she opened her mouth in surprise, he captured her lips in a kiss that made their other kisses pale in comparison. Did she hear bells ringing? His hands caressed her back, sometimes dipping lower than she felt comfortable. When he broke the kiss, he hugged her tight against him.

  She melted into his embrace.

  Suddenly he stiffened. “You’re not considering going to see him are you?”

  Paige wrinkled her brow. “What are you talking about?”

  He held out her phone, showing Ted’s last text. “He wants you to go to his house. Are you considering going?”

  Paige snatched her phone from him. Heat of anger replaced the warmth of his kiss. “This,” she motioned back and forth between them, “was so you could pick my pocket and spy on my messages? You blasted begonia. How dare you?”

  “We’re supposed to be engaged,” he said.

  “I’m having serious second thoughts about this whole arrangement. You crossed the line. Again. No more kissing. You, sir, are grounded.”

  “What? No one has ever grounded me before. Not even my mother.”

  “Well, you’re grounded now.”

  Paige walked out of the laundry room to find Tina escorting a pretty blonde up the stairs. The young woman looked like she was six months pregnant.

  Tina introduced her. “This is Natalie Pratt, Aaron’s wife.”

  Paige shook her hand. “Hi. I’m Paige Vaughn.”

  “I’m pleased to meet you.” She looked behind Paige. “Cooper Jennings? I haven’t seen you in years.”

  Cooper shook her hand. “Hello, Nat. It’s been a long time.”

  Natalie’s grin widened. “So are you two together?”

  “Yes. Paige is my—”

  Paige interrupted him. “I’m Cooper’s personal assistant. So how do you and Cooper know each other?”

  “We went to high school together. We even dated for the blink of an eye.”

  “Oh?” Paige said as she tried to tamp down a twinge of jealousy. Even pregnant, Natalie was tall, elegant, and beautiful.

  Paige had no right to feel jealous. She wasn’t in a real relationship with Cooper. Besides, it was years ago and Natalie was married and expecting a child.

  Natalie gave a dismissive wave. “We didn’t date long. Sawyer Pierce charmed me away from him and then Cooper started dating my best friend. Come to think of it. Sawyer stole her from Cooper too.”

  Paige’s smile slipped as an uneasy feeling niggled at her self-confidence. “Tina, why don’t you take Natalie to the living room to get settled while Cooper and I grab sodas for everyone.”

  “Sure,” Tina said. She smiled at Natalie. “This way, please.”

  Tina cast a worried look over her shoulder to Paige before she entered the living room.

  When they were alone Paige forced Cooper back into the laundry room.

  He took hold of her arms. “Honey, what’s wrong? I promise, nothing ever happened between me and Natalie other than some light kissing. It was over a long time ago, almost before it started.”

  “Why did it end?”

  He sighed. “Like she said, she started dating Sawyer Pierce.”

  “Did he steal your next girl too? And your fiancée?”

  Cooper frowned. “Yeah. So what’s your point?”

  “How many of your girlfriends did he take from you?”

  He appeared to deflate as he exhaled. “All of them, but if they’d truly cared for me, he couldn’t have stolen them.”

  Paige felt as if she couldn’t catch her breath. She couldn’t look him in the eyes. When she managed to speak, she whispered, “Did you choose me because I’m not attractive enough to interest him?”

  Cooper’s hesitation was all the confirmation she needed. Her heart crumbled to dust. She needed to get out of the cramped laundry room, out of the beautiful house where she didn’t belong, out of the state, maybe even out of the country.

  If only she had a passport. And some money.

  Cooper blocked her from leaving the cramped room. “No, of course not. I never considered you unattractive, but you weren’t the type he usually went for.”

  “You mean the type you usually went for since he stole all your girlfriends?” Blinking her eyes rapidly, she fanned her face with her hands and willed herself to reverse the tide of tears threatening to spill from her lashes. “That’s what you meant when you said you didn’t have any interest in me in that way. You aren’t attracted to me.”

  Cooper tenderly touched his palm to the side of her face. “Can I be ungrounded long enough to show you how attracted to you I am?”

  “No, you may not be ungrounded. If you want to convince me you’re attracted to me, you’ll have to find another way to prove it.”

  He pressed close to her until she was lying back against the top of the dryer and he leaned on his hands with one on each side of her. “Challenge accepted,” he said without touching her. He was so close that his warm breath mingled with hers. “I never want Sawyer to see or meet you. I don’t want him or any other man near you. Least of all that Ted character.”

  “How do I know you’re not saying that merely because you want me to help you?”

  “No, Paige, no. I mean, I do want you to help me, but mostly I want you with me. I know it’s selfish of me, but I hate the thought of sharing you. Please stay.”

  Paige’s shoulders sagged in defeat. He backed up enough to let her stand and opened his arms. Resting her forehead on his chest, she asked, “Why me?”

  He folded his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin. “Because I’m a better me when I’m with you. I feel happy around you. You’re probably the best friend I’ve ever had. Our friendship is important to me. Please say you’ll stay.”

  She put some space between them, turning to the small window. She wasn’t geared for emotional confrontation. Nor did she feel equipped to control the rampant attraction she felt for him. She steeled herself to set the parameters of their relationship to gain more control. When she turned around to face him it was with a new resolve. “I’ll stay as your personal assistant and friend. And I’ll go along with the temporary fake engagement.”

  He sighed. “Thank you.”

  “But we need to set some ground rules. First: No more kissing. It’s confusing me too much. Second: We only pretend to be engaged around our families.”

  “Oh. That might be a problem.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Natalie works for the newspaper. You know how reporters can be.”

  Page dropped her chin to her chest. “Of course she does. Whatever. No formal engagement announcements. Third: Since we aren’t in a relationship, we don’t get any say in who the other does or doesn’t date.”

  He frowned and reached for her, but she stepped away. “No,” he said as he leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms. “I’ll reluctantly give you one and two, but I claim the right to define the third rule. Neither of us will date anyone else as long as we are engaged.” She opened her mouth to object when he added, “Even fake engaged.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t highjack my phone messages and
you let me deal with Ted in my way.”

  They emerged from the laundry room to find Tina blocking their path with her fists planted on her slim hips. “Say the word, Paige and I’ll break his other leg. Then we’ll move you back to the apartment. My dad will float you a loan on the rent rather than have you stay somewhere you don’t want to.”

  Paige grinned when Cooper eased behind her so she shielded him from the angry brunette in front of them. “No. I’ll stay. You’ll be the first one to find out if I need to move out.”

  With a glare at Cooper, Tina said, “You bet I will. You’re hiring me to be your receptionist, effective immediately.” She held up two fingers and pointed between her eyes and Cooper. “I’m keeping my eyes on you, Jennings. If you make my friend cry, you will rue the day.”

  Chapter Seven

  Cooper smiled at Paige’s enthusiasm to cook in the newly remodeled kitchen on the main floor. She kept wiping down the counters and rubbing her hands over the smooth granite. “I don’t know how I’ll ever go back to a Formica kitchen counter again after this kitchen,” she said. “And these appliances are state of the art. I keep having to remind myself this is temporary and I shouldn’t get too used to this much luxury.”

  Cooper sat at the island and helped make the salad. “I’m glad you like it. You know this doesn’t have to be temporary.”

  Paige froze mid-swipe, with her back to him. “What do you mean?” she asked over her shoulder.

  He suddenly realized his words sounded like a proposal. “I mean with you working here, you can use the kitchen any time you like.”

  Her head dropped slightly. “Of course. I—I hadn’t thought of that.”

  An uncomfortable silence settled between them. He hadn’t thought of her leaving. He’d never planned past getting her to live with him. “Do you still want to keep working here after…?”

  “After we end the relationship that never was? Yes, of course I do.”

  He nodded his head. “Then you can use the kitchen any time you want to.”

  Paige added the pork chops back to the maple glaze in the skillet and turned the heat down on the burner. The timer for the dinner rolls went off and she took them out of the top oven and brushed melted butter on the warm rolls.

  Cooper tossed the salad ingredients together while Paige removed an apple pie from the other oven. He hobbled around the counter and inhaled the scent of the fresh baked pie. He scooped his free arm around her waist. “I think we need to rethink this fake engagement.” He pinched of a piece of roll and popped it into his mouth. “I had no idea you could cook. Let’s just get married instead.”

  She gave him a sassy grin. “Very funny. Don’t you be throwing around the ‘M’ word in jest. I might end up taking you seriously and then where would you be? Besides, Angie did most of the prep work for this meal. Perhaps you should ask her to marry you.”

  He bit back his response when the front doorbell rang. After Paige washed her hands and wiped them on a towel, he draped an arm around her shoulder for support as they went to greet their parents together.

  Sylvia and Matt Jennings stood on the porch with Evie and Stuart Vaughn chatting like old friends.

  Paige hugged her father and shed a little tear before turning to her mother, who held her at arm’s length. “You’ve lost so much weight! How long has it been since we saw you? You aren’t purging or becoming anorexic are you? It isn’t healthy to lose weight quickly. You know what they say, if you lose it fast, it goes back on faster.”

  Cooper gently pulled Paige from her mother’s grip. “I’m keeping an eye on her. I assure you, her loss has been healthy and gradual. We tried to revert to fast food the other night and neither of us had an appetite for it.” He hugged her and kissed her tenderly on her lips. “I think she’s perfect, just the way she is.”

  Paige glared at him while her mother eyed them suspiciously.

  Cooper was glad he’d left his crutches in the kitchen as it gave him an excuse to hold her close. Why was it as soon as he was forbidden to kiss her, holding her in his arms and kissing her was all he could think about?

  Evie shook her head. “I still find it hard to believe you’re engaged. Is this some kind of joke you’re pulling on all of us?” She lifted Paige’s left hand and looked at her naked ring finger with narrowed eyes.

  Cooper returned Stuart’s firm grip when he shook his hand and looked him in the eyes.

  “I’m pleased to meet you, young man. If Paige has agreed to marry you, you must be someone special.”

  Paige trembled next to Cooper and he hugged her tighter.

  Cooper couldn’t resist reinforcing Stuart Vaughn’s faith in him. “Thank you, Mr. Vaughn, but Paige is the special one. She’s a beautiful woman and a loyal friend and I’ll do my best to be worthy of her.”

  When Paige looked up at him, the adoration he hoped to see was supplanted by a flash of anger. He didn’t like the way Evie treated Paige. Her mother acted as if she didn’t believe he could love Paige and something deep inside him wanted to prove to all of them, especially Paige, that he indeed could love her.

  He dipped his head and captured her mouth in another tender kiss.

  “Are you forgetting you’re grounded?” she whispered and then bit his lip.

  He pulled her close and whispered, “You can punish me later.” He grinned at the blush he caused on her beautiful face.

  “Aren’t they just the perfect couple?” Sylvia asked. She had her elbow looped with Evie’s.

  Evie gave them a skeptical look. “Hmm. I never pictured Paige finding someone so handsome. Honestly, I’ve had my doubts that she’d ever get married.”

  Paige slumped her shoulders and sank into his side. Cooper had the feeling when her mother learned they weren’t engaged Paige would never hear the end of it.

  His father and Stuart looked at their wives and shrugged. Matt said, “I thought we were invited over here to eat. What’s for dinner?”

  “Right.” Paige stepped away from Cooper and he instantly missed her warmth at his side.

  She lifted her hand as if to touch Cooper’s arm, but stopped short of making contact. “Dinner is almost ready. You can hang your coats in the vestibule closet. Mom and Sylvia, can you help me in the kitchen, please?” She hurried to the kitchen and returned with Cooper’s crutches.

  Cooper helped Paige spread a table cloth on the dining room table. She created an impromptu centerpiece with candlesticks and antique books. When she was ready to set the table, he said. “The plates are in the cabinet above the dishwasher.”

  Paige opened the cabinet and took out a plate of fine china. She turned to Cooper. “Was this your grandmother’s?”

  Sylvia put her arm around Paige. “These are the Vaugh family china. My mother-in-law gave them to me when I got engaged. Her mother-in-law handed them down to her. They came from England generations ago. I always felt they were a bridge to unite the families. I hope you can pass them on to your son’s fiancée someday?”

  Paige hugged Sylvia. “I’m honored beyond words,” she said with a catch in her voice.

  When Cooper caught Paige’s eye over his mother’s shoulder, the pain in her eyes nearly broke his heart. He could tell she already loved his mother and felt guilty lying to her.

  His heart squeezed with fondness for Paige.

  While their parents carried the serving dishes to the table, Cooper pulled Paige aside. “Now that you know the surprise, can you forgive me for sneaking a peek at your phone?”

  “No. Maybe. I hate deceiving your parents. This is going to be so disappointing to them when we break up. I don’t think you realize the effect I have on them. I’m like the ideal daughter-in-law.” Her effort to lighten the mood fell flat with the anguish in her expression

  He hugged her. “Maybe we should go through with the wedding. I don’t want to disappoint our parents. I think your folks are pretty taken with me, too,” he whispered.

  She giggled. “You’re only saying that because you’r
e afraid of my parents.”

  He gave her a scoffing look. “Please, I’m not afraid of anything.”

  “Uh huh. Sure.” She did the chicken dance.

  He laughed and pulled her into his chest. “Stop that. You make a chicken dance look sexy and I can’t take it.”

  She laughed and pushed him away. “Save your lines. It’s not going to work. You’re still grounded.”

  Matt Jennings stuck his head around the corner. “Come on, you two love birds. You’ve got your whole lives to cuddle. Let’s eat.”

  ♥♥♥

  Paige served the apple pie and sat back down next to Cooper. She ate little the entire meal and every time Evie or Sylvia tried to pin them down to details about the wedding, she redirected the conversation.

  “Dad, how are things at the store?” she asked after her mother tried to pin her down about colors for the bridesmaids’ dresses.

  Stuart set his fork down on the plate. “Our till is the lowest it’s been in ten years. When people have to go to the bigger cities like Wooster, Massillon, or Akron for groceries, they end up going to the building supply stores for their hardware needs. It’s cut into our bottom line. I’ve had to branch out from bathroom and kitchen remodels to electrical and cable wiring jobs. There’s a developer who wants to build a strip mall with a discount grocery store down the road from us. He even talked to me about leasing space in the strip mall.”

  “That sounds like a great opportunity, Dad. When does he start building?”

  “Well, that’s the rub. There’s a key piece of land that is blocking the development. It’s been tied up in a trust for years. The lawyers and banks won’t say what the hold up is about. So in the meantime, we keep muddling along.”

  Paige ran out of topics, letting the conversation settled on the topic of the wedding. When their mothers began talking guest lists, Paige gave Cooper a pleading look. He took another bite of his pie, chewing slowly. Perhaps she was right. He was a coward.