Bad Boy's Lust (Firemen in Love Book 1) (21 page)

He tensed. “Angie has made me see the error of my ways. I am honored that such a good woman cares for me so deeply.”

It sounded like Elle's mom was the one pushing for this shotgun wedding. But why? Had to be some reason why she wanted it so quickly.

Then a possibility came to me.
Money.

Angie was perpetually broke, always spending paychecks on shoes and clothes. Dad, on the other hand, had seven figures in his bank account.

And if this deal went through with Shady Acres, if he managed to snag the property away from us, then he'd stand to have a lot more.

Maybe Angie knew it, and she wanted her own slice of the pie. Once she was legally shackled to dad, she'd probably be set for life.

I didn't want to believe that a woman could be so greedy, but knew firsthand it was all too possible. What I didn't understand was Elle.

She was nothing like her mother at all. Nothing like most of the women in my life, actually.

That's what I loved about her.

“Anyhow, I believe that's enough about my love life. Perhaps it's time we start talking about
yours.
”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Well, we're only a few months away from the end of August. I don't see a woman on your arm yet.”

“Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself, 'cause you're
not
getting Shady Acres.”

He faked surprise. “Are you telling me that you're getting hitched?”

“Yes.” My answer was firm. “I'll have a wife before the time is up.”

He laughed at me. The sound of it made me want to knock his teeth out.

“The only way a woman would marry you, son, was if you tricked her into it.”

That wasn't true. Elle said she cared about me.

And you know what? I felt the same way back. Too bad I couldn't make her believe me.

“I'll show you.” I pushed by him. “I already got a woman in mind.”

“Who is it, pray tell? I want to know the name of the girl stupid enough to shack up with you.”

She'd be pissed at me for telling, but I couldn't keep it in anymore.

“Elle.”

For once in his life, dad seemed truly shocked. He let out a little gasp and stepped back, but recovered from it quickly.

“I'm afraid you can't do that, Jayce. It would be rather... scandalous for our family if you did.”

“The hell you talking about?”

“Think about it. I'll be marrying her mother shortly. Guess what that makes you two then?”

The realization hit me right in the gut. How did I not think of this before?

In order for our plan to work now, I'd have to turn my step-sister into my wife.

Chapter 17 - Elle

A moving van pulled up in front of Shady Acres. It didn't take long for the Franklin family to load up their belongings and drive away.

“There goes another one.” Heather pressed her face against the glass. “At least we got that new tenant who moved in yesterday to replace them.”

“Yeah, and his unit is already infested with fleas.” I had the nasty red welts on my ankles to prove it.

We'd been holding steady these past few weeks, but there was still so long to go. And it wasn't easy to think about work with all these other problems rolling around in my head.

Mom was still gleefully planning her wedding with David. It was to be a fancy affair, with lots of guests and a reception where food cost fifty bucks a plate.

David had the money, and mom knew it. Given the chance, she'd bleed him dry.

Maybe they really
were
right for each other.

Then there was Jayce. After the strip club incident, he tried to apologize. His words felt false to me, as if he wasn't
really
sorry. He still thought he'd done nothing wrong.

He might have been sorry for hurting me. But he didn't understand
why
I was so hurt. Neither did I. Like he said, we weren't a couple. He didn't cheat or break a vow to me.

Yet it hurt all the same.

“It doesn't matter about the occupancy anymore. Jayce doesn't get married; this place is done.”

Heather clucked her tongue. “I cannot believe you guys were planning to get hitched.”

My stomach suddenly churned with the contents of our morning breakfast. It had been happening a lot lately this past week. Nausea, vomiting... Was I coming down with the flu? Didn't feel otherwise sick.

“It was a horrible idea.”

“Actually...” She grinned. “I thought it was pretty smart of you.”

I clutched my belly. “You did?”

“You both knew damn well he'd never
really
settle down with some girl. It was a good solution: get yourself a marriage license, fulfill Debbie's will, we win. Game over for David.”

It was still our
only
solution, far as I knew. The trouble was, I didn't think I could handle a fake marriage to him. When I got hitched, I wanted it to be about love.

And we all knew Jayce wasn't ready to love anyone yet. Maybe he never would be.

“Can't believe I'm saying this, but I think you guys should go ahead with it.”

“Are you serious?”

“What else can we do? The deadline's fast approaching. If it's not you he marries, then who?” She laughed. “I'd feel sorry for the poor, hapless girl who gets suckered into that disaster. At least you know him. You understand the whole thing's just a ploy to save the property.”

She could be right. It didn't matter if Jayce and I hated each other, as long as we had that piece of paper pronouncing us husband and wife.

I'd have to put my feelings aside. Could I do that? My first marriage, a complete lie, all for the sake of saving Shady Acres. If I refused, the property and my business would be gone.

“I'm gonna puke.”

I pushed past a startled Heather and into the tiny office bathroom just in time. Ugh. Those waffles didn't taste as good coming up as they did going down.

What was
wrong
with me? Nausea struck me at random times everyday with no real pattern. The other day, someone was chewing candy in front of me in line at the bank. The
smell
of it, that nasty fake cherry stuff, made me want to throw up.

When I'd washed up and returned from the bathroom, Heather was waiting for me with a strange look on her face.

“You okay? This isn't the first time you've tossed your cookies this past week.”

I rubbed my stomach. “I don't know. The flu, maybe?”

“Sure doesn't seem like the flu.” She put her hand on my forehead. “Uh, just throwing this out there, but... Could you be pregnant?”

I laughed and pushed her away. “Get real.”

“What? You and Jayce, well... You know.” She cringed. “I have no idea what you saw in him.”

Oh, there were plenty of good things about him. Even now, thinking of his hands working their magic on my body, turned me on like crazy. Impressive, given how pissed I was at him.

But it was also stupid to think that way. He was skilled in the sack, yeah, but I wouldn't sleep with a guy who plainly had no respect for me.

“I'm definitely not pregnant.”

“How can you be sure? Did you take a test?”

I shook my head. What was the point? We'd used protection... Kind of. The pill was supposed to be highly effective.

But not infallible. There was still that point-zero-zero-something chance of error.

“We only slept together once,” I reasoned.

“Once is all it takes.”

How unlucky could a girl be? And it was my first time, too. No way. I refused to let myself believe I might be knocked up with
Jayce's baby.

“Have you missed your period?”

I had to think hard. “I dunno. I think so? I'm on the pill to regulate my hormones so I don't get sick. Most months, I don't have a period anyway. And if I do, it's barely noticeable.”

A tenant walked off the elevator holding a mug of coffee. The intense smell invaded the office immediately. My tummy protested; I covered my nose and mouth until he was gone.

Heather put her hand on my back. “You
really
need to take a test.”

I struggled to think back. Jayce and I had sex a little over a month ago now. I'd felt totally fine up until this past week. Then the nausea started. At the same time, I'd also been craving the strangest foods.

“What if I
am
pregnant? What do I do?” I flopped over on the desk. “I always wanted to have a family. Kids. But not like this.”

“And Jayce isn't exactly good with this stuff. Not what you'd call father material, that's for sure.”

Right. He'd sworn to me up and down that marriage and children were like prison to him. He would have been happy slacking off, partying, and having fun the whole rest of his life if he could.

“If he did knock me up, we couldn't go through with the marriage.”

“Why not?”

“Because.” I almost burst into tears – another thing that had been happening a lot lately. “Jayce and I agreed to divorce once all the mess was over with the will. If I keep the child, I couldn't subject it to that. I want my kid to have a happy, stable family. A
real
family, not a fake one.”

“You don't
have
to keep it, you know.” She said the words carefully and slowly. I knew what they meant.

I shook my head. “I couldn't get rid of it.”

“Even if keeping it could ruin everything? You know what kind of person Jayce is. I can't even imagine him manning up and taking care of a child. That's just not who he is.”

Speak of the devil. Jayce's truck pulled into its designated spot, and he strode toward the front door. There was something different about him today, wasn't there? Dark circles under his eyes. Less spring in his step. And no cocky grin plastered on his handsome face.

I missed that smile so much.

Jayce was a guy who should've been easy to hate. And I tried, believe me. But right now, with the threat of pregnancy looming over my head, I wanted to tell him everything. Wanted him to hold me and tell me it'd be okay. That we would work it out together.

Boy, I really was in trouble.

He came into the office with a heavy sigh. I touched my belly as I looked at him.

Was I staring at the father of my child?

“What's the matter with you?” Heather glared at him. “Up all night again?”

“You know me; always the party animal.” He came to the desk and took my hand. “We really need to talk.”

“Not this again.”

He pulled me away. When we were alone in the hall, he took a deep breath and squeezed my hand.

“If we're gonna do this marriage thing, we need to do it
now.
”

My stomach flipped again at the mention of it.

“There's no real hurry, is there? We have a few months until the term is up.”

He shook his head. “Dad's marrying your mom in two weeks, assuming the whole thing doesn't fall apart at the seams first. That'll make us step-siblings.”

“It isn't illegal to marry your step-sibling.”

“I know it's not, but it doesn't exactly look good. My family will think I'm a freak and have nothing to do with me. They've always sided with dad and seen me as the black sheep, y'know? People will talk.”

I guess it
was
kind of strange in the eyes of society. Personally, I didn't care what anyone thought. Although we'd pretty much grown up together, I'd never thought of Jayce as a brother, and never would.

I could only see him as a lover – and a seriously good one, at that. If he put the moves on me right now, I wouldn't put up much of a fight.

The real problem was this possible pregnancy. If we married and then out popped a baby, Jayce would feel obligated to stick around and take care of it. Heather didn't believe he would do it, and a couple months ago, I would have agreed.

Now, I wasn't so sure. There was something changed about him.

I wanted to believe he'd be a good man so badly.

“It still seems like a joke to me. How the heck could your dad and my mom fall in love so quickly?”

“I don't know. I'm wondering if love has anything to do with it, or if your mom's just using him for his bank account.”

I opened my mouth to snap at him – then realized he might well be right. Mom's tastes were expensive, but her salary couldn't buy her the things she desired. After dad bailed, she had a string of relationships, all of them with well-to-do men.

By marrying David, she probably felt like she'd hit the jackpot.

“Do you really think your dad loves her?”

“Could be. Maybe he doesn't care she's trying to take advantage of him. I'm not so sure about that, though. He's a clever man. If you ask me, there's something in this deal for him, too.”