Chapter 14

The lunch went well. It was way better than the dinner we had had at his place. But what was surprising to me was that not once did we bring up the engagement and its terms. I thought that was going to be the main discussion but Jax had other plans. It had felt so much like a real date, and I actually thanked the universe for the fact that I had not gotten the job because I knew I would never have met Jax under any other circumstances. I was starting to appreciate the man.

Starting? Maybe that was a lie. But I would rather lie to myself than accept whatever turmoil my heart was already facing.

The day went by fast, and the first thing I heard when Sandra got back home was the door banging. I already knew she had something exciting she wanted to tell me, and I sat up, placing my phone down. The texts I was sending to Jax could wait.

Sandra threw the door to my bedroom open then came flying towards the bed. Her behavior was a little more extreme than normal, so I raised a brow, wondering what exactly was going on. She extended her phone to me, and I took it a little hesitantly. I looked at Sandra, confused. All she did was point at the phone with her chin.

I gasped. On the phone screen, were the clearest pictures of me I had ever seen. All of them with Jax. Some were from when we were getting into the restaurant. In others, we were laughing, smiling, holding hands and I had to admit that it looked like we were in love.

I stared up at Sandra with a sheepish expression on my face. There was nothing I could say now.

“You’re engaged to Jax Coleman?” she asked.

My brows shot up. Nowhere in the pictures had it looked like we were engaged.

“Engaged?” I asked, a little incredulously.

“Yes, Reine. Engaged. Do you think I’m so blind I don’t see the ring on your finger?”

I stared down at my finger as if I had forgotten that there was a ring on it. Which I actually had if I was being honest. I had not counted on the news of us being engaged to come out so soon. Jax had not warned me at all. I was going to have to talk to him about that. I knew that Sandra was hurt over something that was false. And I didn’t know how I would explain it to her without breaking the contract. It was still a little too early and I didn’t want to miss out on the money when I had already made so many plans for it.

“I’m waiting for your explanation, Reine,” Sandra said, and I sighed.

“That’s the thing, San. I can’t explain. I signed a contract that doesn’t permit me to say anything.”

Realization dawned on her and she came to sit on the bed next to me.

“It’s a fake engagement?” she asked.

I so badly wanted to tell her everything. “I can’t say a word, San.”

“But you can confirm if I’m right. Or yeah! You can nod or shake your head. That way, you’ve not said anything.”

I laughed. Sandra was such a clown.

“I guess I can do that.”

“So, you signed a nondisclosure?” I nodded. “You have to pretend to be his fiancée in return for money?” I nodded again. “One month?” I shook my head. Sandra tried again. “Two? Three? Six?”

When I nodded my head, she let out a huge sigh. “That’s a long-ass time. I hope you know what you’re doing. I can’t really tell you if I think it’s a great idea or not because you’ve already signed the contract, but all I have to tell you is that you should be careful. That world… it is not the easiest to maneuver in.”

“I will be careful. Thank you, Sandra. I am sorry that I didn’t tell you earlier.”

She hugged me, tapped my back, then said, “It’s fine. I understand. Just be careful, please.”

“I will.”

We stayed like that for a while before Sandra pulled away. “Let me go shower, I feel sweaty.”

I watched her leave and I let out a sigh of relief. That had gone better than I had expected it to. Now it was time to ask Jax what the hell was happening. And I didn’t think I wanted to do it through texts either. So, I called him. I was surprised when he picked on the first ring, almost as if my call had been all he was waiting for.

“Reine,” he drawled out in that deep and sexy voice of his.

“Hi, Jax.”

Before I could say anything, the man started talking. “I presume you’ve seen the photos?”

“What the hell was that about?” I asked, a little bit in shock.

“Let’s meet. I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay,” I said. Then he hung up.

I stared at the phone and sighed. I hoped that I was not getting myself into a situation I was not going to handle later in the future. I hoped that whatever feelings were trying to set in were going to disappear. I didn’t need this. At all.

I removed the nightie I was already wearing and slipped a dress on. I didn’t want to tell Sandra about Jax coming, but I didn’t want to leave without saying a word either. The least I could do was inform her about him. But I couldn’t bring myself to leave the bed, even when Jax texted me to say he was on the elevator coming up.

The doorbell rang, and before I could leave my bed, I heard the door to Sandra’s door open. I guess I was not going to have to tell her anymore. She was going to find out on her own. I sighed when I heard voices coming from the living room, and when I got there, I paused a little. Both of them were talking like they had known each other all their lives.

For some reason, my mood soured a little. I couldn’t even explain why I was annoyed.

“You two know each other?” I asked, hoping to catch them looking guilty or something.

Like I said, I didn’t know why I felt that way. Or maybe I just didn’t want to admit it.

“Reine,” Jax said warmly. I felt like hugging this man, especially in front of Sandra but I didn’t want to embarrass myself either. There were certain boundaries we had not yet crossed, boundaries I wasn’t even sure we were ever going to cross.

“Jax.” I had to admit that even to my ears, my tone sounded very frosty.

I could see Sandra throw me a weird glance and my mind started working. How did they know each other? Was she one of his old flames? I shook my head imperceptibly and looked at her. “You guys know each other?” I asked again, willing my tone to be as light and innocent as it possibly could be.

“Distant cousins.” It was Sandra who answered, and I could not explain the relief that washed over me.

“Oh,” I said, a little embarrassed. “Can we leave now?” I asked Jax.

There was a knowing smile on his face when he nodded. Then he turned to Sandra and said, “Nice seeing you again. We’ll keep in touch.”

“Bye, San,” I said in a small voice then we walked out. The elevator ride was just as silent as the one from the previous day.

But there was one difference. Jax’s hand had inched towards mine and he had held it. It felt almost as good as a kiss. The fact that I had not had to ask or anything like that. Maybe it meant nothing to him. But it did mean something to me, and I was holding on to that.

We walked out of the building and went to his car. This time around, there was no driver. I preferred it like that. Maybe he was used to that luxurious life, but I wasn’t. And I didn’t know if I would ever get used to it. Not that I was planning on it. It wasn’t as if after the agreed time was up, I was still going to have the same luxury at my disposal.

“Where are we going?” I asked him, shooting a glance in his direction.

“We’ll just drive around,” was Jax’s answer.

“Okay,” I said softly, deciding to look out of the window. It was already dark, and I had to admit that Seattle looked beautiful. I was already getting used to the city and I was already thinking of maybe settling there. After all, it was big enough that I would be able to avoid Jax in case things went sour after our agreement—translation: in case I caught feelings for him, and it was clear that he didn’t reciprocate them.

“Were you jealous?” he asked.

“Jealous?”

“Were you jealous, Reine? Did you think something was going on between Sandra and me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Jax chuckled lowly. “Okay.”

Was it jealousy? I didn’t want to think it was. I had not known this man long enough to be getting jealous over who he knew and who he decided to hang out with. No. this was not going to happen. I was not going to mess with my emotions like this.

“How did the pictures of us go out so quickly?” I asked when the silence had already started unnerving me. I had a feeling that he was trying to punish me for the silence. And it was working. I felt lonely in that car, even though we were sitting together.

“I tipped off a source. My PR manager and I thought it would be a good idea.”

“Oh,” was all I said. I felt even more left out with that answer. I knew, of course, that it wasn’t my area of expertise or anything like that. But I felt more like a pawn than anything else.

It seemed my thoughts were written all over my face because Jax said, “I didn’t want to overwhelm you. I didn’t want to get you nervous or flustered. I needed you to be you.”

The explanation made me feel better. And a feeling of gratitude rose up. “Thank you,” I said, feeling bad for automatically assuming the worst.

“I don’t know what it is about you, and I don’t know if I should even be letting you know this early, but I appreciate you. Maybe more than I should at this point.”

I was at a loss for words. I didn’t want to say me too because it would sound so generic and fake, so I stayed quiet. Jax chuckled then he switched the topic, not knowing that his words were now stuck in my head and I was going to agonize over them for the days that were to come.