Page 4 of Don’t You Dare Marry Me (Love in Massachusetts #3)

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“Oh hell,” Abagail mumbled, sitting straight up.

Her head was turned toward the door of the bar, her eyes locked on none other than Nicola.

What the hell is she doing here? Abagail cringed, her heart pounding.

She’d been having a nice conversation with Greer, her best friend’s girlfriend’s best friend.

Say that ten times fast. And she really hadn’t wanted it to end, or be disrupted.

Something about Greer had put her at ease in a way she hadn’t felt since she and Elia had—well, since she’d fucked up that friendship.

“What?” Greer spun around to face the direction that Abagail was facing. “Who’s the hottie?”

“She’s not a hottie,” Abagail muttered under her breath, but she didn’t move to do anything.

She just lay in wait. Because maybe Nicola wouldn’t see her.

Maybe this little moment that she was sharing with Greer wouldn’t end right away, and maybe she wouldn’t have to deal with the shitstorm that was her family for just a smidge longer.

“Are you hiding from her?” Now Greer seemed far more intrigued than she should be.

“Nope.” Abagail wasn’t going to give Greer any more information. Greer didn’t need to be involved in the family drama any more than Abagail wanted to be.

Greer locked her gaze on the strange woman, who looked at them curiously, then shifted her glance and caught sight of Abagail. Turning back toward Abagail, Greer smiled. “Well, time’s up. If you want my help to get rid of her, you’re going to have to give me more.”

Abagail groaned. “She’s my former soon-to-be niece-in-law.”

“Aunt Abagail?” Nicola sounded nervous. Abagail could sniff out that anxiety anywhere. She’d sensed it at the house when they’d met last, and it was right back here as well.

“Nicola.” Abagail sighed her name in frustration.

“I uh… I was told to return this to you.” Nicola stood in between Abagail and Greer, as she slid a small box onto the table in front of Abagail.

The ring.

“To me?” Abagail raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

She flipped open the box and stared at it before flipping it around so Greer could see.

She wanted Greer’s reaction to the size of the rock in there, because it was obnoxiously huge.

Abagail had never wanted to wear it—ever, which was why she’d given it to her brother instead of keeping it to herself. “Your engagement ring.”

“Warren said that it was a family ring… so I had to give it back.” That nervous tick was back in Nicola’s face, the corner of her eye twitching so slightly that it’d be almost imperceptible if Abagail wasn’t watching her so closely.

Abagail took the box and snapped the lid closed loudly, leaving it on the table. This was Warren’s stupid game of making her do his dirty work because he was too selfish to take care of his own problems like an adult. “Greer and I are having a private conversation.”

“Jesus, Abagail, the woman clearly just broke up with her fiancé. There’s no reason to be a jerk about it.” Greer hopped out of her seat and offered it to Nicola. She waved the waitress over and then sat down in the third chair at the small table.

“She’s not my niece.” Abagail pointed at Nicola, but she was looking at Greer. “I don’t have to be nice to her.”

“What if the breakup wasn’t her fault?”

Abagail knew it wasn’t. This had Warren’s entitled little ass written all over it. But he did boot Nicola from the family, which meant that Nicola wasn’t Abagail’s problem either. Though she was curious what led to the actual breakup. She’d predicted it would happen well before now.

“Um… tequila shots, please. And some water,” Greer said, swooping in and playing the role she was born for. The caregiver. “Right, so um… did you get dumped?”

The silence was deafening, even in the loud bar with music playing. Abagail actually wanted the answer to that question. She was curious what idiocy her nephew had created now, but she hadn’t been willing to ask.

“Okay, so since both of you are chatty.” Greer rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat. The waitress couldn’t get here fast enough. “I’m Greer.”

“Nicola,” she said, nodding in Greer’s direction. “How do you know Aunt Abagail?”

“Uh… we’re friends?” Greer answered it like a question. “It’s a long story.”

Abagail would be happy to call Greer her friend, or at least someone she was very slowly letting in.

If anything the last few months, she realized she needed more than just Elia to rely on.

That circle had to expand—unfortunately.

And Greer had been available and not ridiculous.

She’d been a good connection to have so far.

Nicola nodded, her eyes lighting on Greer. “Are you her new…fling?”

“Watch it, Nicola,” Abagail ground out, her entire body tensing.

She had no idea what Greer had been told of her proclivities, but she certainly didn’t need it getting around in the bar that she owned that she preferred short term relationships that only lasted a few weeks max with a woman who could keep up with her.

She didn’t need the entire world to know anything more than what she’d told them.

“I don’t mean anything by that, Aunt Abagail?—”

“I’m not your aunt, so you can cut that.

And since you’re clearly not marrying my nephew anymore, you can really cut it.

Makes me feel old,” the last bit Abagail mumbled under her breath.

That wasn’t really the problem. The issue was that Nicola had always been attractive and flirtatious whenever Abagail had been around.

Warren had seemed oblivious to it, but Abagail was damn sure that the salutation was just to get under her skin anyway.

Greer laughed at that. Abagail shot Greer a sharp look. She didn’t need both of them to come after her like that. “And you can cut it out, too.”

Greer put her hands up in the air. She couldn’t wipe the smile from her face, but she was giving in to Abagail’s demand. Greer focused on Nicola, her lips keeping that ever-present smile she always wore. “What do you do for work?”

Nicola frowned. “I uh… don’t work right now.”

“She quit her job when Warren told her that he wouldn’t marry a woman with a job.” Abagail tossed back her third drink of the night. “And the idiot agreed with him and did it.”

“Again Abagail, don’t be a jerk,” Greer said, pointedly.

“Would you do that? If Ivy, Lachlan, and Nathalie told you today that you could live with them, but they wouldn’t pay you anymore, would you do it?

” Abagail looked at her directly. “Think about it. Because if you end up in a relationship with them, why would they pay you? A woman’s labor is often considered free labor.

Don’t be stupid enough to fall into the trap that the patriarchy has set for you. ”

Greer paled slightly, and Abagail knew she’d pushed it too far. But the point she was making wasn’t solely for Greer’s sake, it was for Nicola’s. “You don’t think they’ll do that, do you?”

“I don’t know.” Abagail squared her shoulders. “I don’t know them well enough, and neither do you. You’ve worked for them for how long? Four months? That doesn’t mean you know them at all. And it’s not like you know how they’re going to react if you ask them for more than just a roll in the hay.”

“Abagail!” Greer squeaked.

“She doesn’t know you.” Abagail waved Nicola off. “Forget she’s here.”

“Why are you being such an asshole?” Greer frowned at her. “This isn’t like you.”

“You know me through Elia. This is different.” Abagail pressed her hand down on the table and leaned in toward Greer, effectively shutting Nicola out of the conversation. It’d be a good way to prove exactly how the conversation was going to go from here on out.

“She’s family,” Greer mumbled.

Abagail barked out a laugh. “Fuck family.”

“Well, I agree with the sentiment, but that doesn’t mean you need to be a bitch about it.”

“Fine.” Abagail pointedly looked at Nicola. “You’re broke, you need a job, and you’re out a rich sugar daddy to support you. So you’re here for…what exactly? Because I doubt that Warren told you to bring this to me. You could have very easily given it back to him.”

Nicola turned her chin up, sending Abagail a thousand-watt smile. “I could have. But I needed to talk to you.”

“Talk to me? Oh, this better be good.” Abagail sat back in her chair and crossed her arms with an expectant look on her face. She glanced at Greer, as if making her point that she didn’t have to be an asshole.

“I just need some cash to make it through a few weeks until I can get a job.”

“And here it begins.” Abagail rolled her eyes, her point proven. “How much?”

“Two thousand, that’s it.” Nicola sent Abagail another smile. Was she toying with Abagail? She wasn’t even bothered by Abagail’s flippant and dismissive tone. And there was that undertone of flirting that she always seemed to have when they talked.

“ Only two thousand. And you can’t ask Warren for it because he’ll tell you no.”

“Of course he will.” Nicola leaned forward, her low-cut shirt showing off her cleavage.

Was this a seduction? Nicola had certainly seemed to come in here with a plan, and she was taking full advantage of the fact that Greer was forcing Abagail to even have this conversation. But what was she going to do about that fact?

Absolutely nothing.

“I’ll give you the two grand, but for a price,” Abagail lowered her voice, the idea hitting her far more quickly than she imagined it would.

If Nicola was that desperate for money, then perhaps she knew why Warren had jumped out of bed with her and into bed with Chaya.

Abagail held back the sneer that wanted to twist her face.

Because she hated Chaya. And the last thing she wanted was for Chaya to get her hands on the family money.