Page 12

Jade

I couldn’t take people anymore. There were only so many introductions and niceties a girl could take for one evening.

The twenty-something-year-old on the arm of the middle-aged man was just too much for me and put me right over the edge.

Not because I had an issue with an age gap, because I didn’t—older men were hot—but because it was so incredibly obvious she was only with him for his money.

The real issue, though, was that I just didn’t feel like I belonged here.

At a country club in Staten Island. Surrounded by rich people who were dripping in more diamonds and gemstones than I’d even know what to do with.

Where gold wasn’t a metal, but a decor statement.

Where the food and liquor were not just fancy, but unpronounceable.

There were cloth napkins folded into swans, for crying out loud. What ever happened to a napkin just being a napkin? You know the thing you wiped your food-covered lips on?

For me, it was just. Too. Much.

“Why don’t we step outside and get some fresh air, my love?” Red asked, putting one hand on the small of my back and passing me a glass of champagne with the other.

My love? It seemed a little too mushy for me, but then again, I wasn’t supposed to be me, was I?

I was supposed to be the soon-to-be rich wife to Reddington Lyons.

I wished someone had told me I was going to be an actress because then I could have at least made a career out of it and gotten paid for the gigs.

With one eyebrow raised, I eyed him but took the glass he offered regardless. “Sure. Thanks. I think I just saw my sisters step outside, so I’m going to take you up on that.” Anything to get out of here for a while. Forever was my preference, but I’d take what I could get.

I didn’t get to make it one foot, though, when Nate obnoxiously—very in keeping with his personality—clinked a spoon against his glass as if he was about to make a toast. I had no idea when he’d even shown up. Thankfully.

I really didn’t need any bull from him. Especially not tonight.

Whispering into Red’s ear, I asked, “He knows?” I wasn’t one hundred percent sure whether I hoped he did or was in the dark.

Red shook his head, his expression serious as his eyes darted from me to his brother and back again. “He may be my brother, but that doesn’t mean I trust him.”

Wait! Was I talking to Maria, and I didn’t know it?

What was with people and their trust issues?

With siblings no less? Didn’t that run contrary to the whole family thing?

Not that I was one to know, having grown up as an only child only to recently discover I had four half sisters.

Okay, I was getting off track here, but Red’s comment was definitely something to unpack at a later time.

Preferably when I was wearing jeans. Or sweats.

Darn, how I wished I was in sweats right now.

Remind me again how I got roped into this?

I guess I didn’t respond fast enough for Red’s liking because he unnecessarily added, “He only knows what everyone else knows.” Yeah, got that.

“Oh, shit.” And I meant it. Watching the cocky grin that passed across Nate’s face, I had a feeling he wasn’t going to play nice.

“He’ll be cool.” Doubt that, but fine. “He dumped you, remember?”

I sucked in a breath of air. Wow, it was a real shocker how a man like Red wasn’t engaged for real by now. Maybe it was his way with words, but that was merely a guess. “Gee, thanks. Would you like to pour some acid on that wound?”

“Do you care?” he asked, a deep V forming between his brows.

I shook my head. I’d been honest with Red when I’d all but told him I didn’t care, and I didn’t, not even a little.

I was about to tell him that, too, but didn’t get to because Nate finally succeeded in getting the room’s attention and started talking.

He always did like to run that mouth of his, not that he ever used it for anything good, like eating me out.

“Red and Jade. Engaged. It’s almost unbelievable,” Nate started.

I could tell he was a little drunk with the way he stumbled over his words.

“I mean, Jade is a good appetizer, but main course? I never thought so. And I’d know because I dated her first. Did you all know that?

My brother always had an affinity for my leftovers, though.

Remember Veronica in high school?” He winked at Red, who only cringed in response.

“Someone take his drink. He’s obviously had too much already,” Red shouted in a light, easy tone, but eyed their mother just the same. Too bad it looked like she had no idea how to respond and only turned her attention to her second husband—Mack McGee.

As if he was well-versed in dealing with drunken baboons, Mack cleared his throat and called, “Why don’t you tell us all how you two got engaged, Red?” Then he walked over next to Nate and ushered him aside.

Maybe Mack was a bodyguard in a past life. Regardless, I was glad he was here to defuse the situation, instead of their father, Robert Lyons, who had a tendency to favor Nate and his idiocy.

Meanwhile, Red looked at me and squeezed my side where his hand was firmly planted like a doting, loving fiancé. “I think Jade tells the story best. Why don’t you tell everyone, honeybun?”

My brows furrowed not for the first time tonight as I shot him a look that I only hoped conveyed just how pissed I was with him.

Was he for real? We didn’t have a solid story concocted yet for that one—we should’ve but didn’t.

Way to throw me under the bus. Also, honeybun ?

What was with the pet name? I wasn’t one to retch in public, but if he kept this going, I just might.

Pet names and terms of endearment didn’t work coming out of Red’s mouth. We’d have to discuss that.

With a room full of eyes firmly planted on me, I smiled (even if it felt more like a grimace, I was going for a smile) and took a sip of bubbles before clearing my throat.

“Of course, it’s a great story.” One I’d be making up on the fly, thank you very much.

I could barely stand to wait to hear it myself.

I walked out of Red’s hold, not able to think clearly with him clinging to me, and started with the first thing that came to my mind.

“But you can really only appreciate it if you know how we got together, so I’ll start there.

” Good, Jade, go back in time to create an even bigger lie.

“It was late one night, and I needed something to do. So I called my friend, who just so happened to be at”—I looked around the room and searched my brain for a place—“the sex toy store.”

My eyes connected with Red, who looked like he was going to shit himself. Served him right. With a devious smile pulling at my lips, I went on. “And who else was there in the whips and chains aisle but Red. Remember it, honeybun ?”

Fifty shades of red, he only smiled back at me. It was a forced smile, but I didn’t think anyone else could tell. No, only the two people who knew the crock this all was knew the kind of smile he was wearing. “Mmhmm.”

“We got to talking, and he mentioned how he was looking for an assistant. Since I’m always the first to help a friend out, I offered my time.

You know, we can’t have a big, important man like Red Lyons going without, can we?

” I blew him a kiss as I took a step further away from him, if for no other reason than out of fear that he was going to lose his shit on me.

Probably later, though. You know, when we were alone.

After all, this was Red we were talking about.

He was raised to never air his dirty laundry in public.

Catching on, Red smiled and stepped toward me, his arms out. To those in the room, it looked like he was going to embrace me, but I think we both knew what he really wanted to do was choke me.

At my side, Red spoke directly to me. “They want to hear the proposal, not the whole story, right?”

A woman, who I’d sworn was an aunt on his dad’s side, called, “Tell us it’s romantic.” Then she gushed and held her hands together in anticipation.

Romantic? I could make it romantic, I supposed. Was the story of how we met not romantic? Sex toys were romantic, weren’t they? Unless—

Before I could drag him through the mud anymore, Red took over, his fingers brushing mine.

“Maybe I should tell the story,” he said and laughed, looking around the room full of his family and their friends and business colleagues.

“It was romantic actually.” He squeezed my ass, which earned him a head tilt that I only hoped conveyed the message fuck you .

“Jade here loves flowers. She’s really a softie at heart and such a giver.

” If only he knew what I’d have liked to give him right about now.

“Did you know she spends her time doing charity work when she isn’t helping me out at the office or working with her family at their fashion magazine.

You’ve heard of Bellissima , right?” So he was using my status as Regina’s daughter to make this whole thing appear more legit, like he wasn’t slumming it.

“Anyway, I decided if I was going to propose, then I was going to do it where she was happiest—delivering flowers to terminally ill patients at the hospital.” Was he trying to make it not believable?

“She came out of the last room she was visiting for the day, and I was on one knee at the nurses’ station, prepared to ask this amazing woman to be my wife. ”

I had to do something before I threw up from all this sweet shit.

Or worse, someone asked what hospital. So, I slipped my hand around Red’s neck (although, I would have liked to do a lot more than that) and sped things up.

“He proposed. I said yes.” My eyes were on his now.

I could only imagine what he was thinking.

“It was great. Magical. A story for the books.”

Suddenly, the room oohed and aahed, and my darling sister, Bianca—who I now hated—started everyone chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss.” When did she and the others come back inside? And since when was she such a Benedict Arnold?

“Try not to fall in love with me, okay?” Red whispered so only I could hear him before cradling the back of my neck and pushing me toward him, his lips coming down on mine without a moment’s notice.

My heart began to race, and butterflies were set free in my stomach. This was not sitting well with me. I tilted my head with every intention of parting my lips and taking this shit to the next level.

Why was this so good? I knew I was attracted to Red, but this was not what I was expecting.

It was like kisses in those girly movies—toe-curling.

I thought that was made up, a marketing ploy to make people watch more romance movies in hopes that they’d one day fall in love and get their happily ever after.

You know, the ones that started with their toes curling from a simple kiss.

Seriously, it was a simple kiss. I went to part my lips, but his lips were already off mine, his hand dropping from the back of my head as his eyes searched the room of people watching. Next time, buy tickets for admission to the circus show, asshats.

Eyes slightly wider than usual, I fought the urge to feel my lips and try to relive the kiss in my head. What in the world just happened? And why was he right when he’d said he was a skilled kisser? Not that I’d ever admit such a thing.

Everyone broke out in cheers or whoops or whatever noises they were making with their mouths as though they’d never seen two people kiss before.

Red turned and winked at me. “Just think, these lips are all yours for the taking.”

Ugh. Back to campaigning for exclusivity. “Yeah, sure.”

He smiled, like a full-on, I-know-I’m-a-great-kisser smile. Smug was not an appealing color on him. “You should consider yourself a very lucky woman.”

Oh, sure, I was the luckiest woman on the planet.

Quick, someone get me a scratch-off because I might actually win big this time.

The only lucky thing that had ever happened to me was when a bird pooped on my shoulder a couple months ago.

Although, it didn’t feel lucky, it felt shitty (no pun intended), and I had to throw away a perfectly good sweater because gross .

Then, I decided that kiss must have been a fluke. He’d known it was happening. He’d initiated it. It was time I ran a little experiment of my own before I went agreeing to this ridiculous exclusive crap. I needed to make sure for myself what I was getting out of this deal.

If he was so good (read: fantastic) at kissing, then he should be able to do it again when I caught him off guard and I initiated it.

Plan activated.