I walked the few strides through the brush, and when I came out on the driveway, I saw a blond woman talking to Grayson in front of a small red sports car. They both turned, obviously having heard me, and so I didn’t turn back as I had first intended upon spotting them. Instead, I walked to where they stood. As she watched me approach, the woman had a look on her face as if she’d just tasted something sour.
I held out my hand when I got to them. “Hi, I’m Kira.”
The woman looked down at my hand as if I were offering her a dead fish but finally grasped the tips of my fingers and shook it weakly. Okay. “I’m Jade. I stopped by to see if I could cook dinner for Grayson tonight at my place.” She looked sweetly at him, batting her false eyelashes. A heavy aroma of artificial peaches hung on her, but I couldn’t deny she was pretty. If you liked that type. Which Grayson obviously did.
I glanced at him and found him looking me over with an expression that seemed intense and…angry? What did I do now? His mood swings would eventually give me whiplash.
I shifted on my feet, realizing how terrible I must look. I could feel that my face was still flushed from my dream and knew my hair must be in wild disarray as it always was after I’d slept. My dress was ripped and wrinkled and disheveled and…I was the exact opposite of this coiffed beauty standing in front of me. I ran my tongue along my bottom lip nervously, feeling insecure and hating it.
I waited for him to tell this woman I was his wife.
Grayson looked back to Jade. “Sure, that sounds good.”
I felt my eyes widen and I let out a tiny gasp. He was going to take Jade up on her offer to cook him dinner after he’d turned me down for dinner on our wedding day? What if someone saw them? What if Jade had a big mouth and spread the word that she was dating Grayson? My heart pounded and my skin felt suddenly itchy.
My husband was going on a date on our wedding day. My husband was going on a date on our wedding day. I had the sudden, intense desire to double over with laughter.
Only you, Kira. Only you would be in a situation like this.
“Just give me two minutes to clean up,” Grayson said to Jade.
“Sure thing, babe.” She smiled sweetly at him. Babe. This woman had just called my fake husband babe. “You can shower at my place if you want.” Her lips turned up in the form of a smile, but her eyes shot daggers at me.
Grayson walked into the house, and Jade and I stood staring at each other. “So who are you exactly, Kira?” Jade asked.
Why, I’m his wife, peaches. I hope you have a lovely evening on your date. It took everything in me not to say that. I had agreed we should carry on as usual as long as we were discreet, although I hardly thought this qualified. Still, it was up to Grayson to handle this situation with Jade. I hadn’t actually done any secretarial or accounting work for Grayson yet, but I suddenly remembered I had offered to. “I’m, um, his new secretary slash accountant slash…well.” I’d let that well sum up the other stuff. Little did she know, it was a mighty big well.
She narrowed her eyes at me, glancing down at my bare feet and then behind me from the direction I’d walked. “Do you…live here?”
We both looked up to see Grayson trotting back down the stairs. He barely had enough time to wash his hands and splash some cold water on his face. Apparently he either didn’t care that Jade would enjoy him in all his sweaty glory or he planned on taking her up on her offer to shower at her place. A flash of her in the kitchen cooking him dinner as he came up behind her in a small towel to kiss the back of her neck suddenly came to mind. And why oh why did that vision bother me so much?
Idiot, Kira!
“Ready?” Grayson asked Jade.
“Mmhmm,” she said. “Kira here was just telling me she’s your new secretary slash accountant slash…” We both stared at her, waiting for her to continue, and she stared at us, evidently waiting for one of us to say something too. She’d obviously picked up on the weightiness of that well and it’d bothered her.
Grayson cleared his throat. I coughed. Jade narrowed her eyes farther and stepped closer to Grayson, clearly staking her claim. “And you live here now?” she asked again.
“Yes. I’m staying over there.” I waved my hand in the direction of the gardener’s cottage. As if it were completely normal for secretaries to live in on-site, grimy tool storage sheds.
Jade wrinkled up her cute, little nose. “Eww! That ugly shack buried in the woods that you can barely see from the driveway? There must be rats in there.” She appeared satisfied by the news, as though the knowledge of where I’d been placed spoke of Grayson’s feelings for me. Which wasn’t entirely untrue and was perhaps why it’d stung. I resisted gritting my teeth. And anyway, who said that about someone’s…home? Temporary home, but still!
I widened my eyes and began speaking breathily. “Oh yes! There are. Snakes and spiders too,” I said excitedly. “They’re very shy though. The rats are the friendliest. In just a short time, I’ve grown close to a husband and wife named Ogilthorpe and Ortensia,” I said, shooting a look at Grayson. He stared back at me blankly. I returned my gaze to Jade and carried on. “And I’m pretty sure Ortensia is pregnant!” I put one finger on my chin in thought. “I’ll have to come up with some O names before the little rat babies arrive. If you have any good suggestions, let me know.” I gave her a fake grin, resisting the urge to cross my eyes.
Her features screwed up in an expression of disgust, and Grayson turned slightly and coughed into his hand, but I swore I saw his lip twitch slightly before he covered his mouth.
“Let’s go,” Jade said to Grayson, ignoring me.
“I assume you’ll find a way to entertain yourself tonight?” Grayson asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh, no doubt I will,” I said, giving him a small, phony smile.
His eyes lingered on my face for the space of several heartbeats and then he turned away with Jade. When they reached her car, she turned to him and said loudly enough for me to hear, “I don’t like her. She’s weird.”
If Grayson commented, he said it softly enough that I couldn’t hear.
I watched as the car turned, drove down the driveway, and disappeared out of sight.
It was only a matter of time before my father knew this marriage was a total ruse. Not even one day had gone by and Grayson was going to ruin everything by going on a date. As I turned and marched back toward my shack, I made a concerted effort to control my rapid breathing.
If there were ever a day that had called for wine, and lots of it, this one did. And how lucky for me, I lived at a winery!
CHAPTER NINE
Grayson
“Thanks,” I said, stepping out of Jade’s car. She gave me a tight smile and waved, no doubt disappointed about where the night had gone, or not gone as the case was. I didn’t generally go back for seconds, but I had had every intention of working off some steam in Jade’s bed. However, once we’d eaten some dinner at her apartment and she’d pushed me down on her couch and started pawing at me, all I could think about was the fact that it was my wedding day. Which was so fucking annoying because it wasn’t like my wedding day meant anything at all. But in the end, it just seemed in bad taste to sleep with one woman on the day I’d given my name—temporarily or not—to another. I wouldn’t call it honor because, clearly, I didn’t have a lot of that, but it just felt…distasteful, wrong. And so before she’d even kissed me, I’d asked her to drive me home.