Page 128 of Tangled Like Us
Charlie overhears and he calls out to us. “Until you two stop fake dating.” His yellow-green eyes pierce me. “Then you turn back into a pumpkin.”
We hold each other’s gaze.
He’s callingmethe Cinderella in all of this.
And maybe he’s right.
I am coming from nothing suddenly being welcomed into a world that I don’t belong in. An uncomfortable tension winds between Jane and me. Security is holding the “end” of the fake dating op over our heads. I hate that it could come sooner than Halloween. I hate that I can’t do shit about that.
Mostly, I hate when we have to breakup, I won’t be able to call her beautiful. Not out loud. It’ll stay in my head. Like it always has before.
26
THATCHER MORETTI
Dear Jane,
I hope you’re doing well. I realize now that my earlier intentions to set you up with a respectable man, while well-meaning, were misplaced since you have already found yourself a boyfriend. I’d love to meet him and have the chance to speak to you in person. Let me know if you’d be free for an afternoon tea this weekend.
Love,
Grandmother Calloway
That emailstill rips through my head. Jane showed it to me yesterday and stated plainly, “I have to put this whole ordeal to bed. And the only way to do that is to meet with my grandmother and tell her what’s on my mind.” I don’t blame her. Grandmother Calloway has been too quiet, too silent, and she’s always worse when she’s lurking in the fucking shadows.
So Jane accepted the invitation.
And now we’re sitting on a leather couch in the infamous Avondale Club. Cigar smoke wafts in the poorly lit parlor, and cocktail tables, couches and chairs are all filled with blue-blooded aristocrats.
Jane tucks her pastel-sequined purse closer to her stomach. We sit side-by-side but turned into each other. Knees knocking. Legs brushing. My hand feels glued to the inside of her thigh, like that’s where it was always meant to be.
Her eyes flit around the room before settling on me. “She’s late.”
I go to touch my mic, thinking I can radio to see her grandmother’s whereabouts, but my fingers brush the fabric of my collar. No wire.
No mic.
No comms.
I’m off-duty. Here as Jane’s boyfriend only.
I don’t fucking hate it. But I do wish I at least had my taser. Not that I’d tase her grandmother. I’d tase one of these pricks that keep leering at her from across the room. Two targets are at a high-top table by the window, puffing on cigars, and eyeing her up and down like they’re etching her body into their memories.
That,I hate.
I wrap an arm around Jane’s waist, trying to ease her tension in a different way. “I can go ask Banks if he has any word on her ETA.”
My brother sits with Akara on the first lounge, raised a couple steps above the parlor and separated by a mahogany half-wall.
The Avondale Club has been a topic among security since I first joined. Only a handful of the Hales, Meadows, and Cobalts attend. Even less do so regularly. Cell phones aren’t allowed beyond the doors, and the country club’s own security is so tight that our guys aren’t even permitted past the first lounge.
But from that vantage, you can still clearly see the main parlor and do your job. Honest, most of the guys on the team just want to see the inside. To say they’ve been here. A place only the most affluent will ever gather.
For the most part, being stuck at the club all day on duty is considered dull work. And after the second time a bodyguard has to go, they’ll start complaining real fucking fast.
I’ve always thought the longer I worked in security, one day I’d probably make it here.
I just never thought it would be as a boyfriend.Fakeboyfriend.
