Page 4 of The Fiancée Farce
Ashleigh blinked dumbly, red rising up her jaw. “I—I don’t.” She sniffed hard and lifted her chin. “But apparently Tansy does.”
Gemma pivoted, body turning slightly. She blinked twice at Tansy, her head tilting to match the curious quirk of her lips. Her hair spilled over her left shoulder like champagne, and her eyes,even greener up close, dragged slowly down Tansy’s body in a leisurely appraisal, lingering in ways that left Tansy light-headed.
No onelooked at Tansy like that, not with—with genuine appreciation. And why would they? She glanced down, following the path of Gemma’s gaze, trying to see what she saw, what could’ve inspired a look like that. Her dress was nothing special, a sleeveless A-line she’d had for years. If she were being generous, the soft shade of violet made the blue of her eyes a bit brighter than their everyday Seattle sky shade. Not that anyone could tell. Her gray cardigan covered her to the neck, because the yacht club ballroom was freezing.
She wasn’t exactly a bombshell. At first glance, Tansy honestly probably came across as a little boring. And that was okay. Boring was fine. Boring wassafe, because if no one noticed you, they couldn’t break your heart.
Gemma’s perfect white teeth sank into the plush swell of her bottom lip, her eyes flitting upward, crinkling softly at the corners. “Well,hello.”
Gemma was anything but boring. She was bold and brazen, the embodiment of everything Tansywasn’t. There was no reason for Gemma to pay Tansy a passing glance, let alone look at her twice.
Tansy fingered the topmost button of her cardigan and tried not to squirm under Gemma’s hot, heavy-lidded stare, confusion gnawing at her insides, panic ratcheting her pulse.
“What?” Madison’s gaze volleyed between Tansy and Gemma. “How?”
One of Gemma’s impeccably arched brows rose, the corner of her mouth rising, too, as if askingHow, indeed?
“Well,” Tansy started, not having a single clue what to say,knowing only that she needed to say something before someone else—
“She says you’re dating,” Ashleigh relayed with an inordinate amount of glee. “That you’ve been dating for the last six months.”
—said something for her.
Gemma’s other brow rose.
Madison’s jaw dropped. “Dating?”
Somehow Tansy’s stomach managed to sink farther, plummeting all the way to the sandy, seaweed-strewn bottom of the lake beneath the yacht club.
This was bad, yes, but there was a chance it was about to get a whole lot worse. What if Gemma wasn’t even interested in women? Sure, her stare hadseemedappreciative, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.
“You andTansy?” Tucker smoothed one hand down the buttoned front of his black-on-black jacquard suit jacket and shook his head, snorting dismissively.
Gemma’s eyes narrowed, gaze ping-ponging between Tansy and Tucker, her curious stare growing calculated.
A hot rush of blood raced to fill Tansy’s face, leaving her dizzy. This was it. The moment she’d been dreading; six months of lies were about to come crashing down around her.
“Six months, huh?” Gemma’s lips quirked. “I guess time really flies when you’re having fun.”
Tansy’s jaw dropped, her thoughts screeching to a violent standstill. “Um.”
Ashleigh’s smile wavered. “What the hell?”
Far be it for her to agree with Ashleigh, but she’d taken the words right out of Tansy’s mouth.
“Nice joke, Gemma.” Tucker’s eyes narrowed. “Real funny.”
Only, Gemma wasn’t laughing.
“No way,” Tucker muttered, suddenly looking a little less sure.
“Way.” Clearly, Gemma was deriving perverse pleasure in Tucker’s growing discomfort, in getting under his skin, and that sort of button-pushing shouldn’t have done it for Tansy, but it did. Itreallydid.
The queasy unease roiling in her gut relented, replaced with a—afluttering, the kind she hadn’t felt in years.Butterflies.
Oh, no. No, no. This... this wasbad.
Gemma circled the table, hips swaying softly, satin skimming the skin of her thigh with each languid step in Tansy’s direction. Gemma stopped beside her, and the baby-fine hairs at the nape of Tansy’s neck stood on end. Her breath hitched when Gemma reached out and tucked an errant lock of hair behind Tansy’s ear. Gemma’s fingers lingered, her rings cool against Tansy’s overheated skin, her thumb sweeping maddeningly against the sensitive spot beneath Tansy’s jaw. A spot Tansy hadn’t known was sensitive until Gemma touched it. Touchedher.
