Page 25 of Filthy Commitments
He eyed me for a long moment then looked past me at Rock. “How’s the wife, Rock?”
“She’s doing fine, Mr. Simmons.”
“Glad to hear it. And you? How’ve you been?”
“Fine, just fine, sir. Thanks for asking.”
“You have a good day, Rock. It’s always a pleasure to see you.” Jett looked back at me and whispered. “Did that satisfy you, my dear?”
With a nod, I began to walk again. “It did, actually.”
He laughed and smacked my ass. “You have moxie, my little Asia. I have to give you that.”
We went into the house through a side door that looked like it might be a mudroom. Raincoats hung on hooks, galoshes of different colors and sizes were in a row on a shelf, and there were umbrellas in a stand. We walked through that room and into a state of the art kitchen where three women in white uniforms were busily preparing lunch.
Jett was breezy with them, “Hi all, how’s it going this fine day?”
“Fine, Mr. Simmons,” one of them said as she gave him a nod. “And this must be the wife we’ve been hearing your parents talk about.” The woman, who looked like she was in charge of the others, wiped her hands on a white towel that hung off her white apron. She came to me, and we shook hands. “I’m Cora, the Simmons’ chef.” She pointed to a short dark haired woman. “That’s Tanya, and the other one is Mary. If you have any dietary concerns or allergies, you let me know.”
“None that I know of.” I shook my head. “Nice to meet you all.” I found her nice and helpful too. So far, so good. But then again, I’d only met the staff. They were expected to be cordial with me. The guests most likely wouldn’t be.
“The family is in the solarium, soaking up the morning sun,” she informed us before she got back to work.
We left the kitchen, walked through a dining area with a bright white long table and chairs set. “This is one of the informal dining areas,” Jett said as we walked through it. The next room was a bar. “You can see what this room is.”
“Yes, it’s fairly obvious. The large, ornately carved wooden bar tells it all.”
He let go of my hand and went behind it. “Might as well mix up a couple of drinks while we’re here. It’ll help take the edge off what’s about to happen. We’ll be faced with tons of questions when we get in there.”
I took a seat on one of the bar stools. Although it was way too early for me, I didn’t say a word. If Jett wanted a drink this early, it meant we were in for it, and I wasn’t about to argue with him about it.
Filling two tall glasses with ice, he poured bourbon in his, filling it hallway.He was looking to calm some nerves alright!He finished it off with some soda. Then he reached for some rum, though is wasn’t coconut and wiggled the bottle at me. “Rum and lemon lime soda or something else?”
“Can I have what you’re having, but only about half as much liquor?”
With a nod, he fixed it up and then we each took our drinks. It wasn’t magic, and it didn’t soothe my nerves, but I knew in time it would help. He extended his arm. “You ready?”
“No.” I gave him a smile. “But I’ll pretend to be.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
Into the solarium, we went, where things were about to get real!
Jett
The time was at hand to lie again. My fake marriage had been going great, but could we pull it off with my whole family in the front row seats? The whiskey hadn’t had time to take affect and do its job, but I had hopes it’d kick in soon. I had Asia by the hand as we strode into the large, glass enclosed room.
Lounging around the area that was filled with chaise lounges were both sets of grandparents, my parents, and some woman I’d never met. A tall woman with long legs that extended out from under a pair of white shorts. High heeled, strappy sandals ended those long legs, and when I got up to her face, I found her smiling at me. She got up and came right to us. “You must be the happy new couple.”
I shook her hand as she gazed at me. “We are. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons. I’m Jett, she’s Asia. And you are?”
“I’m Janice Duncan. Your mother hired me to plan your coming out as a married couple party.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Janice.” Asia shook her hand. “But we don’t need a party.”
“Nonsense,” my mother said as she got up to come to us. “And I have another surprise for you two. We’ll make that announcement at your party, though. You’ll just have to wait for that one.” Mom took Asia by the hand. “Come with us, my dear. Jett isn’t into party planning. You, Janice and I will do it all.”
As I watched Asia get taken away, I felt panicky for a moment. “Wait!” They all three stopped and turned to look at me. “I want to introduce her to my grandparents, Mom.”
