Page 31 of Flyboy
"Why not? There is no point taking two cars when we're going to the same place."
"We're not going to the same place."
"Ah, yes we are." He shot her a confused frown. "We're going to work. You said you were covering Maz's shift today, right?"
Frustration made her grit her teeth. "Yes, butafterwork tomorrow I have to go to the bank, pick up a check, then take it to the real estate office where I need to sign the final paperwork for the new house, andthenI have to go back to the bank with the completed paperwork so they can take copies to put in my file."
"Okay. I'll go with you to do all that."
"Why the hell would you go with me, Jack? I don't need you to hold my hand while I buy my house."
"That's not what I'm suggesting."
"Then what are you suggesting?"
He seemed genuinely confused. That made two of them. She was confused as to why he'd even think he would go with her.
Shrugging he said, "I don't know. I just figured we would run your errands together."
"Yeah, well, you figured wrong." She frowned at his left hand. "And why are you still wearing your ring? You need to take it off before we get to work." She'd taken hers off the minute she'd arrived home last night.
"What? Why?" He flexed his hand on the wheel, his gaze dropping for a second before he returned it to the road and scowled at the car in front of them.
"Because no one is supposed to know we're married." She didn't want to have to explain things to anyone. Shit, she couldn't explain it to herself, no way in hell she could explain it to someone else. And what would people think when they found out she married Jack to get guardianship of Penny?
"But—"
"No buts. I've got enough to worry about with closing on the house and moving." Not to mention Gina. Last night after they landed in Sunnyville, she'd switched her phone on and was bombarded with several missed call notifications and while the number wasn't in her contacts, she had known who it belonged to.
This morning she'd woken to a string of text messages from the same number that had put her in a bad mood before Jack arrived on her doorstep to take her to pick up her car. At least that was where she thought he was taking her.
Apparently not.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to rein in her anxiety about Gina, her concerns about their marriage of convenience—Jack's words, not hers, and no, she wasn't upset by that descriptionat all—her worry over her ever-growing pile of bills and moving to a new house while Penny was preparing for end of year finals.
There was so much going on she really shouldn't have agreed to cover Maz's shift. Except after Saturday night and how drunk she'd gotten herself and her friend, Alyssa felt as though she owed Maz. Besides, Maz offered to come over a couple days this week to help her pack, and she wasn't going to knock that back in spite of her guilt over the weekend.
She'd just have to make sure Penny didn't mention the events of this past weekend. Or Jack. No doubt he'd be around offering to help her get ready for the move. Just from this conversation it seemed as though he thought she needed a hand with everything. She couldn't decide if that made her feel thankful or annoyed.
As usual when it came to Jack, her emotions were in a chaotic tangle. And now they'd complicated things more by getting married.
"Look. I know we haven't had time to really talk about what happened. Other than your friend Keaton getting everything together for my lawyer, I haven't had a chance to think about everything else us being married will affect," she explained.
"It shouldn't affect anything except our living arrangements."
"See, that's where you're wrong. There's so much that piece of paper changes." She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. "I can't deal with it now. I'm working today as a favor to Maz, so I've had to push around a few things which means the rest of the week is going to be hectic and—"
"I'll help with that."
"Help with what?"
"Anything. Everything. Whatever. I'm working today and Thursday, otherwise I'm free. I can pack, cart boxes to the new place when you get the keys, take Penny where she needs to be, and organize meals so you don't have to."
God. The man just kept on giving. His generosity had driven her a little crazy before Penny had arrived in her life and in the three months since her sister had shown up, Jack had helped out as much as she'd let him. Hell,morethan she'd let him because he tended to see a need and take care it—he kind of took over. She hated it. And loved it.
She couldn't lie to herself though. He'd helped her out in a number of situations in recent months that had saved her and Penny. She'd never had anyone she could rely on before Jack, and she'd like to say she'd embraced his help, but she hadn't. No, like a complete bitch she'd fought him over it and now she'd tied him to her because being married might mean getting the situation with Penny changed from temporary to permanent.
Fuck. She was an ungrateful cow. "I'm sorry," she murmured.
