Page 68 of Flyboy
Frowning, she reached for the plate and two bottles the barista put on the counter. Realizing she was scaring the girl, she forced her mouth into a smile and said, "Thanks."
When Alyssa made it to the table, she interrupted a lively conversation about wedding dates. "You two need to pick one and stick to it," she told Maz and Ry.
"I said the same," Jack stood, pulling out the chair beside him for her. "A date, like a location, isn't really important anyway; it's the people saying I do."
Alyssa avoided his gaze as she took her seat. She'd heard him say something similar before.
"So, we should just do it as soon as possible then," Maz said, grabbing a piece of golden toast and turning to Ry. "We could get Jack to fly us to Vegas this weekend."
Jack choked and Alyssa spat her mouthful of water on the table in front of her.
"What? What the hell was that?" Maz asked, her gaze darting between them.
"Ah…" She used the napkin Jack handed her to wipe her chin then the table.
"Why do you both have guilty looks on your faces?" Maz turned to Ry again. "Are you seeing this or is pregnancy brain screwing with me?"
"Nope. Your hormones aren't doing that." Ry waved a hand at them.
"The tunnel of love does a decent—"
"Jack!" She dropped the napkin and slapped her hand over his mouth.
Too late Alyssa realized she'd revealed more by her actions than Jack's words had.
"Oh, this is good. What have we missed? I knew something was going on. Did you two run away to Vegas and get married or something?"
Alyssa felt heat creep up her neck and fill her face. She could feel Jack smile against her palm. Shit. They weren’t getting out of explaining. She had hoped to talk to Jack about their marriage before anyone found out. Now she had permanent guardianship of Penny, the reason for them tying the knot no longer applied and she wondered if he would want a divorce.
Weeks ago Jack had asked to make their marriage a real one but that was before he'd told her who he really was and she still hadn't come to terms with that revelation.
What would people say when the truth came out?
If they knew about Gina, they'd think the worst. They'd think Alyssa was a gold digger. That she'd tricked Jack into marrying her.
"You did!" Maz sat forward in her seat. "You ran away to Vegas and got married!"
"It's not what you think," Alyssa argued. She took her hand off Jack's mouth.
"Oh. So, youdidn'tget married?"
"No. Yes." Shit. How did she explain it?
"We are married." Jack held up his hand, the ring she'd asked him to remove firmly back on his finger. Without a care for where they were, he reached into the neck of her shirt and pulled out the chain she kept her rings on.
"Oh, that's gorgeous." Maz leaned over, placing her palm beneath the rings for a better look. "That must have set you back," she said to Jack.
Alyssa couldn't hold back her snort. Like the cost of her rings would put a dent in Jack's money.
"It's not real?" Ry asked.
"It's real," Jack confirmed. "It's a family heirloom. It belonged to my great-grandmother and then my mother; now it's Lys's."
Oh. She hadn't known that. She thought he'd bought it for her. At the time she'd thought it extravagant. Now, she couldn't decide what to think. He'd not only given her a real diamond, he had given her a family treasure. She'd have to give it back. There was no way she could keep it even if they stayed married.
"Jack," she whispered. "You shouldn't—"
This time it was his hand clamping over her mouth. "Don't say it," he mumbled directly into her ear before turning to Ry and Maz to say, "We haven't told anyone yet because we were waiting for the court to award Lys permanent guardianship of Penny. That happened yesterday. We'd like to take a few days before we let the cat out of the bag though. I'm sure we can trust you both to keep this quiet for now."
