Page 202 of Charming Deception

His thumb caresses my jaw. “I really didn’t understand why, until I fell for you. But I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m too much like our mom.”

That surprises me. “In what way?”

He sort of rolls his eyes. “Emotional. Moody. Capable of falling in love way too hard, and never coming back from it.”

I soften, and I don’t know what to say. Because truly, that sounds exactly like the Jameson I know.

“He thought the way my love life was headed,” he adds, “I’d end up with a broken heart. And maybe end up sullying the family name in the process. But in short, he was worried about me. He called me several times while we were in Crooks Creek to check on me. And you. He likes you, Megan. And he likes you for me. I think my whole family’s glad we’re engaged. They’re just cautious about outsiders. And like me, they’re slow to trust. But I trust you. And I’ll never hold anything back from you ever again, I promise you that.”

“I believe you.”

“You do?”

“Yes. Because I know you, Jameson.” I gaze at him adoringly. “There’s this thing in romance writing called a cinnamon roll hero. That’s you. I just want to keep peeling back your layers and licking the sugar I find inside.”

Now his eyebrow creeps up.

“You’re a romantic,” I go on, “and an honest person, even though you know how to create an illusion and make people believe what you want them to. You believe in happily ever after, and you want one, with someone like me. Someone you can trust.” I try to do that thing he did in Crooks Creek, where he listed off all those things he knew about me that I didn’t even know he’d noticed. “You clearly love dogs, but maybe you felt guilty when your dog died because you weren’t home enough and you thought you weren’t ready to be a dog dad, so you didn’t let yourself get a new one even though you have a ton of love to give. You live in this giant house alone with that big guest wing, because you hate being alone and lonely, and you want all your friends to be welcome, all the time. This challenge was extra hard on you because you thought it put a rift between you and other people, but in the end, it just brought you so much closer to me, and maybe to Graysen, too, than you ever imagined it could.”

“You’re scaring me right now. I didn’t know you were a mind reader.”

“I’m not. I’ve just learned how to read you. And I have more.”

“Shit…”

“You like to pretend you’re in control of your time, but in reality, you’re so devoted to your family and your business, you work more than you’ll ever admit. You actually love working with your hands, and helping your handyman whenever you can around the house. You like simple things, like local food and watching the sunset over the water from your patio and daydreaming about the future, and shooting hoops and drinking whiskey. And you love hockey. That’s part of why you admire Cole. Because you wanted to be a hockey player when you grew up, and you were angry that your mom moved you to France and you didn’t get to play anymore. And you’ve struggled to forgive her for abandoning you for her new life. You’ve been single and alone for so long, because you’re scared to fall in love and end up like your parents. But more than anything, you want a family of your own, to try to make up for your lonely childhood.”

“Jesus,” is all he says.

“And maybe you resent Graysen for knowing you better than you know yourself, because you never thought he understood you like that. You think you’re different, but you’re not that different. You may be years apart, but you grew up in the same home. You just processed your pain differently. You cope differently. But maybe he knew the exact challenge you needed to face. Even if it seemed nonsensical at first.”

“Yeah.” This time, he sounds defeated. “Fuck, I kind of love him for that.”

I laugh a little. “Maybe a challenge isn’t so bad. Maybe the people around you, those who know you best and love you through it all, should challenge you. If you’re not being challenged, you’re not really growing, right?”

His lips quirk. “Sure. There are probably better ways to go about it.”

“Not if you’re a game master.”

He smiles. I can tell he appreciates that I can see the cunning in what his grandfather set out to do.

“Do you feel like you grew from this challenge?”

“Hell, yes. I feel like everything I’ve been through, every moment of my life was orchestrated to get me here. To you.”

He goes down on one knee, so suddenly, I don’t see it coming.

“Um. What’s happening?”

He swallows, looking up into my eyes. “Sit down, Megan.”

I almost crumple. He guides me to sit down right in front of him, on the edge of the sofa.

He takes my hands in his. “I tried to prove my love to you publicly, to please my brother. The flashy ring. The press. And I didn’t fully understand why you didn’t believe it. But then I realized, you thought I was lying to you, because you thought I was also lying to the world about how I feel about you. When all that time, I should’ve been proving to you that it was real—right here, between the two of us.”

“Jameson…” I sigh softly, happily.

“The truth is, I didn’t lie to anyone. Everything I said from the start, everything I told my family about why I love you, is true. I meant every word of it.”

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