Page 19 of Forgettable in Every Way

No one had ever accused me of being a fun girl. I was steady and stable, invisible, even. Not that I didn’t like adventures. But I wasn’t the go-crazy, woo-hoo kind of adventurer. For the record, my mom never came off as a fun girl either. I’m not sure what had gotten into her since Simon appeared.

I took the pitcher from Jack and set it on the table. “Thank you, Sir Jack.” I pulled out the chair next to me for the cutest kid, hoping Mom would get the hint and forgo her weird obsession with the man I loved, especially given that his son was present. That was wishful thinking.

“Tell me which one is safe to listen to in front of little ears.” Mom eagerly scrolled on her phone.

I rolled my eyes. This was getting ridiculous. I guess I should have been grateful she remembered a child was among us.

Simon reached across the rectangular table and grabbed my mom’s phone. “I know just the one.” Why was he playing along?

Would it be immature if I plugged my ears or ran away screaming? The last thing I needed in my life, besides seeing the object of my desire mostly naked, was to hear him speak sexy words that fueled romantic interludes. But before I knew it, Simon’s delicious voice filled the evening air, making everything around me still; even the breeze and the birds that had just been chirping stopped to listen.

“All I had to do was take one look at her and I knew I would do whatever it took to make her mine. Her dark hair begged for my fingers to run through and tangle themselves while I owned her mouth with my tongue.”

Holy. Holy. Hell. If he considered that tame, I couldn’t imagine what the NSFW books were like.

My mom was so taken in by his rich voice pronouncing every syllable with sinful perfection, it looked like she stopped breathing. Most unfortunately, I could relate. I just hoped she wasn’t picturing Simon tangling his fingers in her hair and owning her mouth. Not to say I wasn’t imagining him doing the very same things to me. It was easy to do, as I had already had that fantasy about a thousand times.

“Oh wow,” Mom breathed out when she hit pause. Bless her. I wasn’t sure I could take much more before I lost my dignity and begged Simon to love me. No wonder Calista had attacked Tristan the night before.

“Well, it’s not as thrilling as being a spy princess like Jules, but it pays the bills.”

Mom tilted her head. “Spy princess?”

I took my seat near Jack and waved my hand around. “It’s just something Calista teases me about.”

Mom pressed her lips together. “That Monroe girl is trouble. You need to be careful around her.”

“She’s a doctor, Mom.” I didn’t bother hiding my irritation. “And she’s an amazing friend and person.” Someone who actually sees me. Yes, she’d totally turned the high school upside down with all her pranks in her younger years. And maybe she’d rescued—okay, stolen—a bunch of puppies a long time ago from a filthy puppy mill. But she was honestly the best person I knew.

Mom scoffed. She counted herself a good acquaintance of Tristan’s parents. My parents were wealthy, but not rich enough to be actual friends with the Grangers.

“Don’t you remember how much she helped us with Dad last Christmas after he had his stroke?” I reminded her.

Mom cleared her throat and sat up straight. “Well, I suppose she has her moments. But what is this spy nonsense?”

“You don’t know that your daughter helps catch criminals?” Simon seemed more than curious.

I whipped my head in his direction. He wasn’t being helpful at all. “I don’t ...” Well, I actually did help catch criminals, but no one was really supposed to know that. Mostly, I prevented criminal activity.

“No she doesn’t,” Mom said, like that was the most preposterous thing she had ever heard. “She’s just a software developer.”

Just being the key word to her.

“Yeah, I’m just a software developer.” I pulled out my chair and sank into it, ignoring the tender look Simon gave me while he sat next to me. Instead, I turned to Jack, who was patiently waiting for us to eat. I set a plate in front of him as Simon squeezed my knee. Worse, he left his hand there, torturing me. His touch sent a jolt of electricity through me, making me jump and turn his way.

His eyes bored right into mine.

“I’m sorry to hear your father had a stroke,” he said with all the concern of a good friend.

The thing was, he wasn’t a good friend. I used to think he was the best friend a girl could ask for, but all it took was one look at Penelope, and in an instant, I was nothing to him. What made it worse was, he was everything to me. At least everything I wanted in the person I wished to share my life with. “Thank you,” I whispered before ripping my gaze away from him.

Simon was determined not to be ignored. His thumb glided over my knee repeatedly.

I stilled, remembering I had been here before with him. How many times had we sat waiting for a call from his agent to see if he’d gotten a part? During those sweet moments that meant so much to me, he would hold my hand, squeeze my knee, even kiss my head, trying to keep his nerves under control. Of course, it only gave me false hope that he had more than friendly feelings for me. But that was just his way. I couldn’t afford to fall back into old habits with him, because from the moment I met him, I loved him, and my heart couldn’t take any more blows.

Before I could brush his hand away, he whispered in my ear, catching me off guard. “You’re hiding something, Jules. You’re not a software developer, are you? I think you really are a spy princess.”

I hated and loved that he still knew me well enough to know I was keeping secrets. I prayed he would never know my biggest secret—that I loved him.

---