Page 60 of Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Shit, I am falling.

He startled at the realization, but oddly the thought didn’t make him panic. It made him happy, and damned if he didn’t want to do everything in his power to make Cassie happy, too.

CHAPTER 20

The other night had been a surprising blast. Cassie couldn’t remember the last time she enjoyed herself so much. Turned out dating her fake fiancé was really fun. She shook her head as she stepped into one of the local clothing stores that sold her jewelry, Blithe Boutiques. Olive and Apple—yes, those were in fact their real names—the seventy-something sisters who ran the shop—grinned like twin Cheshire cats as she placed their order of two dozen necklaces and earrings down on the counter. Olive grinned because she was permanently happy, and Apple’s thin lips maybe had the slightest curl to them. There was a reason her nickname around town was Crab Apple, and it wasn’t because the woman liked the sour fruit.

“What?” Cassie said, feeling awkward under their stares.

Olive shrugged, smile never wavering. “Nothing.”

Yeah, much like the terribly uncomfortable lace thongs they sold in their store, Cassie wasn’t buying it. “Come on. Just spit it out.”

Apple picked up a basket of silk scarves and started folding, wrinkled mouth pinching as her semi-smile tightened. “Oh, it’s nothing big. We were just wondering how you managed to nail down Kismet’s sexiest bachelor.”

Nothing her ass! She knew her and Del’s upcoming nuptials would be the talk of the town. Kismet gossiped worse than a middle-schooler with unlimited Internet access. But she hadn’t expected it to spread this fast.

“Oh, I don’t know if he’s the sexiest, Apple.” Olive fanned herself with the deep blue scarf she held in her hand. “I think the twins could give young Del a run for his money. Especially that BJ. Mmm, I don’t usually find men with long hair attractive, but that boy makes it work. Of course, Ace is handsome, too.”

“Yes, but Ace is too serious. I like my men to smile. The broody look just doesn’t do it for me. I’m cranky enough. I don’t need a man to match my sour mood. I still think Del wins because he had that charming wink that can make a woman’s panties drop.”

“If I were just twenty years younger I’d take him upstairs and show him—”

Her jaw dropped. “Didn’t you two used to babysit Del?”

Olive chuckled. “Why yes, dear, but that was at least two decades ago, and the boy has grown up since then.”

“Very well, I might add.” The older sister bobbed her pencil-drawn eyebrows.

Sourness coated the back of Cassie’s throat. This was it; she was going to lose her pastrami on rye all over the Blithe sisters’ lovely silk scarf collection. She’d have horrible mental scarring and be out hundreds of dollars in therapy.

“Too bad you snatched him up first,” the older sister sighed. “If I’d have known he went for cougars, I might have made a pass for him.”

Hey! “I’m only two years older than him.” Hardly a cougar. The age difference wouldn’t be noticed if the roles were reversed. Men married younger women all the time, but the minute an older woman married a younger man, she got a stupid name like cougar. The title didn’t even make any sense. Were there giant cats out in the wild mating with much younger cats? Who thought up that stupid name anyway?

“True, dear.” The younger Blithe smiled sweetly. “The age difference isn’t that shocking. I think what everyone finds astounding is how you two managed to keep your relationship secret for so long.” Dark brown eyes stared with a speculative glint.

“Yes, and why it was all so hush-hush in the first place?”

Cassie glanced back and forth between the two nosy women, twisting a curl around her finger as she spoke. “We, um, didn’t want anyone to know in case things went south. With me being Charlie’s best friend and all, we didn’t want to mess up any family or friend dynamic if we broke up.”

The two women shared a glance before turning back to her. Olive smiled wide while Apple narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“And now, since you’re getting married and will live happily ever after, it’s all out in the open.” Olive held a wrinkled hand over her heart. “How romantic.”

“Happily ever after my hiney,” Apple scoffed. “I’ve got two ex-husbands that would disagree. You better hope it all works out, missy, or that dynamic you worried about with a breakup will be a volcanic explosion after a divorce.”

“Apple!” Olive chided. “Don’t say things like that. Delta is a lovely boy, and I’m sure they’ll be very happy together. Just because you have terrible taste in men, doesn’t mean you need to scare poor Cassandra. Don’t give the girl cold feet.”

Her feet were far from cold. Her heart however…encased in a block of terrified ice. They’d discussed getting a divorce after a set amount of time for the marriage to look real. She hoped they could do it amicably without causing any damage to the Jackson family. It certainly wouldn’t hurt her, right? Why would it hurt to end a relationship where no feelings are involved?

The ice spread from her chest all the way down to her toes. She could repeat the falsehood of their relationship to herself as much as she wanted. She didn’t want to face the tiny voice inside her warning that feelings were very much involved. A lot of them. And they’d started long before she and Del ever slept together. Having sex only intensified them. She cared for him. A lot. And the thought of not being with him left a sharp pain in her chest. One she very much feared would never heal.

Crap on a cracker.

“You two are going to be fine, dear.” Olive patted Cassie’s hand again. “Right, Apple?”

“Yes, life is all sunshine and unicorn farts, and no one ever cheats on you with their tarty twenty-five-year-old secretary. You’ll have two point five kids, live in a house with a white picket fence and drown under a mountain of debt.”

---