Page 44 of Until Then

With a quick nod from me, Noah tells him the truth. I want to fall into the cracks in the marble floor and never resurface. What will his brother think? They already know I ghosted Noah months ago, now I’m basically using him for a financial reason.

The mortification of it all tightens my throat.

“You’re going to pretend to date?” Rees looks between us, voice hardly above a whisper.

“That’s the plan,” Noah says.

I anticipated his brother to rant about the stupidity of it all. Instead, Rees laughs, grinning.

“Oh, be ready for the consequences of that choice.” Vienna approaches, looking equally pleased. “Hayley, for your wedding, what color of dress should I get? Just to be prepared.”

What is happening?

Noah rolls his eyes. “I told you Rees and Vi would understand. They did the same thing, Wildfire.”

“For a wedding, actually.” Rees rubs the back of his neck. “This is a little eerie—the twin thing and all that.”

“Wait.” I hold out a hand. “You two pretended to date?”

Vienna nods. “Rees needed help for a wedding weekend, convincing all these guys he had a nice girlfriend. I thought we were pretty convincing, Darcy. Don’t you?”

“I was convinced.” Noah looks to me. “That weekend is when Briar met them too. She had no clue for a long time either.”

“So you faked it, then . . .”

Vienna holds Jude on her hip, but leans her head on Rees’s shoulder. “Then it wasn’t so fake. So back to wedding colors.”

“Okay, Vi,” Noah says. “Chill out. This is my mistake and Hayley is saving my face.”

“Well, you’re helping the kids. The kids, Pretty Boy.” I almost dare laugh about the whole thing when I throw his words back at him.

“Be careful,” Rees says softly. “It can backfire. How do you plan to handle Dad and Justine?”

Noah runs his fingers through his hair, a habit I’m beginning to recognize as his unease. “Avoid phone calls?”

“Won’t work. Dad pulls out his old interrogation tactics.”

Vienna snickers. “Lee is exactly why Rees made our little agreement.”

“He’s intimidating.” Rees looks back at Noah. “Look, you always have my back, so we’ll play along if you need us to.”

“Thanks. I’m sure you’ll get a few questions,” Noah admits. “Do your famous glare and no comment for me.”

“Gladly.” Rees’s face goes slack. “I love scaring the pappos.”

Vienna shakes her head. “You love pretending like you’re all grumpy and sharp nails.” She looks back to me. “He’s really all soft and fluffy inside.”

Rees lets out a rough grumble and pulls his wife closer to his side, looking at her like she’s his obsession. In truth, it’s the way every woman deserves to be looked at by her man.

Jude starts yawning and rubbing his eyes. Noah signs he loves him, then talks about sandcastles until the little boy is grinning as his snuggles against his mom’s shoulder.

“Call us,” Rees says. “We can stay here longer if you need alibis.”

“Good to know you’re a partner in crime, Reesie.”

I wave with a touch of hesitation as they turn to leave for their hotel.

“All right, Wildfire?” Noah’s deep, silky voice cracks through the nerves.

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