Page 43 of A Chance for Us
I turn back to Oliver and give him the lowdown, but the abridged version. “I wanted you to meet my bosses before the event since you’re supposed to already know them,” I explain. “I . . . forgot about that part since you know, he doesn’t know that you’re not the Oliver I was marrying a few days ago.”
Oliver gets up, extending his hand to me. I rise, fixing my rumpled dress as Oliver turns his back to the door and straightens his own clothing. Once we’re both presentable, I open the door, and Mark grins at me with one brow raised. “And what exactly were the bride and groom doing in here?”
“Zip it,” I warn.
He laughs, elbowing Jackson. “I think we interrupted.”
Jackson looks at my face. “I think so.”
“Just get in here and don’t be jerks, please. It’s been a hard week, and I’d like you to meet Oliver.”
They both chuckle. “I’m sure something is hard,” Mark can’t seem to help himself.
When they walk in, they come to a stop. “Umm, who is this?”
I clear my throat. “Jackson Cole, Mark Dixon, meet Oliver, my fiancé. Kind of.”
The two of them glance at each other and then back to me. Jackson gets ahold of himself first. “I’m confused, where is Oliver?”
Glad they’re so smart. “I have no idea. The last time I talked to him, he dumped me.”
“When? Why?”
Jackson speaks next. “I’ll kill him.”
“Calm down. It’s fine because . . .”Because I’m falling for my new fake fiancé who is named Oliver.“. . . it just is.”
Mark’s eyes narrow. “How is it fine? I never liked him. He has shifty eyes. Never trust a man with shifty eyes. That’s what I always say.”
“When the hell do you say that?” Jackson asks.
“All the time. Catherine is right, you don’t listen.”
I sigh heavily, gaining both men’s attention. “Back to why you’re both here. I would like you to meet my new fiancé.”
“Wait, what? How in the span of two weeks did you get dumped and engaged again?”
“If you would let me speak, I can explain,” I say with exasperation. Some days I love my bosses, today not so much.
I walk over to Oliver and grip his arm. “This is Oliver Parkerson. We have been friends since we were in college, and . . . well, he’s helping me. Also, he’s signed all the necessary paperwork for the company.”
“Okay, but helping you how?” Jackson asks.
I sigh and then launch into the entire story. By the end, they both look gleefully amused by my antics.
“You just went out and found someone else to marry?” Mark asks with a brow raised. “I’m not sure if I’m impressed or worried.”
“And you said you wouldn’t be good in the field,” Jackson says with a laugh. “You might just be as good as anyone else on our team.”
“Charlie would be impressed,” Mark says. “So, you want us to go along with this?”
I nod. “I need you to keep up the work part of it. Obviously, you’d know Oliver and he’d know you.”
Jackson laughs. “Glad you were at least thinking there. Well, new Oliver, I’m Jackson and this is Mark. Let’s get you caught up on us so you can survive this.”
The three guys start to talk, and not even five minutes later, you’d think they were best friends. I’m convinced there isn’t a person alive who wouldn’t love Oliver. It’s remarkable.
“Basically, when we start to talk about work things, you nod, smile, or laugh. It helps if you keep a beer in your hand in case you need to avoid answering a question,” Jackson explains.
