Page 53 of Fake-Off with Fate
“I thought I made it clear that I wasn’t looking.” He sounds mad.
“But if you’re truly not interested in getting back togetherwith Allegra, then why not date a nice woman who lives right in the same town that you do?”
He cocks an eyebrow and his gaze turns intense. “I’m datingyou. At least according to the press. How would it look if I started two-timing you with someone else?”
I hadn’t thought about that. “I could introduce you now, and then after I go home, you could ask Clara out.” Even as I say this, I feel raw jealousy explode in my gut. I don’t want Jamie to date Clara. I don’t want him to date anyone.
Jamie pushes back from the table. His forearms flex as he crosses his arms across his hockey shirt. “I’ve already met Clara.”
“Really?”
“As you mentioned, she’s doing social media for the Ice Breakers, and I’m the captain of that team.”
“Oh, yeah.” I giggle nervously. “That makes sense.” Then I ask, “She’s nice, right?”
He shrugs. “I guess. But she certainly isn’t giving off single vibes. I think she might already have someone.”
“Oh.” We still haven’t gotten together so I don’t know her story.
“As far as the world is concerned,” he reminds me, “I’m dating you. And now that you’re going to be staying in Maple Falls for a longer time, I would like to ask you to please be my plus one at the Ice Breakers Inaugural Ball.”
The thought of going to a ball with Jamie makes my skin tingle with possibility. “When is it?”
“Next week, on the fourteenth.”
While I’m hoping my parents will be home by then, that doesn’t seem realistic now that they’re about to be caught in the middle of a hurricane. Even so, I say, “What if I’m back in LA by then?”
“I suppose I could hire you to come home for the night and go to the ball with me.”
“Hire me? That makes it sound like I’m some kind of escort.”I’m trying to sound offended but even so, I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to dance in Jamie’s arms.
“It’s nothing seedy like that,” he says. “Merely an offer to pay you for your time and travel. I would do the same for my sister if I asked her to be my plus-one.”
I suddenly feel less flattered by the invitation. “You have a sister?” I ask. As much time as Jamie and I have spent together, I’m realizing I still don’t know much about his personal life.
“I do. Her name is Jasmine.”
Still smarting at the comparison with his sibling, I ask, “Then why don’t you invite her?” I dig into my coleslaw while he thinks about it.
“Because I’m supposed to be dating you. And now that Allegra is single again, I don’t want the press speculating about whether we’ll get back together.”
“Huh.” I finish the bite in my mouth before telling him, “IfI’m still here, I’ll go with you.”
“And if you’ve gone back to LA?”
“Then I’ll be working and won’t be able to take any more time off.” The real reason is that if I’ve left Maple Falls, I don’t see the wisdom in letting myself fall more for Jamie than I already have.
He reaches his hand across the table and gently takes my hand in his. He gives it a light shake. “You have yourself a deal.”
After we finish eating, Jamie and I head into the family room. I turn the TV on and sit down on the opposite side of the couch from him.
The news broadcast starts out like they all do, predicting doom and gloom and terrible outcomes. I do my best to remember that hurricanes change course all the time. Yet even though I try to keep positive, the newscast gets more and more discouraging by the minute.
After an hour of this, the announcer says, “Hurricane Bartholomew has reached over four hundred miles across with wind speeds topping two hundred miles per hour. Folks, wehave not seen a storm this size in over a decade. The last one that was even close was Hurricane Patricia in 2015. The only reason that one didn’t cause more damage is because it hit an isolated part of Mexico. Conversely, Bartholomew is on a collision course for Barbados. The outcome could be catastrophic.”
The anchor pauses as though trying to collect himself before adding, “If you’re a person of faith, I think it would be fair to suggest you take a moment to offer a prayer for those poor people who are about to get the walloping of a lifetime.”
My body collapses in on itself like I’m melting into the sofa. Jamie immediately scoots over until we’re sitting with our sides pressed against each other. Then he puts his arm around me and holds me close. “They’re going to be okay,” he soothes.
