Page 9 of Home Run Fiancé
“Let’s play it by ear, huh?” I cut off Jake. “Everything’s so scripted right now. Why don’t you surprise me.”
Jake stiffens. “Look, this isn’t a real engagement.”
I cut him off again. “Oh, trust me. I’m all too clear on that. But I’m not a professional actress so why don’t you surprise me, so I at least give a believable performance when you ask?”
“She’s got a good point, man.” Asher finally comes to my defense.
Jake’s eyes narrow to slits. “Fine. As long as my line about no contact after this is all over is added too.”
I can’t even stand the guy, but his constant pushing me away is oddly hurtful. It’s like he’s already judged me and nothing I do will change his mind. I don’t want contact with him after this is over, but I don’t like him being the one to tell me that. And his woodsy cologne is irritating this close. I’m taking deep breaths to keep it in my nose, wishing he were nicer and I felt comfortable asking him what cologne he wears.
“So what did you do to get a bad reputation in the first place?” I’m suddenly curious. He seems far too straitlaced to get into trouble. Getting into fist fights, I could totally see.
Jake shifts away from me, so imperceptible I’m sure I wouldn’t have noticed except previously, he was pressed up against me from knee to waist. “I’m sure it’s all public knowledge if you look it up.”
I raise both eyebrows. Wow, touchy. I can’t help but smirk a bit, enjoying poking the bear.
“Bet the paps never caught you smoking a joint.”
Jake rears his head back. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly that. You’re wound way too tight to be tokin’.” I chuckle, the mental image of him smoking marijuana so comical I can’t help myself. He probably portions out his daily vitamins in one of those partitioned containers with the day of the week labeled on each box. Probably journals how much weight he pushes in each workout. Knows his baseball stats by heart. I snort just picturing it.
Jake jumps up from the couch and throws his arms out to the side, clearly affronted by my joke. “Seriously?” He’s not even looking at me any longer, like he and Ash are the only two people still in the room. “You thinkshe’sthe answer to my reputation problems? I’m more than a little worried she’ll mouth off to the press and get me even further off track. Is she always like this?”
I lift my arm in the air and wave. “Hi! I’m still here. In the room. You can even talk to me directly. It’s really cool how that works—”
“Would you just shut up?” Jake turns and yells at me.
Well, crap. That shut me up. At least he’s talking to me again, I guess.
Asher hops up off the couch, putting himself between Jake and me. “Hold up, man. There’s no reason to yell.”
I sit back on the couch and fold my arms across my chest. I’m not normally a troublemaker, but Jake just seems to push all my buttons. I’m feeling kind of smug watching Jake try to get his anger under control. He spins around and paces the room, running his hands through his hair.
Then Ash turns to me. “And you, Rhys.” My eyes go wide. “You need to stop whatever this is. I don’t know what the problem is, but if you’re going to go through with this contract, you have to stop provoking Jake. Just get through it and collect your ten grand, okay?”
I sniff.
“Please, Rhys?”
Oh, crud. I can’t say no to Asher begging me for help. He’d literally do anything to help me out and here I am giving his star client a hard time. A tiny wave of guilt rolls through my chest and I know I need to tone it down. I can be the mature one here.
“I’m sorry, Ash. I’m doing this and I’ll try to keep my mouth shut more often.” I sit forward. “Where’s the pen?”
Asher hands it to me, looking relieved.
I sign the contract and hand it back to him.
He pulls me into a hug. “Thank you,” he whispers.
That’s the exact memory I’ll be putting on repeat over the next few months to get through this charade. I’m doing it for Asher.
I feel a heat on my back and tense up. Jake’s right behind me, I can feel it. I don’t know when I became aware of him, like my body has a tracker on his whereabouts at all times, but I’m not particularly happy about it.
He takes the contract out of Asher’s hand and leans down to sign it on the coffee table. A quick scribble later and we’re locked in.
“Okay. It’s done.”
