Page 5 of Masked in Deception
His sleepy smile shines in the dim light. “Why do you want to marry me?”
I think about it for a minute before giving him an honest answer. “I’ve always just known I was going to marry you one day.”
“Then do I really have a choice?”
A smile explodes on my face as I’m flooded with relief.Of course we’re going to get married one day.“I love you, Jackie.”
“I love you too, Princess.”
Chapter seven
17 years old
“Jack, when Daddy kisses Mommy, why doesn’t he put his tongue in her mouth like they do on TV?” Margot asks, sitting in the den with Ledger and me while we laze around, enjoying the first day of school being out for the summer.
Ledger lets out a snort and gets up to leave, clapping me on the shoulder on his way out. “This one’s all you, brother. I have to meet with Dad soon anyway.”
“Asshole,” I murmur under my breath, turning back to where Margot is lying under a pink fuzzy blanket in her corner of the couch with her feet in my lap.
“Why do you ask?” I hope I can say something,anything, to defer this conversation and avoid being the person who explains romance to this too smart ten-year-old.
“Well,” she begins, “earlier we were watching MTV.”
Ledger knows he isn’t supposed to have that shit on when she’s around. She’s way too observant.
“And the couple on the show said they were in love, and they were going to get married, and then they kissed, and it went onforever,and then I saw his tongue! His tongue, Jack. In her mouth! And then it was all tongues. And I know Mommy and Daddy are in love, but I have never seen either of their tongues when they kiss. So what’s that about?”
She looks at me so earnestly that I’m scrambling to find a way out of answering this without lying because I really hate lying to her. I swear she has a fucking sixth sense of when she’s not getting the whole truth about something, and every single one of us, including her parents, has been called out by her before.
I mean, Mr. Sinclair is one of the most intimidating men I’ve ever been around. I’ve literally heard Margot say, “I don’t think that’s the whole story, Daddy,” and he apologized to her and admitted it wasn’t.She’s such a ballbuster, even at ten.
“What else did they say on the show?” I ask, trying to buy some time.
“Well, someone else came along and asked why they were Frenching…oh! That must be it! They’re French! Is that a French thing?”
I let out a sigh of relief. I don’t evenreallyhave to lie.
“Yep, Princess, that’s a French thing. And I know you know this, but you really shouldn’t be watching MTV. Ledger knows better than to have that on when you’re with us.”
Margot rolls her eyes at me before readjusting her position on the couch with Sprinkles the cow. “I’m not a baby anymore! Besides, Mary Lee got kissed by Colt Jones last week at school, so I need to know everything I can about kissing. It’s only a matter of time before I get one.”
A rage I’ve never felt before flows from my head to my feet as quick as lightning. I don’t even have time to process the feeling before I’m sitting up straight on the couch. “Someonekissedsomeone at school? You’re about to be in fifth grade, Margot! That is totally inappropriate.”
She can clearly see how upset I am, and deflates a little from the excited state she was in a second ago. “Are you not supposed to kiss in elementary school?” she asks.
“No!” I say, then realize I’m damn near yelling. My tone won’t make her pay any more attention to me. “No,” I continue more quietly, “you aren’t supposed to kiss until you’re eighteen.”
Now it’s her turn to yell.
“Eighteen! That’s like, forever away!” she yells, sitting up straighter on the couch.
I smile. “I don’t make the rules, Princess. Eighteen is for everyone.”
She sits back on the couch, putting her feet on my lap to rub again, clearly thinking hard about this new piece of information.
“So,” she says, looking at me, “that means you haven’t kissed anyone, right, Jackie? Because you’re not eighteen yet, and that’s the rule.”
Man, she’s smart. I’m too far in it now, so it’s time to lie to her, which sucks.
