Mike shook his head. “No kids here. We chose horses to be our kids.”
It was a surprise, considering their house could fit a dozen more people than just the two of them.
“Anyway,” Alvita picked up her champagne flute and swirled the golden liquid. “Tell us about how you met. It was such a shock when Mike told me that little Jack Hennicke was now an adult andmarried! Imagine my surprise now that I hear you two are having a baby.” A chuckle escaped her mouth as if this were the most normal conversation in the world, not a string of made-up lies to save our reputations.
“Well…” Maggie stuttered, glancing at me for help.
“We’ve known each other for years.” I looked back at her with a longing I wasn’t so sure was fake or not. “I lived two doors downfrom her for as long as I can remember, and we both came back from college looking for the next move for our careers. Since Maggie didn’t have a string of horses, she came to work for my dad and me in exchange for some chukkers on our horses, and a pretty nice paycheck.” I threw a wink her way, and she rolled her eyes.
Maybe I was getting back on my pretend wife’s good side.
“The classic falling for the groom story. It’s inevitable. You spend enough time with someone for so long, you can’tnotfall in love with them.” Mike laughed, and Alvita put a knowing hand on his shoulder.
“Calm down, Michael, let the lovebirds tell their story.” Even she couldn’t help the small laugh and huge smile that grew on her face. Pride swelled in my chest at my convincing story. It was difficult to watch them look so in love, even after thirty-something years of marriage. It was something I knew I would never have, or at least, not in the uncomplicated way they did. Whether it was Maggie I ended up with or not, she would still be a massive part of my life forever. But the thought of someone else entering the equation made my blood boil.
“So anyway, long story short, we got closer as time passed, and eventually I fell in love with her. Of course, it took a little convincing to show her that I wasn’t the player I used to be.”
“That’s the polo player in you,” Mike interjected, raising his glass.
Yeah, the polo playerstillin me is the reason Maggie and I would never work.
A nervous laugh left my mouth as I continued trying to sell our story. Maggie ran the pad of her thumb across my hand, encouraging me. I moved my gaze to her.
“She lifted me out of that part of my life. She broughtmeback to life, and it sucked that it took twenty-something years to realize it. So, I did everything I could to get her to trust me.I tried to make her feel loved and cared for and everything in between. I gave her everything I had, and sometimes it’s still not enough. But I’mtrying.” I really fucking was. And I would do anything to prove it.
Maggie’s eyes widened, and a look that I couldn’t quite depict crossed her face.
Her green irises held a knowingness, a forgiveness that warmed my skin.
She stayed frozen for no more than three seconds before clearing her throat. Her gaze lingered on me. “Well, he finally proved that he was worth everything he gave, and I eventually fell in love with him, too. We decided to elope because we didn’t want a big, fancy wedding. And before we knew it, a baby was coming along. We figured Wyoming would be the best place to start our new lives together.”
I watched Maggie tuck her soft waves behind her ears before gauging the reactions of the two people across the table. How did she do it? Did she mean to look into my eyes the way she did, with love and longing and worry?
“That is just a beautiful story.” Alvita blushed.
Chapter fourteen
Maggie
Considering how bad my nerves were before arriving at the Luna’s house, dinner was actually going well. I was learning how to lie with ease and how to pretend that Jack and I were happy in the marriage we portrayed. Letting myself fall into the belief that it could be real was a dangerous path—one I should not have been letting myself go down.
Just for tonight,I told myself.Just get through tonight, and you can go back to being mad at him.
But the truth was, after his admission about trying to be a good man for me, I had completely forgiven him. I could tell he wanted what was best for both of us, and if he couldn’t open up about his feelings right away, then so be it. We had only truly gotten to know each other over the last few weeks, and it would take time for him to completely open up, especially since he hid his struggles from the world like nobody’s business.
Now, it was just a matter of keeping myself safe. If Jack kept saying those sweet words about me and convincing other people how in love with me he was, I was afraid I might start to believe him. The way he gripped my hand throughout the entire dinner,the way he looked at me like I was the only person that mattered, the way he promised he would take care of our baby without question. It was a slippery slope jumping between acting like his wife and trying to get to know him as the mother of his child. I had enough going through my head. The last thing I needed was to fall in love with Jack Hennicke.
The ride back to our house was silent, and I was completely lost on how I was supposed to feel. Part of me wanted to keep him at the same distance he was keeping me. Give him the space he asked for.
The other part wanted to talk until morning and figure everything out between us.
He quietly opened the front door for me, as if there were a reason we needed to keep the noise down. I only got a few steps before I turned around and bumped into his hard chest. His arms caught mine to keep me from losing my balance, and I forced myself to look into his eyes.
All that time I had to think about what I wanted to say to him, at dinner, in the truck, and I came up with nothing. I had so much to say to him, and yet I couldn’t find it in me to execute words. My bottom lip quivered as I breathed through my nerves. Jack’s stare bored into mine intensely, as if he was feeling the same hopelessness and desperation about our back and forth that I was. My reckless attempt at seducing him before dinner was coming back to haunt me. There was no doubt in my mind that he would take advantage of our proximity and dissolve the tension between us.
Our chemistry was palpable, but I needed to keep myself in check. For the baby. If today was any indication of future problems in our relationship, I needed to zero in on communicating with my new baby daddy and map out where things were going with us.
But he decided to ruin my plans and make me question why I denied anything.
