“Hey.” His warm, heavy palm lands on my back, and he starts to rub it in circles. “Breathe.”
I am—or I thought I was. I take in a gulp of air and urge my heart to stop racing. “This is going to end horribly.”
“Look at me.” I shake my head, and his hand stills, then I feel his fingers on the back of my neck. His touch causes goose bumps to tingle down my spine.
Jerking my head up so I can get away from his hand and whatever the hell that was, I look at him and realize he’s pulled over to the side of the road. “I need to go home.”
“Penny.”
“Seriously, Jace. This is dumb. Just tell your mom you need to work and that you have no desire to settle down. She’ll respect that.”
“I’ve tried, and she won’t.”
“Well, try again.” I toss my arms in the air. “Plus, don’t you think your mom is going to be more upset when you tell her that your fake engagement is off?”
“No, she’ll feel bad for me when I tell her that you ended things, and then she’ll understand why I don’t want to search for another relationship.”
“Wow, you have this all planned out.”
“Yep.” He shrugs.
“If this goes bad—”
“It won’t,” he cuts me off before I can say it’s on him, not me. “It’s one week, and it will be over before you know it.”
Seeing the desperation in his eyes, I inwardly groan, then whisper, “Okay, let’s go meet the family.”
Chapter 7
Umm… what?
We pull onto a dirt road less than five minutes later, and before long, a two-story home with a red roof, gray-blue siding, and white shutters comes into view. It’s one of the nicest houses I’ve seen since we’ve been driving, and it looks big enough for a family with a dozen kids. There are also a multitude of smaller homes similar in color in a long row along the edge of the water.
He parks under a wooden deck, and as I unhook my belt, he does the same.
“Ready?” he asks, looking over at me after he shuts off the engine and opens his door.
The truth is, no, I’m absolutely not ready, and I’m pretty sure this is the stupidest thing I have ever done in my life. But instead of saying all that, I say, “Yep,” and push open my door.
Once my feet are on the ground, I pull in a breath of fresh air that is much cooler than back home and walk to the trunk, where he’s already pulling out our bags.
I try to hype myself up as he lifts both our suitcases off the ground and walks toward a set of stairs, reminding myself about what I learned when I was in theater as a kid, because my acting skills are going to be needed over the next few days. But no matter what I do, I still feel unprepared.
When we reach a deck that overlooks the lake, I want to stop and take in the view of the tree-covered hills and the water, but a sliding glass door opens, and chaos ensues.
“My baby!” an adorable, petite woman with shoulder-length blonde hair cries in happiness, rushing toward Jace. I stand back and watch the two of them embrace, and I can’t help my smile as she rocks him from side to side and chatters quickly about how thrilled she is he’s arrived.
Feeling heat hit the side of my face, I look over and find an older gentleman and a guy who looks almost identical to Jace standing in the open doorway, watching me like I’m an alien from another planet.
As I try to decide if I should introduce myself, I hear a gasp come from the woman, then a warm hand engulfs mine, startling me.
My eyes fly to Jace’s face, but he’s not looking at me. His attention is on his mom, whose eyes are wide on mine when I glance back at her. “Penny, I’d like you to meet my mom, Janelle. Mom, I’d like to introduce you to my fiancée, Penny.”
“What?” she shrieks, and the echo of her voice bounces off the hills around us, causing birds to take flight like something out of a movie.
I don’t know what I expected to happen next, but when she bursts into tears, I’m half-tempted to toss myself over the balcony to the ground below.
“Mom, calm down. You’re freaking Penny out,” he mutters, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and she nods, then focuses on me.
“I’m sorry.” She wipes at her wet cheeks. “I just…. I’ve been waiting forever for this day.” She steps toward me and takes my free hand. “It’s so nice to meet you, Penny.” Her face softens, and I hate myself, because I can see how happy she is and know that feeling is only going to be temporary.
“Nice to meet you too.” I smile, then gasp when her arms are suddenly around me and she’s squeezing me tight.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” she asks her son while rocking me like she just did to him.
“Because he always has to do something to get attention,” the guy who looks like Jace says, and I meet his gaze over his mom’s shoulder and watch him lift a dark brow like he’s daring me to disagree.
“Stop it,” the man next to him grumbles, and Janelle lets me go only to grasp my left hand and lift it up. As she “oos” and “ahhs” over the ring on my finger, Jace goes to the older gentleman and hugs him.
“This ring is so…”
“Obnoxious,” I say without thinking and cover my mouth with my hand, and her eyes fly up to mine. “Sorry.” My muscles bunch, then instantly relax when she smiles.
“I was going to say pretty, but it is rather large.” She looks back over her shoulder at her son. “Did you ask for the biggest ring in the store?”
“I wanted it to be obvious she was taken,” he replies, meeting my eye, and my cheeks warm. Lord, if this weren’t fake, I would totally swoon over that statement.
“Well, no one is going to question that,” his mom says happily.
“Can I meet our soon-to-be daughter-in-law now?” the man who must be Jace’s dad requests, and Janelle smiles up at him as she takes a step back.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Ellis.”
“Daniel.” He ignores my hand that I’m holding out and gives me a hug that is just as tight as his wife’s was. “It’s so nice to meet you, Penny.”
“You too.” I smile when he lets me go and look for Jace, but I find him distracted by his phone ringing in his hand.
“I’m sure you’re used to that by now.” I tip my head back at that statement and come face-to-face with one identical to Jace’s. “I’m Brice, Jace’s twin.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” he mutters, grabbing both suitcases and turning with them to go inside.
“Come on, let’s get you settled. I’m sure you must be exhausted after traveling.” Janelle takes my arm and urges me into the house.
“I slept on the plane, so it wasn’t too bad,” I tell her while we walk through the kitchen, then down a hall toward a set of stairs, behind Brice, who still has a hold of our bags.
“Did Jace sleep or work the entire time?”
“Umm… I think he worked,” I mutter, watching Brice open a door and carry in both bags, leaving them just inside the door before taking off up the steps next to it.