There were so many problems with that alone. What would she be required to do to prove that she was madly in love with him? How would they be able to pull that off, considering she was in his father’s presence five out of the seven days of the week? Wouldn’t he be suspicious? Or was Jarred correct in his thinking that Mr. Maloney would never expect her to be with his son?
“Oh shit,” she breathed. Was this seriously happening? She had to take the chance. How could she not? The more important question was going to be how she was going to survive in his presence. Because that weak-kneed, too hot feeling wasn’t working for her.
9
Jarred drew in a deep breath before opening the door, grinning as he spied Kinsley standing there. “Hey,” he said, stepping aside. “Come in.”
She stepped over the threshold and shifted her gaze around. After their discussion at the pub last night, he knew she would be coming over. The money alone was enough to draw her in. Jarred knew she needed the money and it was the perfect opportunity to solve both of their problems. “Come on in,” he said, walking down the hall into the open living space. “Would you like some coffee?”
She shook her head, her long tresses falling about her shoulders. He noticed that she was wearing all black today, right down to the shoes on her feet and wondered if this was just a coincidence or symbolic. “I’m going to take the offer.”
“I’m glad,” he said, surprised that he meant it. She was going to be perfect. Kinsley tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at him, giving him a small smile. He tamped down the quick flare of emotion. He hated the way a singular word could trigger those emotions, making him fucking weak. “You’ll be fine,” he forced out. “This will be easy.”
She nodded and looked around the flat, avoiding looking at him. “So what should we do now?”
Jarred reached into his pocket, pulling out the ring he’d purchased late last night. He knew as soon as he’d left the pub that she was going to take the offer so he’d made arrangements to pick out a suitable ring to prove to everyone that she was truly his fiancée. The task had been harder than he’d realized, not knowing much about her. While picking out Susan’s ring had been easy, given the fact she was a flashy person, he doubted the same could be said of Kinsley. In fact, he’d been in the jewelry store for well over an hour with just the owner present. Jarred cleared his throat and opened the box, his pulse pounding in his ears. “Um, Kinsley?”
She turned and her hands flew up to her mouth. Surprise registering on her face. For a moment, he was struck by how pretty she was. Not in an obvious way. So many people probably overlooked her because she was so understated. But the way her eyes widened as she looked at the ring and the way she conveyed emotion with her whole face, completely fascinated him. He wanted her approval; he wanted to impress her. This wasn’t a woman he knew well, but she was a woman he didn’t want to disappoint. All his carefully planned words would not form on his tongue as he held up the box. “Here,” he forced out.
The surprise dimmed on her face and Jarred cursed inwardly. Shit. This thing wasn’t real, but he did need her to like him. He’d fucking botched this. He needed her and he was fucking up.
Eventually, they would go their separate ways, but what bothered him the most was that she was going to remember this proposal long after she remembered him. Pissed off at himself, he pulled the ring out of the box and threw the box on the table, his grip suddenly slick. His fingers lost its hold on the ring and the ring fell from his hands. Immediately, he went down to retrieve it, his head colliding with something hard in the process and knocking him on his ass. Looking up, he saw that Kinsley was on the floor as well, rubbing her forehead with a wince. “Ouch,” she said, sitting back on her knees.
Jarred laughed, because he didn’t know what else to do and took her hand in his. “Probably not what you expected when you came over here this morning,” he muttered.
She giggled. “No, not exactly. I think you are sitting on it.”
Jarred found the ring under his thigh and held it up, the diamond sparkling in the morning light. “I don’t really know what to say,” he admitted, poising it over her ring finger. “This is not a conventional engagement, but I’ll say this. As long as you wear this ring, I’ll be devoted to you.” She was helping him out in the biggest way possible and the least he could do was promise her that.
Her cheeks flushed and she nodded, giving him the out to slide the ring on her finger. “It’s beautiful,” she said softly.
Jarred cleared his throat, his thumb caressing the tips of her fingers lightly. The ring suited her, the petite emerald cut with smaller diamonds along the side of the band. It wasn’t overly flashy but subtly beautiful, like her. He looked up and saw that she was watching him, her mouth parted slightly. He could kiss her. He should probably kiss her. But somehow, Jarred knew it wouldn’t stop with one kiss.
Kinsley was the one who broke the moment, pulling her hand out of his and standing. Jarred followed suit and they looked at each other awkwardly. “What’s the next step?” she asked, clasping her hands in front of her.
Jarred shoved a hand through his hair, frustrated at how the morning had went. He had planned this out in his head last night and it hadn’t looked like this at all. “We have dinner with my father tomorrow night. We need to come up with a plausible story on how we met and how long we have been dating. He will be surprised to see you there.”
“I agree,” she answered. “How about the summertime? We can say we met at the company picnic.”
“Did I attend the company picnic?” Jarred asked, not conjuring up that memory.
Kinsley pursed her lips. “No, I don’t think so, but neither did your father. Is that, I mean, was that after your other engagement?”
Jarred winced as a stab of pain shot through his gut. Bloody hell, when would that pain ever go away? “Yeah, it was after that.”
“Okay good,” she said hastily. “So company picnic it is.”
He nodded. “And we have kept it a secret because you didn’t want to be drawn into the limelight.”
“Yes,” Kinsley answered. “That is plausible. You can say the rumors of other women were just a way to draw the spotlight off our relationship. You don’t have photo evidence of other women right? That will kill this thing in the water.”
He winced. “Maybe. But most of my shit has been under wraps. Most of the stuff the paps have caught has been of me drunk. But there will be rumors …” He cleared his voice. “Lots of them.
“I should go,” she finally said. “Or I’ll be late to work.”
He nodded and walked her to the door, turmoil in his gut. “I—thank you for doing this,” he said as she stepped out into the hallway. “You don’t know how much you are helping me out.”
“We are both getting something out of this,” Kinsley answered. “It’ll be fine.”
Jarred started to say something else but closed his mouth and watched as Kinsley gave him a little wave, disappearing into the flat next to him. He was going to have to prove to his father that Kinsley was the love of his life. So why did that thought both excite and worry him? Bloody hell, he needed a drink and probably a psychological evaluation while he was at it. This plan was crazy as hell. But for the duration, he was laying off the booze. He needed a sharp mind to deal with this.