Page 19 of The Marriage Mistake

Jack cleared his throat, hesitated, then rolled down the window and painted a smile on his face. “Kelly,” he greeted. “How’s Lucy?”

“Oh, she’s fabulous,” the woman replied, her sharp gaze sliding to me. “You must be the new wife. You’re the talk of the town, you know. Well done tying this one down.” She tittered, batting her lashes at Jack. “Never thought I’d see the day,” she added. Her eyes had a certain predatory quality as they raked over Jack’s shoulders and chest.

Not my circus, I told myself. If Jack was popular with the ladies, hooray for him. Wasn’t any of my business. I’d be gone within a couple of months; I wouldn’t engage in petty small-town feuds.

But Jack shrugged at the other woman, then reached over and placed a hand on my thigh, involving me in…whatever this was. “What can I say? When you know, you know.” He squeezed my leg, thumb coasting on the outside of my thigh, fingertips dangerously close to very intimate places.

A thrill went through me at the possessiveness of his touch, even though I knew—I knew—it was just for show. My brain needed to talk to my body about these physical reactions it was having to Jack. They were starting to get old.

Kelly’s head tilted slightly, then she let out an exaggerated oh sound and reached into her purse. “You forgot this at my place last week,” she said, pulling out a phone charger. She glanced at me and said, “Don’t worry, it’s not what you think. We were just discussing carpooling arrangements for our girls this year.”

The way she said, “Don’t worry,” would’ve made me worry a whole lot if this marriage were real. But it wasn’t. So I didn’t care. I didn’t think I cared. I was pretty sure I didn’t care. I just gave her a tight smile and nodded.

Jack took the charger. “I was wondering where that went,” he mused, not looking at me.

“Will we see you at the PTA meeting next week?”

“I’ll check my calendar,” Jack said. “We’ve got to run. Nice seeing you, Kelly.”

“Always a pleasure,” she replied, giving him a sensual smile. I kept my face carefully neutral as Jack said a goodbye, rolled up his window, and drove away.

Silence stretched between us. I watched the houses and clumps of trees roll by, wondering why the back of my throat felt so prickly.

“Kelly’s daughter is one of Darby’s friends,” Jack finally said. “Lucy. They play basketball together.”

“I see.”

“She’s really involved with school activities.”

“That must be nice for her daughter.”

Jack cleared his throat. “Look, it’s not… She was just…”

“It’s fine if you slept with her,” I said, wanting this painful interaction to be over.

We were coming to a four-way stop, and Jack pressed the brakes a little too hard. We both slammed forward into our seatbelts. He glared at me. “What?”

“I’m just saying. We met yesterday. What happened before is irrelevant. I would just ask that you refrain from sleeping with anyone while we’re, um, doing this.” I flicked my fingers between us. He opened his mouth, but I beat him to it. “It would be pretty hard to convince anyone—let alone your grandmother—that you’re in love with me if you’re sleeping with half the PTA.”

His eyes narrowed. “I am not sleeping with half the PTA.”

“Just a select few, then?”

Okay, wow, I was jealous. That was a new feeling. A new, extremely unpleasant feeling. But I’d seen the way the other woman had looked at me, assessing. Trying to figure out what had made me win Jack over when she couldn’t. Judging my appearance, my clothing, my body, my face—everything.

Finding me lacking in every way.

It made a sick feeling gurgle in my gut, because I hadn’t won him over. And I never would. The only way I was able to get Jack to marry me was to offer him three hundred and fifty thousand dollars and an exit plan. That was the only way I’d been able to get anyone to marry me!

It was insufferable being in my own head, so I forced myself to stop thinking about it.

We were still sitting at the stop sign, and Jack was still gripping the steering wheel, his head turned so he could glare at me. “I’m not going to sleep with anyone while I’m married to you, Ember,” he grated out.

I met his gaze, glad that my expression was cool and unruffled. “Good,” I said. “That makes things easier.”

His jaw worked. “And you?”

I wasn’t following. “What about me?”