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He crosses his arms over his chest. “Now, girl, I’m glad to see you and all. But I have some questions. This here camera lady came knocking on my door a few minutes ago. She said you were part of a show and that we were going to be on camera. Now, I’m not so sure I agree with this yet. I need to know what’s going on before we continue.”

Mr. Roberts has a stern, not-gonna-budge look on his face, and Jess looks as though she’d like to be swallowed up by the sand at her feet.

I step toward her parents. “If we could maybe go inside to discuss this, it would be great.”

Mr. Roberts holds up his hand and swivels his face toward me. “Dax, is it? What the hell kind of name is that? Sounds like a porn star name. Now, I’m trying to talk to my daughter. We’ll stay right here until I get some answers.”

I hear the snickering behind Taylor’s camera, and I have to swallow my laugh. I should probably be offended, but despite the gruffness of Mr. Roberts’s voice, I detect a bit of humor in the guy.

“Dad! You’re being rude to Dax,” Jess exclaims. “And no, he’s not a porn star.”

“Well, I’m trying to figure out why he was holding your hand just now. And where the hell is Anth—”

“Dax is my fiancé!” Jess spits out before her father can finish his question.

The silence is so complete even the birds are afraid to chirp. Both of her parents have their jaws wide open in a comical show of shock.

Then something strange happens. Jess’s dad lets out a huge laugh. It’s the belly-shaking type of laugh that verges on hysteria as it continues on and on. We’re all just staring at him, and I’m wondering if the poor guy has lost his mind.

He finally calms down and wipes the moisture from his eyes. “Oh, you two almost got me. You almost had me, you certainly did. This is one of those candid camera things. You’re pulling a trick on us to get our reaction on camera for some silly reality show. I actually thought you were seriously engaged to this guy. Good joke.”

“Dad, no, that’s not it. I mean, not really.”

He wags his finger at her. “Jess, you might as well give up on this joke. I see right through it.”

“No, Dad. You have it wrong. This isn’t a joke. Dax and I are engaged. The show wanted us to come here to get your reaction when we told you our news in person.”

But her dad is shaking his head and grinning. “Good one, baby girl. Good one. For a minute there, I really thought this porn star was going to be my son-in-law.”

“Mr. Roberts . . .” I start.

Her dad comes over to me and pats me on the back. “Nice acting, son. What’s your real name anyway?”

“Dad!” Jess throws her hands up in the air. “Let’s go inside, and we can talk about it.”

Poor Jess. Her face is flushed, and I’m afraid she’s on the verge of a meltdown. After a final glare at her dad, she marches toward the house without waiting to see if we follow.

I follow closely behind, but right before going inside, I turn to Taylor. She still has the camera on us and it’s obvious she has every intention of following us inside. We need to be able to tell Jess’s parents the truth. This isn’t going to work.

“Taylor, you’re staying outside,” I order.

“No way, Mr. Anders. My instructions are to follow you everywhere. It’s what you agreed to.”

I raise my chin toward Jess’s parents. “Yeah, but they didn’t, and this is their home.”

Undeterred, Taylor faces the parents. “Do I have your permission to continue filming in your home? I’d really love to get your reaction to their story for our show.”

“I don’t know . . .” Mrs. Roberts says with hesitation in her voice.

“Oh, sure, come on in. I’ve never been on TV before,” Mr. Roberts says. He looks at me with determination, daring me to contradict him.

I look at Mr. Roberts, my mouth agape. He did that purely because I didn’t want Taylor to come in. I can see it clear as day in his smirk as he passes me to go into the house. Now I know where Jess gets it from. All those times when she deliberately says things to irritate me, oh, I get it now. She got that from her father.

It’s a lot cuter when she does it.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes and follow them into the house.

Jess is pacing back and forth when we all come into the room. “Sit,” she tells us in an eerily calm tone.