Chapter 19

Beckett

The scene was set, exactly as Kayla wanted it to go down. Not that I gave a fuck what she wanted.

Olivia was on her way with Penny. I waited outside the jewelry store, my hands tucked into my pockets. All according to the plan. If this worked—and it would when Kayla released the images on social media—O’s problems would disappear.

So would mine, obviously.

Last night, after I’d dropped Penny and Olivia off at her apartment, we’d talked about the next steps. We needed to make this look real, and that was exactly what we’d do. As of today, I’d be staying in Olivia’s apartment.

The more people who saw me there, the better.

Impatience bubbled through me, and I checked my watch. I’d cleared all my meetings today for this, much to my assistant’s chagrin, but tomorrow would be packed. The old drinking buddies—acquaintances more like—had been calling me nonstop, but I’d ignored them all.

Today was more important.

Olivia was more important.

I wasn’t a saint, I had my own selfish reasons for this, but in my mind, she came first. She needed this more than I did. Penny needed this, too, and I’d be damned if I’d see my best friend’s last wish distorted and broken.

I’d already broken one promise. I wouldn’t break the second.

Please, man, if anything happens to me—

It won’t.

I’m serious, Beck. If anything happens to me, you make sure my family is OK. Not Shelly, she can look after herself. Olivia. Make sure she’s OK.

And I’d promised.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I rotated, slowly.

Olivia studied me from the sidewalk, cute in a polka dot dress without a single stain, for once. She’d put on a little makeup but not near as much as she’d worn in the past, and Penny sat in her stroller in a pink cardigan and a pair of blue jeans.

They were a picture.

They were the opposite of me.

“Beck poo!” Penny cried.

I bent and gave her a swift kiss on the forehead. “Hey, cute girl. How are you today?”

“I fine,” she said, and she was totally animated. Happy.

It made the black cavity in my chest fill a little. I rose again, ruffled her locks one last time, then turned to O. “Are you ready?” I asked and took her slender, pale hand.

She was cold to my touch, didn’t meet my gaze. “I guess,” she said and looked to the inside of the jewelry store instead, with wooden panels, glass tops, and a barred gate. Fascinating apparently. Far more interesting than what I had to say.

“You guess?” I squeezed her fingers. “What happened? Did George speak to you again? Say the word and I’ll deal with him.”

She snorted. “No, he didn’t. He hasn’t been in contact.”

“Then what’s up?”

“Nothing. Let’s just get this over with.”

“We’re not going in there until you tell me what’s wrong, O,” I said, softening my tone.

Since when had I been soft with anyone? Since now, apparently.

Once again, that creeping need for her, to please her, to give her things I couldn’t possibly afford, had returned. It sent shivers down my spine, but I didn’t push it away.

“I’m just not comfortable with lying,” she said. “Or with any of this.”

“It’s going to help Penny,” I replied.

“I know. That’s why I’m here. Let’s get this over with.” She forced a bright smile, and I accepted it, returning a genuine one. Her eyelashes fluttered, but she didn’t take me in properly. She was glazed over, disinterested.

If she wanted to play it like this, so be it.

“Let’s go,” I said and opened the door for her. She pushed Penny inside, and I followed, right behind them, forcing up a grin. Kayla had already enlisted the help of the owner of the jewelry store. One of his assistants would take impromptu “sneak” pics of us together and post them online.

Hashtag OhEmGee or what-the-fuck-ever.

We reached the front of the store and admired the rings together, my arm looped around Olivia’s waist. She pointed out one of the rings, a sapphire rimmed by diamonds, and I laughed along with whatever she said.

The pictures were taken. The dummy ring had already been purchased and was in my pocket, but the man behind the counter, complete with a seriously ambitious moustache and a wolfish smile, made the effort of disappearing through a back door to fetch the keys for the ring case, regardless.

“This is it?” Olivia asked, shifting her heels on the maroon carpet. “All we have to do? I can leave after this?”

“Yes,” I replied. “I’ll be by later with some of my things.”

“Right,” she muttered, then she finally met me eye for eye. “I’ve been thinking about that.”

“Have you?” I smirked.

“Yes.” She checked over her shoulder to ensure the coast was clear. “You’ll have to sleep in the guestroom. It will be less confusing for Penny.”

“Bullshit,” I replied, so the toddler wouldn’t hear. “Grow a pair and tell me the real reason.”

“I was about to,” she snapped. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to sleep together again, Beckett.”

Was she fucking insane? I’d turned her inside out last night. She’d come so hard she’d actually trembled for five full minutes afterward. “That’s a dumbass idea.”

“No, it’s not. You might be able to separate the past from the present, but I can’t.” She took a single step closer and lowered her voice even further.

That space between us might as well have been a chasm.

“I know how you see me, Beckett. I know I’m nothing but a conquest for you. Someone you think you can claim and throw away like trash,” she said, and inhaled through her mouth—a hiccup almost. “But I won’t be that. You can’t claim me or own me. The more time we spend together, the worse it gets, so yeah, no more sex. That’s officially part of the deal, now. It’s better for me and it’s better for Penny.”

Of course, the mustachioed mother fucker decided to come back with the keys at this moment.

“You couldn’t be more wrong, Olivia. You could try, but you wouldn’t be successful.” But that was a lie. Everything she’d said was true.

I had wanted to conquer her and leave her behind, but the combination of guilt over Michael’s death and my need for Olivia had drawn me closer to her. Closer than I was comfortable with.

Last night, I’d done what she’d wanted. I’d claimed that pussy good and solid, but after, I’d wanted nothing more than to cuddle her. To take her to my bedroom and lie down with her, wrap her in my arms and breathe in Miss Peach-and-Vanilla.

“Here we are, sir,” the helper-guy said, and he drew out a row of rings. I made a show of examining them, though my mind wasn’t in the pretense.

To one side, another assistant, this one young with a smartphone, snapped pictures of me and Olivia together and typed furiously. Kayla had scheduled an article for later, but not a photoshoot, simply because I’d refused.

I’d doubted O would want Penny’s pictures taken in this context.

“Perfect,” I said, and pointed to one of the rings. The same gold-sapphire one with diamond clusters. “I’ll take that one.”

The guy winked. “I’ll package this for you in the back, sir.”

What he’d do was fetch the dummy I’d selected earlier. It looked nothing like the ring Olivia had pointed out, out of genuine interest.

We spent the next few minutes in utter silence. I didn’t reach for her. She didn’t smile.

Thankfully, Kayla’s little buddy had quit taking pictures.

The only remotely cheerful one in the room was Penny, who babbled to herself and fiddled with a stuffed animal. “Ice cream,” she said. “Can I have ice cream?” Penny sat straight and turned in her stroller. She gave Olivia a pleading expression.

“Please, darling,” Olivia said.

“Please, duh-ling,” Penny replied.

“After this.”

“After this I’m coming home with my shit,” I said, softly, as if she’d forgotten.

“Later,” Olivia said.

“Lighten up, O,” I whispered, and smiled again as the back door opened and Mr. Mustache appeared. “Soon this will all be over. A couple weeks, max.”

“That’s fine,” she hissed.

“Here you are, sir, ma’am.” The clerk handed me a velvet box, and I grinned, accepted it, ran my thumb over the top.

“Easy as that. Thank you.”

“Best of luck to the both of you,” he said and bowed his head.

“We don’t need it,” Olivia replied and pushed the stroller toward the exit.

I walked after her and took her by the elbow, stopping her in her tracks. “I don’t know if I fucked you so hard last night that a screw came lose, but you need to cool it with these mood swings. This has to be believable to work.” I kept my voice low. I wasn’t that much of an asshole that I’d swear in front of Penny.

“I know that.”

“Then act like it.” I sniffed. “We need to discuss the proposal.”

“No need. Give me the ring and I’ll put it on, now. We can make up some story about how you asked me with a million white doves or whatever is supposed to be romantic.” She laid out her palm.

This didn’t feel right. None of it felt right.

It wasn’t the ring—I was allergic to the prospect of marriage as it was. It was her anger. Her resistance.

For once, I didn’t want to fuck it out of her. I wanted to draw her close and understand why she felt this way.

Except she didn’t want that. She didn’t want the emotional side. Had we miraculously switched roles overnight?

I removed the ring from its box and plopped it into her palm. She closed her hand around it.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Put it on.”

“Now?”

“Yes,” I snapped. “Now. Right this second.

She ground her teeth but did it anyway. “There. Happy?” She flashed the fake diamond at me. “We’re engaged. Yay me! Yay you! Wonderful. I can’t wait for the honeymoon.”

“Can it,” I growled. “I don’t know who pissed in your oatmeal, but I’m not taking it, Olivia.”

“You don’t have to,” she said. “Listen, don’t bother coming to my place tonight with your stuff. I won’t be there.”

I gave a sardonic smile. “Where will you be, then?”

“None of your darn business.” And with that, she marched for the door, positively steaming.

I’d never chased a woman in my life. I wasn’t about to start now.