Jarod's Heart (King Brothers Stories #2) (20 page)

Her spirit calmed when she realized that Jarod was offering her a way to make her dream come true. It didn’t matter if he loved her or not. She would be a fool not to take it and run with it until the day she died. She would love them enough for all three of them, and then, when things got tough, she’d love him a little bit more. If he gave her more children, she’d fill them up with so much love that it wouldn’t matter if their father loved their mother or not. No one would know, except for the two of them. It would be their unspoken secret. It wasn’t Jarod’s fault that he was broken.

He stood up and took both of her hands in his. “Will you be a mother to my daughter and a wife to me? Will you marry us?”

A tear slipped down her cheek and she angrily brushed it away. He didn’t need to see her love right now. He was in a desperate situation and needed her help. She understood that.

So she took his hand in a firm handshake. She looked her blue-eyed devil in the eye and said, “You have a deal.”

J
arod pumped her hand a couple of times before it dawned on him what she had said.

A deal?

“This isn’t a deal, Lauren. I want you to be my wife…in every way.” He stressed the last part, squeezing her hand just a bit, letting her know his intentions. “I won’t share you with anyone else, and I won’t stray to other women. I want the three of us to be a family.”

Her lip quivered and a tear escaped her eye. She tried to cover it by nodding her head and discreetly wiping it away.

“I know what you need, Jarod. I’ve agreed to your terms.” Her voice was steady, but there was a sadness in her face that ate at his heart. He had expected her to be happy because he sure as hell was.

He began to second guess his proposal when she stepped into his personal space, grabbed the front of his t-shirt with both fists, and pulled his mouth down to hers.

He didn’t fight her. She was a spicy sort of heaven that he didn’t deserve, but he was a selfish man, and she’d agreed to marry him. He’d be damned if he was going to let her out of their “deal” simply because she misunderstood him. He would just have to prove himself to her.

He had her completely wrapped up in his arms when she finally drew back and gasped for air. Arms still holding her, he lifted his head to smile down at her before he kissed the tip of her nose.

“Everything will be fine because we are completely compatible. You’ll see, Lauren. I promise I will make you happy.” As the words left his mouth he realized that he was determined to make it true.

“I know you will.” She shrugged a negligent shoulder at him and gave him a lopsided smile.

He’d seen this tell of hers before. It was the one she used to mask her true feelings. She wasn’t convinced that he could keep his promise.

She stepped out of his arms, leaving him with that damned feeling of emptiness. She took a deep breath and broke into her professional, business-like persona.

“How do you want to handle this? I mean, I don’t want to steal Julie’s thunder. That would just be plain rude, not to mention that I don’t want to hurt my best friend.”

Shit, she had a point. He hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“Reno?” he suggested.

“What do you mean?”

“We could drive to Reno tonight and hit a wedding chapel.”

She visibly swallowed, never taking her eyes from his. But she gave good blank face, and would make a good cop if the idea ever crossed her mind. It was frustrating that he couldn’t read her feelings as well as Josh could. He needed to know what she was thinking.

“Say something,” he commanded.

She nodded her head, her expression never changing. “What time do you want to leave? Are we telling your family before we go or after the deed is done?”

“I’ll make some calls, find out how many twenty-four-hour chapels they have, and I’ll let you know in an hour or two. As for letting everyone know, I think Josh will probably take care of that for us. He’s got a bug up his ass about you that I don’t understand. He’s not in love with you, is he?”

Her expression went from stoic to surprise to hilarity in a nanosecond, then she burst out into loud guffaws. She even bent over and stomped her foot. It was the first time that she’d smiled since he had dragged her into this room to propose.

“Of course he’s not in love with me, Jarod!” She was still grabbing her stomach, trying to catch her breath. “We are best friends.” She shook her head at him. “He’s like a very protective big brother. If he’s mad at you over this, then you need to address it with him. I won’t marry you if the two of you are going to fight about it for the rest of our lives.”

She made her way over to the door. “I’m heading back to the craft room to help your mother with her hanging spiders. I won’t say anything until you give me the all clear.” She stepped out of the door and was gone.

What the hell just happened?

I’ve lost my mind.

Lauren tried to stay nonchalant on the outside, but she was having a raging panic attack on the inside. She’d just agreed to marry Jarod King, the man she had loved since she was a girl. But he didn’t love her. He only needed her as a surrogate mother for Jessica. Could she live with a man who didn’t love her back?

She didn’t care. Jarod would be hers and hers alone. He had promised. She would make it work if it killed her.

Breezing into the craft room like she hadn’t just made a deal with the devil, she sat next to Julie and smiled.

“What did Jarod want?” Camille asked distractedly as she strung spindly black legs made of pipe cleaner through a large black ball of Styrofoam.

“He wanted to know what kind of costume to get for Jessica,” she lied.

Camille put her things down and gave her a puzzled look over her reading glasses. “Why? I told him that I had the perfect costume for her already.” She rolled her eyes and picked up her materials again. “That boy has been a wreck since you moved back home, Lauren. I hope you stay the weekend with us. I need help getting his head screwed back on straight again.”

Lauren noticed that Julie hadn’t said a word. In fact, she hadn’t even made eye contact with her. Something was up with these two. She’d known both women too long not to know when they were hiding something from her.

“All right you two. Spill.”

Both women were innocence personified, sputtering denials at the same time.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Just finishing up with these spider legs.”

Lauren laughed. “You could never pull off a crime, you know that, don’t you?”

Julie looked at Camille and smiled. “Josh told us what happened to Jarod’s face.”

“Really? Because Jarod didn’t elaborate. What happened between them?” she asked. She hoped that if they talked about Josh, she wouldn’t have to talk about what had happened between her and Jarod.

Julie looked to Camille for permission before she explained. “Josh is just concerned that Jarod may take advantage of your feelings for him, that’s all.”

Oh goody. Julie was in mother-hen mode. Lauren had gone from no mother at all to two in one morning.

Then Camille cut to the chase. “I hope you said yes to Jarod. He doesn’t realize how much he loves you, dear.”

Lauren didn’t believe her, but it was a nice thought. She would never disrespect Camille by contradicting her belief in any of her sons, especially not Jarod. But Lauren knew the score. He needed a mother for Jessica, he was physically attracted to her, and she was weak enough to go along with it.

Julie put her arm around her shoulders. “So, are we invited or what?”

Lauren burst out laughing before the tears fell from her eyes. “I don’t know. Jarod’s plan is to go to Reno tonight and hit a chapel. But I told him I wouldn’t say anything until our plans were final.”

She wiped her eyes and hugged her friend. “Oh Julie, I’m so sorry! I don’t want to take away from your day. Please don’t be mad at me.”

“Mad? I’m only concerned that you’re going to be all right.” Julie hugged her back.

“So, we are waiting on Jarod to make some plans, eh?” Camille stood up. “If you girls don’t mind, can you finish up these spiders? I need to have a word with my oldest spawn.”

She left the craft room before Lauren could argue otherwise.

Julie started laughing outright.

Lauren just stared. “There is nothing funny about this. I’ve lost my mind, haven’t I?”

Julie shook her head and got herself under control. “Oh Lauren, he doesn’t have a clue how much trouble he just got himself into with his mother,” she said seriously. “Jarod leaving his mother out of his wedding is tantamount to treason in this family. He must be crazy!”

Lauren sat stock still as the reality hit her. Now they were both laughing so hard that they couldn’t hold the spider legs together.

JAROD WAS JUST
stepping out of his bedroom when his mother charged into his sitting room and stared daggers at him.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” she asked in a tone that he hadn’t heard since he was a boy.

“Changing?” he asked, hoping that was the right answer.

She narrowed her green laser beams at him, making him cringe.

Shit, he was in trouble.

“I ought to take you to the craft room and make you tie ribbons around sachet packets!”

Oh God, please not that!
His fingers began to cramp at the thought of all that tiny, monogrammed ribbon that he could never twist into the perfect tie. The names and dates never ended up in the correct order. He just barely held back a shiver of revulsion.

“Mom, I can explain…”

“Shut up, Jarod. You don’t have to explain anything to me. I know you better than you know yourself, damn it.”

He took an involuntary step back when she narrowed her eyes even further. Before he began to squirm too much, she softened in tiny increments, finally sighing out her breath.

“What am I going to do with you, son?”

At a loss, he only shrugged and gave her a sheepish smile. He was still a little intimidated by her. He didn’t want to make any sudden movements just yet.

He wasn’t stupid.

“Sit down, please.” She gestured to his sofa.

He sat down, never taking his eyes off of his mother as she positioned herself right next to him. Damn, she was within smacking distance, and he knew how fast she could throw a backhand. He and his brothers had learned to fight from their father, but they’d gotten their speed from their mother. She’d had to be quick raising three boys, and Jarod knew that one wrong move, one wrong word out of his mouth, would earn him a swift penalty that she wasn’t afraid to dole out.