Just My Luck (A Shamrock Falls Novel) (Entangled: Bliss) (3 page)

Betsy flinched as they walked through the parking lot of Lucky’s, their friend Kade’s bar, and Jace threaded his fingers through hers. She tried to block it out, to not focus on the fact that he was holding onto her hand and that they planned to go inside and tell their friends they were getting married. But it was all she could think and he was all she could feel. His grip, strong and masculine. She wanted to revel in it rather than be nervous about what they were doing.

God, she hated being so sensitive to things like this.
They’ll hurt you, Betsy. All men are evil. You don’t need anyone in your life but me.

“Hey.” Jace stopped walking. “What’s wrong, B? You’re shaking like a leaf.”

She peered down at his shoes. They were so shiny they looked brand new, though she knew he’d had them for a while.

“Just nervous, I guess.” After they’d come to an agreement on the money thing, they’d created a story to tell everyone: they’d been secretly dating for a month. Yes, they knew it was early, but they’d fallen in love. They’d never been happier in their whole lives.

Yeah, right. People wouldn’t believe it, but Jace had insisted.

Oh God
, she thought with a start. What would happen when they got divorced? She’d worried about how it would affect her and Jace’s relationship because of work, but she’d never considered the friends they had inside waiting for them. She would never forgive herself if this had a negative effect on them, too.

“There’s no reason be scared. These are our closest friends.”

The very friends we’re lying to
,
she couldn’t stop herself from thinking.

“No matter what, they’ll back us up. If they don’t, they’ll have me to deal with me.” He gave a quick nod with a smile like he always did when he was kidding. Then his face sobered. “You can do this, but if you don’t want to, we won’t.”

Her hands were sweating, and Betsy wondered if Jace noticed. His were smooth but large, almost engulfing hers. A couple walked out of Lucky’s and she tried to pull away, but Jace held her. She sucked in deep breaths, trying to work her way through the freak-out going on inside her. The air smelled like rain, though none came down. It was one of her favorite things about Washington—how it could rain at any second and how you could always feel it, even when it wasn’t there.

“You good?”

She took a few more seconds before giving him a small smile. Betsy would find a way to do this. She had to, not only to fix her situation with her mom but because this was what she wanted: new experiences, growth. It wasn’t something she’d had much of growing up.

Their hands still latched together, Jace led her inside Lucky’s. It was packed, as it often was on Friday nights. The bowling lanes were all filled with teens and families. The lights were out with only a few strobe lights flashing. The place always drew a big crowd on the weekends.

Off to the right was the door that led to the bar and diner. Most of the adults congregated there for greasy chili fries and beer. Betsy didn’t drink too often, but she could really use some alcohol right now.

A few people turned their heads and looked at Jace and Betsy as they walked by. Wondering what he was doing holding her hand, no doubt, but she resisted the urge to jerk away. She wanted to let herself savor Jace. They headed straight for the bar, where she was sure they’d find Sidney and Kade, who were engaged after a five-year separation brought them both back to Shamrock Falls. Likely Rowan and Breck, too, if they didn’t have any guests at their bed and breakfast.

“Hey, Jace!” a man in a cowboy hat said from one of the tables. There was another guy with him.

“Hey, Winston. Adam. You guys know Betsy, right?”

Both of them said hello, Winston frowning when he saw their hands. “Hi,” Betsy replied, tugging slightly on Jace’s hand. He got the message and they were on their way again.

She saw Kade’s familiar brown hair from behind the bar, where he faced away from them, pouring a beer. On the stools in front were Sidney, Rowan, and Breck.

“No turning back now,” Jace whispered.

“If you’re having second thoughts—”

“No. I’m doing this for my house.”

His reply stung, though she knew it shouldn’t. Before Betsy had the chance to reply, Kade turned around. His eyes landed on them, his smile quickly thinning when he saw their clasped hands. Was he wondering what Jace would want with a girl like her? She wasn’t the type he dated at all.

Kade said something and the other three turned. Breck’s eyes went wide, but he recovered quickly. Betsy had noticed he was good at not showing emotions when he didn’t want to. Being a professional poker player probably helped.

Rowan and Sidney weren’t as practiced. Both women’s mouths opened wide as they whirled around. Betsy’s eyes immediately were drawn to Rowan’s baby belly, now a small ball. Betsy loved babies and couldn’t wait to meet their little girl.

“So…what’s new?” Rowan asked.

“Subtle, Houdini,” Breck said to his wife, whom he’d married in Vegas after he found out they were going to have a baby together.

“We have an announcement to make.” With those words, Jace let go of her hand. Immediately Betsy missed the warmth. The feeling she got when his arm went around her waist and he pulled her close helped counteract it. Oh, God did he feel good. She wanted to wrap herself in him, the way she’d dreamed of so many times. This was what she craved—being close to Jace.

It was as if that one touch ran the length of her body, comforting and seductive at the same time.
Stop it, Betsy.

“We see that.” Sidney leaned forward, waiting.

Jace cleared his throat. All Betsy could think was thank God he planned to do all the talking. She had no idea how she would be able to get through it otherwise. “Betsy and I have been seeing each other—”

“What?” Sidney shrieked.

“Were you hiding her, Jace?” Rowan said at the same time.

Betsy felt her face flame. Jace’s grip on her waist tightened—not painfully, but supportively. She definitely liked it.

“Of course not, Row. We kept it a secret for our own reasons and I expect everyone to respect our privacy. Especially where Betsy is concerned. But the fact is, we’ve fallen in love and she’s agreed to marry me.”

The whole bar seemed to go quiet. Okay, maybe not in reality, but the background noise was nothing but a blur as all four of their friends went silent.

Everyone’s eyes were on her. Not on Jace, but on Betsy. Waiting.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t make herself give them a response. Instead she managed to lean her head on Jace’s shoulder, praying like hell she didn’t look as nervous as she felt. That she looked like she was doing what Sidney or Rowan would do with Kade or Breck. When she felt his lips on her forehead, she had to actually hold her breath to keep from blurting something out. What, she didn’t know.

As if someone had hit the play button, their friends all began talking at the same time. Betsy’s eyes darted back and forth among them as they asked questions.
How long have you been dating? When is the wedding? Is this some kind of joke?

She couldn’t figure out who to listen to or what to say. It wasn’t until she felt the muscles in Jace’s arm tighten that she realized her nails were digging into him.

“That’s enough!” Jace bellowed so firmly that she jumped. His free hand slid through his hair and he sighed. “I appreciate your concern. I really do but…you’re going to have to trust us. We know what we’re doing.”

“Ah hell, Jace. I sure hope so,” said Kade.

So did she. Betsy was the odd one out here, having known the group the least amount of time. Sure, Breck was new to the group, too, but he’d known Jace since college. When she inevitably got divorced, she hoped it didn’t cause a rift between her friends. She hoped she’d never lose them.

Chapter Three

Jace stood in his house—no, in the house his “grandma” was letting him continue to live in—preparing to marry Betsy. She still could hardly look at him without blushing and though he’d become fond of that pink color to her cheeks, it still made him slightly uneasy. She would be divorced after this. When she met her future husband, Jace would be something she had to explain. And now all he could think about was how well they worked together at the office, and here he was, doing something that could ruin it.

Not to mention that their friends had taken it harder than he expected. He knew it was just that they didn’t understand, but he didn’t want it to hurt Betsy.

Damn, he was a prick.

But he also needed his parents’ house.

The one where he planned to marry a fake wife in his mom’s old indoor garden. Jace was young when they’d passed, but he still had memories of them wherever he looked—flashes of scenes with the two of them playing games, barbecues with his dad on the deck. He hoped if they were looking down on him, they weren’t too disappointed.

“Hey, Buddy.” Breck walked into the room, adjusting his collar. “Damn, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to look better than you on your wedding day.”

Jace chuckled. “You’ve always been a bit delusional.” He faced the mirror again. Considering he and Betsy had only given themselves a week to put the small ceremony together, they were going with casual. Jace wore slacks and a blue button-up shirt, but he realized he actually wasn’t sure what Betsy was wearing. Rowan and Sidney had taken her shopping, but he figured she would be equally laid-back. Being a seamstress, Sidney wasn’t happy she hadn’t been able to make the dress, but it wasn’t as though Jace could tell her the faster they got married, the sooner the house would be his.

“Never thought I’d see the day Jace Macnamara got married,” Breck teased. “I’m sure that news broke the hearts of women everywhere.”

Jace knew his friend was just trying to rile him before he said whatever he came here to say. “Ha ha. I could say the same thing to you, couldn’t I?” Yeah, Jace dated a lot of women—short-term of course—but so had Breck before meeting Rowan.

Breck didn’t reply to that. “How you doing?” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. Jace knew that look—his friend had something he wanted to say. It surprised him Kade wasn’t there for backup.

“Spit it out, man. If you can’t tell, this is my wedding day.”

“You’ve always been a smart guy who knows what you want.”

“Yep.”

“So now I just want to make sure you’ve thought this through. That you really know what you’re doing. Hell, if you need something—”

“I don’t.” Well, nothing Breck could help him with, anyway.

“Okay, so back to knowing what you’re doing. She’s a sweet woman.”

“I know that.” Jace shook his head. Breck hardly knew Betsy and it pissed him off that his friend would come in here pretending to tell Jace anything new about the woman. None of them spent more time with Betsy than he did. “You think I don’t know who she is?”

“Calm down.” Breck held up his hands. “I’m just saying this one thing and then I’ll never bring it up again. You’re not above screwing up. I did the same thing with Rowan. I’d hate to see that woman out there, who looks at you like you hung the friggin’ moon, get her heart broken. I’d hate to know how much it would kill you to be the one who did it, too.”

Jace sighed. Breck was right, but then, this whole deal wasn’t just for him. It had started out that way, but Betsy obviously needed money. She wasn’t the type of woman who would take it if he offered, so this had to be the right thing. It was just his luck that the one woman he could trust with this and who was available would be his assistant who happened to have a crush on him. One of the few people in Jace’s life he feared losing.

“Setting aside the fact that you guys are good friends, you’re also her boss, Jace—”

“What are you trying to say?” Jace stiffened. “That I would ever let our marriage affect her job?” That train of thought reminded him that this would be ending and what it would mean for Betsy and her future. Jace knew she belonged with someone much better than him. He had nothing to give. He just hoped whomever she ended up with didn’t mind the baggage.

“That’s not what I’m saying, man, and you should know it. I’m just worried neither of you have thought this through.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Jace said again, even though he was beginning to doubt it more and more.

“I trust you, man. I just had to be sure. Rowan’s concerned.” Breck eyed him and Jace felt the weight of it bearing down on him, taunting him, because no matter what Jace said, guilt continued to gnaw at his insides. And though he knew Breck really wouldn’t give him hell over this—that his friend would trust Jace to do the right thing, even if that trust got him an earful from his wife on Betsy’s behalf—Breck’s stare also told Jace he knew there was more going on than Jace was admitting.

“Where’s Betsy?” Jace wasn’t sure quite why he needed to see her. The wedding was only about half an hour away and if she were any other woman, he was sure she’d still be getting ready. But she was so different than the women he knew; the same things weren’t important to her—plus she was ever practical. He could see her having been ready long ago, because why fuss too much over a fake marriage?

“Houdini and Sidney are with her. They’re still in the first floor room getting ready.”

Breck’s nickname for Rowan made Jace roll his eyes. That was Breck, though. He always liked to kid around, and the man loved his wife something fierce. It was a side of Jace’s old college buddy he never expected to see and though he knew he’d never be in love himself, he respected the hell out of Breck for it. For Jace, love meant losing. He’d lost his parents, and he didn’t want to put himself out there to lose anymore.

But love or not, he was about to be married.
Married.

“Thanks.” Jace nodded at Breck as he walked out of the room. He took the stairs in the only home he’d ever known before stopping at the door to what had once been his mom’s art room. She had loved lots of different hobbies: gardening, art, reading. Suddenly Jace wished he were more like her. Maybe that was part of the reason being here was so important to him.

Jace’s hand immediately went to the doorknob and he started to push it open. Before it got far, Sidney stuck out her head.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Jace Macnamara?” Her eyebrows lowered in a scowl.

“Coming to see my future wife,” he gritted out, slightly annoyed, though he couldn’t put his finger on why. His pulse thumped and he felt heavy…nervous. They were more feelings he didn’t understand.

“And you can’t knock?” Rowan squeezed her head next to Sidney’s. They only had the door opened partway, and he couldn’t see Betsy inside.

Jace started to reply, but then realized he probably
should
have at least knocked. The thought hadn’t even occurred to him. “Sorry, but I need to see Betsy.”

Both women glared at him. He knew neither of them truly understood the rush of this wedding. Not to mention why no one knew Betsy and Jace had been dating to begin with. All very legitimate questions that he’d pretty much had to lie through his teeth about—that he was forcing
Betsy
to lie about.

“You’re not supposed to see her before the wedding.” This from Sidney.

“It’s bad luck,” Rowan added.

Jace sighed, struggling to remind himself they were only trying to look out for Betsy. Still…did they think she wouldn’t want to see him? That if he came here right now, it wasn’t for something important? Betsy would understand. She always understood.

“It’s okay. You can let him in,” Betsy said from somewhere behind the door.

Rowan’s and Sidney’s scowls deepened. Rowan even went so far as to shake her head, but they opened the door wide for him. Still, the women didn’t move. “You’re breaking the most important wedding rule!” Rowan admonished.

No, he was pretty sure he was guilty of much worse than that.

“It’s okay,” Betsy said again. Jace let out a deep breath and silently thanked her. He could always count on Betsy—and that meant something to him.

“Hold on a second first,” Sidney said before disappearing behind the door. He heard them rummaging around and couldn’t help but wonder what they were doing.

Sidney stepped back out and he noticed for the first time that both women were in dresses—Rowan’s pink and Sidney’s lavender. They had their hair done in intricate styles and it made him wonder how Betsy would look. Would her brown hair be up or down? She always wore it down, but he thought he might like to see it away from her face.

“We’re running a little bit behind so you’ll need to make it fast,” Rowan said. The stiffness in her voice bothered him.

As they stepped into the hallway, he pulled the door slightly closed before whispering, “I know neither of you are fond of our marriage, but I hope you’re not giving Betsy a hard time about it. If you have a problem, come to me, not her. She doesn’t deserve it.”

He thought he saw a spark of pride in Rowan’s green eyes before she asked, “Do we have a reason to worry? You’ve got to admit, your reputation doesn’t go well with this whole marriage thing.”

Jace tried not to let that sting. “No, you don’t need to worry.”

Sidney piped in next. “We just want her happy. We want you happy, too, Jace. This all came as a surprise, so it’s just taking a little getting used to.”

Jace nodded. They were in agreement on that. The whole idea of marriage was taking him a bit to adapt to as well. And more than anything, he knew Betsy deserved to be happy, and she would be. They could make this work for six months and then she’d have the money to help her with whatever she was struggling with, and one day she’d fall in love and marry someone for real. “We’re on the same page, then. Her happiness is just as important to me.” With that he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

Betsy stood with her back to him, looking out the window and wearing a large robe. The pounding of his pulse slowed and the weight on his chest somehow lessened. He’d been wrong about her being early, but he guessed it was like that with women and a wedding, whether the marriage was for love or not. “Hey…” Jace suddenly felt foolish being here for no good reason.

“Hey,” Betsy replied in that quiet voice of hers he’d become so familiar with. They were
both
quiet. He didn’t know what he was waiting for, why he couldn’t just make himself say something and walk out of the room, but words wouldn’t come. Finally, she spoke for him. “Did you change your mind?”

“What? No. Why would you think that?”

“Because I live in reality and things like this don’t actually happen?”

Her little spark of sarcasm made him smile, easing more of the tension from his shoulders. “You think you’re funny, do you?” Jace kept walking toward her and when he got only a couple feet away, he stopped. “Look at me, B.”

She did. Slowly she turned around and, for once, her eyes didn’t find the ground. They were firm on his. “I just wanted to check on you before everything happened,” he said. “It’s been so busy lately that I haven’t had the chance to make sure you don’t need anything.”

“I’m a big girl. I know…” Her eyes shot down, but before he could say anything, she looked at him again. “I know you guys all treat me with kid gloves, but I’m an adult. I know what I’m doing. I’ve been on my own for a long time, and if I need anything, I’ll take care of it.”

For the first time that day, Jace took a moment to study her hair. It was up, liked he’d hoped. Some twist thing with curls toppling all over her head. He’d never seen her hair like that—all springy and almost decorated. He couldn’t stop himself from touching one of the curls, just to see what it would feel like, and to his surprise, she didn’t back away. She let him wrap it around his finger before he gently pulled his hand away. He felt the urge to do it again, but he didn’t.

“I know that,” he said, his voice weak. He studied her curls again, that itch to touch them still with him. “I don’t doubt for a second that you can take care of yourself.” And that was true. “Hell. Half the time you’re the one taking care of me at the office. That place would fall apart without you.”

Betsy shook her head, her face makeup free like always. “You’re amazing at what you do.”

“Quit trying to butter me up. We’re already getting married.” Jace hoped for a laugh and got a smile. He’d take it. He looked at her hair again. With it pulled back, he noticed little flecks of gold in her brown eyes. How big they were as they held his stare. Her eyes were really rather incredible. He’d never noticed that before.

Jace struggled with his next words. He didn’t do this kind of talk. All he knew was how it had been with Wallace, and though the man had been good to him and Jace knew his grandfather loved him, they didn’t talk emotions. Didn’t show emotions. That wasn’t what his world consisted of, but he needed to find a way to get this out before the words burned his tongue. The fact was, he needed Betsy. At work, she anticipated him like no one he’d ever known, and they fit well together there. Breck’s comment about Jace being her boss rang in his ears, reminding him how much they had at stake.

“I couldn’t do what I do without you, B. My clients need you just as much as I do. We’re going to be good, right?” Christ, what was wrong with him? He felt so emotional. So insecure. He was known for being smooth—both with women and defending clients in the courtroom. People told him that all the time, how he was always steady. But Jace didn’t feel it right now. He’d never felt so rattled before.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Betsy crinkled her nose in this unexpectedly cute way, and somehow that drained the last of the tension from him.

“You’re right. I don’t know.” Jace shook his head before stepping away from her. Maybe he was overreacting. “I’ll see you at the altar.” He winked at her and she immediately blushed, which he maybe liked more than he should. As he turned and walked out of the room, he realized his reason for going in had been a lie. He didn’t need to make sure she was okay…he needed to make sure
he
was okay. And somehow, his quiet friend had calmed the storm inside him.