The Substitute (21 page)

She looked up at him, still defensive. “You’re doing all of this because you
like
me?” She took a step back, her arms dropping to her sides. “That’s not a reason.”

He stopped in front of her, lifting a hand to the side of her face. “It’s the oldest reason under the sun.”

Her body relaxed and she pressed her cheek into his palm.

Encouraged, he lowered his head, his lips hovering over hers. His tongue ran along her lower lip, and her breath was hot on his face. “Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Boy does anything he can to impress girl.”

She lifted her face and pressed her lips to his.

He wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her against his chest. Before he even registered what he was doing, his tongue parted her lips and plunged into her mouth as she opened to him, so lush and soft and… Her hands lifted to his head and she held him firmly against her mouth, bringing their kiss deeper. Wanting to be even closer, he tangled one hand in her soft thick hair.

It took him a couple of seconds to realize someone was knocking on the door. He dragged his mouth from hers, lifting his head as he tried to gather his senses.

“Megan,” her mother called out as she knocked again. “We need you downstairs.”

She groaned and closed her eyes. “I’ll be right there.”

“Don’t dawdle like you usually do.”

His hand was still in her hair, holding her inches from his face. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, her gaze dreamy. “What is this, Josh?”

He gave her a lopsided grin. “What? You’ve never made out before?”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I thought I was demonstrating the lengths to which I’d go to impress you.”

“Or distract me.”

“Megan.” His hold loosened, but he still held her close, unwilling to let go of her just yet. “My brother is here to check up on me—and probably you, just like how Blair threatened to determine if I’m circumcised or not.” He shot her another grin. When she didn’t stop him, he pushed on. “He’s my big brother. He’s worried.”

“He looks like the type of guy who’s only worried about himself.”

Ordinarily, he’d applaud her accurate character assessment, but not tonight. “He might appear that way, but deep down, Noah cares about me.” Or at least, Josh liked to believe he did.

“We need to break up tonight,” she whispered.

“But I don’t want to break up with you tonight.” His mouth lowered to hers again. “I want to do the exact opposite of breaking up with you tonight.”

She leaned back, but stopped short of pulling out of his arms. “We are the bride and groom in a very real wedding that is taking place in two days, Josh. We
have
to break up…and very publicly, at that.”

She was right. He knew it. As much as he hated to admit it. But not tonight. “Let’s just play it by ear.”

“We have to do this tonight, Josh. It’s going to be a nightmare to cancel everything now. If we wait until tomorrow…”

“You’re right.” He dropped his arms. “But it has to be natural. And let me take the lead. I’ll act like a jerk, so when we break up, no one will ever question why the wedding got called off. You have to come off smelling like a rose.” He almost felt guilty deceiving her, but he took solace in the fact that even if his spying job was done, he still wouldn’t want to break up with her. “No matter what, do not yell at me. Be the reasonable one.”

She studied his shirt for several seconds before nodding. Then she looked up into his face. “And then what?”

What did she want to hear? That they could go back to Seattle together and date? Was that really possible given that her family knew him as Jay instead of Josh McMillan? They weren’t likely to approve of the pairing if they found out that he’d strung them along, particularly given how much money they were throwing down for this whole wedding. That wasn’t even factoring in the whole patent mess.

“Then we’ll take it one minute at a time.”

Several hours later, Megan was furious with him, and not without cause. For one thing, Noah had been glued to Libby all night, which frankly had both of them concerned. Noah never hooked up with a girl without a purpose other than sex, but he wasn’t flirting like mad with her either. What could possibly be his goal this time? He wasn’t going to get any information about the patent from Libby. The most he could hope for was to get intel on Megan. And what would he want with information about
her?

But the main reason for her mood was because he was being a
very
attentive boyfriend—getting her food and drinks, joining in conversations, making sure she was comfortable. Megan’s family loved him. Most women wouldn’t find fault in that—in fact, they’d revel in it—but Josh was supposed to be paving the way to their breakup. And after Josh’s behavior over the last couple of hours, the only person at the family dinner expecting that outcome was Megan.

Josh had spent most of the day dreading tonight’s dinner, but it was exactly the opposite of what he’d expected. Josh genuinely enjoyed hanging out with Bart Vandemeer’s huge family. They were down to earth and fun, the complete opposite of Nicole Vandemeer and her friends. It made Josh wonder why Bart had chosen to marry her.

The first hour was so fun he’d completely forgotten he was supposed to be laying the groundwork for the breakup he planned to initiate. But even after realizing his mistake, he was in too good of a mood to play the part, even just enough to appease Megan, which had been his original plan.

He was having a conversation with her Uncle Jeremy about the best fishing places at Table Rock Lake when Megan wrapped her hand around his lower forearm, her nails digging into his flesh.

“Can I talk to you?” She tried to keep her tone sweet, but he heard the annoyed hitch in her voice.

“Uncle Jeremy was inviting me to come fishing with him this fall,” he said with a smile, ignoring the pain in his arm.

“Yeah, I heard, but I need help with the…thing.”

“What thing?” her uncle asked.

Her eyes widened in panic; she obviously hadn’t expected her ploy to be questioned.

A slow smile spread across Josh’s face. “I’ve been summoned.” He gave her uncle a wink. “Never tell a beautiful woman no when she wants to get you alone. Am I right?”

Her uncle chuckled. “Smart man you’ve got there, Megan.”

“I’m beginning to wonder,” she grumbled as he stood and took her hand in his.

He leaned close to her ear and whispered loud enough for her uncle to hear, “Just where did you have in mind?”

She jerked on his hand. He stumbled slightly but contained his amusement. God, was she cute when she was pissed. But he kept his thoughts to himself and followed her through the kitchen and down the stairs to the basement.

Why hadn’t he thought to check the basement rather than his botched attempt to find her father’s home office? After all, what better place to stow things best left forgotten?

But he didn’t have time to look around once they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Your bedroom probably has a better atmosphere for a romantic rendezvous than your parents’ musty basement.”

“I did not bring you down here to make out!”

“From the look on your face, you brought me down here to murder me. But I caution you to think it through. It would be difficult to hide my body, and I think Libby’s too busy with Noah to help.”

“Why is your brother flirting with my best friend?”

“She’s a beautiful woman, Megan.” He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. “But not nearly as beautiful as you.”

“Cut the bullshit, Josh.”

“I really do think you’re beautiful—” his voice lost its teasing tone, “—and I don’t know why Noah is so taken with Libby, but she seems like a smart girl. She can handle herself.”

She jerked up her head to look him in the eye. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means my brother is not a one-woman kind of guy, but when Libby made it obvious she was interested in him, I mentioned that fact to her. She told me not to worry. She knew what he was.”

Her eyes narrowed to slits. “When did you talk to Libby about your brother?”

“After I came home this evening and went upstairs to find you. Libby was in your room. You were in the bathroom.”

“Hmm.”

He was still holding her close, resisting the urge to kiss her. Although he suspected it would distract her from the next topic she was sure to bring up, he didn’t want to play her that way.

“What are you doing, Josh?”

“I’m standing in your basement, waiting to see if you’re going to murder me or not.” He made a show of spinning his head to take it in. “I’m surprised it’s unfinished. And that your mother didn’t ask your father to set up his man cave down here rather than upstairs.”

“You can’t change the subject. Why aren’t you trying to break up with me like we discussed?”

“You haven’t given me much opportunity.”

She pulled out of his grasp. “We’ve been out there for two hours!”’

“Really?” he asked in what he hoped was believable surprise. “I guess I was too busy having a good time. I like your dad’s family.”

She shook her head, as though trying to clear her confusion. “I like my dad’s family too, but you have to stick to the plan.”

“What do you want me to do?” he asked, spreading his hands. “I’ve never purposely acted like an asshole before.” She snorted and he gave her a look of surprise. “Are you suggesting I’m a natural asshole?”

“No… I don’t know.” She scowled. “But we have to do something, Josh. We have to end this tonight. This is getting bad.”

“I know. You’re right. How about I start drinking a lot and then I can act like a sloppy drunk, giving you a good reason to break up with me.”

She pursed her lips, deep in thought, before nodding and looking up at him. “Yeah. That’s good. If you just start acting like a jerk now, my family will wonder why you’re like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

“Okay, so I’ll start getting drunk. Let’s get to it.” He took her hand, surprised when she didn’t protest, and led her up the stairs. When they were in the kitchen, he stopped and dropped his hold on her. “But first I need to visit the restroom before I go back outside.” He patted his stomach. “That pulled pork isn’t quite agreeing with me.”

The look she gave him said she didn’t quite trust him, but the request was too reasonable for her to deny.

“You don’t have to wait for me. In fact, it might be safer for me to go upstairs.” He grimaced.

She released a nervous laugh. “Don’t let Dad hear you say that. He loves Gate’s barbeque. He’d call that blasphemy.”

“From all the dogs barking outside your fence, I’d say they like it too.” The sound seemed almost appropriate given the laid-back vibe of the evening, but he knew it had to be driving Nicole crazy.

A sly grin spread across her face. “Those are the Murphys’ dogs. Mom is furious they got loose. In fact, she called animal control, but apparently they haven’t shown up yet.”

“You really do take a perverse pleasure at your mother’s aggravation.”

She laughed. “I guess that makes me wicked.”

He liked the thought of her doing wicked things, but not the kind she currently had in mind.

“You go on back outside,” Josh said, heading for the stairs. “I’ll be out as soon as I’m fit to be seen in public.” He bounded up the stairs two at a time in his attempt to get away from her. He wasn’t so sure how convincing his gastrointestinal issue was, but he had to talk to Noah. And maybe he could find Bart’s home office while he was upstairs.

He opened the first room on his right, finding what appeared to be Kevin’s room. Eliminating Megan’s and her grandmother’s rooms, that left one possibility. He pushed open the door, relieved to find a desk with a desktop computer and a credenza and printer. Pulling out his phone, he texted his brother.
I found Vandemeer’s home office.

Seconds later Noah responded.
I found it first. I’m sleeping there, Sherlock.
Josh could practically hear his sarcasm.

Sure enough, there was a bag on the loveseat on the wall opposite the desk.
Have you checked it yet?

Not thoroughly, but I have all night. As long as you don’t screw this up now.

Josh released a heavy breath.
She wants me to break up with her tonight.

Obviously you can’t. Figure something out
.

Figure something out. Sure, no problem.

He went back downstairs and grabbed a bottle of beer from the cooler by the back door, taking a long drag from it before he searched for Megan. She was standing with a group of her cousins and aunts. She looked nervous, and he hated the knowledge that he was to blame, but he couldn’t give her what he she wanted. Not yet. Now that Noah was here, they could get what they needed to save the business and he’d break up with her tomorrow night at the rehearsal dinner. He could pretend to get drunk tomorrow night, then put the moves on Blair. He almost choked on his beer at the very thought of it, but it was a good plan. Blair would raise holy hell and no one would condone Megan marrying him then.

But he couldn’t tell Megan his new plan. He’d drink a lot tonight to pave the way to the big finale tomorrow and figure out a way to appease her in the meantime.

His other problem—how to appease his own hurting heart once she found out what he was about—was entirely his own cross to bear.

He took another draw off the bottle, trying to chase the feeling away. How could he already be so attached to Megan? He hardly knew her, but he knew enough not to want to let her go. He finished off the beer and grabbed another. Fuel for the performance.

Megan turned and saw him, her face momentarily lighting up…then fading. He lifted his bottle in salute to show her he was on task.

He walked toward her and a black cat shot out from a bush, darting across his path. He stumbled to keep from tripping on it and he was sure it made him look drunk, although anyone who had been paying attention would realize it was far from true. He couldn’t face Megan at the moment, so he made his way over to Noah, who was sitting at a small table with Libby. They were deep in conversation and laughing when he sat down across from them.