The Substitute (22 page)

“What’s got you so low?” Noah asked, leaning back in his seat. “You looked like you were having a great night until your fiancée dragged you away. You should be wearing a shit-eating grin right about now.”

Josh glared at his brother and took another long drag of his beer.

“Have you thought of a way to keep from breaking up with her?” Noah asked.

Lowering the bottle, Josh cast a glance toward Libby.

She gave him a sympathetic smile. “He knows I’m helping you.”

He couldn’t contain his look of surprise. What had Noah confessed to?

Noah gave him a conspiratorial grin. “I’m all in, bro. I’ll get you to the altar.”

“
What?
” Josh asked.

Noah shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for true love.”

Libby snorted. “Liar. You wouldn’t know true love if it bit you in the ass.”

Josh was relieved that Noah still hadn’t fooled her. Many a woman had claimed to go into a relationship with Noah with eyes wide open only to find herself with a broken heart.

Noah shrugged and held out his hands. “Okay, you caught me. I don’t believe in love. I think what people call love is all about hormones and loneliness.” He leaned his elbow on the table and waved to his brother as he gave his attention to Libby. “Take Joshua here. He’s been so focused on his job that he’s barely dated in the last two years.”

Josh groaned. “I’ve dated. I just don’t share all the details.” He took a drink, then shot his brother a piercing glare. “Unlike someone I know.”

Noah chuckled and turned his attention to the pretty brunette sitting next to him. “Like I said. Josh is lonely and he comes to Kansas City in his self-imposed exile, during which he stumbles upon a pretty girl on a plane. Said pretty girl is desperate for rescue and he instantly falls for her.”

“Shh!” Josh’s eyes flew open in alarm. “Keep it down.”

Noah’s grin widened as he looked around. “Cool your jets. No one heard.”

Josh’s chest tightened with anger. He was in this situation because of Noah. And now he was treating Megan’s life like it was some sort of game. He was going to fuck her over for his own purposes without thinking twice about it.

No.
Josh
was fucking her over, and he could only imagine how hurt she was going to be when she found out. He had hoped that he could get out of this without her ever finding out. But it seemed pretty unlikely, especially now that Noah was involved. Noah was good for one thing—destroying everything good in Josh’s life.

Why had he let him come?

Maybe he should break up with Megan tonight after all, put this farce to rest. Give up on the company. Give up on a real chance with her.

Josh finished off the beer and set the bottle on the table. He started to get up. “I need another.”

Noah slapped Josh’s shoulder and pushed him back down. “Cheer up there, young lad,” he said in a fake British accent. “I’ll get you another pint of ale and all will be well.” He stood and the barking dogs against the fence amped up their racket. The black cat Josh had seen earlier was now calmly stalking across the top of the fence.

“Knickers looks like she’s about to come unglued,” Libby laughed.

Sure enough, Nicole looked furious. She stomped over to her husband, nearly tripping over a cup on the deck, which only infuriated her more. “Bart!” she shouted. “Do something!”

Bart, who had been sitting with his brother on the deck, got to his feet. “What do you want me to do?”

“Make them stop!”

As he passed Bart, Noah pointed to the cat, which was still on the fence, hissing with its back arched. Then Noah grabbed three beers out of the cooler.

Libby watched Noah with more interest than Josh liked. All the more reason to seriously consider changing his tactic. “Megan has insisted I break up with her tonight.”

Libby swung her gaze to him, her eyebrows arched. “You’re not considering it, are you?”

He sighed. “I don’t know, maybe.”

She leaned toward him, desperation in her eyes. “You can’t.”

He rested his palm on the table, the two beers he’d drank within the past five minutes making him feel melancholy rather than buzzed. “She’s right, Libby. I’m putting her in an awkward situation. The longer I wait to do this, the harder it will be to cancel everything.”

Libby leaned in closer, her face inches from his. “The only person who’s going to be negatively affected by canceling the wedding is Knickers. The money’s gone whether there’s a wedding or not. Don’t let that stop you from going after Megan.”

“But it’s all a lie, Libby.”

Her jaw set and determination filled her eyes. “Do you like her?”

“What?”

“It’s a simple question. Do you like her?”

“You know I do.”

“Then whatever you do, don’t break up with her tonight. Wait.”

“How long do I wait? Until we’re at the altar and the minister says, ‘Do you, Jay—what’s the fucker’s last name again?” The fuzziness in his head held the bastard’s name out of reach.

“Connors.”

“Jay Connors.” The name rolled off Josh’s tongue with a sneer. “So the minister says, ‘Do you, Jay Connors, take Megan Vandemeer to be your lawfully wedded wife?’ and I say… ‘Well, about that…did I mention that I’m just her substitute fiancé?’”

She sat back, glancing over at her friend. “It doesn’t have to go that far. Just make her realize how much she likes you. Make her admit that she wants this to work.”

“She likes me, but what if I can’t get her to admit that she does? That I’m worth fighting for?” He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’m seriously considering giving up
everything
to try to make this work. What if she doesn’t feel the same? She’s in this situation to keep her mother from blowing her gasket. There’s no way we can tell Knickers the truth and come out unscathed.”

She didn’t respond.

In the end, it didn’t matter how Megan felt, not really. His original goal was honorable—saving his employees—but it wasn’t worth toying with Megan’s life. Maybe he could cash in his barely existent IRA and use it to make a comp package for the employees who’d have the most trouble finding new jobs.

It wasn’t the solution he wanted, but he could live with it. If he had to give it all up, though, he wanted to at least enjoy one more day with Megan—twenty-four hours—before he came clean. “Tomorrow night.” Saying it out loud helped cement the rightness of his decision. “I’m doing this tomorrow night.”

Noah returned and set a bottle of beer in front of him. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Breaking up with Megan.”

Noah looked slightly panicked. “Whoa, slow down there, lover boy. What if we haven’t accomplished our mission?”

Libby turned a skeptical eye on him. “
What
mission?”

An
oh shit
look crossed Noah’s face and Josh groaned. He should have known Noah would screw it up.

Noah rolled his eyes. “Making Megan fall in love with Josh. What the hell else would I be talking about?”

But the seeds of doubt had been planted in Libby’s head and she turned her discerning eye on Josh.

Josh picked up his bottle. “Trust me, no one’s more surprised by this turn of events than I am.”

“So we agree no breaking up tonight, right?” Libby asked.

“I may not have a choice,” Josh said, glumly.

Noah was about to protest when Nicole, who was now standing by the edge of the deck, began screaming. “What have you done?”

Three big dogs burst through the back gate, racing for the food table. Everyone started shouting as the dogs jumped onto the deck, snarling over the pans of pork, brisket, baked beans, and coleslaw.

“What are they doing?” Nicole screamed. “Somebody stop them!”

But everyone either ran screaming or watched in silent horror as the dogs knocked over the table. The pans of food fell to the concrete, and the two candles rolled off, one of them setting the tablecloth on fire.

The black cat ran past the spilled food and burning tablecloth, hissing and screeching. One of the dogs looked up, a string of brisket hanging from its mouth, and took off running after the scared cat, which found its exit to the back yard blocked by the bar Kevin had set up the night before. The cat skidded around the corner, the dog gaining on it, while the two other dogs dragged the pans of food away from the now-raging fire.

“Fire!” Nicole shouted. “Bart! Do something!”

Bart ran toward the fire, grabbed a plastic cup off the table, then knelt by the pool and started scooping up some water and tossing it toward the fire.

The cat continued its race around the pool with the dog closing the distance. The fifty-pound lab crashed into one of Megan’s younger cousins, a girl who looked like she was around six years old. The girl fell sideways into the pool, creating a huge splash that drenched the people nearby.

One of the drenched women began screaming, while Megan—who was with them—watched the melee in horror. The little girl surfaced but began flailing in the deep end of the pool.

“I don’t think that little girl can swim,” Josh said to Libby, his voice panicked.

“Oh, God,” Libby shouted. “I think you’re right.” The black cat continued to circle the pool, the dog in hot pursuit. In its haste, the dog knocked over a small table, sending the cups and candle that had been on top skittering across the concrete.

The fire from the tablecloth spread to the nearby table.

“You’ve ruined everything!” Nicole yelled at Bart, who continued to douse the flames with scoops of water.

The back door flung open, bouncing off the house with a loud bang. Gram stood in the doorway, her feet spread apart, holding a fire extinguisher and wearing nothing but her birthday suit. “Did someone say fire?”

The girl was still in the pool, but now she was underwater.

Josh kicked off his shoes and dove in, finding the girl close to the bottom of the ten-foot-deep pool. He grabbed her waist with one arm and swam for the top. When they broke through the surface, the girl gasped for air and started crying. She flailed and kicked as Josh swam to the edge of the pool, dragging her with him.

Noah was kneeling at the edge, reaching toward them. “I’ll take her.”

Josh swam over to him and Noah grabbed her arms, lifting her out. As he set her on her feet, the little girl leaned over Noah’s arm. Crying out in surprise, he dropped his hold on her. “She bit me!”

Josh clung to the side of the pool, heart racing.

The other two dogs, having devoured the food, joined in the cat chase.

“Take care of those
animals!
” Nicole shouted over the confusion.

“What do you want me to do?” Bart shouted, still throwing water onto the now raging fire.

Gram stopped in front of the burning food table and fumbled with the fire extinguisher. One of Bart’s brothers moved toward her, trying to keep his gaze averted as he blindly reached for the extinguisher. “Maude, hand it to me and let me do it.”

“I’ve got it,” she said, exasperated.

Megan’s uncle moved closer, still not looking while he held his open hand out—a tactic that accidentally led to him grabbing Gram’s butt. The man shouted in horror, but a wide grin spread across Gram’s face. “I think I just got goosed.”

“For God’s sakes, Mother!” Megan’s mother shouted. “Put some clothes on!”

But Gram pulled a pin and tossed it on the ground, then shot foam onto the fire. Once the fire was out, she kept spraying, covering two of the dogs running past. They skidded to a halt, then turned the other way, barreling into Nicole and shoving her into the pool in the shallower end. She went under and came back up, mascara streaming down her face, looking more unkempt than Josh had ever seen her.

“
Somebody get those dogs!
”

A man in a khaki uniform stood in the open gate, his mouth hanging open as he took in the destruction of the back yard. “Did someone call animal control?”

Nicole climbed up the steps at the entrance to the pool, though part of her hair stayed floating in the water behind her.

“Josh.” Megan knelt next to him. “Are you okay?”

He looked up at her. “I think your mother just lost something.”

She grinned, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “I’ve suspected for years that she wore a head piece. This disaster was worth the proof.”

He couldn’t help but laugh.

“The ladder’s over there. We better get out of here while we can.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, swimming to the ladder on the other side. She picked up his shoes and walked around the edge of the pool, meeting him as he climbed out.

“I mean, Knickers is about to go ballistic and we need to be as far away from Ground Zero as possible.
Trust me.
I know this from first-hand experience.”

“I thought she was already there.”

“You’re cute.” She grabbed his hand, her fingers curling around his. “Let’s run upstairs and get you changed first.”

“What about Noah?” he asked, looking for his brother.

“I think Libby has him covered.”

She swung wide of her mother, who was giving the animal control officer an earful. They snuck in the back door and headed for the stairs, leaving a trail of water from Josh’s dripping clothes. “We have to hurry and leave before she notices we’re gone or we’ll be stuck.”

“Okay.” She pushed him into the room and shut the door, standing back as he rummaged in his bag and pulled out a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He went into the bathroom to change.

“We don’t have a car,” he said through the door, unbuttoning his top button and tugging his wet shirt over his head. “How are we going to leave?”

“My dad kept my old Explorer. I’m going to sneak down to the kitchen. Come downstairs to meet me when you’re done. But whatever you do, don’t let Knickers see you.”

“Okay.” His jeans stuck to his skin and he struggled to get them off. His cell phone was in his pocket and he tried to turn it on, not surprised to find it dead. He considered leaving his soaking-wet wallet, but worried someone would find it and discover his real identity. He kept it in his hand as he crept down the stairs, making sure Megan’s mother was nowhere to be seen.