The Substitute (8 page)

He clasped her hand between both of his, giving her a sweet smile. “Perfectly. But you’re not giving off a very loving vibe right now, sweetie. You don’t want your mother to think I’m breaking up with you because you’re a bitch.”

“What? How
dare
you—”

Before she could react, he kissed her again, pulling her flush against his body. This kiss was different than the one he’d given her downstairs. The previous kiss hadn’t exactly been chaste, but it had tested the line of inappropriate in front of her family. This kiss dropped all pretense. His hand tangled in her hair and his tongue parted her lips with an intensity and urgency she hadn’t expected. And while some sane part of her knew she should resist, the rest of her eagerly welcomed it.

“Uh… Megan…” Her brother’s voice broke through her lust-filled haze.

That’s when reality set in. She was kissing this man, someone she’d only known for a matter of hours, in the upstairs hallway in her parents’ house. She tried to pull away from Josh, but his arms held her tight against him as she glanced over her shoulder.

Kevin stood at the top of the stairs, his bag in hand, looking very uncomfortable while he studied the wall. “I need to change.” His gaze returned to her. “And you’re in the way.”

Josh dropped one of his hands, but kept the other around her as he pulled her out of Kevin’s way. “Sorry,” he said, sounding like he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to do.

Kevin moved toward them, looking into Josh’s eyes. “At least I know you love her. Megan likes to paint a pretty picture of you, but Gram and I talk…and what we’ve pieced together has left me with some major doubts about you.” His eyes grew cold. “Fair warning, buddy. If I find out that you hurt my sister in any way, I’m going to kick your ass. Is that clear?”

“Kevin!” Megan protested, even though guilt flooded through her for deceiving him. “I’m not fourteen years old, you know.”

Kevin’s face softened as he turned his attention to her. “Megan, you can be ninety and you’ll never stop being my baby sister. I will
always
kick the ass of any guy who hurts you.”

Pulling away from Josh, Megan rushed to her big brother and threw her arms around his neck, hanging onto him for dear life. “Where were you last month?” Her voice cracked with emotion.

Kevin pulled her back and glared at Josh. “What happened last month?” His voice took an ominous tone.

Oh, crap. What had possessed her to say that? But she hadn’t seen Kevin for years and she’d forgotten what an intimidating presence he had. Sometimes it was nice to think someone else, like her alpha male big brother, could help her with her problems. But at the moment, she needed to dig herself out of the hole she’d just dug. The problem was that Kevin tended to be perceptive as hell. Megan gave him a reassuring smile. “Nothing.” She dropped her hold on him. “I’m just all emotional with Mom and her big wedding plans.”

“Did he—?”

“No.” She grabbed Josh’s arm with both hands and leaned into him. “He’s great. A project at work had some issues, so it was a terrible month. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”

Josh kissed the top of her head.

Kevin studied them, looking like he was still unsure whether to believe her.

“
Megan!
” her mother shouted.

“Crap,” Megan muttered. “She’s up to level three. She raised her voice.”

Kevin didn’t look like he wanted to let the subject drop, but he waved to the stairs behind him. “You better get down there. Her split personality is in full bloom.”

“Great.”

Kevin grimaced. “She may have been Miss Georgia, but she would have been much more effective as a third-world dictator.”

Didn’t Megan know it? She started down the stairs, but Josh snagged her hand and she looked back at him, searching his face for an explanation. What had happened back there? Her conversation with Kevin hadn’t done a thing to make her forget that kiss. She had to admit to herself she’d never reacted to a kiss like that and part of her wanted to throw herself at him, even here on the steps, for a repeat performance.

Then it hit her.

She was an idiot. Josh had given her the single best kiss of her life to keep her brother from hearing their argument. That was the reason…the only one.

She tried to drop his hand, but he hung on, stopping at the bottom of the stairs and pulling her into an embrace. She tried to resist, but he leaned into her ear and whispered, “Your mother is watching.”

She forced herself to relax.

“I’m sorry about what just happened,” he continued, “but your brother was about to overhear us. In fact, from the look on his face and the way he wouldn’t let it drop, I think he heard some of our conversation. I didn’t mean to violate you like that. I was desperate.”

“I know,” she whispered back, fighting her disappointment at his confirmation. Had it really meant nothing to him? But of course it hadn’t. It was a ruse. As gorgeous as he was, he’d probably kissed plenty of women, beautiful blonds like the flight attendant. To him, kissing was likely as routine as flossing had been for Jay.

“Megan!” her mother said.

She broke loose and walked into the kitchen, Josh on her heels, prepared for the lecture that was sure to come.

Megan’s mother’s nose wrinkled with a disapproving grimace. “Really, Megan. This party is for you and Jay—er, I mean Josh.” She shook her head, and—if possible—looked even more perturbed. “And why didn’t you bother to tell us he preferred Josh? We would have put it on all the invitations.”

Josh slipped an arm around her back, his hand resting on the rise of her hip. “It’s all my fault, Mrs. Vandemeer. On both counts. I insisted Megan help me figure out what to wear tonight, which made her late coming downstairs, and I told her to use Jay on everything for the wedding. My parents prefer it and I wanted to honor that even if they couldn’t be here with us.”

Megan couldn’t believe how well the lies rolled off his tongue. She’d definitely have to keep that in mind. He might be helping her now, but he had some ulterior motive for doing so. Some instinct told her it had something to do with his mission to save his family business, but for the life of her she couldn’t make the connection.

Nicole Vandemeer’s face softened. “Aren’t you just too precious? Defending Megan like that. And I insist you call me Nicole.”

“Thank you, Nicole.” His hand tugged Megan closer and he leaned his cheek on top of her head. “And I can’t help but defend her. She’s my damsel in distress.”

Megan wanted to kick him in the shin again for the pun he’d made for her benefit, but her mother would notice.

Megan’s mother got a dreamy look in her eyes. “Which makes you her white knight. This just makes the princess theme more perfect.”

“More like my court jester,” Megan mumbled, loud enough for only Josh to hear. But then she absorbed the second half of her mother’s statement. “Wait.
What
princess theme?”

Her mother scowled, picking up a tray of white bowls shaped like flowers and white candles. “Take these outside and set them up.” She handed the tray to Megan. “Be sure to light them too.”

“Mom, what princess theme? You didn’t say anything about a princess theme last fall.”

“Now don’t you worry, Megan. I’ve got everything under control.” Without another word of explanation, she walked into the dining room, leaving Megan with the tray in her hands.

“Megan,” Josh said in a low voice. “Let’s take the candles outside.”

She glared up at him. “Why? So you can brown-nose her some more?”

“That’s not fair. I was defending you.”

She shot him a hateful look. “I don’t need you to defend me.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. After all, consider why I’m here in the first place.”

“Exactly,” she spat. “Why
are
you here?”

Josh’s face was expressionless as he took the tray from her. “I’m here to help you and you’re doing your best to make it difficult.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“Which you’ve made abundantly clear. The way I see it, you have two options. One, we play this out, or two, I leave right now.”

He was right, which irked her to no end. Why was she so irritated with him anyway? Unless he was a secret cultist looking for recruits, so far he was harmless enough. And he was right. He was helping her out of a situation she should have taken care of herself a month and a half ago. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

An infectious grin spread across his face. “Now was that so hard? Come on.” He turned and headed for the French doors, leaving her to trail behind.

When she stepped out the back door, she gasped, stopping in her tracks next to an equally stunned Josh.

“What the hell…?” he muttered.

“Oh. My. God.” The house had a multilayered deck with a pool at the edge. The yard had been re-landscaped a few years ago and more features had been added since Megan’s visit last fall. A pool house/cabana had been installed, and the pool deck had been extended and was lined with flowerbeds and potted flowers. Several bistro-sized tables with chairs were arranged around the pool, and a buffet table covered in pale pink organza and a gathered white organza overlay was set up on one level of the deck. But that wasn’t what had so stunned them.

The entire area was tented with a soft white fabric lined with white twinkle lights, and a giant chandelier hung in the middle, directly over the pool.

“Does your mother think we’re already married and this is the reception?” Josh asked.

“No, she wouldn’t miss the opportunity to torture me before the wedding.”

“What the…” He walked down the steps to the pool deck, checking out one of the bistro tables.

Megan followed in horror. Like the other tables, this one was decorated with a single blooming rose in a crystal vase, beneath which a few petals were artfully scattered on the white tablecloth. It was the domed glass covering the flower that had caught his attention.

“Is this from
Beauty and the Beast?
” Josh asked, turning back to gape at her.

She shook her head in dismay. “She said it was a princess theme.”

“That must make me the Beast.”

She released a short laugh. “If she originally planned it that way, I can assure you that she’s turned the tables. She loves you. I’m the Beast.”

He set the tray of candles on the table. “Oh, God. Is that bowl of red apples on the food table a
Snow White
reference? And the brass lamp must be a nod to
Aladdin
.”

Megan shook her head, speechless.

“Seriously, Megan. What the hell?”

She stared up at him in dismay. “I don’t know. I think I’m about twenty years too old for this party. And I don’t even like Disney movies. She knows that.”

“And I think I just lost my man card.”

“Isn’t it beautiful?” her mother asked, coming out the back door, tsking when she saw the tray of candles on one of the tables.

“It’s something else, all right,” Megan answered, taking in the decorations. A clear high heel sat atop the bar at the end of the pool, keeping company with the liquor bottles.

Her mother set an ornate picture frame containing words instead of a photo on the organza-strewn table. Megan moved closer to see it read
Megan and Josh, June 14
.

“I thought Josh told you that he preferred to use Jay on everything.”

Her mother gave her a blank look. “Did he? I figured he meant the invitations. Besides, if people are going to call him Josh, it will be less confusing if the placard says Josh.”

Her father emerged from the door next, a frame in his hand. Megan gasped when she realized what it was: A photo of her and Josh in her parents’ kitchen.

“How did you get that?”

“The photos you sent me of you and Josh were just atrocious—all blurry and out of focus. And besides, Josh’s hair is longer now and he’s much cuter in person,” her mother said. “So after Josh kissed you in the kitchen, your father took your picture with his phone so we could use it tonight.”

“That’s creepy,” Megan muttered.

Her mother offered her a tight smile. “No. It was efficient. And while it’s not the professional portrait I wanted…which I suggested to you many,
many
times—”

“I told you that Jay couldn’t get away from work.”

“—this will have to do in a pinch.”

“Why do we need one at all?” Megan asked in dismay. “We’re both
here
. Our presence should be enough.” Although she hoped Josh wouldn’t be here for long, so she could be done with this disaster of a weekend.

She looked over her shoulder at him and mouthed
sorry
, although she wasn’t entirely sure why. He gave her a sympathetic smile before she turned back to face her mother, and she was surprised by how comforting the gesture was. She couldn’t help thinking what Jay would have done in this situation. No doubt he would have found a reason to blame it on her. He certainly wouldn’t have done a thing to comfort her.

Her mother’s brow furrowed, but not by much, making Megan wonder if she’d had Botox injections recently. “Barbara Decker’s daughter’s engagement party was gorgeous. You’re not going to have anything less.”

“Are you saying this is our
engagement
party? We’re getting married in three days!”

“Barbara Decker gave her daughter an engagement party that was the talk of the country club for months.” Her mouth turned down. “I won’t be outdone by that social wannabe.”

“So you did all of this?” Megan’s voice rose as she gestured to the tent over their heads. “How much did it even cost?”

“Too much,” her father grumbled.

“Bart!” her mother reprimanded. “Enough of that. You have one daughter and she will have the most beautiful wedding in all of Jackson County.”

“Nicole,” her father chided. “The wedding is going to be in
Johnson
County. And this isn’t even the wedding.”

“
Details!
” Her mother looked around, frantic and frustrated. “I wanted to hire
real
waitstaff, instead of taking a chance on these kids—” she waved at a teenage girl wearing a black skirt and blouse who was setting a plate of tiny cakes on the food table, “—but your father refused. And we haven’t had ample time to prepare after your foolish antics at the airport, Megan Nicole.”