Chapter 5

Jamie

"Couldn't you have asked the guys after dinner, preferably when I was gone?" I asked as we walked outside to the entertaining area. As always, Heather had set up a gorgeous table with the guys' help.

The guys.

My cheeks felt like they were burning bright red as I watched Hunter and Hayden put out the last of the cutlery. Oh my god, I couldn't do this. I just couldn't. When they looked up as we approached, my feet slowed. If my mother turned up right now and looked them over with avaricious eyes, thinking that one of them would make a perfect husband, I would've confessed everything in seconds. Anything to get me out of this.

"And where would the fun be in that?" Millie murmured back. "So, brothers dear, what did we decide?"

Nope, I couldn't stand here and listen to their answer. I backed away, ready to make a run for the front door, when my back collided with something hard. Big hands slapped down on my arms and stopped me from falling backwards. I looked up not to see Millie's dad, but Brock staring down at me. Same intense gaze as always, but somehow ten times worse right now, because did he know? Had Millie asked him too? My freaking boss, I remembered, but not quickly enough. It'd have been a real good thing to consider before Millie put her mad plan into place.

"Shit, sorry—" I started to say.

"You're alright." He set me back on my feet, giving my arms a squeeze before letting go. Why did the skin tingle everywhere he touched? "And Millie, the answer's yes."

"Yes?" She pointed at one of the twins. "Yes?"

"I'm in if you are, Hay Bale." Hunter ruffled his brother's hair, which just earned him an elbow to the ribs.

"Yeah, I…" There was the hesitation I was waiting for. God, this was so freaking embarrassing. I needed to go right now. I saw the uncertainty on Hayden's face but not for long. This was a completely ridiculous idea. I was dumb, dumb, dumb to think Hayden would even want to pretend to date me. "I need your phone number, Jamie."

"What?"

My head jerked up and I stared in incomprehension, something that had him smiling. OK, I now took back all of the scathing things I'd thought about girls panting after the twins, because damn. There was something so hot about his smile, like one part sheepish, one part cocky, and one hundred percent sexy. I stared at the face that had sold a helluva lot of surfboards across the world as he answered.

"Well, firstly, we'll need to organise when we're going out, and I'm not letting Millie handle that."

"Wouldn't be the first time Millie tried to pimp us out…" Hunter hissed under his breath.

"And if we're gonna make this work, we need to text a bit, get to know each other. What if your mum asks what your favourite flower is?" Hayden continued.

"Irises," I replied automatically.

"Or favourite colour?"

"Green."

"Right, well, I'll probably think of a whole lot of questions I want to ask, and I don't want to do that through my sister."

I watched Hayden pull out his phone and walk towards me as if in a dream. Probably because I'd had dreams just like this when I was a teenager. Girls often fantasised about the hottest guy in school asking you out, and in our school, that was the twins, but… This is all fake, I told myself. Just to get you out of this drama with Mum. Don't take this too seriously. It's like dating your own brothers. My guts twisted in disgust at that idea. Guys that are like brothers to you. Annoying, smelly, stupid… Hayden came to stand right in front of me, offering me his phone, one eyebrow raised in challenge. Sexy guys.

God, Mum would take one look at Hayden and start imagining beautiful, blond-haired children, sighing all over the place. That alone was enough to have me taking the phone from him. I tried really hard to ignore his big, warm presence as I tapped in my number, but right as I gave it back, another was thrust forward. I blinked to see that Brock was offering me his.

"Don't you have my number?" I asked.

"Shit, yeah?—"

I don't think I'd ever seen Brock disconcerted, if that's what you could call the faint look of confusion on his face.

"Here." Hunter appeared by Hayden's side and pushed his phone my way. "You better give me your number as well."

The long-suffering sigh, the way Hunter stared at me, like I was still a kid, that was the reaction I was expecting.

"I seriously appreciate this," I told him, them, my lips moving faster and faster. "I will owe you big time. We don't even have to really go out. I could just pretend to meet you somewhere?—"

"Nah, that's not gonna work," Hunter replied, eyeing his brothers.

"Or we could just go to the pub and I could be your wingman."

"A female wingman…" Hunter made a show of considering that idea. "Never tried that before."

"And you won't be now." Everyone turned at Brock's growl. "Seven days. Seven dates done right. Seven days to convince…" He blinked. "Your mum that we're serious contenders for becoming your partner. At the end of it?—"

"Dinner's up!" Angus, their dad said, opening the door to tell us the news. "Come and grab a feed in here so we don't let the flies in, then we'll eat out on the patio."

At the end of it, I'd walk away alone again, I finished for Brock. I'd let Mum know we'd decided to break things off with each guy one by one and then… Then I'd have to have a real conversation with her, let her know what I really wanted.

No kids. I was twenty-eight years old, more than old enough to know whether or not motherhood was for me, and anyway, who would I have kids with, if I could bring myself to do it?

"Great!" I said to Angus, forcing myself to smile. "It smells amazing."

I focussed on putting one foot after the other, walking away from this shitshow and into the house, but as I did, I felt my phone buzz. One notification after another came through, though only one from a number I recognised.

Don't worry , Brock's message read as I checked it. We've got this.

He was one of the few people that I could accept that kind of statement from because he'd proven this true over and over again at work. Difficult customer? He stepped in with a quiet confidence. Having difficulty diagnosing an issue? He was there, both able to identify the problem with pinpoint accuracy and explain how he came to that conclusion. There was an odd sense of relief flooding through me that Brock was involved. I glanced over my shoulder without thinking and found him staring after me, nodding in recognition.

What would it be like to have someone like that in your life? Who moved around the world quietly competent, just making sure things got done and got done right. I'd never really seen Brock with anyone else, but she'd have to come. Someday he'd meet Mrs. Brock, and he'd be just as an amazing partner and dad as he was a boss. For some reason that hurt. I liked having Brock as my boss, and so him being happy would be a good thing, but…

Why did I see myself as the one standing next to him at the top of the stairs that led to his office?

Never gonna happen , I thought as I walked up to the kitchen counter where all the food had been laid out.

"Wow, this looks incredible," I told Heather. "Thanks for inviting me around."

"Oh, you know you're part of the family now, sweetheart." She rubbed my arm before gesturing to the food. "Now eat up. Don't want a fridge full of leftovers, but save room for some apple pie. I made it fresh today."

"Well, there goes my diet…" Millie groaned.

"You don't need to diet," Angus blustered. "Too skinny as it is."

"Dad—"

"Any man that doesn't like a bit of meat on a girl's bones is not worth your time, I say."

I watched him snuggle into Heather, the idea of her body being described as meat making her splutter, but not for long. He nuzzled her neck, and she melted into him until I was forced to look away. Not because they were being inappropriate, but because of something far more unworthy: jealousy. That kind of long-lasting love, those little acts of affection. I craved them like I did my next breath, almost as much as I feared them.

"Roast potatoes?"

Hayden asked me that almost shyly, making clear how bloody awkward this situation was going to make things. I stared at him for a second and knew what I had to do. Confess to Mum what had been going on, be straight with her for once. I was a big girl and it was time to put on my big girl panties.

"Yes," I said, shooting him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. I'd let him know he was off the hook once dinner was done. "Thank you."