Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

The next morning, after my team was finished cooing over my engagement band like it was a newborn kitten, I headed into my office.

Sabrina followed me, her smile bright. “That has got to be one of the most exquisite rings I’ve ever seen. The dude’s not playing around, huh?”

“Nope. Thanks to the amount of weddings we’ve helped organize, I know enough about rings to know that this wasn’t at all cheap.” I pulled my laptop out of my satchel and then set it on my desk. “Still, it won’t have put a dent in his bank balance.” It would be pocket change for someone like him.

“He didn’t need to spend that kind of dough on you, though. I suppose his intention is to make a statement that he has truly claimed you and is taking this seriously. I mean, it would be easy for people to assume that, because you’re both sticking to a pact, he won’t consider you a real wife. That ring says different.”

It did indeed, since … “He wouldn’t do something just for appearances.” Dax wouldn’t buy me an expensive ring simply because it would be expected of him. He didn’t give a damn what others expected.

Sabrina folded her arms. “So, what happens now?”

“Now, with the help of you and the rest of our team, I plan the wedding.” After placing my phone on my desk, I rested both my satchel and my purse against the wall. “We don’t have long to put it together.”

“We’ll make it work. Booking venues for a July wedding would usually be tricky at such short notice. But we have plenty of contacts who are chummy enough with you to be happy to take part in making your big day a reality, even if it means working at a faster speed than usual.”

“Hopefully. We’ve done the same for some of them in the past.”

“I can’t see them not returning the favor. And I don’t envision many companies turning down the opportunity to have some part in the wedding of Dax Mercier anyway, particularly when his bride-to-be is the daughter of Dane Davenport. If that means shuffling some things around, they will.”

“Fingers crossed.”

Unfolding her arms, she cocked her head. “Are you going to tell people outside your family about the pact or let them assume you and Dax have been dating in private?”

“The latter. It’s no one’s business but mine and his anyway.”

“Too true.” She rubbed her hands together. “I suppose we should get started on the wedding details asap. I’m rather looking forward to it.”

“First, coffee.” I switched on the machine and then pulled two mugs out of the cupboard above it. “I already called my attorney. He’s going to draft up a prenup.”

“Smart,” she said with an approving dip of her chin, taking the pod seat opposite my chair. “I figured you would.”

“Alicia and Harri are going to choose bridesmaid dresses, which gives me one less thing to have to decide.”

“I’ll choose my own, if you’re good with that—it gives you another less thing to think about.” At my nod of consent, Sabrina went on, “I can’t quite believe you’re getting married.” A soft smile graced her features. “What are you doing about the honeymoon?”

“He made no mention of it, so I doubt we’ll be having one. At least not yet.” I crossed to my desk and booted up my laptop. “We’re both super busy people. I wouldn’t be able to just take off for a couple of weeks when we have so many events scheduled. It’s going to be hard enough to squeeze in the wedding.”

Her brow creased. “Everyone should have a honeymoon, though.”

“Maybe we’ll have one later in the year or something. It’s really not my top priority.” Once I’d prepped both coffees, I placed the steaming cups on my desk coasters. “Come on, let’s get working on—” I stopped talking as my phone began to ring. Glancing down at the screen of my cell, I exhaled heavily and rubbed at my face.

“What’s up?”

Irritation buzzing in my blood, I sat down and wheeled my chair closer to the desk. “It’s Grayden. This is the third time he’s tried calling me this morning. I haven’t answered.”

Her nose wrinkled. “What could he want?”

“I’m not sure, but … Dax heard about the parking sign being graffitied and asked me about it last night. I told him it was Blaise and explained how he and Felicity can be a little problematic. Dax said he’d be warning her that they best leave me be and he would make her aware of our personal situation. Knowing him, he didn’t delay with that.”

“Ah, so there’s a good chance Grayden knows you’re now engaged to Dax, since Felicity would definitely pass that on?”

“Yup.” Tension slipped from my shoulders as the phone finally stopped chiming.

“It would explain why he wants to speak to you. If I was Grayden, I’d have questions for you. And I wouldn’t be happy to hear you’re wearing another man’s ring. He’s probably seething, not to mention brimming with jealousy.”

I frowned. “I think he’ll be more baffled than anything else.”

She snorted. “He might have reconciled with Felicity, but he isn’t in any way over you. He’s going to hate this.”

“Maybe.” Another woman might have smirked at the idea, but seeing him jealous wouldn’t assuage my ego. It would simply annoy me, because he’d given up the right to feel any such jealousy when he walked away.

Sabrina lifted her mug and blew over the rim. “I doubt he’ll stop calling. Texts will come next. He’ll want to have his say.”

True, I thought, chewing on my lower lip.It might be best to block his number.

“Personally, though I understand why you didn’t want to do it before now, I think you should just go ahead and block his number.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “You’re inhuman, I’m sure of it—I don’t care what you say.”

“Does this mean I read your mind again? Has it ever occurred to you that it could be the other way around and I just blurt out the words first?”

“No.” I grabbed my phone and quickly blocked Grayden’s number. “There. Done. Let me just answer some emails and then we’ll get started on arranging the wedding.”

∞∞∞

Slipping out of my car later that day, I caught sight of Jenson standing near his front window, talking into his phone. The creep didn’t give me his usual sleazy grin, he merely gave a polite nod and turned around. Huh. That was a first.

All I could think was that Dax had done as he’d said and had “a word” with Jenson. Either that or the sleazeball was simply leery of bothering me again when it was evident by Dax appearing at my home that we were associates of a sort.

Due to the amount of calls Sabrina and I had made to enquire as to what companies could take part in making the wedding happen, plenty of people were now aware of my engagement to Dax. It wouldn’t be long before news of it circulated around Redwater.

Having locked my car, I walked toward my front door, thinking of what I might wear for my upcoming dinner with Dax. Probably something—

Shoes scuffing pavement behind me.

“Addie?”

I halted. Fuck, no, he was not here.

I very slowly turned. Annoyance whipped at my skin and made my nostrils flare. Oh, he was here all right.

Grayden stood a few feet away, his trim body tense, his hazel eyes dull, his lips set into a flat line. At one time, the sight of him would have made my mouth reflexively curve and my heart go all gooey. Those days were over.

I balled up my hands. “You shouldn’t be here.” There was no sign of his car, which meant he’d likely parked it elsewhere so that no one he knew would see it outside my home.

He shoved a hand through his short brown hair. “We have to talk.”

“No, no, we don’t.” Again, I made a beeline for my front door.

“I have to know if what I heard is true,” he said, catching up to me. “I won’t believe it unless I hear it coming from you.”

I spun to face him with a hiss. “You don’t get to just turn up here. We agreed we would keep a distance from each other. Remember?”

“I had no choice but to come, you blocked my number.”

“Because I don’t want to speak to you.” Obviously.

He flinched. “And I don’t blame you, but I need to know if Dax Mercier was bullshitting Felicity when he told her that you’re his goddamn fiancée. Are you seriously going to marry him?”

I stood tall, holding my head high. “I am, yes.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” His brows squished together. “Why, Addie? Why would you do this?”

“Because I want to.”

“But why?” He threw up his hands. “You guys weren’t dating. You had nothing to do with each other.”

“And how would you know?”

His lips flattened. “So, what, you two have been sneaking around, seeing each other in secret … and now, all of a sudden, you’re engaged to him? Engaged to someone you couldn’t have been dating for more than a few months?”

“Well—”

“That makes no sense. Unless you’re saying you’ve both been harboring deep feelings for each other all these years? Is that what you’re telling me?”

If he thought I was going to stand here and justify myself to him, he was high. I folded my arms. “For the life of me, I can’t work out why you think I need to explain any of my choices to you.”

“This isn’t me being nosy, I’m concerned about you.”

“I don’t need your concern. Now please leave.”

“But—”

“I asked nicely,” I gritted out.

He pressed his lips tight together. “Just help me understand. You’re not a person who’d marry someone you’ve only been seeing a short length of time. Neither is he—I know Dax well enough to be sure of that. What you’re doing … I don’t get it.”

“It isn’t necessary that you get it. This is my life, my business, Dax’s business. Not yours.”

He cursed beneath his breath. “Wouldn’t you have the same questions in my position?”

“Maybe. But I wouldn’t for a second think I had any right to ask them.”

Closing his eyes, he tented his hands and placed them against his mouth. “Felicity thinks …” Letting the sentence trail off, he lowered his arms and met my gaze. “She thinks you’re doing this to get my attention. To make me jealous. Hurt me.”

I went still. “Is that what you think as well?”

“No. You’re not a person who plays games. But why else do this?”

“You don’t seem to be getting that I don’t have any interest in explaining myself to you.” The concept wasn’t rocket science.

Grimacing, he showed me his palms in a universal gesture of peace. “I’m coming across as a dick right now, I know, but I don’t mean to. I’m not trying to piss you off. I’m not of the opinion that you owe me anything. It’s just … the image of your bucket list popped into my head. On the list of stuff you wanted to do before you died was get married.”

Realization dawned on me, and I looked away with a heavy sigh.

“When I heard you’re not only engaged to Dax but gonna marry him very fucking soon completely out of the blue”—he grabbed a clump of his hair and raised his shoulders—“I started panicking, okay. Please tell me that’s not what this is about.”

Oh, the idiot. “I’m not dying.” When he only stared at me, his expression dubious, I added, “Really.”

Relief flickered in his eyes, and a long breath whooshed out of him. “If it’s not that … I can’t figure this out,” he said, a lot calmer now. “You and Dax aren’t each having a premature middle-aged crisis, are you?”

I frowned. “If I was having one of those, I’d do something a lot more creative. Like get a llama and start dressing as a fairy or something.”

The smallest, amused snicker left him. “Yeah. Yeah, knowing you, you would.” He glanced down at my hand, and his throat bobbed. “Nice ring,” he said, the slightest quake in his voice.

I flexed my fingers. “Yep.”

“White gold?”

I nodded.

He gave me a wan, trembly smile. “Just like you wanted.”

When we’d talked of our plans for the future, I’d described my dream engagement ring. He’d flashed me a smile full of promise and then planted the softest, sweetest kiss on my mouth. It was about a week later that he went skulking back to Felicity.

Hinges creaked as my front door swung open.

Alicia blinked at us in surprise. “Oh. Hey.” Her forehead creased as she focused on Grayden, and I sensed she was about to give him an earful.

Not wanting a scene, I returned my gaze to him quickly. “You should go now.”

Taking a step back, he sucked in his lips. “Yeah. I’ll say things that I shouldn’t if I stay any longer.” He went to turn away but then stopped. “I’m not sure why you’re doing what you’re doing, but … he’s a lucky man.” With that, Grayden stalked down the driveway.

I wasted no time in shrugging past Alicia, who shut the door and examined my face closely, asking, “Everything okay?”

My chest expanded as I drew in a long breath. “Fine.”

“What the hell was that fool doing here?”

“He heard about the engagement from Felicity, who heard about it from Dax. Grayden’s naturally confused and he hoped I’d explain.”

Alicia frowned. “It’s none of his damn business what you do.”

“That’s pretty much what I said. Like with everyone else who I don’t intend on telling about the pact, I let him make his own conclusions.” Placing one hand on my hip, I swiped the other hand down my face. “It was stupid of him to come here. Felicity’s got friends around these parts. If they saw him, they’ll tell her, and she’ll go psycho on his ass.” Maybe even on mine, though I would like to think she’d be too scared of Dax to dare.

“Why didn’t he just call you?”

“He did try to. I didn’t answer. Then I blocked his number.”

“Which clearly delivered the message that you didn’t want to speak to him. But I’m not exactly surprised that he didn’t let it hold him back—he doesn’t respect your ‘no contact’ wish.” She sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll stay away from now on. Dax isn’t gonna be okay with his fiancée’s ex coming around.”

“Speaking of Dax … I have to get changed. I’m having dinner with him tonight. And I’ll get a tour of what might be my new home.”

“The villas here are awesome, so you’ll probably love it.”

“We’ll see.”