Just My Luck (A Shamrock Falls Novel) (Entangled: Bliss) (7 page)

And hell if that didn’t send all sorts of sexy thoughts through his head. His clothes suddenly felt a little too tight. “Yeah…sure. That’d be great, B. I could really use you tonight.”

Great. That wasn’t much better. Use her? Yes. She was right. He definitely needed help. What the hell was going on? It wasn’t that he hadn’t been noticing little things about her, but this? This was different.

“But only if you want to!” he added. “Not because you have to.” Suddenly, he needed this to be about more than just his employee helping him, which should make him ask for divorce papers right now.

For the next three hours they sat on the floor in Jace’s office, papers scattered all over between them. Betsy leaned against the leather black loveseat, paper in her hand and the tip of a pen in her mouth, reading.

Jace sat across from her. She looked so deep in thought, her brown hair pushed behind both of her ears. They were pierced with small diamonds. A strange thought drifted through Jace’s mind and he wondered where she got them. If they were something she bought for herself or if maybe an ex-boyfriend had given them to her. A little stab of jealousy pierced him.

Minutes went by as she continued to scan the paper. He should be doing the same thing, but he found himself taking her in instead.

It was really amazing how she’d jumped in to help him. He knew she would stay here all night if he needed it. There weren’t many people out there who gave the way Betsy did. It was one of his favorite things about her.

All day his thoughts kept landing on Betsy. It was starting to concern him.

Jace told himself his wandering mind was because he was so tired of looking over police reports, statements, and witness lists. Usually he reveled in this part of the job, but as the night wore on, the more tired of it he became.

Betsy had to be hungry. He knew he was starved, so he pulled up his phone’s browser and ordered a pizza and some soda. They only had one pizza place, which was a local Shamrock Falls special, but they had the capabilities of ordering over the Internet.

For the next twenty minutes he tried to focus on the job at hand, but he kept risking glances at her as she worked. She had long, dark eyelashes that framed her eyes. Drew his attention. The whole time he continued to wonder what was Betsy—his wife—hiding?

The word
wife
suddenly made the nerves kick up again.

It shocked the hell out of him, but he wanted her secrets. Wanted to know why she did the things she did. Why she gave so completely, but tried to fade into the background, or why him knowing she liked sports made her uncomfortable at first. But then, he spent double the time with her now. Jace tried to tell himself that was the reason.

“What?” Betsy asked, pulling him out of his reverie.

“What, what?”

“You’re looking at me.” A pink blush bloomed in her cheeks.

And she was right. He’d been looking at her. “I wasn’t looking at you.” Okay, as far as lies went, that was probably one of the dumbest he could give. He didn’t even know why he tried to hide what he’d blatantly been doing.

“Whatever you say.” Betsy shrugged, much more kindly than he would have been by not calling him on it.

More of the curiosity he felt about her hit him. “Why do you do that? Why—” His questions were cut off by a loud knock coming from the back door. “I’ll be right back.” Jace stood. “I ordered us a pizza.”

He unlocked the front door and took the food, drink, and paper plates from the delivery driver. He was just a kid—Ronnie. His mom passed away a while back and Jace knew he was helping his dad take care of his younger siblings.

“How are you doing?” Jace asked.

Ronnie pushed his baseball hat down over his eyes before replying. “Doing good. Saving up for a new car so my dad doesn’t have to take me to work and pick me after he finishes work.”

Good kid. Jace respected him for trying to help take care of his family, even though he was young himself. Jace smiled before pulling out his wallet and handing him some cash. Ronnie counted it and his eyes went wide as he looked at Jace. “You overpaid by twenty dollars, Mr. Macnamara.”

He shrugged. “It’s rude not to tip. Put it in your car fund. And don’t call me Mr. Macnamara anymore. It makes me feel old.”

A smile spread across the young man’s face. “Thanks, Mr— I mean, Jace. I appreciate it.” Ronnie ran back to the delivery car and Jace closed the door. When he turned his eyes landed right on Betsy. She’d moved from the floor and stood across the room, in the doorway to his office.

Her hair had fallen from behind one of her ears. Jace couldn’t read the expression on her face, so he just stood there, staring at her too. “You’re looking at me,” he finally said, after what felt like an eternity. She kept staring and he couldn’t turn away. He didn’t want to. Jace’s heart kicked up a notch, wondering what she saw. He’d never really cared what people thought about him, but in this moment, he did. What kind of man did Betsy see when she looked at him?

“I wasn’t looking at you.”

Every fiber inside him fought to call her on it, the way he’d been thankful she hadn’t done to him, but he didn’t. Tit for tat. It was easier than trying to figure out the muddled thoughts in his head.

“I’m starved. Let’s go eat.”

Jace filled plates and cups for them. Plucking napkins from the bag, they sat back down.

“Pepperoni, bacon, and onion is my favorite. I didn’t think anyone else ate it but me.” She talked in that hushed voice she used so often, but she didn’t look like she felt shy or uncomfortable.

“I’ve seen you get it a few times at lunch, but I’ve never had it. It better be good or I’m blaming you.” He winked at her.

“Oh…you didn’t have to get it for me, Jace.”

Her reply was one of the things about her that drew his eye. It was a simpler version of how giving she was, while expecting nothing in return. He didn’t look at her when he said, “You do nice things for me every day. Maybe I enjoy doing them for you too.”

When Jace made eye contact with her, Betsy smiled, and he did the same.

They sat quietly and ate for a few minutes before the silence started to make him jumpy. “Tell me something about you I don’t know.”

He wasn’t sure where the question came from and by the little
O
Betsy’s lips stretched into, she was confused about the same thing.

“I’m not sure what to say,” she finally admitted.

“Pick a topic. Anything.”

“You already know about my secret sports fascination.” Betsy grinned and Jace laughed, that niggling desire still in his mind to know what else she hid. What the calls and disappearances meant.

“I call that more than a fascination. You’re like a super fan. I’ve never seen another person jump on a bed and yell at the television the way you did.” Talk about shock. Even though they’d been watching games together for a while now, he’d never get that picture out of his mind.

“Don’t make fun of me.” She shook her head and it felt good to see her acting so comfortable around him.

“I’m not. I think it’s incredible. I look forward to our games—it helps me relax. But I know there’s more. What makes Betsy Harris tick?” Jace kicked his feet out in front of him and leaned against the desk.

She honestly seemed to ponder that question for a minute. He knew some things must have come to her mind, but they were secrets she obviously didn’t want to share. What he wouldn’t give to get free reign inside her head. It made sense that he would want to know more about her. They were man and wife now. What could it hurt?

“We can play a game, if that makes it easier. Twenty questions.” The last thing he wanted to do was talk about himself, but maybe this would get him some of the answers he needed from her. She knew the important things about him already: that he was a lawyer, he worked his ass off, and he’d do anything for his house. What other things were there? The fact that he was a serial dater, but it never stopped him from feeling lonely? That he would never let someone get close enough to break inside his shell because he wasn’t emotionally built to give 100 percent of himself like that?

It made him sick to his stomach to think of Betsy—of anyone—knowing those things about him.

“I really get to ask you questions, too?” She set her empty paper plate on the loveseat beside her.

“I’m not talking life’s big secrets here, B.” Though that’s what he wanted to know from her, wasn’t it? The things that mattered, the things she hid during her phone calls and when she was out of the office. Jace usually got what he wanted, and when it came to her secrets, Betsy didn’t give it to him. It bothered him more than he cared to admit.

“That sounds okay. Can I go first?” She wore a mischievous smirk that he didn’t think he’d ever seen on her before.

“You’re a cheater!” he teased, but then said, “Ladies first.”

Jace expected a question he wouldn’t want to answer, but she only asked, “What’s your favorite movie?”

That was an easy one. “
Smoke Signals
.” When her brows crinkled he added, “It’s an older movie. Really hard to find. I watched it with Wallace once as a kid. That wasn’t something we did often, so it stuck.” Now it was Jace who was confused. He hadn’t needed to add that last part there. “I could probably find it quickly if I looked online. I’m not sure why I haven’t.”

Jace picked the first question that came to his mind. “What’s your favorite sport?” He knew she liked basketball and football, but that’s all.

Her brown eyes lit up as she said, “Baseball.”

Hmm. He hadn’t expected that. “Really?”

Betsy nodded, looking suddenly very excited. “One time when I was a kid, my mom was working. I was only seven. I had a babysitter for the first time during those three months she had the job. She snuck me out to a professional baseball game. It was…amazing.”

The pain in Betsy’s voice nearly broke him. Jace wondered why that had been the only time her mom had a job or why they’d had to sneak to the game. He’d never wanted anything as much as he wanted to ask her, but the faraway look on her face held him back. He wasn’t going to push her.

“Mom found out and she fired her, but it was one of my favorite days.”

As if finishing the story awakened her, she put her mask back in place. How had he not noticed before recently that she wore one?

With a finger, Betsy traced one of the flowers on her skirt. When their eyes met again, they said what he knew they would.
Please don’t ask.

“Well? Are you going to ask your next question or are you tired of hearing about me already?” he teased.

Thank you
, her eyes said this time.

They spent the next hour asking each other question after question. Favorite color and birthdays and what three items they’d bring to a deserted island.

When they were done, they cleaned the mess together and packed up the food. The whole time, Jace couldn’t stop himself from wondering if this comfortable sort of ease was what his parents had had.

As they stood under the light as Jace locked up the building, he noticed her hair again. It really was pretty. Shiny, with the light almost bouncing off of it.

“It looks nice,” he told her.

“What does?”

“Your hair. Especially when it’s tucked behind your ear like that.” And then, before she could reply or get embarrassed, or, hell, before he could overthink the compliment he just gave, Jace said, “Let’s go. I’ll follow you home.”

But Betsy didn’t move. She smiled. He’d seen her smile a million times before, but this one glowed. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he told her, wondering if he could find a way to put that look on her face again.

Later that night, Jace laid in bed in the dark. He continued to run over their evening in his mind. She made him feel like she enjoyed working with him. That it was important—that he was important.

Rolling over, he hit the light on his bedside table. After tugging the drawer open, Jace pulled out a picture of Wallace. He stared at the man, the one he knew he looked a lot like—the man who’d raised his loving mother.

The one Jace always feared looked at him as an unwanted obligation that got shoved into his lap. Not like he was important, the way he’d felt earlier with Betsy. Not like what he did mattered.

Before the emotions took him over, Jace tossed the picture into the drawer. Next he picked up the picture of his parents. They were smiling. Love and loss practically strangled him. God, he wished they were around. He wondered briefly what they would think of Betsy.

If they were around, I wouldn’t be married to her right now, so why would they have to think anything at all?

That didn’t feel right, though. Regardless, Jace would want them to know her. She was his friend and she meant a lot to him. And he knew they would like her because, just like they had, Betsy treated Jace like he mattered.

Chapter Six

For the next week, Betsy checked in daily with her mom’s home to see how the medication change was going. So far, so good. They hadn’t had any problems, and when Betsy talked to her, she actually sounded different. Which was probably wishful thinking on her part, but she decided to roll with it. A girl deserved to ignore reality from time to time.

Ever since her evening at work with Jace, things had been going smoothly. It was strange…the intimacy they had without really being intimate at all. Sharing a home, eating meals together, watching TV in the evenings gave an added level of intimacy, she guessed.

Betsy stood in front of the mirror as she got ready to meet Rowan and Sidney for a trip to the mall. They insisted on dragging her out with them even though shopping wasn’t really her thing. Rowan had some baby supplies she wanted to pick up and Kade’s birthday was coming soon, which, according to them, called for a shopping trip to Seattle.

Betsy had to admit she was a little excited about it.

Even though it was only an hour away, and it wasn’t like this was the first time she’d been there, it was almost like a road trip. Until Row and Sidney, Betsy had never had that jump-in-the-car-with-the-girls-and-go-shopping-for-the-day thing.

A honk sounded from outside and she realized she’d been standing there, losing herself in thought as she stared in the mirror. Betsy took in her hair, which hung loose in her face. Jace had said it was shiny, and she thought that might be true. It was a good thing, right? She ran her hand through it. Her hair
was
soft. Maybe it was pretty nice…

Before she could let herself think about it, she reached into her drawer and grabbed two bobby pins. She clipped her hair on each side so it pushed away from her face.

Betsy didn’t look in the mirror before she left. She’d feel too guilty about not trying to fade into the background, like her mom had always needed her to.

Jogging outside, she jumped into the car with her friends. They talked and giggled the whole way to Seattle. Sidney dropped Rowan off by the door of the mall, not wanting her to walk any extra than she’d already have to. Soon the three of them were inside and shopping.

“Don’t you dare get that, Peaches! My husband already has the biggest head in the world. You’re going to make it worse!” Rowan said while pretending to pout, crossing her arms over her chest. Betsy could see the smile threatening to break through. She wanted to smile herself. She loved watching how easy they were with each other. Loved the nicknames that had been around longer than Betsy had. From what she understood Sidney liked the scent of peaches and she did wear the color a lot.

“It’s perfect! Auntie Sidney has to get it for her. You have to admit it’s cute. Isn’t it cute, Betsy?” Sidney held up the little pink onesie, which had two babies crawling toward the same rattle on it. A thought bubble over one of them said,
I play to win. Just like my daddy.

Betsy glanced at her and tried to look sympathetic. “It fits. Breck would love it.”

“I know Breck would love it. He’ll want a million of them made for her. Besides marrying me, his taste is questionable. He also loves the most horrid names for our girl.” Rowan shook her head while looking at the onesie. “You guys are going to give her bad habits and make her competitive, just like her father.”

Sidney touched her arm. “Honey, I’m not sure there is any stopping that.”

“Hey. You’re not allowed to talk about my husband. Only I am.”

All three women laughed. The thing was, Breck might be sarcastic and a little competitive, especially with Jace, but he was one of the best men Betsy knew. He loved Rowan and their unborn baby with a fierce passion that almost hurt to be around. Kade was the same way about Sidney. Her friends were both very, very lucky women.

She couldn’t help but compare them to her own marriage. The fact that she and Jace were friends was nothing like what these women had. Betsy hoped it wouldn’t be too awkward when the whole group got together, once she and Jace divorced. But then…everything would have to be strange, wouldn’t it? How could it not? When Jace dated or when people inevitably asked her how they could still work together. It was something she wondered herself…could she do it? Her stomach flipped at the thought.

Sidney pretended to try and hang up the onesie, but Row grabbed it from her and tossed it in the cart with a grin.

“So I hear you still can’t think of a name,” Sidney said to Rowan as they began walking again.

“No, and I don’t want to talk about it. He’s driving me crazy with all sorts of poker and card names.”

There was laughter in her voice, but Betsy could tell she was a little worried too. “You have plenty of time. You guys will find something you both like.” When they crossed the aisle, a display of movies distracted Betsy. Her eyes briefly scanned it as they walked by, when a title jumped out at her.

“Oh my God!” She grabbed the movie. “This is the one Jace was talking about. He mentioned liking it, but he doesn’t own it.”

“Aww. Look at that smile. You’re so happy!” Sidney exclaimed. Was Betsy really smiling? Yes, yes she was.

“And your hair.” Sidney touched it. “This is new. It looks nice.”

“Thank you.” Betsy grinned at her friends. “I thought I would try something different.”

“Good for you!” Rowan told her. Then asked, “So…how
is
married life?”

“It’s good…” As soon as the words left her mouth she knew they weren’t enough. How many women who’d only been married a little more than a month described it as, “Good”?

“Really good, actually.” She stopped and picked up another baby outfit. It was white, with little red hearts all over it. “Jace is…incredible.” Which was the truth. Their marriage might be a sham, but that part was true.

“I’m glad to hear it, but I’m still mad at him for not giving me time to make your dress. Both you and Freckles cheated me out of that with these speed weddings of yours. That’s why Kade and I are waiting. He knows I’ll go postal without proper time to plan.”

“Hey! I was pregnant. That gives me a pass,” Rowan kidded.

Betsy felt the need bubble up in her to defend Jace. She didn’t want him to look bad to his friends. Especially not when all he wanted was to keep the home he’d been raised in. “I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way… All the attention of a big wedding isn’t me. Jace knows that.”

She hadn’t realized she had an edge to her voice until both Sidney’s and Rowan’s eyes got big. It was Sidney who spoke. “Oh, hon. We didn’t mean anything by it. I was just kidding around.”

The urge to look away came, but Betsy ignored it. Now she felt guilty. “I know. It’s okay. It’s just…”

“You don’t like it when someone says something bad about the man you love. It’s natural. I know Jace would feel the exact same way about you.” Rowan grabbed her hand.

Love
. That word hurt. Jace didn’t love her. Didn’t feel any of the same feelings for her that she did for him. Not that she was in love with him.

Sidney spoke up next. “I feel bad that we were a little upset in the beginning. It was just the shock, and then, I guess I was being selfish because I wished we could be involved more, but I do want you to know how happy we are for you.”

Rowan added, “Yeah, maybe we’ll be shopping for onesies for
you
next! Or both of you. You’re going to be pregnant together. Now I’m jealous!”

Betsy wanted to laugh at Rowan’s statement. Her hormones obviously had her all over the place, but she couldn’t. Not when they were talking about her and Jace in the same sentence as a baby.

Her shock must have shown on her face because Sidney said, “Holy shit. You’re already pregnant, aren’t you?”

“What?” Betsy gasped. “No!”

“Have you guys talked about it?” Rowan asked.

Betsy’s stomach turned. This would require more lies. “No…not yet.” Which was the truth, all except for the “yet” part. They wouldn’t be talking about it at all.

Sidney grinned. “You guys will have the most beautiful babies.”

No, no they wouldn’t.

“I love being pregnant,” Rowan said happily.

How had her mom felt being pregnant? Betsy hated thinking about that now, but she couldn’t help it.
Tell them you’ll never be pregnant. That you couldn’t ever hurt Mom that way.

“You know you have almost every woman in Shamrock Falls and the surrounding area jealous, don’t you? You did the one thing no one ever thought would happen. You tamed Jace Macnamara,” Rowan told her as the conversation went on without her.

Betsy tried to play off the fact that she felt sick right now. “Thanks, you guys.” Wrong or right, she loved hearing them say that about her and Jace, but on the other hand, it made her feel even worse. The pregnancy talk and the love talk weren’t what they thought it was. Her friends didn’t deserve to be lied to like this.

…

Jace was running a few minutes behind. The women were supposed to meet Breck, Kade, and him at Lucky’s after their shopping trip. He’d left the front door to their house open while he ran inside to grab his wallet, which he’d somehow forgotten on the kitchen counter.

He was almost back to the door when he saw Debbie. “Hi, Jace. How are you?” This wasn’t the first time she or Brian, his grandfather’s attorney, had checked in on them.

The same anger he felt every time he saw her burst to life again. “Fine. Off to meet my wife. Is that what you want to hear? Or are you hoping she’s already left me?” His brain told him that couldn’t be true. Debbie wouldn’t want him to lose his house, but then she’d also gone along with Wallace’s crazy plan. Maybe he didn’t know his grandfather’s on-again-off-again fling—now widow—as well as he thought he had.

Debbie frowned. “I would never want her to leave you, Jace. I wouldn’t assume that was the case, either. I’m just—”

“Doing what Wallace asked. I know. I’ve heard that before.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing. I know you, Jace. You’re big on keeping your word. You understand why I’m doing the same thing.”

“I get following through with what you agreed on, but I don’t see why you told him you would do it in the first place!”

“Because it was important to him.” She stepped closer. “He wanted to do the right thing; he just has a really unconventional way of going about it.”

Jace huffed. “That’s an understatement.”

“Do you mind if I ask how you’re both doing? Wallace was fond of her. She’s a very caring young woman.”

Okay, now that annoyed him. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it did. His grandfather had met Betsy a handful of times, yet he thought he knew her so well? If it hadn’t been for the fact that he got sick, he probably would have been too busy to ever meet Betsy. “We’re fine. And she’s a very good person.” That was actually an understatement. Without another word, Jace walked off, trying to ignore his guilt for being so angry with Debbie.

In front of Lucky’s, he killed his car’s engine and a bit of the tension drained from him. He hoped that like always, being around her—no, around them—would help him feel better. They hadn’t done much with the whole group all together since he and Betsy got married.

Holy shit, the word
married
hadn’t freaked him out that time.

Shaking his head, Jace got out of the car. Betsy and their friends sat at a table in the back corner, where they always did. Nerves ate at him as he walked over. It was uncomfortable when they had to play the part of a married couple. Jace always worried about screwing up. He leaned down and kissed Betsy on the forehead. “How was your day?” he asked.

“Good. We had fun shopping. How about you?”

No blush colored Betsy’s cheeks. He should be glad; he knew that. She was playing the game well. Not many married women would blush when their husbands kissed them, but a small part of him missed that pink. Wished she wasn’t so nonchalant about his touch. Jace realized how that made him sound. He was glad Betsy didn’t treat him the way most woman did and it was a good thing if she now felt even more comfortable with him than she had before.

“Good.” Jace gave Betsy a small nod before sitting down next to her. When he noticed her hair was down, on reflex he touched it before pulling away again. At that Betsy tensed, but recovered quickly.

“Did you guys get me anything?” Breck grinned as he spoke. He had his ever-present stubble on his face. Back in college he used to tell Jace it was because women liked it.

“I heard they got you a razor,” Jace told him.

“Are you still jealous because I’m better looking than you?” Breck tossed back at him.

Rowan added, “I like his stubble. Don’t you give him a hard time about it!”

“I’d be careful of those pregnancy hormones if I were you,” Sidney added. “She’s a tough cookie right now.”

They all laughed and though he enjoyed the easiness of being with the group, his mind was still with Betsy. She was hard for him to read sometimes. He almost felt bad for not understanding her the way she seemed to understand him.

“All I know is, there’s no fighting in my bar.” One of Kade’s arms wrapped around Sidney. “But if anyone gets into it, my money’s on Peaches.”

Sidney turned her head and gave him a huge smile, which Kade immediately kissed. As though there was something in the air, Kade and Sidney’s kiss inspired one from Rowan and Breck.

Jace shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He risked a glance at Betsy, who suddenly found her glass very interesting.

It shouldn’t be like this. I’ve taken something away from her. She deserves a real husband who will kiss her until her toes curl.
Then he wondered what it would be like to do just that. Not the simple kiss he’d given her at the wedding, but one she’d feel all over. That he would feel everywhere, too.

Jace needed to curb those thoughts right there.

“Would you like to play a game of pool?” he asked instead. “You’ll probably beat me, but I’m willing to suffer through that.” Jace smiled, hoping she would return it. You would never know it, but Betsy was a pool shark, as he’d learned when they played against Breck and Rowan once a couple months ago. Pool wasn’t really his thing, but maybe it would be better if he and Betsy separated from the group a bit.