Standing By: A Knight's Tale #2 (13 page)

“Yeah,” she drops her chin; I cup it between my fingers. “But I’m giving them so much ammo to call me whatever they want.”

Before I can say anything, there’s a loud bang on the door. I head there, taking Hayley’s delicate hand, who has no choice, but to follow.

“Open the door asshole; I know you’re in there.” Jake’s forceful voice comes through the door. “You worried the hell out of me, no message, text or… we always call when we’re not going to be back. We have fucking rules, unless of course, Mrs. Knight kept you up all night.”

Shit, shit.

“He knows too.”
I whisper, and Hayley rolls her eyes. “Very supportive, wife.”

There’s no way I’ll be Emma’s slave. I run a hand through my wet hair and the ideas sprout like flowers during May as I see Hayley’s hair is also wet. I strip from my shirt, pants and am left only wearing my boxer-briefs.

“Follow my lead, Hayley.” She’s staring at my abs with a curious look, then she turns to the door. I fight with my dick to remain down because damn, those wide eyes awoke my lower body. The next round of knocks reminds me about the plan.

“We have a problem.” I explain. “I can’t file for an annulment, not yet. If we play this right, I won’t be losing a bet.”

“No.” She lays me down flat.

“I need your help to salvage my soul.” I remind her.

“You have a soul?” She blinks several times, then calmly speaks again. “Surprising, I thought you were a soulless demon. I guess I was wrong.” Then her façade changes into this tiny banshee and whisper shouts at me while she stabs her pointer finger against my chest. “I need to get out of the hole, not dig myself deeper into the problem.”

“Trust me.” I tell her without waiting for an answer I open the door.

“What do you want, asshole?”

Jake pushes the door open and glances at me, then at Hayley.

“You lost a bet.” He puffs out his chest and smiles. “My wife and I are already thinking about the ways we’ll use you and of course, abuse you. You went and married a drunk slut, priceless.”

I release Hayley’s hand and pin him to the wall with one smooth movement.

“I told you not to talk about Hayley like that,” the boiling blood rushes through my veins.

“Hayley, as in cake girl?” He cocks his head while pushing me away.

“Yes.” I move, then spin around and look at an angry stare. What the hell did I do now? “Hayley, this is Jake. Jake, the wife.”

“The twin?” Hayley questions.

“That’s me,” He stares at her.

I go ahead and explain to Jake that we have been dating for a few months but wanted to keep it on the down low. Between her sister’s wedding and his, we decided not to tell anyone how serious our relationship had become.

“Fuck, that’s grandma’s ring.” He points at Hayley’s hand. “I thought… well you…”

“That was back around Thanksgiving, Jay,” I remind him. When I said that maybe I’d give the ring to Emma. “It took you forever to propose… or for her to say yes. Hayley and I began to date at the beginning of the year.”

“I don’t get it. Only a few months and you’re marrying her?” He huffs. “You barely know her. I think you lost the bet, and now you’re trying to cover it. You call her Cupcake girl.”

“Among other names,” Hayley twists her mouth while tapping her chin. “Miss Muffet, Martha Stewart, Strawberry Shortcake—”

“But the strawberry girl is a redhead,” Jake says and points at Hayley. “There’s not one single red on that multi-brown head, Mitch.”

“Exactly what I always tell him but he doesn’t care. Yesterday he called me a cartoon character.” Hayley rolls her eyes.

“He never listens when it comes to nick names. I just call him an egotistical idiot.” She pats my bare stomach, and my body isn’t taking this touch thing well; actually I’m more than liking it. We should revise the no touching Hayley rule. I should touch her, to get her used to it so I place my hand on her back and begin to draw circles around it.

“Tough love, that’s what works with him. However, he’s excited, now you can call him the Muffin Man.” She forces a smile.

“Mitch, no mauling me in front of your brother… clearly we have to revise the list of rules about PDA.”

“Mauling?” I’m barely touching her back; the stroke makes her shiver, and it’s entertaining.

“As soon as he leaves our room I’ll teach you mauling.” I kiss the side of her neck and then turn back to Jake. “Can we keep this between us, Jay, at least until after your wedding? Hayley can’t go, and Mom’s going to freak out.”

“Something doesn’t add up, Mitch.” He points at me and doesn’t make any promises about keeping it between us,
fuck
. “Come clean now or I’m going to be pissed at you. Is she pregnant? Is that why you’re doing this? Please, this isn’t the golden ages or the fifties. We’ll support the child. You don’t have to marry her.”

“You’re delirious if you think I’d marry because I’m pregnant.” Hayley takes a step forward and pokes him on the chest. “I’d never have sex lightly; I wouldn’t have a child with just anyone and obviously wouldn’t take a huge step like marriage for the sake of said child. Why do you think I’ve been saving myself for the guy I fall in love with?”

A virgin. Fuck, now I remember. Her mom squealed that information yesterday when we encountered her. Saving herself at twenty-two? What the hell is wrong with her? No one falls in love anymore and with that philosophy, I’m not going to get laid—ever.

“She needs to change her attitude,” Jake mumbles. “I don’t like her much when she’s poking me.” He points back at her. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you, Mitch? I can’t believe I missed the signs. I’ve been so preoccupied with Em and my work, that… Liam’s right, I’m neglecting my family and now I’m leaving for four months. Shit, where are the two of you going for the honeymoon? We can meet someplace for a week or so.” Then he envelops us both with a big hug.

“Welcome to the family, Sis. I’m sure everyone is going to like you, as long as you don’t poke them. My recommendation, keep baking those things my girl loves. So… honeymoon?”

“I don’t have time or people for that,” Hayley says.

“And you’re leaving,” I prompt. “I can’t take off while you’re out, Jake.”

“Liam can take care of everything, including her bakery.”

Hayley stiffens and glares at him.

Jake points at her and looks at me with a scared face that makes me want to laugh, “I think she hates me. Great, my only sister-in-law and she hates me.”

“I’ll teach her to love you if you leave,” he needs to leave before Hayley spills the truth.

“Yeah, it’s plain to see that you need some alone time.” He glances at my crotch and shakes his head. “Put some clothes on. Are we still on for tomorrow’s flight?”

“Yes Jacob, leave.”

“Mitch,” he stops mid-way through the door. “I don’t bite, something is fishy and I’m going to find out what it is.”

“What does that mean?” Hayley’s eyes widen three sizes, and her face is pale after he closes the door. “He knows?”

“No, the ring is throwing him off,” I hug her waist. “I wouldn’t give our grandma’s ring to just anyone. You helped by not taking his shit, a lot of people do. And he kind of likes you; it was good that you didn’t try hard to get his approval.”

“I don’t care about his approval,” she glares at me. “This isn’t going to work,” the bubbly, feisty person I usually face at the bakery shop is having a bad day. “What’s next?”

“My brother’s wedding.”

Hayley

T
he phone continues
ringing, and according to the thorough plan Mitchel delineated, we won’t answer. A newlywed couple wouldn’t care less about the outside world. Yeah, as if watching re-runs of
24
, playing cards and ordering room service is what newlyweds strive to do during their wedding night—wedding weekend.
Whatever.

“It’s been a day and a half; can I at least check the messages?” I ask him because apparently I’m pretty bad at the pretending game. I told him five times already, I don’t lie. It’s not in my nature—stupid drunken night. I do avoid telling the truth—to some extent. But saying something that’s not true is not my style; my tongue and brain trip and end up spilling the truth. “You know what; you’re not my father or anyone to tell me what to do.”

Parker:
Tell me this is an Aprils’ Fool Day joke, even when we’re already in the month of May.

Dad:
Hayley call me!

Mom:
You did good, child. I knew you were my daughter. We’re Knights now, don’t sign a prenuptial agreement.

Ladies and gentlemen, my mother, the most ambivalent person in the world.

“Now she’s happy for me. She’s kidding, right; please tell me this is a bad joke?” Mitch takes my phone and then shakes his head. “What does that mean, Mitch? Are you like really rich or something? Please say no, pretty please?”

“Yes, you’re a weirdo,” Mitch says giving me the phone back, then he bends and kisses my nose. “One of my ex’s left me for an ass who had more money.” He draws air quotation with his fingers. “That’s what she said. She didn’t know shit about me or she wouldn’t have looked for greener grass.”

“The crazy bitch that broke your heart after tormenting you with her daily drama?”

“Both tortured me with their daily drama.”

Apparently, I wasn’t as drunk when he told me about them.

“Did she ever found out?”

“First, neither one broke my heart, Hayley.” He spikes his hair. “Yes, she did find out and tried to win me back several times. Both on different occasions tried to rekindle our relationship. The first one while dating her high school sweetheart.” His eyes look between sleepy and upset and a yawn follows his wink. “Chloe taught me that there are plenty of women who like to use men, Muffin girl. Jordan solidified those teachings. Navigating the dating world to find the right girl isn’t part of my plan in life, I’d rather have a good time.”

I scrub my hands over my face; great I got stuck with the Grinch of Marriage.

“I wish Mel was around,” I throw my head back on the couch. “She’d know what to do.”

“Who is this Mel again?” Mitch asks.

“She was Dad’s first wife and died a couple of years ago.”

“I’m going to have a hard time keeping track of it if I don’t pay attention to you,” he turns off the television, places his forearms on top of his thighs and then looks at me. “Fire away with your family history. Let me tell you what I remember so far.”

We go through the motions of my father having five children, the first two from his first marriage to Mel—Benjamin and Brent. Then two more from his marriage to Bridget—Parker and Paige, and finally me.
The other woman’s daughter
. How my family expected more from me, and he remembered that I want to make my dream of the bakery succeed. Which is why I fraternized with him, darn it.

“What’s the plan, Mitch?” I stand up from the couch I laid on for the past six hours and head to the room service menu. “I think it’ll be easier to come clean. I’m a rule follower, can’t lie and this will stress me to the point of blurting out the truth and not only getting the same lectures but a few more because of this.”

“We’ll head home,” he cranes his neck so he can look at me. “For the next week we’ll stay at your place. It sounds better than having to share a place with my parents for a week. We’ll play this as things come up, give me a few months. Now order something to eat, I’m starving.”

“I trust you,” I unhook the receiver but before I dial I tell him. “However, I want to add a rule, no sex.”

*

Sunday night I
call Kendall, the one person who won’t judge me and tell her everything. From beginning to end, including the video where in front of an Elvis impersonator I slur the words
I do
. We fast-forwarded most of it, only stopping during a few scenes. Like when Mitch, the idiot, said; “
Now we can fuck
.” Thank goodness, I own a shredder thick enough to destroy the evidence. I personally put the disk through the burgundy office appliance.

“I’m the one who does stupid things,” Kendall says on the other side of the line. “Not you. Are you really going to meet the parents tomorrow?”

“I think I met them already,” I remind her. “The mom visits the shop often along with the dad. However, when you include the brothers, that’s too many people to lie to. They’ll ask questions, and Mitch wants me to go to the brother’s wedding—”

“Stop,” she orders. “I’m having an anxiety attack just from listening to you, Hayley.” Really? Because my heart is, the one palpitating like a cheetah chasing dinner. “Easy, you solve the issue by telling him that you have cramps, fake a headache or say you have diarrhea, no one will question any of those reasons. No one wants to know more about that subject.”

Kendall is an expert storyteller.

“Remember when I told you to decline Paige’s shitty maid of honor request?”

I mumble an affirmative.

“Next time I tell you to do something, follow my lead. On occasion, I can have smart thoughts.”

“Talk about thinking,” I try to change the subject. “Have you thought about the job down in Texas?”