He turned to face her, his jaw tight. “Calling him an asshole might be too kind.”
“He’s hardly the only one who’s ever said that to me, but that’s beside the point. Everyone in this town thinks I’m destined to be a spinster. I’m not. At least, I hope I’m not. But I have no way to prove it, and I’m sick of them thinking my sole purpose in life should be to win Grant back. So, here’s the thing.” Time for the pitch. “If your offer still stands, I’d really, really like it if you’d keep pretending to be my boyfriend—and really give Devil’s Falls something to talk about.”
Adam blinked. “I’m sorry, what? I think I misheard you over the sound of this fellow’s purring. I thought you just said that you want to use me to stir up the gossip mill in town.”
That was the part he’d decide to focus on? “You did.”
“How the hell am I supposed to do that?”
“I don’t know. You’re Adam Meyer—bull rider and Devil’s Falls legend. You have excitement in your blood.”
He stared at her, still for the first time since they walked back to the kitchen.
She sighed. “You’re right. It’s a dumb idea. I have a ton of them. It’s a sickness.”
“Wait, wait.” He set the cat down and took a drink of his coffee. “You know if I’m going to be your boyfriend, we can’t do it halfway.”
Now she was sure she’d heard him wrong. “I’m sorry, what?”
“This is Devil’s Falls. The only thing the people here love more than ranching is good gossip, which can work against you as easily as you want it to work for you. If even one person thinks we aren’t serious, it’ll be impossible to convince them you shouldn’t crawl back to golden-boy Grant.”
She was almost afraid to hope she was hearing him right. “You…you’ll do it?” But then her brain caught up to everything he’d said. “Wait, what do you mean?”
His grin made her stomach leap. “We’ll give them something to talk about. Something to show them you’re 100 percent over that jackass.”
That was what she wanted. It was just daunting when her mind was all too eager to offer up exactly what they could do to get the town talking and defuse the whole Jules-and-Grant fantasy. It would have to be pretty scandalous. She picked up Khan, holding him to her chest like a furry shield, though she couldn’t say what she wanted protection from. “You’re really agreeing to this?”
“Hell, sugar, I could never turn down a woman in need, and you fit the bill.”
She could barely believe it. Crazy schemes were her and Aubry’s thing, but maybe they were Adam’s, too. “Thank you. Oh God, thank you so much. I owe you…” She looked around for inspiration. “Free coffee for life?”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t say no to free coffee for the duration of my time here.” He lifted his mug. “This is amazing.”
“Thanks.” She frowned. It seemed crass to ask him straight out how his mom was doing, especially since he hadn’t offered up any information to begin with. “How long are you back for?”
“Not sure yet.” A shadow passed over his face, but his expression was so closed down, she didn’t dare risk pissing him off by pushing for more information. It must’ve been worse than Jules thought.
She almost backed out right then, because if Adam was dealing with his mom being really sick, wasn’t playing along with her scheme the last thing he needed? She hesitated. It’s not up to me to decide what he needs. He’s offering me something I need right now, and this is the best opportunity I’m going to get—the only opportunity. Jules stuck out her hand. “Deal?”
Adam set his coffee cup down and took her hand. “Deal.”Chapter Four“A date? You’ve been back in town for two whole days. How in God’s name did you manage to sweet-talk some local girl into letting you take her out?”
Adam opened the pillbox and carefully took out the half a dozen pills in varying sizes and colors and set them on the counter. “You know me, Mama. I work fast.”
His mom laughed, the chuckle a whole lot weaker than her usual boisterous sound. Everything about her was weaker now. The cancer that she’d hidden for far too long had eaten away at her body, leaving her a shell of the woman he’d grown up with.
Regret bit him, hard and fast. The only reason he knew that she had cancer at all was because her lady friend, Lenora, had called him. He was still pissed the fuck off that he had to hear about it from the woman she was dating rather than his mama herself. Pissed off, but not surprised. He should have been here, making sure she was taking care of herself. He knew damn well that his mama would work herself to the bone to make everyone else around her happy. Combined with her general distrust of doctors, it was a recipe for disaster. If he’d been here, he would have known that something was wrong and insisted she go in and get checked out.