“Your mother’s on the phone,” Bart announced. “She says enough is enough, and she wants to talk to you about this.”
“About what?” Gray barked.
“About having to meet poor Terra this way,” his father replied gruffly. “You’ve been seeing her far too long, and a chance meeting in the garage shouldn’t have been the way she was introduced.” Bart turned to Terra, his features softening. “I swear, we raised him better than that.”
Terra’s eyes widened, but she could barely get the words out. “Oh, I’m not—”
“She’s not angry, Dad.” Gray reached out and put his arm around Terra’s shoulders, pulling her closer to him. “We were just taking things slow. You know, like responsible adults do.”
She snapped her gaze to him, and Gray stared down at her with a cheeky grin.
What the fuck is going on?
“Gray, I don’t—”
“Shh, sweetheart.” He chuckled, squeezing her shoulder. “Dad, I’ll talk to Mom in a second. Go tell her I’ll be right there.”
“I’m so sorry for his blatant rudeness, Terra.” Bart trudged back toward the desk, looking shocked at his son’s antics.
He wasn’t the only one.
Once his father was gone, Terra whirled around and practically hissed at Gray, “What the hell was that all about?”
Immediately, Gray’s cocky grin faltered and his eyes became serious. “You want to help me out? Then help. I’ll pay you to look after Allie for me, because fuck knows that’ll make things a shit ton easier on me. But, sweetheart, you’re going to work for it. Shit just got a whole lot more complicated, but this could work to our benefit.”
“How?” she exclaimed, pointing towards the direction his father went. “He thinks we’re a fucking couple!”
“Temporarily,” Gray added. “Just go with it, will you? I promise, I’ll make it worth your while.
” That crooked smirk pulled at the corners of his lips. “And, I mean, if you want to be a fucking couple, we could do that, too.”
How bad do I need this job? The words kept circling in her mind, over and over. How goddamn bad do I need this job? Finally, Terra’s eyes narrowed, her defensive walls back in place and her hysteria curbed for the time being. “You’re going to regret this, Gray Radden.”
“I’ve made worse mistakes,” he said, shrugging.
She turned to see Bart making his way back to them from across the garage, looking a little worse for wear. Gray’s mother was obviously giving him a hard time about the whole introduction fiasco.
“Gray, go talk to your mother.” He pointed towards the phone hanging on the wall. “And say something to calm her down. She’s angry about this, and rightly so.”
Before Gray could respond, Terra reached out and put an apologetic hand on Bart Radden’s forearm. “I’m so sorry you and Mrs. Radden are upset,” she said warmly, turning on the charm. “But, Gray and I...” She turned her gaze to Gray beside her, offering him the widest, most devious smile she could wear, “We just didn’t want everyone to make a big deal of it. Gray, you really should go tell your mother the truth.”
Gray arched one eyebrow high on his forehead. “Well, damn, sweetheart, maybe we both should. Together.” He could feel it—he knew she was up to something, and that was fine. Terra wanted him to know that two could play at this game.
“You’re right.” She nodded with a smile. “We’ll tell your mother together. I mean, it’s not every day their baby boy gets engaged in secrecy, right?”
Chapter Three
Gray
The Terra Payton he remembered had been meek and mild. He distinctly recalled her desire to get the hell out of town, and she’d worked hard at the local restaurant to get the money to do it. She was younger than him, but even back then, she’d been attractive.
Now, though? Shit, she was sexy as hell.
And obviously, if her quick retaliation towards his lie about their relationship was anything to go on, she wasn’t nearly as mild-tempered anymore, either. No, Terra Payton wasn’t a kid anymore. She was feisty, and sexy, and...
His fiancée.
Shit, that little stunt had gotten out of control in a quick fucking hurry. He’d meant to just make his dad believe he had a girlfriend, one that was good with Allie, so his father would see that Gray could make good choices in life.