Jade watched her go with her jaw somewhere on the ground. “Did that just really happen?” she asked no one in particular.
“Yup, it sure did,” Parker answered with a low and sexy chuckle.
“You know you stepped in it big time, right?” she asked him.
“Oh? How do you figure? The way it looks to me, I just solved a bunch of my problems with your mother’s help.”
Jade laughed. “You poor, sweet innocent man. You don’t know Adele Curran, and it shows. You were just played.”
His eyes went wide. “What do you mean?”
“You just agreed to her telling people you aren’t single. How do you think she will achieve that?”
He shook his head. “She’ll tell people I am not into dating right now. That’s the logical thing to say.”
Jade threw her head back with a laugh. “Yes, thatisthe logical thing to do. But you see, my mother isn’t the most logical person in the world. You just basically agreed that she tells all of Half Moon Key thatwe’redating.”
“What? But we’re not.”
Jade shrugged. “You’ve agreed to plan one of our most beloved holidays here in Half Moon Key. With me. That means loads of time together walking around town, being seen together.”
“Oh, shit,” he mumbled, looking somewhat impressed and bewildered. “Shedidplay me.”
Jade nodded. “Don’t feel too bad. She is a professional at this. But, I guess, now it’s done.”
“I guess,” he grumbled, though his smile betrayed him a bit.
Jade arched a brow at him, and he immediately blushed and shook his head.
“Sorry, no. I didn’t mean it like that, I swear. I’m just a bit thrown by how ruthless people can be in small towns.”
Jade laughed. “Oh, then you’re about to get a whole new kind of education while we plan this.” She took out a business card from her purse and handed it to him. “I literally never get to use these because everyone in town knows me, but here you go. That’s my number. Text me. Call me, whatever you prefer. We’ll need to get together tomorrow to really get into things for the planning.”
He took the card from her hand, and their fingers brushed lightly. Even that small contact was a lot for her. Her entire body seemed to buzz with awareness. Jade took a step back, her face flushing deep.
“See you, planning buddy.”
If Parker responded, she didn’t stick around long enough to hear him. She raced off in the same direction as her mother and retreated into Wixx, a safe distance from Parker and the things he made her feel. It was safer that way.
FIVE
PARKER
As soon as he got home with his groceries, Parker sat on his back deck with a cold beer. His morning was weird, even by Half Moon Key standards. The very last thing he expected when he went onto Main Street this morning was to end up on the planning committee of some strange local holiday.
More than that, he hadn’t expected that his marital status would be the talk of the town.
It was, and because of that, he now had a fake girlfriend. Or so it seemed.
As he walked around the grocery store, loading up on enough food for at least a week, Parker had heard all kinds of whisperings about him and the Curran girl.
Jade.
Jade and her sweet voice, her vibrant laugh. Her green eyes and those lips.
And now he was going to have to spend some quality time with her. That wouldn’t be difficult, given that he was attracted to her.
But what made it all a little stickier were the dating rumors. He could only hope that Jade didn’t start believing them. He would need to have a very uncomfortable conversation with her as soon as they got together in the morning.