I tensed, wondering what she was going to say about it. After what I heard in the kitchen, I imagined she had talked him out of it or maybe she wanted to talk me out of it.
"Up until I met Max, James was the only person in the world who cared about me and who I cared about. I don't know what he's told you about our family, although I doubt it's very much. I imagine you heard more from Mrs. Curtis."
I nodded. "Although it’s still fairly limited.”
"My brother is a good man. But he can also be difficult."
I didn't respond. I wasn't going to badmouth her brother, even to agree with her.
"I'm sure you have seen that sometimes, he can get grumpy. He’s like Jekyll and Hyde with his moods."
"I know what you're saying."
She nodded. "I know you do, because he's been doing it all night tonight."
"Has he?" I didn’t want to lie, but I wasn't going to let her know that I’d noticed.
"He has, and I'll be honest, I'm not quite sure why. The thing is, Reyna, if the two of you are going to pretend like your marriage is real, that you're the woman he's head over heels for, he's going to have to behave differently. When he starts to withdraw, you're going to need to be the one to snap him out of it. I don't know if you've met the members of the board or how much time you spent with them, but this is a dangerous game that the two of you are about to play. If the board gets wind of this, they will fire him in an instant. It’s odd, considering deception is my father’s middle name, but he deceivedwiththe board, not the board itself. If they get wind of this little plan of yours, he will be gone. And while James has a lot of money, I'm not sure that he will be able to fulfill his deal with you if that happens.”
I turned to her, feeling slightly judged. At the same time, she wasn't wrong. I wasn't marrying him because I loved him. I was doing it for five million dollars.
"You think we should give up on this plan?" I asked.
Amelia sighed. "I'm torn because I know James is right. Inasmuch as he tries to impress the board, they want him out. And I think time is running out for him. But for this plan to work, people are going to have to believe the two of you are in love. I know he’s capable of pulling it off. At the Christmas party, I was sure there was something going on between you two.”
Huh? What?
“I'm only telling you this because for one, I love my brother, but two, I feel like you might want to rethink this whole thing. If this goes wrong, it could hurt more than him. It could hurt you."
I thought about that for a minute but then said, "Everything I had to lose, I've already lost. I won't lie. At first, I thought his idea was crazy and I told him no. But it's difficult to walk away from the kind of money he's offering when you're a woman in my situation."
"And what situation is that?" Her tone had a slight edge to it. Like a woman who was looking out for her brother.
"I thought I had my life all figured out, and then in a matter of a few minutes, it was all gone. But I also believe in what your brother is trying to do. I want to help him. Everybody at the office wants to help him."
When she didn't say anything. I turned to her to assess how she might be feeling.
Her lips twitched upward slightly. "I'm glad to hear that. James needs all the help he can get, inside the organization as well as outside the organization."
She rose from her seat. "My breasts tell me that Andrew is ready for feeding soon. At least I hope so." She grimaced. “Breasts full of milk are uncomfortable.”
I smiled even though inwardly, it felt like too much information.
James remainedquiet when we left the party and got into his car to drive home. At least I thought that's where we were going. Based on his behavior and comments from his sister, I wondered if our business deal was off. Maybe he was going to take me to my apartment.
I was curious about this mood of his, but I wasn't dumb enough to ask. It was clear he wasn't interested in talking.
We were fifteen minutes into the drive when he asked, "Did you feel like I was ignoring you tonight?"
Did I answer truthfully, or did I downplay it? I decided if we were going to spend the next year pretending to be happily married, it would be better to tell the truth. It would be challenging to pull off looking like a loving couple if resentments were building.
"Maybe a little bit."
He turned his head, looking out the driver's side window for a moment before returning his gaze to the road. "Sorry about that. It wasn't my intention."
I didn't know James well enough to comprehend all his moods, but I got the feeling he was only saying sorry because it was the polite thing to do. And while his intention might not have been to make me feel ignored, I had no doubt that his behavior was intentional. He'd been avoiding me.
I wanted to confront him on that, but I decided to do it without being confrontational. So instead of asking him why he avoided me, I asked, "I don't know you well enough to know your behavior in settings outside the office."