“Are you going to nurse that broken heart forever?” Miranda asked. “You need to move on.”
Pippa Rand groaned and tapped the Mute button on her phone. “She’s going to drive me dippy.” She hated when her sister got snotty with her. Her sister seemed to think everyone should find a new partner right after a broken heart. “It’s like she forgot the last time she got dumped and had to move on.”
Her best friend, Jon Muir, shrugged. “When is she arriving? Is she bringing your mother, too?”
“She is.” She ignored her older sister’s complaining. Ever since Miranda had got married, she believed everyone should be married, too. “They’re supposed to be here in about fifteen minutes. Mom’s driving.”
“So your sister can rub in your face that she’s got Bruce?” Jon rolled his eyes. “For someone with a master’s degree, she sure doesn’t think sometimes.”
“She doesn’t, but I’ll bet she’s pregnant, so she’s going to make sure I know she did that first, too.” She stared at her phone while her sister continued to talk. “She only comes over when she wants to gloat.”
Miranda knew damn well Pippa’s split from Carsen had been messy and the pain was still raw. After being with Carsen for five years, Pippa never thought he’d cheat on her with her former friend, Natalie.
Only to have Carsen blame the whole thing on her. He and Natalie were innocent, but pushed to their behavior. She’d gotten older, which made him want to wander.
The asshole.
“Your sister isn’t a nice person sometimes,” Jon said. “Cruel, really.”
“She can be.” Pippa pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m tired of being her whipping post, but I can’t conjure a fiancé. How am I going to make an insta-boyfriend/fiancé?”
“Easy.”
“How is it easy?” She stared at him. He might be her best friend ever, but he could be so damn cryptic. “Who?”
“Me.”
She had to be hearing things. “You said you.” That couldn’t be right.
“I did.”
“They’ll never believe it.” She knew her mother and sister. Even if she’d known Jon for eight years and lusted after him every one of those years, she’d never been brave enough to ask him out…much less get engaged to him.
“Why?”
“You’re my best friend and you declared in front of my family that you’d never get married.” She folded her arms and set her jaw. “So they’ll see through the lie.”
“Who says they will? But even so, who cares?” he asked.
“You don’t want to be engaged to me.” She was a hot mess when she wasn’t at her bookstore. When she had to do the accounting and ordering at the store, she excelled. Numbers didn’t argue with her. Men did. Men lied and cheated.
Jon was a man, too, but he was her best friend. She couldn’t lose him. If he played the role of her fiancé, she’d fall for him. If she did, she risked getting hurt. Risked not having him in her life any longer. He’d see what kind of disaster she was and he’d flee.
Everyone else did.
“I have the feeling you have no time to decide.” Jon nodded to her phone. “I’m guessing she figured out you weren’t listening and hung up.”
“Shit.” She swiped to darken her phone. “They’re probably here, too.”
“I’d say so.”
She froze at the knocking on her door. Her sister and mother had arrived. Damn it.
“Do you trust me?” Jon asked. “Pip?”
She didn’t want the admonishment from her family, but how would lying to them fuck her life up? She didn’t want things to change with him. Not that she had much choice. Her sister and mother believed she’d never have a serious boyfriend after Carsen, let alone get married.
He slid the signet ring off his pinky finger and offered her the piece of jewelry. “The diamonds are real.”
“You’ve said that, but the engagement isn’t.” Still, she allowed him to slide the ring onto her left hand. Electricity ran through her veins. Sizzles kissed her from his touch. She’d never felt this kind of rush before.
“No one needs to know right now.” His eyes sparkled. “Answer the door.” He winked and nodded. “It’ll be fine.”
She shouldn’t like this plan, but she wasn’t entirely for it, either. She sighed before she opened the door. Her mother and sister stood in the doorway.
“Hi.” Pippa stepped aside. “You made it.”
“You thought we wouldn’t?” her mother asked. “You could’ve been smarter about the call. You must’ve hung up.”
“The call dropped,” Pippa lied.
“You want to go with that?” Miranda asked. “Jesus. Who is this? You’re Jon, right?”
Her mother swept her gaze over Jon. “Still hanging around her?”
“I am.” He offered his hand to her mother. “But I have a good reason.”
“He’s my fiancé.” Pippa held up her left hand. “See?”
Miranda gave him the side-eye. “Fiancé? Since when? You’ve never mentioned him outside of being your friend and now you’re engaged?”
“I don’t tell you everything.” She stared at her sister and noticed the swell of her abdomen. “You only call when you have news. I’m guessing you do.”
“What if I do?” Miranda glared at her. “You’ve kept this engagement quiet. Makes me think you wanted to steal my thunder.”
“It wasn’t a big deal.” She closed the door. “Mir, Ma, it just happened.” Quite literally.
“Not a big deal?” Her mother hugged Jon. “My daughter finally found love and that’s huge. What do you do, Jon? When did you propose? Oh and where is the diamond? You bought her one that’s two carats, right? Nothing smaller.”
Pippa wanted to hide. Melt right into the floor and fucking hide. Her mother and sister could be so greedy.
Jon slid his arm around Pippa. “We got engaged about two weeks ago. Went over to our favorite restaurant and I put the ring in her white wine.”
“He did,” Pippa said, trying to keep up. He was more romantic in theory than she’d given him credit. “It was magical.”
“Oh?” Miranda yanked Pippa’s left hand. “It’s not an engagement ring.”
“No,” her mother added. “It’s unconventional. Where is the real diamond?”
“We’re not conventional people,” Pippa said. God, her family was too concerned with her ring.
“People will care. Why are you being so unorthodox?” Miranda asked and scratched her belly. “Jon? She’ll be a laughingstock.”
“Of what?” Jon rubbed Pippa’s shoulder. “In our circle of friends, it’s not unusual to have a ring that’s not traditional. That’s what makes it fun.”
“Besides, it’s a family piece.” Pippa liked the answer, mostly because it was true. The ring had been passed down from Jon’s grandfather to his father, then to him.
“For a man.” Miranda rubbed her stomach. “Well, it looks like you’ve managed to outshine me.”
Pippa fought the urge to roll her eyes. Miranda was prettier, smarter and more conventionally attractive with the perfect husband and had her job with the cosmetics company. Everything went Miranda’s way. Why did she have to be so jealous? This was a simple engagement.
“I’m your sister and this is your mother, yet you never bothered to call us to let us know,” her mother said. “No one asked for your hand in marriage or gave us a proper introduction. Jon, that’s not right.”
“We wanted to be lowkey,” Jon said and inched closer to Pippa. “We’re not in a rush to walk down the aisle.”
Talk about the obvious. Like never, but the way he touched her was wonderful. She might even be considering wanting to make the engagement real. The way he caressed her back, he took the tension away.
“It’s true, Ma.” Pippa leaned into Jon, thankful for his strength. “What’s your big news, Mir?” Her sister couldn’t keep it contained forever.
“Mine? I’m going to be a grandma!” her mother shouted. “Miranda’s pregnant.”
Pippa pressed her teeth together to keep from laughing. Trust their mother to ruin the moment. Who else would be pregnant? “Wonderful, congrats.”
“Ma.” Miranda frowned. “Yes, I’m due in four months with a boy. So now you know. Don’t you dare get married before I get the baby weight off. I will not wear a bridesmaid dress without the time for a diet.”
“Right.” Her sister had nothing to worry about. There wasn’t going to be a bridesmaid dress to be had. No wedding would happen. But wasn’t it like her sister to assume she’d be included in the wedding. What if they’d decided to have a small ceremony? What if she’d wanted to include someone else?
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Jon said. “Are we ordering pizza? I bet you’d like to sit, Miranda. Have a seat. The couch is comfortable.”
“Thank you.” Miranda glared at him, then settled on the sofa. She kicked out of her clogs and plunked her feet on the coffee table. “That’s better.”
“I’ll get that order put in,” Pippa said. “What do we want?”
“I’ll get it.” Jon un-pocketed his phone. “Sit and enjoy the chat.”
“Thanks.” Pippa wanted to crawl into a crack in the floor. She wasn’t ashamed to show Jon off to her family, but her family didn’t have to be so…themselves. They wanted so much and deserved so little.
And now she had a lie to continue.
A fake engagement.
At least if she had to lie, she had Jon in on it with her.
How long until he changed his mind, though?
She hoped never.
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