The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,68

She stomped over to her husband, nearly tripping over a cup on the deck, which only infuriated her more. “Bart!” she shouted. “Do something!”

Bart, who had been sitting with his brother on the deck, got to his feet. “What do you want me to do?”

“Make them stop!”

As he passed Bart, Noah pointed to the cat, which was still on the fence, hissing with its back arched. Then Noah grabbed three beers out of the cooler.

Libby watched Noah with more interest than Josh liked. All the more reason to seriously consider changing his tactic. “Megan has insisted I break up with her tonight.”

Libby swung her gaze to him, her eyebrows arched. “You’re not considering it, are you?”

He sighed. “I don’t know, maybe.”

She leaned toward him, desperation in her eyes. “You can’t.”

He rested his palm on the table, the two beers he’d drunk within the past five minutes making him feel melancholy rather than buzzed. “She’s right, Libby. I’m putting her in an awkward situation. The longer I wait to do this, the harder it will be to cancel everything.”

Libby leaned in closer, her face inches from his. “The only person who’s going to be negatively affected by canceling the wedding is Knickers. The money’s gone whether there’s a wedding or not. Don’t let that stop you from going after Megan.”

“But it’s all a lie, Libby.”

Her jaw set and determination filled her eyes. “Do you like her?”

“What?”

“It’s a simple question. Do you like her?”

“You know I do.”

“Then whatever you do, don’t break up with her tonight. Wait.”

“How long do I wait? Until we’re at the altar and the minister says, ‘Do you, Jay’—what’s the fucker’s last name again?” The fuzziness in his head held the bastard’s name out of reach.

“Connors.”

“Jay Connors.” The name rolled off Josh’s tongue with a sneer. “So the minister says, ‘Do you, Jay Connors, take Megan Vandemeer to be your lawfully wedded wife?’ And I say . . . ‘Well, about that . . . did I mention that I’m just her substitute fiancé?’”

She sat back, glancing over at her friend. “It doesn’t have to go that far. Just make her realize how much she likes you. Make her admit that she wants this to work.”

“She likes me, but what if I can’t get her to admit that she does? That I’m worth fighting for?” He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’m seriously considering giving up everything to try to make this work. What if she doesn’t feel the same? She’s in this situation to keep her mother from blowing her gasket. There’s no way we can tell Knickers the truth and come out unscathed.”

She didn’t respond.

In the end, it didn’t matter how Megan felt, not really. His original goal was honorable—saving his employees—but it wasn’t worth toying with Megan’s life. Maybe he could cash in his barely existent IRA and use it to make a comp package for the employees who’d have the most trouble finding new jobs.

It wasn’t the solution he wanted, but he could live with it. If he had to give it all up, though, he wanted to at least enjoy one more day with Megan—twenty-four hours—before he came clean. “Tomorrow night.” Saying it out loud helped cement the rightness of his decision. “I’m doing this tomorrow night.”

Noah returned and set a bottle of beer in front of him. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Breaking up with Megan.”

Noah looked slightly panicked. “Whoa, slow down there, lover boy. What if we haven’t accomplished our mission?”

Libby turned a skeptical eye on him. “What mission?”

An oh shit look crossed Noah’s face, and Josh groaned. He should have known Noah would screw it up.

Noah rolled his eyes. “Making Megan fall in love with Josh. What the hell else would I be talking about?”

But the seeds of doubt had been planted in Libby’s head, and she turned her discerning eye on Josh.

Josh picked up his bottle. “Trust me, no one’s more surprised by this turn of events than I am.”

“So we agree no breaking up tonight, right?” Libby asked.

“I may not have a choice,” Josh said, glumly.

Noah was about to protest when Nicole, who was now standing by the edge of the deck, began screaming. “What have you done?”

Three big dogs burst through the back gate, racing for the food table. Everyone started shouting as the dogs jumped onto the deck, snarling over the pans of pork, brisket, baked beans, and coleslaw.

“What are they doing?” Nicole screamed. “Somebody stop them!”

But everyone either ran screaming or watched