Fake Boyfriend - Miley Maine Page 0,52

a dog with a bone with his fixation on Douglas.

I knew he wasn’t jealous of Douglas. He just wasn’t that kind of person. But he had to give it a rest or we wouldn’t survive the next few days here.

Maybe he didn’t want to be here, and this fixation was a distraction. No. Jackson wasn’t that petty. At least not on purpose. I really did believe that he thought Douglas was a problem. But none of it made sense.

We sidled up close to each other, and I began to do a modified version of the Watusi, so I could hear what he had to say. “Okay, go.”

“Douglas is involved in something shady. Possibly illegal, but I’m not sure yet.”

“Like what? How do you know?” I asked. I began to wave my arms in the air with the beat.

Jackson danced too, and he had really good rhythm, and I'd have enjoyed dancing more if we weren’t talking about my cousin’s husband. “I watched him. And I listened to what he was saying, but I need more intel.”

“Intel?” I asked. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. “This isn’t a mission, Jackson. You aren’t deployed.”

“I realize that. But it’s my job to keep you safe.”

“You’re my fake boyfriend,” I said. “Not my real one.”

“I’m well aware of that fact. If I was your real boyfriend, I’d have already gotten you away from this farce of a wedding.”

I stopped dancing. “Gotten me away?” I asked. “You can’t tell me what to do. Real boyfriend or fake.”

Jackson stopped dancing too, and faced me head on. “You need to quit acting like a spoiled kid and listen to me. Something is going on with him.”

Now people were starting to look at us, and not just for our great dancing skills. “Do not call me spoiled. I’m here to work, and to take pictures of my cousin’s special day. I respect your service Jackson, but you need help. You’re paranoid, and you need to leave, now.”

His eyes shuttered as I said the word paranoid. I felt bad, but I was pissed. He had no right to call me a spoiled kid. After everything I’d shared with him, he could at least understand that.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I said I was going to protect you and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Then I’ll get security to make you leave.” Even as the words left my mouth, I felt terrible. I was acting like a spoiled baby. A rich spoiled baby who used her parents’ money and power to get what she wanted.

Jackon’s jaw went stiff and his eyes narrowed. But he didn’t say another word. He just turned and left.

“Jackson!” I called out. I regretted making him leave immediately. I was such an asshole, and I was acting like every part of my family that I hated.

My cousin came prancing over in her stylish cream wedding dress. “Trouble in paradise?”

I would have liked to slap the smug smile off of her face, but I’d already lost Jackson. I didn’t want to lose the rest of my family too.

“Nope. None at all,” I said. I forced a smile. “I’m going to get my camera and get some photos of your dad doing the twist.”

On my way to find my mother and get my camera, I looked everywhere for Jackson. But I couldn’t find him. He really had left. Which is what I’d asked him to do.

It served me right.

I had plenty to take my mind off of it. I’d already gotten family group shots, and photos of the bride and all the bridesmaids, but I still had to take photos of the groom and all the groomsmen, and I wanted to get a picture of every single person who attended while they danced.

I looked around. I hadn’t seen Douglas in a little while, and I needed to find him. The grooms often complained, but in the end they had fun with the silly shots. Even though he was a serious person, I figured Douglas would have fun with his photos too, especially if he thought it would make Marie happy.

Someone at this stinking wedding deserved to be happy, because it sure wasn’t me. Not now.

Chapter Nineteen

Jackson

What the fuck had just happened?

My pretend girlfriend had just booted me from her asshole cousin’s wedding.

That’s what you get for messing around with a twenty-two year old. What did you think was going to happen?

I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. Apparently I’d thought she was going