A Deal With the Devil (15 page)

Undeterred, Kate’s eyes danced. “I’m
so
excited. I hope our kids—”

“Before you get carried away and start planning the wedding of my nonexistent child and yours, I’m
not
pregnant and we
didn’t
do it.”

Kate’s ear-to-ear grin fell so fast she looked deflated.

“Jake misunderstood,” Amanda said. “The trust fund thing was never about an engagement. We have to get
married
before he gets access.”

Kate flipped her golden hair over a shoulder and lifted a well-groomed brow. “Married like, for real?”

“For real.”

Kate’s French-tipped fingers pulled the plate closer. “You’re right. I do need this cake.”

“Told you,” Amanda said. “I’ve already eaten two slices.”

“Two slices? Come to the nine o’clock class with me. They take walk-ins.”

“It’s a prenatal class and as we’ve already established, I’m not pregnant.”

“Anybody can go. It’s like beginner’s yoga.” Kate cut a bite of cake. “When did this happen?”

“Last night at dinner with Max.” Amanda blew on her coffee and took a sip.

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. We talked for two hours last night. Jake thinks we need to get married.”

“No, no, no.” Kate shook her head so hard, her hair fanned out. “There has to be another way. Don’t get me wrong; I think you two belong together but I don’t want you to walk down the aisle if the marriage isn’t for real. You know?”

“We don’t belong together. Not anymore.” Amanda plucked at her napkin. “And now I have to deal with this”—she gestured at the over-sized ring on her left hand—“as a constant reminder of what we’ll never have; what we’ll never be.” She cleared her throat and added a quick clarification. “Not that I want that with him anymore.”

“Of course you do. Let me see.” Kate eyes bugged out and she yanked Amanda’s hand so hard it bent her over the table. “Now that’s some serious bling. Damn girl!” Kate squeezed her hand and smiled. “Totally gorge.”

“I really don’t want something with him. I mean, of course I did at one time, but now I know it would never work between us.”

Kate tilted her head to the side and regarded her with interest. “What makes you say that?”

“He’s afraid of commitment,” Amanda said.

Kate waved a hand dismissively. “Please. What man isn’t afraid of commitment? Most of them get over it eventually.”

Amanda shook her head, her voice laced with regret. “I don’t know. When he ended things between us, he said we were just too different; that our values were too far apart.” She shrugged. “At the time, I didn’t agree. But now I’m not so sure. After seeing him again with Max and all, I wonder. Maybe he’s right.”

“I don’t believe that,” Kate said. “You’re just saying that because seeing him again has been harder than you expected.” She reached across and squeezed Amanda’s hand. “You know, we
all
thought he’d propose on your birthday last year—Sam included. It made his heartless breakup the night before all the more deplorable. I still haven’t forgiven him.”

“Me neither.”

After a few moments of silence, Kate cleared her throat and said, “Anyway, one way or another, now that he’s back we’ll know for sure. You’ll either find your way back to each other or you’ll get over him.”

“I’m almost over him,” Amanda said. “I mean, I did fine when he was in Iraq.”

Kate scoffed. “You didn’t do fine.”

The look in Kate’s eyes said it all. Amanda could insist she didn’t care; try to put off her best who-gives-a-crap vibe, but she wasn’t fooling anyone. The realization made her even more upset. She gave Kate the evil eye and said, “I did when you weren’t fixing me up with losers.”

“They weren’t
all
losers.”

Amanda pursed her lips. “Name me a winner, any winner,” she said. “Just pick
one
.”

Kate glared at her as she stirred her coffee.

“Don’t get me started,” Amanda said. “You know I’ll win
this
argument.”

“Whatever.” Kate tucked her blonde locks behind an ear and lifted her chin. “My mother says it’s a game of numbers. You have to kiss a lot of toads before you get your cushion cut diamond.”

“I’ve kissed more than my fair share, thanks to you,” she said.

Kate made a face and then changed the subject, “Anyway, Sam says Jake’s not over you either.”

Amanda’s laughter held a heavy dose of bitterness. “Sam’s wrong. Jake is about as over me as he could get, which is what makes this situation so depressing. I thought I’d moved on, but clearly I haven’t.” Not yet anyway. But she would; she absolutely would. She was sure of it.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Kate studied Amanda’s face as she said, “A few days ago, Jake stopped by and asked Sam to prepare the contract. While there, Sam told him you loaned your brother the money; now he knows the real reason you agreed to the deal.”

Amanda smacked her leg as a light bulb went on. “Jake mentioned that last night. I wondered how he knew.” She paused for a beat and then eyed Kate with disapproval as she said, “Is there anything you don’t tell your husband?”

Kate sniffed. “It’s not good to keep secrets in a marriage.”

“I’d love to know how gossiping about
me
helps strengthen your marriage.”

Kate ignored her and circled back to her original point. “A few days after Sam told him that, Jake gave you a hundred thousand dollar advance. Just a tad coincidental that it’s precisely the amount you loaned your brother.” She arched a brow. “Don’t you think?”

“It doesn’t mean he cares about me,” Amanda said. “If he did, he wouldn’t have dumped me.”

“Like I said, none of us anticipated the breakup, not even Sam. Personally, I think Jake got scared. And…you know… his dad died and he was about to ship out.” Kate tapped her finger on the rim of her mug. “Still, I think his actions now say something else. He didn’t have to pick
you
for this little scam. And he
definitely
didn’t need to give you an advance which just happens to be the exact amount you owe. Why do you think he did that?”

Amanda shrugged. Jake chose her because of her strong connection with Max. He’d said as much. With her, his deception stood the best chance for success. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe it to be related to any feelings she might wish he still harbored for her. Unlike Kate, she preferred to live in reality. Life tended to be less of a disappointment that way.

“Regardless, you can’t go through with it. Jake’s wrong.” Kate shook her head. “It would be taking this whole ridiculous plan too far.”

“That’s what I said.” Amanda shook another packet of sugar substitute into her coffee. If ever a situation called for a sweetener—artificial or not—this would be it. Maybe it would help neutralize the bitter aftertaste of their breakup.

“Did Jake give you an out?”

Amanda nodded. “He gave me a day to think about it. He wants to know my decision tonight.”

Kate looked relieved. “Good. And you’ll be telling him no, right?”

Amanda chewed the inside of her lip and tapped the coffee stirrer on the table. “I don’t know if I can.”

“Why?”

“I’d have to pay back the advance.”

“So pay him back.” Kate shrugged. “I know you need the cash, but no matter how badly you need it, the money wouldn’t compensate for the downside of a fake marriage.”

Amanda shifted in her seat. “No. . . I mean. . . I
can’t
.”

Kate frowned. “What do you mean you can’t?”

“It’s gone.”

Kate threw her fork down and it bounced onto the floor. “You spent
a hundred thousand dollars
in the last
two days
?” Her bellow reverberated through the crowded Starbucks. Dozens of heads snapped in their direction.

Amanda turned her head away from the crowd and spoke to Kate out of the corner of her mouth, “Could you use your inside voice please? Geez! I finally understand why you beat me out for Rush Chair our senior year.”

“What the hell, Amanda…
a hundred grand
?” Kate lowered her voice, but it dripped with disapproval.

Amanda knew she didn’t owe her friend any explanations, but couldn’t help herself. “I paid off my second mortgage, most of my credit cards and gave Rob twenty thousand. I have a little left, but not much.”

Kate opened her mouth, but Amanda held up a hand to cut her off. “Before you start shrieking again, I’d just like to say…
I know,
” she said. “I
know
I shouldn’t have given Rob the twenty thousand extra he asked for. I get it, I
do
. I couldn’t help it.”

Kate leaned forward and shook a finger under her nose. “You
can
help it. Now Amanda Wilson, you march yourself over to Rob’s house and get that money back right this second.”

“There you go with the full name thing again. I hate it when you get bossy.”

“I’m
alway
s bossy, so if you didn’t want to hear it, you shouldn’t have called me.” Kate sat back and her folded arms rested on her bump. “You knew what I’d say.”

She had known. So why had she asked? Unsatisfied with her artificially-sweetened coffee, Amanda picked up her fork and reached across the table to cut off a bite of Kate’s cake.

Kate swatted her hand away, pulled the plate closer and cut another bite. “Take the amount Rob gives you back plus whatever you have left and offer it to Jake as a down payment,” she said. “Then tell him you’ll repay the rest later.” She popped the cake in her mouth and a smile of supreme satisfaction spread across her features.

“I don’t know if Jake will go for it.”

Kate swallowed and fixed Amanda with her most hardcore steel magnolia gaze. “Oh he will, or he’ll have
me
to contend with.”

As Amanda knew from personal experience, hell hath no fury like Kate thwarted. In their circle she was referred to as Hurricane Kate, because things were never quite the same after she had passed through.

“Okay, I’ll head to my brother’s place as soon as we’re done here. You’re right. I need to get the money and back out of this deal.” She didn’t know if it would work, but she needed to give it a try. Her entire future depended on it.

“Yeah, this whole thing was a bad idea.”

Amanda’s mouth twisted. “It was
your
idea, remember?”

“You’re right.” Kate pushed the cake plate toward Amanda. “Here, you can have the last bite to make up for it.”

Amanda scooped up the cake. “Mmm,” she cooed as the sweet bite melted in her mouth. “It’s
so
good. I think I’ll get a slice to go.”

Kate frowned. “You don’t need any more cake.”

“Kill joy,” Amanda said as she licked her lips.

“Your thighs will thank me later.”

“My mouth is thanking me now.” Amanda rolled her eyes and rubbed her belly in an exaggerated show of ecstasy.

“Amanda, promise you’ll stop this brother thing.”

“What thing?”

“You enable him.”

It seemed too easy an observation for Kate to make—especially when she lacked any common frame of reference. She didn’t get it.

“You’d have a different perspective if you were me. I’m all he’s had since they died. What did
I
know about parenting a thirteen year-old?”

Kate squeezed her hand. “It’s tragic. But you aren’t responsible for their deaths and you can’t over-compensate for their loss the rest of your life. Their deaths happened to both of you, remember? Not just him. It affected you, too and yet never got a chance to work through it because you’ve always been focused on him. How he feels. What he wants. Plus, you won’t do Rob any favors if you continue to give in to him.”

“I’m doing my best,” Amanda said.

“I know you
think
you are. But you need to get the money back, get out of this deal and give Rob a dose of tough love. He’s twenty-three. It’s time to man up.”

Amanda twirled a strand of dark hair and considered Kate’s advice. It might be partially true, but Kate couldn’t possibly know how she’d respond to a situation she’d never experienced herself.

“You’ll be firm with him, right?” Kate arched a brow.

In an attempt to put a kibosh on the lecture, Amanda said what her friend wanted to hear. “Absolutely.”

“Okay, I’ll back off. But you better stand your ground.”

The girls gathered their purses, slipped on their coats and headed to the door. Amanda tried to ignore the grins from customers that followed them outside.