Prom Queen Read online

  It felt like a big deal.

  Jake backed off, watching her out of the corner of his eye as he left the airport and drove down the highway toward Catfish Creek. As the minutes ticked by, his initial plan to mess with Jessie took a hard right turn. It was one thing to screw with a spitfire who was as likely to take off his head as kiss him.

  It was entirely enough to kick someone while they were down, and whatever else was true about Jessie these days, she was down.

  You don’t owe her anything. You don’t have to save her.

  She didn’t even bother to try to save you when you needed her most.

  And yet… None of that shit mattered.

  Jake was a firm believer that clinging to the past was a good way to let life pass you by. Still being pissed that Jessie dumped him ten years later was pathetic. He’d let that old hurt drive him into their current situation, but that didn’t mean he had to keep going with his original plan.

  Instead, he would help her—whether she wanted his help or not.

  Chapter Three

  Jessica couldn’t believe she’d gotten herself into this mess. Oh wait—yes, she could, because Cora and Brooklyn had helped her get in over her head. They were good like that, and she couldn’t even be mad, because she’d ultimately agreed to this of her own free will. Because she made poor life decisions.

  She shot a look at Jake, tracing the side of his face with her gaze. Now that she’d had a little time to get used to the sight of the scruff, she could admit that it suited him. It gave him a rough look that had nothing to do with the hipster beards she saw everywhere she looked in LA.

  No, Jake looked like he’d be at home chopping wood out in the forest somewhere while the snow fell softly down around him. Not that she’d ever seen snow in real life, but the image still fit.

  She pressed her lips together and jerked her gaze forward. What was wrong with her? She liked fantasies as well as the next woman—and had a stack of romance novels to prove it—but fantasizing about Jake was strictly forbidden territory. For a number of reasons.

  And he was supposed to be her date. She’d never doubted that karma or the universe required balance, but this was taking things too far. Even if he didn’t tell a single soul about it, he would know that she was pathetic and cowardly enough that she wouldn’t attend the reunion alone, and when she couldn’t dredge up a date for herself, she’d hired one.

  Maybe hitting rock bottom five years ago was just a precursor to what she was going to go through this weekend.

  Stop it. What’s going to happen will happen regardless of if you mentally flog yourself for the next three days. All you can do is keep your chin up and keep moving forward.

  For the first time in years, she actually missed the little brat she’d been in high school. That girl hadn’t bothered to worry about reality not lining up with the picture in her head. If life didn’t feel like cooperating, she forced things to go her way.

  Then again, she also hadn’t cared if people got in her way or were hurt in the process.

  Jessica leaned her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes. At least she’d be home soon. Maybe she could talk her brother into driving her…anywhere. If she was lucky, maybe she could convince him to let her stay with him instead of their parents.

  Lost cause for sure.

  “Jessie.”

  She opened her eyes, her heart sinking at the familiar sight of the house where she’d grown up. The white paint looked brand new and the shutters were white and green, but everything was mostly the same. The same wraparound porch that her mama had picked out of a magazine. The same big Southern style that managed to communicate both country home and money at the same time. The same carefully cultivated flower beds with bright yellow and white flowers—all to create the picture of perfection.

  It was something her mama valued above all else. Perfection.

  Nothing had changed. “It’s like stepping into a time warp.”

  “Jessie.”

  She finally twisted to look at Jake. His half-smile had her heart picking up despite herself. She swallowed hard. “What?”

  “I figure you owe me one.”

  Talk about the understatement of the century. She probably owed him more like a couple hundred. She’d never counted all the times she’d done him wrong, mostly because she was afraid of the answer.

  Admitting that didn’t mean she liked where this was going. “Mm-hmm.”

  “I’m calling it in. Right now.” His grin widened, his green eyes twinkling. “I’m going to be your fake boyfriend for the duration of your time here, just like you planned.”

  What? She shot straight. “I didn’t plan on you.”

  “And yet I’m the one you got.” Jake moved faster than he had any right to and looped an arm around her waist, pulling her across the bench seat until she was almost in his lap. “Look infatuated, love.”

  She narrowed her eyes even as her skin heated. One man shouldn’t smell so freaking good—like he’d burst straight out of an Old Spice commercial. And the possessive way his hand spanned her hip put her in mind of times when he’d held her like that while they were doing other things. Her body was different now. She eyed his shoulders—his body was different—but it didn’t take much to slam her ten years into the past.

  The feeling was a lie. They didn’t have anything left of the intimacy they’d shared the entire time they were dating. Jake was the longest relationship she ever had, and so she was reacting on a chemical level to him. End of story.

  She tried to pull back, to put some much-needed distance between them, but he held her fast. “Jessie, look at me.”

  She couldn’t look at him, because if she looked at him, she’d forget all the bad stuff between them and only remember how good it had felt to be in his arms. Then she’d do something unforgiveable, like try to kiss him, and he’d politely remind her that this was just pretend and… She couldn’t. Panic welled, giving her voice a hysterical edge. “If you don’t let me go right now, I’m going to punch you in those perfect teeth.”

  He released her instantly, though he laughed. “Drew taught you a mean right hook.”

  “Yes, he did. And Brooklyn taught me the rest.” She scooted a few inches back. “What the hell are you doing, Jake? You want revenge? Fine. Have it. I won’t pretend like I don’t deserve it. But this is just…cruel.” It hurt to remember how good things had been—more than she could have anticipated. It was so easy to focus on the way things ended, but there were six years of history between them as boyfriend and girlfriend—and another six of friendship. A decade of separation couldn’t erase that.

  Jake touched her chin with a single finger, drawing her back to the present. “Maybe I just miss you.”

  “Liar.”

  He chuckled. “Maybe. Don’t you worry your pretty head on the ‘why.’ See this through with me, or maybe someone will get a little too drunk down at The Grange and let it spill that Jessica Jackson had to hire a date for the reunion because she was too chickenshit to come back to Catfish Creek without a shield.”

  “You wouldn’t.” She narrowed her eyes and slapped his hand away. He totally would. “God, you are such a bastard.”

  “Not according to my mama.”

  Guilt rose instantly, thick enough to choke her. She bit down on another apology. She’d liked Roy Davis a whole lot. He had always been kind to her, even when she could see how sad he was after she’d made her plans to leave town.

  She stared at the front door of her parents’ house. I’m not ready to face them. So, she stalled. “How is your mama?”

  “She’s fine. Stubborn, still gossiping up a storm with the church ladies whenever she gets a chance, and she still wins first place in the bake sale every year.” He went quiet for a beat. “She misses him. We all do. But life goes on.”

  That was one truth no one
could deny.

  It struck her that maybe Jake had his own reasons for wanting to play along with her madness. She could end it right then and there and face whatever damage he was willing to deal out. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been the center of gossip before. She used to live for it. Now, the whole thing just made her tired. But if he had his own reasons for needing her as his date, then he was right—she owed him one. This was a relatively light sentence when all was said and done.

  This is going to be the longest three days in history.

  Jessica opened the door. “Fine.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Fine. You win. You can play my fake boyfriend.” She hopped out of the truck. “But not around my parents, okay?”

  “Jessie, if your parents don’t believe this, no one else will, either.”

  The sinking in her stomach said he was right. Frustration welled up, a vicious bubble inside her that she couldn’t—wouldn’t—let free. If she did, who knew what she’d do? Start screaming like a lunatic or maybe deliver the soul-crippling snarky comments she’d been so good at back in the day.

  Neither was an option.

  “Fine,” she spoke through gritted teeth.

  “Well, hell, Jessie. You get prettier when you’re spitting mad just like you did when we were eighteen.”

  She slammed the door, resisting the urge to kick it only because she was wearing sandals, and in a competition between foot and truck, the truck always came out the winner. That didn’t stop her from snatching her carry-on from the backseat and marching for the front door without waiting for him.

  It opened as she climbed the steps of the covered porch, revealing Jennifer Jackson. Her mother had always been one of those women who couldn’t leave the house without being perfectly put together, from her big bottle-blonde hair to her day makeup to her perfectly pressed dress. When Jessica was living in the house, she’d been a mini-Jennifer in almost every way.

  She didn’t have to look in a mirror to know what her mother would think of her messy hair—now it’s natural dark brown—and the fact that she was wearing—God bless her—a maxi dress. “Hey, mama.”

  But her mother wasn’t looking at her. She peered out the screen door, her eyes narrowed. “Please tell me that isn’t Jake Davis I see heading this way with his suitcase.”

  Jessica spun around. Sure enough, he was already at the steps, suitcase in hand. There was none of the sneaky asshole he’d been just minutes ago. Now, his green eyes were wide and guileless just like they always were around her parents. Damn him. “Afternoon, Mrs. Jackson.”

  “Jessica, explain this.” Her voice rose at the end, a clear indication that she was in danger of having one of her fits.

  This was the deciding moment. All she had to do was to make a joke or come clean and it would all be over, which would derail any potential hysterics on her mama’s part.

  It would all be over.

  That was the problem. She’d committed to this plan, for better or worse—and it was looking like they were in worse territory.

  “Jake and I have…reconciled.” The word tasted foul in her mouth, but she managed a smile despite it. If pageant training was good for something, it was being able to smile while you lied yourself out of uncomfortable situations, and this one was nothing if not that.

  “Jessica Jackson, you’re going to put me in an early grave. First you do that…that…commercial… And now you’re seeing him again.” Her mother pressed her hand to her heaving chest. She fanned herself and swayed—which was no mean feat with her clinging to the doorframe. She suddenly stopped and narrowed her eyes. “Are you on drugs? Are you smoking meth?”

  For God’s sake.

  Jake made a sound suspiciously like a snort, but she didn’t bother looking back. Instead, she went with the tried and true method of dealing with Jennifer Jackson’s hysterics. “Mama, you look a little pale. Are you feeling faint? Do you need to go have a lie down?”

  “I really don’t feel well.” Her mother still hadn’t taken her gaze off Jake, like she was afraid if she blinked, he’d muscle past her into the house.

  Jessica couldn’t even blame it on something Jake may or may not have done in the last ten years. The truth was, her mama had always looked at him like he was dirt on the bottom of her shoe. And her daddy wasn’t much better, though he rarely bothered to show interest one way or another in either of his children.

  She injected some sugary sweetness into her tone. “Mama, you’re keeping us out on this porch like we’re strangers. What will the neighbors think?”

  That got her mother moving. She shoved off the doorframe, the back of her hand dramatically glued to her forehead. “I suppose you’ll have to come in.”

  This was it. They’d just shot straight past the point of no return.

  She lifted her chin, hoisted up her carry-on, and walked into her parents’ home.

  ***

  Jake kept his head down and didn’t press his luck as Jessie’s mama disappeared in the direction of the master bedroom, still muttering under her breath. She paused in the hallway, frowning in a way that barely made a dent in her forehead. Rumor had it that she got Botox injected when she took her “spa days” down in Dallas. “Make yourself comfortable in your room, since apparently, you’re content to send me to an early grave.” She shook her head, her voice ratcheting up a notch. “And look at your hair. Just look at it. All the time and effort I put into making you a success and just look at you.” She wobbled a little on her feet, and a very uncharitable part of Jake wanted to shove her into her bedroom and lock the door for the duration of Jessie’s time home.

  If anyone was responsible for filling Jessie’s head full of stupid shit and messed up priorities, it was her mama. Ten years hadn’t changed a damn thing.

  Jessie took a deep breath and threw her shoulders back. “Well, I guess that’s all there is to it.” She didn’t comment on the hurt her mama’s words must have brought, and he didn’t even know where to begin.

  A growing horror took the place of his earlier smugness as he followed her up the stairs. It was only when he stood in front of the door to her bedroom that he realized just how in over his head he was. “I thought your parents would have us set up in different rooms.” The few times he’d stayed overnight in this house for one reason or another, the rules had been strict—he was in Drew’s room and Jessie was safely in hers. He’d just assumed that arrangement would still stand.

  He’d been wrong.

  “I thought they would, too,” she whispered.

  Since she seemed to be frozen in place, he slid past her and opened the door. Her room was identical to the last time he’d seen it, and he couldn’t help looking at the bed and thinking about all the things they’d done there. Her window overlooked the side of the house, and the wraparound front porch offered the perfect place to climb onto the roof in a spot that couldn’t be seen from the front of the house. He’d snuck in here more times than he could count. Ironically, the sleepover nights had been the only innocent ones.

  But that was before.

  Jessie pushed him fully into the room and closed the door behind her. “This isn’t going to work.”

  “Sure it is.” But even as he said it, he didn’t quite believe it anymore. Pretending to be her boyfriend was one thing—sleeping in the same room as she was another thing altogether. He’d lost his damn mind in the truck when he’d pulled her close. If she hadn’t told him to back off, he would have kissed her.

  He never had been able to trust his control around Jessica Jackson. That hadn’t changed.

  “No, it won’t. You can’t sleep on the floor. They’ll know. And you cannot sleep in the bed with me.” She shoved her hands through her thick dark hair, sending the hair pins flying. “This is crazy. Beyond crazy.”

  “Jessie—”

  “No, you don’t get to Jessie me and sm
ooth this over. Maybe you can share a room with me and it doesn’t affect you, but I’m not a robot.”

  Heat flared through him. Before common sense could take hold, he’d stepped closer to her, crowding her back against the pretty desk that had been her grandmother’s. It was still sturdy enough to not shake when he put his hands on the edge, bracketing her in. “You want me.”

  “Well, duh. I mean…look at you.” She waved her hand, and then jerked it away when her knuckles brushed his chest.

  He felt that tiny touch through his entire body. Jake leaned in, the clean scent of her wrapping around him and chasing away what little common sense he had left. Jessie smelled like lemons and summertime, and if memory served, she tasted just as sweet.

  She licked her lips, her gaze on his mouth, and if that wasn’t a clear invitation, he didn’t know what was.

  Jake still took his time, lifting one hand to slide it along her jaw, making his intentions clear and giving her plenty of time to tell him where to shove it. But she just leaned into his touch a little.

  So, he damned them both and kissed her.

  She opened for him at the first touch of his tongue, and he wasted no time closing that last bit of distance between them. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and hitched her up onto the desk so he could step between her thighs.

  They both gasped at the contact.

  You have to stop this shit.

  He didn’t want to. Fuck, he did not want to do anything to jeopardize the little movements she made with her hips, as if she was as desperate for him as he suddenly was for her. As if she couldn’t wait another second until he was inside her.

  Jake stroked her tongue with his, using his hand to adjust the angle so he could take the kiss deeper. He let go of her waist long enough to slide his hand along her right ankle, bunching the fabric of her dress as he worked his way up her leg. She actually fucking quivered when he hit the sensitive skin just above her knee.