I force a laugh. “Mom, please. You saw how he immediately came to my defense against his stepmother. Do you think he’s the kind of man who would hurt me?”
“Maybe not, but I don’t like his father,” Simon says. “That Julian character looks like a piece of work. What did he say to Ryder before he left to upset him?”
“Oh, just some old family business,” I say quickly. “The usual stuff. When you’re related, you know all the ways you can press someone’s buttons.”
He tilts his head, his brows pinched, but doesn’t press for more.
It’s Mom who says, “Parents should support and encourage their children, not try to get a rise out of them.”
I put an arm around Mom’s narrow shoulders and squeeze. “I know, and honestly, I don’t like Julian either. But like I said, I can keep my distance. So don’t worry about me, okay? You should just have a great time during your stay. As a matter of fact, I’ll arrange for a day tour for both of you tomorrow. It’ll be fun.”
Even as I offer, guilt twists in my belly. I’m not doing it just to make them happy, but to ensure they’ll be too busy to realize anything is amiss. I didn’t expect them to notice anything was wrong between me and Ryder, but I’d forgotten how sharp they are. It’s been so long since I tried to sneak anything past them.
Simon shrugs gamely. “If that’s what you want, sure. We’d love that.”
After exchanging hugs, I leave, my heart heavy. They didn’t buy a thing I said.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ryder
I hear Paige’s footsteps through the open doors, and glance at the clock on the wall. Barely an hour since she took her family to the guest house.
I stick my head out in the hallway. “Everything okay?”
“My parents were tired, so I decided to come back early.” She looks away, then sighs heavily. “You shouldn’t have invited them.” She turns, the muscles around her neck tensing. “I told you I don’t want them here until right before the wedding.”
“I thought you’d like spending time with them.”
“Yes, but…” She looks around, then slips into my room and closes the door. “Look, Ryder. I don’t want to lie to them—especially not right to their face—any more than I have to.” If she were a cat, her back would be arched in aggravation. “I’m not very good at acting.”
Shit. She’s totally right. “I’m sorry. I didn’t consider that.”
My easy surrender deflates her. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with them.”
“If you want, I can come up with a good excuse to have them all shipped out first thing tomorrow morning.”
“No, tomorrow’s our engagement party, and I already promised to arrange for a tour for them.” She shakes her head. “Just forget it. It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” I say. “I hate to see you upset like this.” I put my arms around her from behind and pull her deeper into my suite. “Just so you know, Julian and Wife Number Six aren’t invited to the party. If they show up, security’s instructed to toss them out.”
“Don’t. They’re still your family, and it’ll only cause a scene. It’s a big party. Let them in. We can just avoid seeing them.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
I bury my face in her neck. She smells amazing. “You’re tense.”
“It’s been a long day.”
Which is also my fault. I shouldn’t have forced her to deal with my family in front of hers like that, and I should’ve anticipated how things could go wrong. I want to pretend it was for her, but really it wasn’t. I shouldn’t have subjected her to the whole mess just to satisfy my curiosity. I wouldn’t have liked it if the situation had been reversed.
She puts her hands on my shoulders. “You’re tense, too.” She pauses for a moment, looking from one of my eyes to the other, then finally says, “Who’s Lauren?”
I go still. I was hoping to distract her with the talk of her family and maybe even sex. But Paige is too smart. And I can’t exactly avoid a direct question like this. “Someone I knew.”
“Well, yes, I kind of assumed that. What happened between the two of you that every time Julian mentions her you go all volcanic?”
Dragging a hand through my hair, I pull back. I can’t talk about the ugliness when I’m so close to her. The very act of voicing it seems like it would taint Paige.
She waits, her arms still on me, her expression open and curious. But if she hears what happened, she’ll recoil for sure. It’s a fucked up story, made worse by the fact that I let it ruin my friendship.