Accidental Proposal (A Year Agreement Book 1) (15 page)

Watching them talk and laugh made me jealous. I’d never had a group of friends like that. The two friends I had in high school were closer to each other than they were with me, and I had been fine with that. You would think that during high school I would want to have close friends, but I didn’t. I was fine being alone until recently; lately I’d wanted someone to be around, someone to talk to. I missed Candy and Sophia more than ever, what with being cooped up in a big house by myself and that making me antsy and lonely. Sitting here listening to them talk really made me feel lonely. I didn’t belong with them.

The longer I sat there, the worse I started to feel. I kept getting lower and lower in the booth, trying to act invisible. After saying something in the conversation and hearing Liam scoff at me, I knew I had to leave. I couldn’t sit there any longer listening to them acting like I wasn’t there. I knew when I wasn’t wanted. When there was a break of silence, I sat up.

“Hey, guys, I think I’m going to go,” I said quickly before losing my confidence.

“What, why?” Lennon asked, looking at me. I felt Blake’s and Liam’s eyes on me as well.

“I…I don’t feel so good. I’m sorry, but please stay and eat.” I forced a smile, sliding out of the booth.

“No, it’s okay. We can take you home,” Blake said, making a move to stand up.

“No! No, stay, really. I’m fine.” I shot my hand out onto his arm, stopping him. They didn’t need to leave just because I was.

“At least let Liam take you back,” Lennon reasoned. I looked over and saw Liam with his jaw clenched and a dark look on his face.

“It’s fine. I’ll see you guys later, though. It was nice meeting you, Blake.” Nodding at them, I turned and walked away from the table before they could say anything else. I knew Liam wasn’t happy about me being there, and it would make him angrier if he had to take me home. I’d just get a taxi. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I gripped the handle on my bag and made my way to the front door. I ignored my rumbling stomach and pushed open the door.

What I didn’t expect was to be bombarded with flashing lights as soon as I walked outside. People were yelling, and the clicking of cameras reached my ears and eyes, making my duck my head.
Where the hell did these people come from?
They must think I’m somebody else.

“It’s her! It’s her!”

Hearing the paparazzi yell that, I jerked my head up, confused.
Me?
The flashing lights from all of their cameras were making me see spots, and my head was starting to hurt. Not caring what they were saying, I tried to push past them, but they wouldn’t move. It was like they set up a wall of their bodies, making sure no one got around them.

“Jenna Howard!”

“Jenna, look over here!”

“Why are you at a pizzeria?”

“Where’s Liam Stanford?”

“Is it true you are engaged?”

“When is the wedding?”

“Are you just marrying him for his money?”

They all shouted at me, not even stopping for me to answer. I couldn’t see past the lights, but I figured there had to be about fifteen reporters. My eyes widened as I heard their questions asking if I was pregnant, where Liam was, why was I dressed like I was, when the wedding was.
How did they know?
Some of the things they were saying were making my eyes tear up.

“I, uh—” I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I tried to again get through them, but I was just pushed back. I suddenly felt a hard warm thing press against my back before the reporters went crazy, yelling and snapping away at us. Not caring who it was, I turned and pressed my face against them. I could feel my body starting to shake and my tears threatening to spill. A big arm wrapped around my lower back, pulling tight against them. I inhaled and knew it was Liam; the smell of his cologne filled my nose and made me relax a little bit.

“Get out of the way!” Liam yelled above me, holding me against him as he pushed his way through the reporters. I clenched onto his shirt as he tucked me into his side and shoved his way toward the Jeep. The reporters kept shouting questions at us and coming closer until I felt their cameras actually touching my arms. This had never happened to me before, and I was starting to freak. I hated attention and hated being asked such personal questions. Being asked if I was some whore that Liam paid or that I was just a gold digger actually hurt, a lot more than I thought.

Thankfully, a minute later Liam was picking me up and sliding me inside the Jeep. I hadn’t even heard him open the door with the cameras clicking and the reporters yelling. He slammed the door shut, and I ducked my head down in my lap. Liam made his way around the car and into the driver’s side. Without a single word, he started the car and backed up. I didn’t even care in that moment that he could run someone over, and he didn’t seem to either; all we wanted to do was get the hell out of here. The windows muffled the shouting, and in a matter of seconds they faded away as Liam drove us far away from the restaurant.

I slumped back against the seat, looking down at my shaking hands in my lap. I gulped, trying to push my tears away. The car was silent as we drove down the street to only God knew where. I wanted to thank Liam, but I didn’t know how to say it or what to say. I didn’t know that agreeing with Liam would mean paparazzi showing up, suddenly taking pictures.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked, his voice soft. Taken aback, I slowly nodded, not looking at him. Physically I was fine, but emotionally I wasn’t. “I didn’t know they would find us,” he muttered, obviously not thinking I heard him.

“It’s okay,” I croaked out, peeking out of the corner of my eye at him. He shook his head, his brown hair falling onto his forehead. My hand itched to move it, but I locked both of them together in my lap. I was still surprised Liam actually came after me.

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly, reaching over and grabbing my hand into his. I froze, looking down at our hands then up to him. His warm hand fit perfectly in mine, and I loved the feeling of his in my own. I’d never held a guy’s hand before, but holding Liam’s felt right. I felt like I wasn’t missing something anymore.

“It’s okay, Liam,” I said softly, still looking at our hands.

“Want to grab something quick to eat?” he asked. At the mention of food, my stomach growled, making me blush. Since I left before the food came and so did Liam, I bet he was hungry too. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

With his hand still on mine, he shot me a smile and continued driving. He was back to acting nice to me, when only twenty minutes ago he was rude. I wanted to be angry and not go anywhere with him, but the moment he shot me that smile, I knew I wouldn’t do any of that. He didn’t know it, but he had me in chains. When Liam wasn’t an ass, I actually liked him. And even if he was rude, I still looked past it even though I shouldn’t. Before I could actually think about it any further or do anything, he pulled up to McDonald’s and turned to me with a grin.

Yes, Liam, you had me in chains.

Chapter Fifteen

As we walked into McDonald’s, I was hit with the smell of cheap fast food and the sound of kids yelling. It had been a while since I’d been here. The smell of fresh fries filled my nose, making my stomach growl loudly. The place was pretty busy for a Monday, with a few little kids running to the indoor playground and a few teenagers laughing and talking. As I waited in line next to a quiet Liam, a little girl, about seven years old, caught my attention. I watched as she twirled around tables in a bright red shirt that had a heart on it, with a blue and pink tutu around her waist. Her brown hair was in two pigtails, and a giant grin was spread across her face, showing her two front teeth.

I knew I was probably staring at her like a weirdo, but I couldn’t help it. I loved how she didn’t match and that she didn’t care that people were watching her dancing around. A woman, who I assumed was her mother, sat off to the side, smiling fondly at her daughter as she giggled and paraded around. A wave of sadness and jealousy washed over me. The feeling wasn’t anything new to me, but it still hurt every time I saw a mother and daughter. Not having a mother around and seeing other girls with theirs always made me feel sad. I didn’t have one, and I was jealous because I wanted one. I wanted a mom who I could tell everything to, someone who would look at me like that mother was doing with her daughter, like I was her entire universe. A mom who would be cheering me on no matter what I did and helping me up when I fell.

The older I got, the worse I seemed to feel when I saw things like that. When I was younger, I used to think my mom would come back for me, that I would always have someone there for me. But as I aged, I knew she wasn’t coming back and that I was all on my own. You don’t realize it, but the older you get the more you need your mom. As a teenager you didn’t want anything to do with her, and as the world starts to become bigger and heavier, you need someone there to help with the weight.

When I felt a nudge on my arm, I looked away from the mother and daughter to see that it was our turn to order. Usually the sight didn’t bother me so much. Having worked at the diner helped me put a hard shield around myself at the sight of families. Maybe my emotions were already high from the paparazzi, because I could feel my eyes tearing up and my throat tightening. Swallowing the lump in my throat and blinking my eyes rapidly, I got ready to order. While I ordered, I ignored the daggers being sent at me by the girl behind the counter. My head would have two holes in it if her would get heated stares. Not bothering to argue with Liam about paying, I grabbed our cups and walked off, rolling my eyes at the girl.

After getting my drink and handing Liam his, I found us a seat near the back by the window. When Liam took a seat across from me, I looked anywhere but at him. What could I say to him? Thank you for saving me from the paparazzi? Thanks for being a complete ass to me in front of your friends?

“I’m sorry,” Liam said suddenly, making me snap my head up to stare at him. I didn’t know what he was apologizing for, but I was going to take it either way. It was not everyday he said sorry. That’s for sure.

“It’s fine.”

“I don’t know how the paparazzi found out. Lennon and Blake wouldn’t tell anyone,” he said quietly, almost to himself. Before he had time to think more into it, our order was called. For the next few minutes we ate silently, both of us lost in thought. I stared at Liam while he ate like a complete weirdo, finding him even more attractive as he chewed.
Wow, did I hit my head or something?
“So Blake seemed nice,” I commented, tired of the silence between us.

“Yeah, he’s a great guy. Takes a little bit to get through his exterior.”

Like you?
“You didn’t have to leave the restaurant because of me,” I said a few minutes later.

“Well, Lennon didn’t want you walking home by yourself.” Wow, and here I thought he did it from the goodness of his heart. Boy was I wrong. “Plus, she kind of threatened me.”
Well, at least I know Lennon likes me.
Rolling my
eyes, I stuffed a few French fries in my mouth. Right now I couldn’t care less what Liam thought of me eating. The silence between us dragged on until I was halfway through my McNuggets. Then I snapped.

“Liam, you have to talk or something because this silence is killing me. Apologize for being an ass to me and then move on,” I snapped at him. The longer we sat there not saying a word, the more angry and agitated I was becoming. Liam needed to man up and say sorry before we could go any further. I was not going to say sorry first; I had nothing to say sorry for.

Liam looked over at me, and for a split second I didn’t see the guy I had come to know. Instead, his blue eyes seemed to soften with guilt, and his expression morphed into something other than narrow and cold.

“Sorry,” he said so quietly that if I wasn’t already leaning toward him, I wouldn’t have heard. The moment after he said sorry, his face became emotionless once again, and he was back to the old Liam I had come to know and hate. I could almost see the walls he had built around his heart come down, but he was still shielding himself. I knew that was the only sorry I was going to get. I let out a sigh. Even though he didn’t specifically say what he was sorry for, I was going to take it and move on. I really wasn’t one to hold grudges, and holding one against Liam would just be futile.

“So what exactly is this benefit thing?” I asked, changing the subject.

“It is kind of like a benefit. Raise money and send it to children’s hospitals all through New York. But it is mostly just a thing where all the upper class people come to show off,” Liam answered, sounding bitter toward the end.

“You don’t sound too excited about going,” I said, taking a sip of my drink. Liam brought a fry to his mouth and angrily chomped down on it.

“No. Snotty rich people showing off how much more money they’ve got or what new summer house they just got in the Hamptons, definitely not my favorite kind of event to attend.”

“Well at least they are donating to the children’s hospitals. That’s always good,” I commented, trying to find a bright side but probably failing. Just from the sound of it, I was already dreading having to go.

“That is the only plus to this event. If I had a choice, I’d rather stay home.” 

“You mean you don’t want to go and talk to people who couldn’t care less all the while wearing a fake smile?” I asked sarcastically. “That sounds like a boatload of fun to me.” 

“You’ll fit right in, then.” He shot me a smile. I couldn’t help but let out a laugh at that. We both knew I would not be the one fitting in; I’d be more of the person who would stand in the corner watching as woman threw themselves at Liam, oblivious that I was his “fiancé”.

“Are you sure you want to me go with you?” I asked, hoping he would say no.

“Yes, it will be a good opportunity for us to show up after announcing our engagement later this week.”
Damn, there went that plan.
I had actually forgotten about the pictures Liam and I were supposed to take later this week, announcing that we were engaged to everyone. Yep, definitely not looking forward to that.

“It’s this Friday, right?”

“Yes.” So much to do in just four days. We needed to get our pictures taken, and I needed to take those stupid lessons with Lennon, all before Friday night. Busy week ahead of us. The conversation kind of died after that, leaving us to finish our food in silence, but this time it wasn’t uncomfortable. Five minutes later, I stood up, grabbing my garbage with Liam behind me. Sipping on my drink, I followed Liam back to the Jeep and slid inside. I was glad this time there were no people with cameras waiting for us. 

“Thank you for coming out after me tonight, Liam, even if Lennon made you. You really saved me from the paps,” I said as we started on our way back home. “And, also, thank you for ‘helping’ me paint the spare room today and not freaking out that I did it without you knowing,” I added. For some reason, it felt like a lifetime ago that we were throwing paint at one another, but it had really been just this morning.

“You’re welcome. Jenna, I am sorry about saying those rude things to you this afternoon in front of Lennon and Blake. I didn’t mean any of it. And I am sorry for being so rude to you as well,” Liam said. I held back my wide grin that was threatening to break free. The rest of the ride home was quiet, the radio playing softly throughout the car. 

As I was making my way to the kitchen after arriving home to throw away my drink, the sound of a knock at the front door made me stop. I turned to Liam next to me with a raised eyebrow, wondering who was here. It was seven at night, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t Lennon and Blake checking up on us. Liam just shrugged at me, going toward the front door. I quickly stepped into the kitchen and threw my cup away before going to see who was at the door. When I went into the living room, I saw Garrett standing next to Liam.

“Garrett, what are you doing here?” I asked, walking toward him, confused. Why was he here at seven? I knew he had class early tomorrow.

“I was just checking up on you. I called and texted you a while ago and never heard back, so I got worried.” I looked down at my bag, where my phone was on silent. After I got changed to go to dinner, I didn’t even bother to check my phone.

“I’m sorry I haven’t even looked at my phone all afternoon. We just got back from dinner,” I said, sending him a guilty look.

“That’s okay. I just wanted to know if you needed help painting the room tomorrow,” Garrett said, sending me a smile that showed his left cheek dimple.

“You’re helping her paint the spare room? I thought I hired you to be a driver,” Liam butted in. His voice was low, and he was glaring over at Garrett. I watched as Garrett looked between Liam and me, confused.

“Uh, Jenna asked me this morning if I’d help,” he said slowly, looking over at me.

“Well, she doesn’t need your help anymore. We painted it this afternoon.” 

“Liam—” I started to say, but Garrett cut me off.

“Oh, are you guys doing real couple things now?” he asked, turning to Liam. Even though Liam stood a few good inches above Garrett, my driver seemed to be toe to toe with him. Something in Garrett’s tone made me take a step closer to them. Both boys seemed to be having a stare down, and with a grin plastered on Garrett’s face, I could tell he was goading Liam on.

“What do you mean ‘doing real couple things now’?” asked Liam, his gaze never wavering from Garrett’s.

“You guys—” I tried to say but was cut off once again.

“Well, seeing as you aren’t a real couple, it’s just interesting hearing you’re doing things together now,” Garrett said, shrugging as if it was no big deal. I hadn’t realized that telling Garrett that we weren’t really engaged was a bad idea or that Liam would find out. Slowly, Liam turned toward me, his blue eyes hard.

“You told him about our deal?” he ground out. The look he was sending me was making my knees weak, it was not a good weak, and I was suddenly nervous.

“I…uh well…” I tried to come up with the best way to say it, but nothing came out.

“You did!” he yelled suddenly. “Jenna, I specifically told you not to tell
anyone
about this! You signed a contract saying you would not. Good God, Jenna, he is probably the one who told the paparazzi and maybe even the paper!” Liam yelled.

“I didn’t mean to, Liam! It kind of just slipped out, but Garrett would never do that! He promised me he wouldn’t tell anyone,” I defended, looking over at Garrett for confirmation. Instead of finding confusion like I thought I would, he was staring at me guiltily. “Garrett, please tell me you didn’t!” I turned to him.

“Jenna, I didn’t tell them your engagement was a fake. I just told them you were engaged!” I stared at him, shocked that he would even do such a thing. “I swear, Jenna, I didn’t tell them it was all fake. They came up to me after I dropped you off this morning, asking me about Liam and who I dropped off at his house. They paid me three grand to tell!” His brown eyes were pleading for me to understand.

“This is why I don’t trust people, especially you! Garrett, get the hell out of my house. You’re fired!” Liam roared at me, then at Garrett. I was too stunned from Garrett’s betrayal that I didn’t even flinch as Liam yelled at me. Garrett got the hint that he’d better leave before Liam did something; as he backed away to the door, he kept his gaze on me. 

“Jenna, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to get you hurt or anything. I thought it was harmless information.”

“I swear to God, if you don’t leave right now, I will personally make you,” Liam growled, taking a step closer to him. Garrett let out a sigh, nodding at him.

“I really am sorry, Jenna. I hope you can forgive me. You have my number if you need me.” With one last sad look, he turned and walked out the door. I stared after him, not knowing what to say. I never would have thought Garrett would say anything. The bright side was that he didn’t tell the paparazzi my and Liam’s relationship was a lie. I just couldn’t believe that he would sell me out for money! At that thought, my insides froze. But wasn’t I doing almost the exact same thing? I was doing something to get money, just like him.
I’m no better.