The Pretend Marriage: A Werewolf Romance (10 page)

13

“I have chosen the
terms of the contest,” Jeff announces when they are all seated down at breakfast.

Everyone instantly i
s on the alert even as they shovel their bacon and eggs into their mouths. Jake narrows his eyes. Whatever this will be, it can’t be good.

Jeff favors him wit
h a satisfied look, and continues, “This will be a treasure hunt.”

Uh oh. Dimly, Jake remembers that Jeff has won the New York State Treasure Hunt cup last year.

“There will be rules to this treasure hunt. I vetted them through Peter last night and he agrees the rules are concise and fair.”

Peter nods. “They are fair.”

Everyone listens with bated breath.

Smart, Jake thinks. Let Peter know the
stakes and show him your superior planning in the meantime.

“
There will be three checkpoints in this hunt. At each checkpoint, you will be handed a clue. The first one to reach the third checkpoint wins.”

Mika stops chewing. “Hey, this is actually interesting,” she says.

“Grownups sometimes do interesting things, even though you don’t like to believe it,” her father quips.

Jeff says, “There’s a caveat.
”

I knew it, Jake thinks. He exchanges a glance at Terry.
What did you expect?
her expression says.

“The caveat is that both couples must participate in this treasure hunt, but there
will be a spouse swap.” Jeff’s eyes take in Terry’s flushed face with unhealthy anticipation. “I will go with Terry, and Jake will go with Cassie. Both team members have to be present at the final checkpoint, and no team member is allowed to willfully delay the other team member to help the opposing team to win.”

Jake immediately sees what Jeff is trying to do. Jeff is saddling him with Cassie because he thinks she will be a handicap.

Clever.

“But that’s not fair!” Terry protests.

“On the contrary, it is completely fair. Your
husband
– ” Jeff says this word with a smirk on his face “ – cited Clause No. 273 (A), which gives me total control over the terms and type of the contest. Isn’t that true, Savage?”

Jake nods. Yes, he did. He needed to buy them time.

“But your wife . . . she’s pregnant!” Terry says.

“Then I’m sure your husband will have to make sure
she’s not overly taxed now, will he not?”

Cassie looks as withdrawn and miserable as she has all weekend.
Jake wonders what this is doing to her emotionally and psychologically. She can’t be liking this one bit. He is concerned at the toll this seems to be taking on her.

“Cassie, are you OK with this?” Martha says gently.

Cassie nods. “I’m OK.”

“But Cassie will not be advised to shift in her condition,” Jake points out.

“I’m sure you will be taking note of her condition, Jake, if you know what’s good for you.” Jeff says. “No worries. Hobble along if you have to. Cassie will try her best not to slow you down. Won’t you, sweetheart?”

“I’ll do my best.” Cassie flashes Jake a quick, tight smile.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to let Cassie go at her stage,” Jake says. He really is concerned about her right now, even if her husband doesn’t appear to be. “Why don’t I take Mika along as a partner, or Ethel?”

“Challenger’s rules, remember?” Jeff counters. “What’s the matter, Savage? Getting cold feet now?”

“No, but she’s your wife.”

“Thank you for reminding me. Can’t say the same about yours, which is what this challenge will
be aiming to prove.”

“I have full faith in our ancestors’ methods,” Jake says, lifting his chin.

Terry murmurs beside him, “I don’t like this one bit.”

“Don’t worry. You are there to be a pain in his side without appearing obvious.” Jake grins.

“But – ”

“Sssssh.”

A smile suddenly lights Terry’s face.

Peter claps his hands. “We will be finishing breakfast soon. Now . . . are we ready to begin the treasure hunt?”

14

Jake and Cassie are poised outside the front door together with Jeff and Terry. It feels strange to be with someone else other than Terry. And he has only
really
known Terry, like, what? Two days? It feels like she has gotten under his skin forever.

Not to have her as his partner for the final challenge feels weird. He is going to miss their closeness after all this is over, for better or worse.
He wonders how she feels about him. He had this torrid wet dream about her last night, one is he is too embarrassed to tell her. He had woken up to find his hand draped over her body like a wet rag. Gawd! What must she think of him?

But he has no time to think about all this now.
He has a contest to win.

Correction:
they
have a contest to win. Him and
Terry
.

“Good luck,” he mouths to her.

She catches it and flashes him a dazzling smile.

“Are you ready for your first clue?” Peter says.

Jake can tell he is enjoying this every step of the way. There’s something of a conniving bastard about Peter, even though he appears to be a benign, tartan-wearing, people-focused employer, and Jake can tell that this man relishes pitting his employees against each other in a competitive way. Peter won’t denigrate anyone. That is not his style. His style is very much in the ‘may the best man win/get the promotion’ way – which has its good and bad points, depending on which angle you go by.

The members of Peter’s family are gathered by either side of the driveway like Amazing Race ex-contestants to cheer the final two on. Mariko does not look too pleased. She probably realizes she is out of the race completely. Hiro, on the other hand, is cheering them on.

“Get him, Jake!” Mika shouts.

“You can do it, Jake!” Ethel calls and wolf-whistles.

Jake throws them the thumbs up sign. He is gratified they are supporting him even though a cloud of doubt hangs over his head as to whether or not he lied about being married.

Peter stands in front of
the two couples. He holds up two envelopes.

“On your mark,” he says like a TV reality host, “get set . . . go!”

Both Jake and Jeff snatch their respective envelopes out of Peter’s outstretched hands. They rush to two different areas to read the clues with their partners. Cassie has difficulty walking fast, Jake notes, which is no doubt a factor Jeff considered.

“What’s the clue?”
Cassie says. To her credit, she appears quite eager despite her condition. In fact, Jake has never seen her happier. He resolves to be really kind and patient with her.

He reads: “
Drive to Terminal Point at Finnegan’s Bay to receive the next clue.”

Cassie’s eyes are shining. She is tru
ly beautiful when the light is on her face, Jake thinks. He curses for Jeff for making her half the woman she ought to be. Maybe she was proud and strong and bold once, like Terry, but the fire went out of her along the way.

“I have my
Ford,” Jake says. He starts to run towards it but remembers that Cassie can’t move very fast. So he forces himself to slow down and wait for her.

“It’s OK, take your time,” he cautions her as she waddles
next to him. He gives her his hand.

She accepts it gratefully. “Thank you. You’re a nice man.”

On the other side of the drive, Jeff and Terry have already gone inside Jeff’s yellow and black Camaro.

“Nice car, you husband has,” Jake observes, a little enviously.

“It’s his favorite,” Cassie says. “I told him we would need something a little larger when the baby comes but he hasn’t gotten down to buying it yet.”

“I’m sure he will.” Jake opens the passenger door of the Ford for Cassie and she climbs in. Then he rushes to the driver’s door.

The onlookers break out in applause as the Camaro revs its engine and backs out of its parking lot with a screech of tires. It shoots out of the drive in record time just as Jake starts his engine. Uh well, Jeff is sure to have noted that Jake drove the much slower Ford.

Still, he
revs out as quickly as he can.

“Buckle up,” he says to Cassie.

She straps herself in and smiles at him.

“I’m enjoying m
yself,” she says.

He smiles back and sends the car into overdrive to try to catch up with the rapidly vanishing Camaro.

*

Finnegan’s Bay
is about thirty miles down the coast, according to Jake’s GPS. He keeps to the speed limit, not wanting to be stopped by the constantly patrolling police. There is no sight of the Camaro.

“Jeff tends to drive fast,” Cassie explains.

“That’s why he owns a Camaro, I guess.”

She turns to him. Her eyes are wide and luminous.

“I know you must not think very well of him right now, but he’s decent. He really is.”

“I’m sure he is. And even if he isn’t, he has you to keep him in line.”

“He needs this job. He quit the last one he had over a spat with the boss. With the baby on the way and everything, we need to keep a roof over our heads.”

Jake wonders if this is Jeff’s ploy – to make his heavily pregnant wife plead for food on the table.

He replies, “I need this job too. I quit my job over a spat with my boss as well. So we’re even.”

She nods and turns to gaze out of the windscreen again. “I know.”

“Good. This is a healthy competition, so don’t take anything personally, OK? I think you’re a nice person and you deserve someone who treats you better than what I’ve seen from Jeff. But that’s none of my business and you can tell me to shut up.”

“Jeff is a good man,” she says dreamily. “
He fought the alpha of our clan for my hand, did you know?”

“No, I didn’t know.”

“The alpha, Don Simmons, loved me, but I didn’t love him. I loved Jeff, who was a very prominent member of our circle. Jeff challenged Don to a duel. Don won and retained his seat of power, but when he saw that I wasn’t in love with him, he relented and turned both of us out instead of destroying me. Don was a good man.”

Jake knows
that the old shifter practices of dueling to the death and claiming an unwilling mate no longer apply in today’s modern civilization, but he also knows some of the older clans still hold the tradition.

“I’ll bet,” he says.

“Just as Jeff is a good man. Jeff loves me. Don’t doubt that.”

“I don’t. But he’s also
quite an alpha himself.”

“Very much so.
” She shifts her knowing gaze at him. “Terry loves you. Very much.”

A lump bolts to his throat. “Why do you say that?”

Damn, damn, damn! It’s the wrong thing to thing to say.
Of course she should love you, she’s your wife!

Cassie doesn’t seem to think anything is wrong from his question.

“Because a woman can tell about these things,” she says. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you. And the way you look at her.”

Is he that obvious?

His heart starts to beat a little faster. Does this mean he has a chance with Terry when all this is over?

A sign that says ‘FINNEGAN’S BAY’ comes up. Jake is relieved. He doesn’t quite trust his GPS, but it has put him on the right track. So far. He turns into the road leading to the bay. The ocean is on their right, spraying sea against the rocks of the coast.

“Now how do we find Terminal Point?” he murmurs.

“It’s easy. Jeff has been here before.” Cassie points to another sign which comes up. “It’s at the fun fair.”

Ah. Cassie definitely has her uses. Jake veers towards the fun fair. A Ferris wheel looms in the near distance, together with tents and carousels and stands selling hotdogs and ice creams. It is a Sunday morning and the fun fair is in full swing. Children gambol everywhere, their parents running after them like mad dogs.

Jake parks the car and helps Cassie out.
The Camaro is parked prominently on the other side of the parking lot.

“Where should we go?” he asks.

“There.” She points the way.

“It’s OK. Take your time,” he says anxiously.

They weave their way through the crowd with Cassie leading confidently. They come to a wooden walkway that leads out to the sea.

“Terminal Point is at the end of this
pier,” Cassie says.

Sure enough, Jake can make someone standing there, waiting for them, at the end of the walkway. As they get closer, they can see that it is
Halder, one of the twins. No wonder Jake didn’t see him at the drive.

Halder grins as they lope up.

“You’re late,” he says, handing them the envelope. “This is the only one left.”

Jake suspected as much.

“Thanks!”

He and Cassie take the envelope and tear it.

Cassie reads, “Go on foot to the Haunted House and find The Hanged Maiden.” She looks up. “On foot. He knows I will slow you down.”

“Not if I can help it.” Jake spies a
booth at the part of the pier which connects to the main land.

He runs to it
. The booth is a service stop, providing trolleys and prams and pushcarts and other contrivances to make visiting the fun fair a more convenient occasion for the many wealthy families which populate the area.

“Excuse me,” he says to the freckled youth running the booth, “how much will it be for a wheelchair?”

“We need a two hundred deposit for that, sir.”

“Great. I will take one.”

He forks over the money and motions to Cassie to get on the wheelchair which the youth pushes out.

“I’ll push you. We’ll still technically be on foot.”

Cassie gets on, and they are off. Jake’s feet fly faster than the wind.

“Where’s the Haunted House, do you know?” he asks Cassie.

“I think it’s over that way.” She points to the west.

They
weave their way through the many attractions – the hoops, the fortune tellers, the clowns and the video arcades. The Haunted House is actually a very large tent with a cardboard façade made to resemble a spooky castle. The sign outside, scrawled with blood red letters, says: ADMISSION $20 Adult, $16.50 for child below 12’. WARNING: Scenes and situations inside may be disturbing. Children and patrons with heart problems are advised to enter at your own discretion. The management will not take responsibility for any medical emergency that happens inside.’

“Inflation,” Jake
mutters and reaches for his wallet again.

He pushes Cassie into the gloom. The atmosphere is instantly
oppressive with the walls done up in black and lighted up by eerily flickering red wall sconces. Fake bright red blood patches decorate the walls.

“Charming,”
Jake says.

“I know. I wonder where Jeff and
Terry are,” Cassie remarks.

Jake wonders if she is already missing her husband.
Jeff may not be outwardly that nice to her, but he reckons some women like their husbands that way. Who is he to judge, right?

Piped scary music wafts in from unseen speakers.
A red fire arrow painted on a sign points the way to: STEP RIGHT HERE INTO HADES.

Jake pushes the wheelchair determinedly into the
unknown passage.