Page 5 of His Fake Fiancé

It was no wonder the new bartender had been giving him do-me vibes. Claire was well acquainted with the majority of the female population giving Jake the eyelash flutter and come-get-me-big-boy stare. And every time someone tossed it in his direction, Claire told herself it didn’t matter, that today would be the day she didn’t let it bother her, the day she let go of her silly crush.

Except it wasn’t a crush.

Sure, it may have started as a crush all those years ago, back when they were in that awkward in between stage—not quite teens, but not little kids, either—but then, that afternoon in the hayloft had changed everything.

“Why was Jake Callahan kissing you?”

She should probably be grateful Linc waited until they were almost at the ranch before actually starting in with the third degree. The half hour drive had gone by in the blink of an eye.

“I’m twenty six years old, Lincoln. I don’t have to explain myself to you or anyone else.” Her tone was snippier than was probably warranted, but she’d had just about all she could stand of today. Why couldn’t it have been Brock or Jax at the bar tonight? Her two oldest brothers were nowhere near as chatty as Linc. Then again, the other two had a tendency to throw a punch first and ask questions never, so maybe the fact it had been Linc wasn’t such a bad thing.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t look out for you, you know.” Linc pulled the truck onto the long gravel driveway of the family ranch.

The urge to throw open the truck door, do a tuck and roll onto the grass, and then get up and run as far away as she could welled up inside her. And then the guilt flooded in, and she tilted her head back to rest against the seat. “I know.” There was an edge of defeat in her voice, something else she couldn’t stop.

She loved her family, she really did, but recently she’d been feeling stifled by both them and her life on the ranch. This wasn’t the life she’d envisioned for herself growing up. But then, that life had consisted of her and Jake, in love and married, living in a little house on the property and raising a sweet little family.

And yet, here she was, closer to thirty than twenty, pining after a man who barely even recognized her as a woman, and letting the mundaneness of her life slowly strangle her to death. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Linc didn’t press and Claire could have kissed him for his very uncharacteristic bout of silence. He pulled the truck up to the front of the house. They’d barely come to a stop before Claire popped open the door and leaped out. Hurrying across the front porch, she flung open the door. She could almost taste freedom. Well, the sanctuary of her bedroom, at least. Just another minute or two…

But then, her luck had never been that good.

Jax walked into the foyer from the living room just as she stepped inside.

“Hey,” he said, slowing to a stop. “You’re home early.”

“Yup, just not feeling it tonight.” She scooted past Jax and headed up the stairs.

“That might have had something to do with the fact that Jake Callahan’s tongue was down your throat.”

She froze on the second stair, a wave of mortification washing through her. Her cheeks detonated and she slowly spun around.

Linc stood in the foyer, pulling off his coat, throwing her an arched eyebrow, almost daring her to deny it.

She wrapped her fingers around the railing, partly to keep herself standing, but mostly to stop from wrapping them around Linc’s neck and squeezing until he turned blue.

“What?” Jax planted his hands on his hips and looked back and forth between her and Linc. The look on his face said he was just this side of committing murder.

For a second, she considered suppressing her eyeroll, but she was done with overbearing men in general, and most especially tonight, so she let them arc their way skyward. Lord save her from testosterone poisoning.

“It’s none of your business.” She looked over at Linc. “Either of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She turned to head back up the stairs.

“I have one more question.”

Claire stopped halfway up the stairs at the sound of Jax’s voice, a tiny growl bouncing through her chest. She glanced over her shoulder. Both Jax and Linc stood at the base of the staircase, looking up at her. “What?”

Jax crossed his arms over his chest and flicked his gaze down to her left hand and then back up to her face. “Why are you wearing an engagement ring?”

She curled her fingers into a fist and tucked it into her side. Why couldn’t she be an only child? “Again, none of your business.” She hurried up the stairs and down the hallway, ignoring Jax as he yelled her name.

She slipped into her bedroom and shut the door, flicking the lock after a second. For the most part, her brothers were pretty good at giving her space and respecting her privacy. But not always. And she had a feeling today was one of those days where her boundaries were non-existent.

Two men in their thirties really should have better things to do then meddle in their little sister’s love life.

She snapped on the bedside lamp, and picked up her guitar. The first couple of chords she strummed came out erratic and harsh. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings, the restlessness bleeding into the music. It sounded screechy and wrong to her ears.

Giving up, she leaned her guitar against the wall, threw herself on the bed, and grabbed her notebook. Maybe writing some lyrics would help.