not the point,” she nearly shouted at him. “God, how many times back in high school did boys ask me out because they wanted to get closer to Van?”
“Too often,” Matt said quietly. “It sucked. I remember how hurt you used to be.”
“I thought that was over with,” she admitted. “I thought people were finally interested in me, for who I am, not for whose sister I am. But I was wrong. I feel… insignificant and… worthless and stupid.”
And when she’d come to him, he’d rejected her, too. Matt’s heart sank. Damn, he’d thought he was doing the right thing last night, and it had been exactly, perfectly wrong.
“Maggie—” he started, but she cut him off.
“I’ll get over it,” she said. “I always did before. But I’ve got to confess, I’m seriously considering moving someplace where no one’s ever heard of Vanessa Stanton.”
“Maybe that’s not a bad idea,” Matt said. “I’ll make a deal with you. In three months, if I don’t win my inheritance, we’ll get one of those big camper things and cruise the United States.”
Maggie looked up at him with the most peculiar expression. “You mean a… recreational vehicle?”
“Yeah.” He grinned at her. “It’ll be a blast. What do you say?” It was always good to have a plan B. Especially since he really didn’t expect plan A to work.
She put her face in her hands. It was hard to tell whether she was laughing or groaning.
“As for right now, I know what to tell your parents.” He handed her the pitcher of lemonade. “Carry this out, will you?”
“What?” asked Maggie. “What are you going to tell them?”
Matt picked up the tray with the glasses. “They’re not going to believe that there’s nothing going on between us. We can deny it until the end of time, but they’re going to think you’re living here with me. You know, with me.”
“But it’s not true.”
“I know that and you know that, but I’m telling you that denying it will only make them crazy. Just follow my lead,” he said with a smile. “Think of this as an improvisational skit.”
“I hate improv,” Maggie muttered, following him out of the kitchen.
The Stantons looked up as Maggie and Matt came into the living room. They were sitting stiffly on those chairs his father had bought—the uncomfortable ones with wooden legs that were curved into bird’s claws. Matt put the tray down on top of the coffee table.
“Just set the lemonade over here, then come sit next to me, babe,” he said to Maggie.
Babe? She didn’t say it, but the look she was giving him nearly made him laugh out loud.
He poured the lemonade, handed glasses to Mr. and Mrs. Stanton, and then patted the couch next to him.
Slowly, she approached. Slowly, she sat down. And he draped an arm around her shoulders. “Mags and I discussed it in the kitchen,” he told her parents, “and we decided that you should know the truth.”
Mr. Stanton nodded. “That would be appreciated.”
“Last night I asked Maggie to marry me,” Matt told them. He could feel disbelief radiating out of Maggie, and it was all he could do not to laugh.
“What?” said Mrs. Stanton.
“What?” said Mr. Stanton.
“Matt!” said Maggie.
He shut her up with a quick kiss. “It’s no secret that I’ve been crazy about her for years,” he told them, then looked at Maggie. “Right, babe?”
The Stantons—all three of them—wore identical looks of shock. Matt knew not to kiss Maggie again. If he did, they’d all fall out of their chairs.
Mrs. Stanton looked at Maggie. “But…”
“She said yes,” Matt said, squeezing her shoulder.
“I said no,” she countered, elbowing him in the ribs.
“Obviously, we’re still working it out,” he said quickly, putting his hand on her knee, and sliding it up her smooth, bare thigh. His shorts looked good on her. “You can understand her hesitation. She’s not sure if this is the real thing or if she’s just on the rebound.”
“I see.” Mr. Stanton was staring at Matt’s hand, still moving north on Maggie’s thigh.
Out of desperation, Maggie grabbed Matt’s hand and held it tightly. But that was, of course, exactly what he’d wanted her to do, since it looked as if she’d taken his hand intentionally, instead of in self-defense.
“We’ve decided the best thing to do is to live together, see how it goes,” Matt said.
Her parents, of course, were appalled.
“You must know that we don’t approve.”
“I realize that, sir,” Matt said solemnly. “But I want Maggie and I’m afraid if she goes back home with you, she’ll never make up her mind.”
Hey. Maggie shot him a look, but he refused to look at her. The muscle in the side of his jaw was jumping, though. Matt was clenching his teeth to keep from laughing. He actually thought this was funny! She squeezed his fingers, wishing she actually had nails to dig into him.
Her father shook his head. “Well, decision making’s never been her strong suit,” he said ruefully.
They were talking about her as if she were a horse being sold or a child or a… a… houseplant.
“I can make up my mind quite easily,” she said hotly. “In fact, there’s absolutely no decision here. This is ridiculous and…”
And she stopped, suddenly realizing that if she said no, she’d end up going back home with her parents.
They were all watching her, her parents with anticipation, Matt with one eyebrow lazily lifted, his expression carefully bland. But his eyes were sharp and he was watching her as if he were trying to read her mind.
What would he do if she said yes? Wouldn’t that scare him to death? She smiled, imagining his frantic backpedaling as he tried to keep her mother from pulling out her Polaroid camera to snap an engagement photo to send to the society page of the Shore Line Times.
Matt watched Maggie smile and realized that she was actually considering saying yes. The shock value would be tremendous—it would blow her parents right out of the water. Come on, Mags, say it.
Except, God, he’d have to tell her the truth about where he’d been, what he’d been doing these past three years. If they were going to get married, he’d have to tell her all that, and more—Whoa, Stone, slow it down. This was fiction. This was acting. This was not real life.
Still,
