Page 8 of Seduced in Ink

“You…what? A Montgomery?” Madison’s mother sputtered.

“Well, look at you, pumpkin.” Madison’s father spoke for the first time. “Good for you. I guess we don’t need Guy.” The elder McClard flicked his fingers as if the man should just walk away. Instead, Guy narrowed his eyes, his gaze calculating.

Aaron was pretty sure the man didn’t believe them.

He wasn’t sure anyone did.

It had been a stupid lie, not even a good ruse. But if it got Madison’s parents off her back, he would do it again in a heartbeat.

“Do all of the Montgomerys know?” Madison’s mother asked.

“Some do. Not everyone else does,” Lincoln lied for them all.

“We were waiting for the right time. Honestly, we just enjoy spending time together. Don’t we?” Aaron looked down at Madison, who blinked up at him, a smile on her face. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell if it was real or not.

Considering that it was mostly frozen, he had a feeling there was nothing real about it.

“I guess we’ll have to make sure we do everything in our power to make this happen then, won’t we?” Madison’s mother said, and Aaron had no idea what she meant by that.

“If it’s all right with you, I’m going to take the couple away because I want to have Aaron speak to a few people. You know, being in the business and everything,” Lincoln said.

“In art?” Madison’s mother said slowly.

“Yes, he’s very successful. Probably even more so than Lincoln.” Madison winked at her cousin, and Lincoln threw his head back and laughed, even as Aaron’s smile dimmed a bit.

No, he wasn’t more successful than Lincoln. And that was fine, considering they didn’t move in the same art circles. But he did well for himself.

The fact that he was now the lamb out for slaughter worried him, though. However, he had put himself in this situation, so he would just have to deal with it.

Anything to help Madison get this woman off her back.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about,” Madison’s mother said, her eyes narrowing even further. She looked like a giant snake ready to strike at any moment, and Aaron wasn’t a fan.

“Okay,” Aaron said, moving his hand from Madison’s waist to link his fingers with hers. “We’ll see you later.” Aaron tugged her away, Lincoln at Madison’s other side.

“I’ll warn the family,” Lincoln whispered.

“What just happened?” Madison asked.

“Let’s go outside and talk,” Aaron said, really worried that he had just fucked things up beyond recognition.

“The Montgomerys are behind you.”

Aaron looked over Madison‘s head at Lincoln and smiled. “Hell yeah, we are. You’re one of us, right?”

“I should say always, but it did take me a while to get here. However, we’ll keep up the ruse for as long as you need us to.”

“How can you be so sure?” Madison gasped.

“Because it’s what they do,” Lincoln said.

“He’s right,” Aaron said as Lincoln nodded and walked over to the rest of the Montgomerys.

Soon, the entire family would know that they were pretending to be engaged.

How long would it last? He didn’t know, but he had a feeling he would have to deal with at least some of the ramifications as soon as he stepped outside with Madison. Namely, the slap across the face he imagined would be coming. He deserved it.

And he’d take it. Anything to make her feel better.