He was right. They’d betrayed her in every way. “I feel like I should call her and apologize.”
Jace held up a hand to stop that line of thought. “You should absolutely not call her. Just leave it to me. I’ll explain everything she needs to know.” He murmured things under his breath. Some of them swear words.
“Jace,” Riley broke into his muttered commentary, “I don’t know what your relationship with Jennifer is, but if you can kiss another woman like you kissed me last night, you probably shouldn’t be with her.”
His mouth compressed into a thin, frustrated line. “Yeah, being honest in a relationship is important. And you know what, there’s someone I really need to talk to right now.”
Riley nodded. He was going to talk to Jennifer. That was a good thing. “I’m so sorry about all of this.”
“You and me both,” Jace said.
He turned and stormed back into the house, still shaking his head.
CHAPTER 20
Lucas was awakened by the sound of his phone ringing. Jace’s ringtone. He thought he’d silenced notifications. He’d been up late last night at the inn, talking with Carson’s teammates.
Lucas answered the phone with a sleepy, “Hello.”
Jace’s voice came over the line, clipped and angry. “Are you insane?”
Lucas scrubbed a hand over his face and glanced at the clock. “At this time in the morning, it’s hard to know. What’s got you upset?”
“Riley came to talk to me about the way the two of us kissed last night.”
Oh. Riley. Yeah, that probably required an explanation on his part.
When Lucas had gone back to the reception, the first person he’d seen was his mother, and she’d demanded, with a stern warning tone, that he hand over Jace’s glasses to her. “No more shenanigans,” she said. “Jace is out there promising gift baskets and late checkouts to all of Carson’s teammates staying at The Riverside. Honestly, you two will be the death of me.”
Which was a bit unfair since his mother knew why Lucas had pretended to be Jace, and she’d even gone along with the charade. Of course, this was partly because his mother wanted Riley to go quietly with Lucas and partly because his mother worried that if Lucas stayed, he would make a spectacle by doing something unpleasant to Mr. Travers.
As Lucas had carted Riley off, his mother had whispered to him, “Before you return, I want you to repeat the sentenceI will not do anything that makes Olivia cry at her receptionone hundred times.”
After Lucas gave Jace’s glasses to his mother, she put him to work clearing tables. Elsie had been doing the job earlier, but she’d disappeared. Smart girl. He’d never gotten a chance to talk to Jace.
“What were you thinking?” Jace went on, his voice crisp and accusing. “I never would’ve let you pretend to be me if I knew you were going to make out with your ex-girlfriend.”
Lucas smiled at the memory of kissing Riley, smiled about the things she’d said afterward. “I didn’t take your identity so I could make out with her. I took your identity because she wouldn’t go with me but wanted to talk to you. The making-out part was a bonus.”
“Why didn’t you tell her who you were before the kissing started?”
“I thought Riley knew who I was, and when I realized she didn’t, I couldn’t really tell her that I lied about who I was and then kissed her. She’s still mad at me for the last time I lied to her. But speaking of kissing Riley, what’s her favorite tea?”
“I have no idea,” Jace grumbled. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“She thought you remembered that ginger tea was her favorite. So you must have seen her with it sometime.”
“Do you think I’m having tea with your ex?”
Jace had a point. But still, some of what Riley had said last night needed explaining. “Has she always thought you were sweet?”
“How would I know?”
“She said that you had something important to tell her.”
“Right. I was putting in a good word for you, you know, being a character witness and telling her that you wouldn’t cheat on your girlfriend. Of course, now that doesn’t mean much coming from me since I’m clearly a guy who cheats on his girlfriend.”
“I’ll tell Riley the truth. Sometime.”