Chapter 18

“Well, Lucky?” Bobbie asked impatiently, waiting for him to explain.

He threw one more evil glare at Elizabeth before speaking. “Elizabeth and I aren’t really married. It’s just a project for school, so don’t worry.”

Bobbie relaxed and smiled. “Okay, but don’t scare me like that again!” She turned to Elizabeth. “As you heard, I’m Bobbie, Lucky’s aunt. It’s nice to meet you, Elizabeth.” Elizabeth smiled and shook her hand.

Tammy cleared her throat behind Liz. “Um, Elizabeth, it turns out there really is an opening here after all, so if you’re still interested, I’d like to offer you the job. I promise, Lucky has nothing to do with it!” she added quickly.

“You’re sure?” she asked suspiciously. Tammy nodded. “Okay then, I’ll take it. Thank you.”

“When can you start?” Tammy asked.

“Well, I’ve got the whole weekend free, so if you need me, I can start tomorrow.”

Tammy smiled. “Great! Be here at 10:00 and I’ll get you started.” She motioned for Bobbie to follow her, and they went into the back, leaving the four teenagers alone. Lucky glared at Elizabeth again.

“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?” he asked angrily.

She smiled, “As a matter of fact, it was kind of fun. Now you know how I felt the other day when you introduced me to your mother as your fiancee!”

He sighed, realizing that she had a point. “Okay, we’re even then. I’m surprised you took the job. What happened to getting one on your own, without my influence?”

She shrugged. “Tammy said she wasn’t hiring me because of you, and anyway, I’m broke. I can’t afford to be that picky.” She turned and smiled at Nikolas and Emily. “It was good to see you guys again, but I really should be getting home.” She quickly left, not even saying good-bye to Lucky.

Nikolas sat down across from his brother and smiled. “Honeymoon’s over already?”

Lucky glared at him. “Very funny. I can’t believe I got stuck with her. She’s so annoying!”

“Yeah, well, something tells me that you probably annoy her just as much. Looks like a perfect match to me,” he said, grinning at Emily.

“Oh, shut up. You sound like my dad!” Lucky said angrily.

Nikolas grimaced. “I have something in common with Luke? Oh, that can’t be good,” he laughed. “Well, we came here on a date, so we’ll leave you alone now. See you around.”

“Bye, Lucky,” Emily added, following Nikolas over to a table.

~*~

Elizabeth spent most of the weekend working. Lucky would stop by every once in a while to bug her and mooch free food off of Tammy. By the time Monday rolled around, they were back to their old selves, getting on each other’s nerves, forgetting about the kiss they had shared on Friday.

Once the bell rang, Ms. Kraft walked around the room, making sure everyone was wearing their rings, then began to take attendance. “Before I call roll, I need to warn you that from now on, I’ll be referring to the ladies by their married names. I don’t want to hear any arguments about feminism and not changing your names. In my class, we do things the old-fashioned way, so the topic is not up for discussion.”

Elizabeth groaned. Now, not only did she have to pretend to be married to him, but she had to answer to his name for the rest of the semester! She looked over and saw him grinning smugly at her. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she hissed. He just laughed and shook his head.

Once the attendance was done, the teacher passed out envelopes to each couple. “In these envelopes, you will find a description of your jobs and salaries, along with the amount of money you have saved up so far. Your next assignment is to buy a house. Most of you will have to mortgage one, of course, but 3 weeks from now, I expect everyone to have found a home that fits within their budget, and can accommodate a family, which we will get into later in the semester. Keep in mind the neighborhood, school districts, cost of living, repairs that may need to be done, etc.”

She handed Lucky their envelope and he opened it quickly, wondering what kind of jobs they were going to be assigned.

“Well, what did she stick us with?” Elizabeth asked anxiously.

“According to this, you are a secretary, making $22,000 a year, and I’m,” he chuckled, knowing she was going to hate this, “a surgeon. I make $60,000 a year.” He looked up and grinned, waiting for her to blow.

“What? She makes me a secretary and you a doctor? What’s the deal with that?”

He shrugged. “Hey, be happy that one of us makes big bucks. At least we can afford a nice house.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, I don’t need your charity.”

He laughed. “It’s not charity. We’re married, remember? What’s mine is yours. I wonder if it’s too late for a pre-nup,” he muttered.

“Pre-nup!” she said angrily. She couldn’t believe his nerve.

“Well, now that I’m a rich doctor, how do I know you didn’t marry me for my money? I’ve got to cover my back, you know.”

“At least that would explain why I married you, because it certainly wasn’t for love!”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, dear, the feeling is mutual.”

“If you didn’t marry me for love either, then why did you? Not money, obviously,” she asked, waiting to see how he ws going to get out of this one.

He thought for a moment and smirked. “I don’t know, sex?”

“WHAT?!?” she yelled, causing everyone to look at them. She blushed when she realized how loud she had said that. Lucky was cracking up, and she glared at him. “You better think of another reason, because I would never have sex with you!”

He shrugged. “Okay, but you’re my wife now, and that’s part of the bargain. If you don’t, I think it’s grounds for divorce.”

“Fine. I’ll just take all of your money then, since there’s no pre-nup,” she said, grinning at him, knowing that she had won that argument, even if it was completely ridiculous.

Unable to think of a response, he glared at her. “You’re pretty proud of yourself for that one, aren’t you?” he asked, noticing the self-satisfied smirk on her face. She grinned, nodding, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

When class was over, the teacher handed back their first assignments. She came up to Lucky and Liz and smiled. “Spencers, very good job,” she said, handing the folder to Elizabeth. The bell rang, and everyone got up and headed for the door.

“Well, what did we get?” Lucky asked, walking next to her out of the classroom.

She opened the folder and squealed. “An A! We got an A!” In her excitement, she jumped up and hugged him, nearly knocking him over. She pulled back quickly. “Sorry, I got a little excited there. I don’t get A’s that often.”

He grinned. Her excitement was contagious. “This is great. Maybe we don’t make such a bad team after all.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll have to see about that. This could have been a fluke. Let’s wait and see what happens with this house thing before we go making any grand assumptions.”

“Still, I think this calls for a celebration, don’t you?”

She eyed him suspiciously. “What kind of celebration?”

He shrugged. “Dinner at my dad’s club? I eat for free there, and it’s got a cool atmosphere.”

“You mean, like a date?” she asked, not sure what he was getting at.

He shook his head quickly. “No, just two people celebrating a good grade. If you want, I’ll invite Nikolas and Emily.”

She thought about it for a moment and nodded. “Sure, sounds like fun. When?”

“Do you work tonight?” he asked, trying to figure out if he could get them to go on such short notice.

“No, Tammy gave me the night off since I worked all weekend.”

He smiled. “Great, I’ll call Nikolas and see if they’re free. I’ll let you know later.” He handed the folder back to her and headed off to his next class.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to understand him,” she muttered to herself as she watched him leave.

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