by Morgan James
“Nothing. Well... I was just thinking... wondering...” She trailed off, then tried again. “I mean, I know things...”
I peered across the table at Gemma, who continued to babble nervously. What the hell was I missing?
“What if...? I, um...” She drew a deep breath. “God. Why is this so hard?”
“Jesus, Gemma.” I set my fork down and leaned back, irritation welling up and spilling over. “Just spit it out already.”
Huge blue eyes met mine and held for a second. “What about you?”
“Me?” I blinked at her, my mind scrambling to process her question. “What about me?”
Her cheeks blazed fire-engine red. “Will you... marry me?”
The force of the bomb she’d just dropped knocked me back in my seat, and all I could do was stare at her for several long seconds. She watched me intently, blue irises swirling with a mixture of hope and apprehension, but I couldn’t formulate words. I had to be hallucinating, because there was no way this woman had just proposed to me. Right? “Marry you?”
She bobbed her head. “Just pretend—just until this is over.”
“Gemma...”
“Please, Vince. I—” She leaned in, reaching one hand toward me, and I automatically recoiled. Her face fell, and her eyes followed her hands as they fell listlessly to her lap. “I’m sorry. I just...”
Fuck.
I scrubbed a hand over my face, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. Pretend to be married—really?
Abruptly, Gemma pushed back her chair and snatched up her plate. I turned in my seat as she brushed past me and set her plate in the sink. “Gemma, listen—”
She whirled toward me, holding her hands up, palms out. “No. It was my fault. I never should have asked. Just... don’t worry about it. It was stupid. Let’s pretend this never happened, okay?”
I opened my mouth again to speak, but she was gone. Heaving myself up from the chair, I set my dish in the sink, then went out to do a perimeter check. Outside, I snuck a glance through the bedroom window. Gemma—what I could see of her—sat on her bed, legs curled up like a child as she hugged a pillow close to her chest.
I felt bad for her—really, I did. But was a pretend marriage really the answer to this? The idea had merit, to a point, but Gemma and I had enough drama to work through. I had a feeling this would only make things worse. She was a budding superstar; if I were to play husband to her, I would be dragged into the limelight, a place I had no desire to be. It could jeopardize both my job and my future. So much could go wrong, and we’d still be in the same boat we were in now.
I hadn’t meant to react as badly as I did. The woman constantly had me on guard, almost defensive, but I still felt like an asshole for hurting her feelings. I locked up as I headed inside for the night, then made my way down the hall to Gemma’s room. A sliver of light shone from beneath the door, and I placed my hand on the knob. It was locked. I lifted my hand to knock, but common sense kicked in before I rapped on the door. She was already dejected and embarrassed. I didn’t want to risk exacerbating the situation.
Instead, I headed to the couch and sat heavily, dropping my head back and closing my eyes. Thank God Gemma was one of those women who appreciated function and comfort over design, and I could actually spread out. I settled in for the night, but the more time passed, the worse I felt. I couldn’t explain why, exactly, but that crestfallen look of hers killed me. I couldn’t imagine the guts it took to ask me something like that, especially given our recent past. She’d looked so ashamed, so embarrassed, which was probably why it bothered me so much. Gemma was normally so vibrant and vivacious that her reticence was completely abnormal.
By the time morning finally rolled around, I was exhausted from guilt and lack of sleep. A soft sound drew my attention to the archway between the kitchen and living room, and I sat up, glancing over the back of the couch just in time to catch a glimpse of Gemma. She threw a quick look my way, and our gazes locked for a moment before her cheeks blazed and her eyes dropped away again. She slunk into the kitchen, and I let out a sigh. If I was hoping things would be better this morning, I was bound to be disappointed. If I knew Gemma, though, she’d ignore me at all costs and pretend that last night never happened. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or bad. Things between us were already so tense, it wouldn’t take much to break the tenuous balance.
Scrubbing one hand over my face, I pushed to the edge of the couch and shoved my feet into my boots. Grabbing my phone from the end table where it sat charging, I shoved it in my pocket and headed to the front door, then made my way outside. Even though it was barely after seven, I locked up behind me as I started my perimeter check. It was probably overkill, but after everything that had happened recently, I wasn’t willing to risk her safety.
After I made sure everything was secure, I sat down on the wide porch step and dug my phone from my back pocket. I tapped Con’s number, and my knee bounced nervously as I waited for the call to connect.
“What’s up, Ink?”
He sounded a little short of breath, but as an early riser like the rest of us, and I guaranteed he’d been up for well over an hour working out.
“Hey. Any update on the brake lines yet?”
“Not yet. The guys from the precinct are checking the valve for prints, but I haven’t heard anything yet. One of the guys will be over after the locksmith leaves. He wants the old doorknob from the garage to see if the internal mechanism has been tampered with.”
“I’ll make sure to bag it and set it aside.” I fell silent for a moment, my mind spinning, anxiety making me jumpy. “So with no evidence, what does that mean?”
“You’re stuck for now,” came his reply. “Harvey and the studio still want her under surveillance until they get this guy.”
“Do they have any leads?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Con said. “At least, nothing solid.” He seemed to know instinctively that something was on my mind, because he cautiously continued. “Why?”
“Just thinking,” I said slowly. “It occurred to me that we might be able to get this guy’s attention, get him to slip up.”
“What are you thinking?”
The words felt thick and heavy on my tongue. “He’s obsessed with her, right? What if we make it look like she’s off the market?” I held my breath and waited for his response.
Nearly a minute later, he let out a soft sound. “This could blow up in our faces if we’re not careful.”
“I know,” I conceded. “But think of it like this: if this dude sees her with someone new, he’ll either get the picture and leave her alone, or...” I trailed off, and Con picked up my train of thought.
“He’ll do something stupid and get caught.”
“That’s my hope.”
“So has Miss Malone considered this at all?”
“It was actually her idea,” I said. “She brought it up last night, but I wanted to make sure she didn’t change her mind before I ran it by you.”
“Fair enough. And she’s thinking of having someone pose as her boyfriend?”
“Not a boyfriend—husband.”
Con chuckled softly. “Even better, I guess. Who’s the lucky guy?”
“That would be me.”
There were several seconds of silence before a bewildered laugh came from Con’s end. “You’re shitting me, right?”
I grimaced. “Who better than the guy hired to keep her safe? I’m already staying with her.”
“Ink...”
“We can spin some story about how we’ve been engaged for a while but were waiting for her tour to end.”
“It’s not the worst idea in the world,” Con said, “but, damn... Are you sure about this?”
No, I wasn’t sure at all. This could be a mistake of epic proportions. She was a walking temptation, and I was practically throwing myself at her feet.
“I don’t like the idea of my guys being in the spotlight,” he warned.
Me ei
ther. I had no desire to be flaunted around like that. Personal protection agents were supposed to be silent shadows, and I couldn’t do my job properly if I got dragged into the spotlight. If the media got a hold of my name, it could create a shit storm for QSG. The only upside to this at the moment was that once the gym on the upper floor of QSG was set up, I would take over the role of primary instructor for the self-defense courses and wouldn’t be needed in the field as much.
“I don’t want to jeopardize the business, but better me than one of the other guys. We don’t have to release my name to the public,” I said. “Plus, it’ll only be a few months—just until they find the guy, then we can break things off amicably, just like every other twenty-something celebrity.”
“Mhmm...”
Well, it wasn’t an outright refusal. “Here’s what I was thinking. I’ll take her on a pretend honeymoon someplace—there are a couple quiet beaches in Florida that would work well. Airline reservations are hard as hell to get hold of, even for a skilled hacker, so we should be safe enough to fly. Once we land, we’ll use a hired driver to take us somewhere obscure. It’ll be far enough away that the guy won’t immediately be able to follow up with her, even if our location were to be leaked. Hopefully, he’ll slip up and try something stupid here again.”
“You’ve been thinking about this,” Con said quietly.
“I have. I don’t like it, but if it’ll keep her safe...”
Con fell silent for a moment. “Did you know that marriage records are public—in both states?”
Fuck. I closed my eyes. I hadn’t known that, and I was vaguely curious as to how he did, but I didn’t ask. Suddenly, this whole thing seemed a little more real. Anyone at any time could check the records to see if we were officially married. If we went through with this whole scheme, I would actually have to marry her. It couldn’t be pretend. If we were going to carry this out, we had to go the whole way.
“I’ll double check with her and let you know, but for now...” I hesitated for a long moment, then sighed. “Let’s plan for it. Check into reservations somewhere on the beach, and get the studio to sign off on whatever you need.”
“Will do.”
Without another word Con hung up, and I stood, then stared at the front door. I had two choices. I could call Con back right now and pretend like this had never happened. Or... I could do the right thing. Maybe not right, exactly, but it was the only alternative I had at the moment. Given my options, I knew I didn’t have a choice.
I entered the house, relocked the door behind me, then made my way to the kitchen. Gemma stood with her back to me as she operated the blender, and I waited until the whirring noise stopped before clearing my throat.
She jumped a little bit and threw a hesitant look my way. Her lips pressed slightly together, and her chin dropped a notch as she regarded me with no small amount of embarrassment. I was sure she would take back our conversation last night given the chance. If I let her, she would continue on just like this, ignoring me and pretending that none of this had ever happened. I, however, couldn’t forget the look on her face when she’d asked me to marry her. Her expression had been hesitant, timid... hopeful. As strange as it seemed, I was the only one who could help her now.
I held her cerulean gaze for a long moment. “Let’s go to the beach.”
Chapter Eight
Jana
Let’s go to the beach.
Individually, each word made perfect sense, but my mind couldn’t quite comprehend exactly what he was telling me. I tipped my head to one side. “The beach?”
“You said you’ve never been there. What better spot for a...” His shoulders twitched, and his gaze flicked away before sliding back to mine. “Honeymoon?”
My breath caught, and my heart skipped a beat as hope exploded in my chest. “But I thought—”
He slashed one hand through the air. “Forget what I said. I was being an idiot. My boss liked your idea, and he’s already talking to Harvey and the studio.”
Part of me wanted to throw my arms around him, and I grabbed the counter behind me to keep myself from doing so. He already looked uncomfortable; I didn’t want to freak him out. Though, honestly, I was lucky he was still around after everything that had happened already.
“There’s something...” He faltered. “It’s a little more complicated than just pretending to be married, though.”
I cocked my head. “What do we need to do?”
He hesitated for a long moment, as if searching for the right words. “Marriage records are public.” He stared at me, his expression bordering on anxious.
“Okay...?” I drew out the word, trying to decipher his statement.
“Anyone can check to see if we’re really married.”
It hit me like a bolt of lightning, and I felt my mouth fall open. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” He looked grim. “So... I’ll leave this up to you.”
I stared up at him. “You’re... You’d really... marry me?”
I watched as a slight tic shuddered across his jaw, and he blinked long and slow before responding. “Yeah. We’ll do what we have to do.”
My skin went hot as shame assailed me. It was one thing to ask a friend to watch your dog or water your plants, but this...? What had begun as a simple deception had quickly become so much more serious.
“I think, um...” I scrunched up my nose to get rid of the burning sensation and blinked rapidly against the moisture that blurred my eyes as I turned away. “I appreciate it. But I can’t.”
“Why the hell not?” There was a hard edge to his voice that sent a shiver down my spine.
“I just can’t.”
One hand wrapped around my bicep and whirled me toward him. “Look at me.”
Only inches away, I had no choice but to do so. I glared up at him. “What?”
“Tell me why you’ve changed your mind.”
“I just...” I dropped my gaze to his broad chest. Dark ink peeked out from beneath the neckline of the tight black tee shirt, and I curled my fingers into a fist to keep from tracing the intricate design. I drew a deep breath. “What would your family say?”
He studied me for a long moment. “They won’t find out.”
So I would be a dirty little secret. “And... how do you feel about this?”
He leaned against the island and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched me. “It’s just a few months.”
I bit my lip. “Does that bother you?”
He lifted one shoulder, and his gaze skated over my shoulder and out the window. Finally, he exhaled. “I don’t know.”
“We don’t have to do this,” I said softly, even as my heart plummeted toward my toes. “There has to be another way without forcing you to—”
“You’re not forcing me into anything.” He straightened. “And this is the best scenario at the moment. It creates a diversion while getting you out of harm’s way.”
“What happens when it’s over?”
His gray-blue eyes bore into mine. “We’ll figure that out when the time comes.”
I closed my eyes before meeting his gaze. “Just... promise you won’t regret this?”
He stared at me for a long moment, then finally gave his head a slow shake. “Never.”
“That’s...” I struggled for words, still overwhelmed by his offer. I didn’t know what had changed over the past twelve hours, but I wasn’t going to take it for granted. I would give Vince literally anything he wanted—pay him whatever I had to—to make this go away. “I really appreciate this. And I swear I’ll make it up to you. I’ll pay you for—”
“No.” His hand tightened on my arm, pulling me infinitesimally closer to him. I sucked in a breath as he dipped his head until it was even with mine, a fierce expression in his eyes. “I won’t take a damn dime from you.”
“But I—”
“No buts.” He tipped his chin and held up a finger. “We’re also going to draft a prenup.” I opened my mouth, but he cut me o
ff with a slice of his hand. “No negotiations on this.”
“Vince—”
“No.” He shook his head.
I threw my hands up. “You didn’t even listen!”
He crossed his arms over his broad chest as he regarded me, one eyebrow cocked toward his hairline. “I didn’t have to.”
I scowled at him. “If you think you’re doing this for me, it’s not worth it. I don’t even own this house outright.” I could tell by his expression that he was wavering, and I continued. “Seriously. The process can take a long time, and it’ll cost more to do the paperwork than anything you would get out of it.”
A small furrow appeared between his eyes, and worry caused his mouth tipped down at the corners. “I don’t like this.”
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “You’re already doing me a favor. I won’t make you jump through any hoops, and I know my word doesn’t mean much, but I promise I won’t try to claim anything of yours, either. I already owe you so much for protecting me, and...” I trailed off as the memory of the car accident came to mind and a shiver racked my body.
“Gemma.” He waited for me to meet his gaze. “This isn’t your fault. We’re going to do whatever we have to in order to keep you safe.”
I nodded slightly. “Thank you.”
My heart stuttered in my chest as his huge hands lifted and cupped my shoulders. “I promise I won’t let him near you.”
“I know.” The words came out on a whisper, but I felt them to my soul as my heart raced with a combination of fear and anticipation. Despite our tumultuous beginnings, Vince would never let anyone hurt me.
His hands dropped away. “So, here’s what’s going to happen...”
Less than two hours later, Con pulled up in front of the house. I watched from the window as he exited the SUV, and a petite brunette climbed from the passenger side. “Who’s that?”
“Abby. Con’s baby sister,” Vince explained.
“She’s so pretty.”
Vince threw me a strange look as he moved to open the door, and the duo stepped inside seconds later. Abby’s eyes immediately landed on me, and a grin lit up her pretty face. “Hey! It’s so nice to meet you!”