Forbidden Best Friend's Brother (Forbidden Small Town Bad Boys Book 5)

by Holly Jaymes

  “A divorce of course. This marriage wasn’t really fake. Not like my fake fiancé fiasco. You’re legally married to him.” She frowned. “Do you have a prenup? He can’t come after your business, can he?”

  I laughed, now glad I’d been so angry at his insisting on a prenup that I had one of my own made up. “No. We both signed one.” I huffed out a breath. “I can’t divorce him.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “It will hurt his reputation-”

  “Fuck his reputation, Victoria. Really? How can you still want to help him?”

  I sank back and wailed, “Because I love him.”

  She was quiet for a minute and then hugged me. “He doesn’t deserve you, honey. Neither of them do.”

  She was right, but until I could push away the pain and let myself be fueled by anger, there was nothing I could do but grieve.

  22

  The Worst Day Of My Life

  Pax

  I’d come back from my walk, ready to lay it all out on the line. I was going to tell Victoria that I loved her. I was going to ask her to work out a way we could continue this relationship someway, somehow. Together, we could develop a plan to deal with Lily.

  When I got back, I noticed a car parked in front of the cabin. I went to it and with dread, realized it was Lily. I snuck into the front door, wanting to hear what was going on before I revealed myself.

  “Are you using him?” Lily asked Victoria.

  I stood just in the foyer, hidden from the living room as I listened. I knew by Lily’s tone that it wasn’t going well, and my instinct was to step in, but I waited.

  “What?” Victoria asked, her tone was surprised.

  “Oh please. Your social influence has grown by over a million since you ‘accidentally’ married Pax. I bet your sales are through the roof. And that deal with Lisbeth, how convenient to have Pax around to make it work.”

  I frowned. What did Lily mean by having me around to make the Lisbeth deal work? Victoria was working on that before me. Then again, she’d asked me about Dane’s influence. Had she been working me to make sure Dane wouldn’t hurt her deal?

  “I notice you’re not denying it,” Lily said.

  “I’m shocked at what you’re accusing me of. What is wrong with you?”

  I couldn’t hold back anymore. I had to find out what Lily knew and if I’d fallen for a woman who was using me.

  I stepped from the foyer into the living area. “What are you doing here, Lily?”

  “I want to know what’s going on,” she demanded.

  I wasn’t sure about Victoria anymore, but I also didn’t like Lily thinking she had any say in my life. “First, who I sleep with is none of your business. Second, it was all an accident.”

  “How do you accidentally get married, Pax? Even in Vegas you need to get a license. All that wake up married is for romcoms, not real life,” she said, then turned to me. “Did you get Lisbeth to help? The two of you cook up a scheme to get her deal and your deal as well?”

  “You’re being ridiculous.” Victoria said, looking from her to me.

  I felt like I’d been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. I couldn’t say that Victoria had set out to arrange this marriage, although maybe she did. She was a shrewd businesswoman. But if not then, she surely would have seen the opportunity open up during the night with Lisbeth and Ethan. How else could a license have been obtained? It seemed impossible Lisbeth could have done it one her own. Had Victoria been part of the plan?

  Several thoughts collided about her behavior of late. “Last night, you tried to get me to stay. To draw out this fake marriage. Was that for your business?”

  “No.” Victoria kept looking from me to Lily, like we’d lost our minds. “You know that’s not true.” She pointed at me. “I had no idea that you were going to be in Vegas. But you knew I would be because I told you when YOU kissed me by the lake. You’re the one that invited yourself to my dinner with Lisbeth. It was Dane who told you to babysit her-”

  “You didn’t talk her out of the marriage,” I said.

  “Neither did you!” she shouted.

  “What was the meeting with your marketing guy about. Were you finding a way to use this marriage?”

  “Oh come on Pax, this fake marriage was YOUR idea. Your record label didn’t want to ruin your image. You were using me, remember?”

  My gut began to roil as uncertainty about what I was doing set in.

  Victoria turned to Lily. “You know, I expected this from him. He did this same thing six years ago when you got all uppity. It was why I tried to avoid him at your wedding. It’s why I didn’t tell you anything when he played Victoria’s song...that’s right, my song, the one he wrote for me six years ago, while you walked up the aisle.”

  Lily’s gaze shot to me. “Is that true?”

  Ah fuck.

  “But you, Lily. You’ve had no better friend than me. Who stuck up for you when that whole thing with Trask happened? Who drove freaking hours and hours to bring you a pregnancy test? Who is prepared to punch any journalist in the face who asks if your baby is Trask’s when they find out Wyatt thought he was shooting blanks.”

  Jesus, was that a possibility?

  Lily jerked, and panic came to her face. “You wouldn’t.”

  “That’s the point, Lily! I wouldn’t because I know you and I know it’s not true. All this time, I thought we were friends. I thought you wore my makeup to support me. But it was all fake. You’re not my friend.” Victoria shook her head, and I could see in her eyes that she was done with us. “There is something really wrong with you two. Maybe it’s a twin thing or something. But if this is what happens when you two are together, that you fuck over other people around you, heaven help Wyatt if Pax sticks around.” She grabbed her purse.

  “Where are you going?” I asked. This was a shitstorm, I was pretty sure when it was done, Lily and I were going to come out smelling bad.

  “Away from here. I’m done. Today we start the drift apart phase of our marriage.” She rushed out the door, leaving me alone with Lily.

  I looked over at Lily.

  She shook her head. “I told you, Pax.” But I could see she was unsettled too.

  It was still early, but I needed a drink. I got a glass and reached for the nearest bottle of liquor.

  “What did you tell me, Lily? I don’t remember you saying your best friend in the world wanted to dupe me into marriage to help her business.” What the hell had I’d been thinking to accuse her of that?

  She sighed. “I told you both not to get involved.”

  I downed a finger of the drink. “Yeah, why was that?” I poured another finger and figured I’d save the rest for later when she left.

  She simply stared at me. “Why did you even take up with her again?”

  “No, Lily. You answer my question. Why do you become a fucking jealous diva at the idea of me and Victoria. Is it her? Is it me? What the fuck is it?” Panic began to spread as I realized that I’d probably just lost the one woman I’d ever really loved. And why? Because Victoria was right, there was something wrong with me and Lily.

  “Pax.” Her voice softened and she sank onto the couch.

  “What I don’t get is how you and her were such good friends for so long, and yet, this would happen?”

  She looked down and shook her head. “Victoria hasn’t been in a long-term relationship ever, that I’ve seen. Most of the men she’s dated doted on her and she gained a great deal from them. And then they were gone. I didn’t want that for you.”

  I frowned. “That wasn’t the case six years ago. You weren’t trying to protect me then.”

  She shrugged. “Six years ago, it was just a shock and weirdness at seeing my brother and my best friend naked. Since then, she’s been different. She’s driven at her business. Her life is that business, Pax. Just like music is yours.”

  I downed my drink. “Are you at all concerned that perhaps you’re wrong? What if she’s all business because
you ruined her relationships with men?”

  She glared at me. “Only yours.”

  I shrugged. “What if I was the one?”

  “The one what?”

  I didn’t know what I was saying. I knew how I felt about Victoria, but I didn’t know how she felt about me. Well, now I did. She thought I was a fucking loser that betrayed her again.

  “The one like Wyatt is your one.”

  She scoffed.

  “What if she’s my one?”

  “Pax. You and her...she’s outgoing, gregarious, tough-”

  “Loyal. Don’t forget loyal.”

  “And you’re an introvert.”

  “You're pulling at straws now.” There was something about it that didn’t feel right. I couldn’t help the feeling that the worst thing in my life had just happened. I looked down into my empty glass. “She was right about Dane. He’s the one that told me to stay married.”

  “It doesn’t change that she used you. It’s worse to know that you fell in love with her.”

  I scraped my hand over my face. “She’s going to divorce me. All this was to keep me from looking like a fucking rock star cliché, and now I’m going to be divorced less than a month into the marriage anyway.”

  “How long were you going to have to run this out? I mean, it wasn’t forever.”

  I looked out the window. When I’d walked into the house today, I’d considered forever. “It was going to be one of those things where we drifted apart. Like Mom and Dad. We’d be married, but not live our lives together and then decide to end it.”

  “Hmm, so she’d still benefit?”

  “So would I?” I sat at the other end of the couch.

  She moved to sit next to me. “Pax, come on. You’re a rock star. This is hardly a big scandal and something your fans might like. This won’t hurt you. Men are excused from this type of stuff all the time.”

  “Like Trask?” I glanced at her.

  She made a face. “Yes, like Trask. Lucky for me, I didn’t care about my career anymore. And now I’ve got a new business, a great husband, and baby on the way.”

  I smiled because I was happy for her. “How are you feeling?”

  She grinned. “Fucking fantastic.” She wrapped her arm around me. “I want all this for you, too Pax. But Victoria isn’t the one to give it to you.”

  I stood as agitation ran through my nerves. Whether Victoria was the one for me or not didn’t really matter at this point. That bridge was burned.

  “We’ve lost a friend,” I said quietly.

  “Friends don’t use each other.”

  I looked at her. “I used her. She let me.”

  “Then it’s not using. She didn’t ask you if she could use your stardom to help her business.”

  “No. I offered it when I asked her to help me.” That came back to me like a fucking neon sign. I’d said it to her in Vegas when I was asking her to help me.

  “You’re having second thoughts on this?” she said.

  “We were wrong, Lily. If you can’t see that then she’s right, something if fucking wrong with us.” I needed to be alone. I had to figure out what the hell had just happened. Talking with Lily now, I knew I’d tossed Victoria under the bus again, just like I had last time. Why? Why am I such a fucking asshole?

  Lily stood and came to me. “Love was always hard for you.”

  I furrowed my brow. “What do you mean?”

  She shrugged. “That’s just what I’ve always felt about you. Sort of like Victoria, there’s a distance in you. That’s why you’re both so driven professionally.”

  “Not with you.” I wasn’t sure what she meant.

  She smiled. “No. Maybe it's because we’re twins or maybe because you and I only had each other. Until you stayed in London.”

  I shook my head. “You started modeling before then. You were often on your own. I turned eighteen in London alone, remember?”

  She nodded. “That’s right. I couldn’t get a flight there in time. My point is, I don’t think you trust in love.”

  I was pretty sure I loved Victoria, but then again, if I did, why did I turn on her?

  “You can blame Mom and Dad for that. In fact, I’ve always thought that’s why you’ve avoided them,” Lily said to me.

  She should have been a shrink.

  “Dad told me he and Mom loved each other, but they loved their jobs more,” I said, contemplating getting another drink and another until this nightmare was over.

  “I think, although they’d never admit to it, that included us. They loved their jobs more than us. How does one grow out of that and know how to love someone else?” she questioned.

  “How did you?”

  She shut her eyes and looked down.

  My stomach dropped as I realized that the person who helped her learn to love was her best friend. “Aw fuck, Lily. Victoria?”

  “I had friends. You were always a loner. But,” she put her hands on my shoulder and gave me a shake. “Victoria was my friend. A good friend for a long time, but she has baggage too. Her mother was all about superficial shit and Victoria lives like that too. Her life is all about appearances. Check her Instagram, you’ll see what I mean.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “No, we’re the ones with baggage, Lily. And we’ve just destroyed the one woman who’d carry it to the ends of the earth.” I headed toward the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to find Victoria.”

  “What? Why. What are you going to say.”

  “I’m going to tell her that I love her and ask her to stay married to me. And if you don’t like, Lily…” I tossed my hands up. Then I walked out the door and prayed I wasn’t too late to turn things around.

  She probably headed home, but I took a chance that she was at her sisters. I pounded on the door, ansty to fix things with her.

  “Jeez, you’re going to wake up the dead.” Allie’s eyes widened. “You’re not wanted here, Paxton.”

  “Please I have to talk to her.” I’d beg and grovel if I had to.

  She turned her head to the side. “It’s asshole.”

  I pushed my way in, hoping when she called the cops it wouldn’t be my father who arrested me. “Victoria, please. I’m sorry.”

  She sat on the couch with a glass of water or mabe it was vodka. Her eyes were red and if I lived to be a hundred, I would never forgive myself for the pain I saw on her face.

  “What do you want, Pax?” All the vigor had gone out of her voice as well.

  “I love you.” I figured I’d lead with the big stuff. “When I got back I was going to tell you that.”

  Behind me, Allie made a scoffing sound.

  “I don’t believe you. If you loved me, you wouldn’t have doubted me or accused me of using you. Of calling me a mistake again. Or accident.”

  “You’re right. I don’t know what happened.” I wanted to blame Lily but I knew this was my doing. “I fucked up. Tell me what I can do to make it right.”

  She stood. “Nothing.” She looked like a shell of a person and I hated myself for being the cause of it.

  “You should go, Pax,” Allie said.

  “Victoria, please.”

  Untitled

  “Don’t worry. I’ll still stick to our deal. Unless you think my honoring the deal is a way to help my own business, in which, I’ll file papers tomorrow.”

  “I don’t care about any of that. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I find a way to earn a second chance.”

  She patted me on the chest. “You had your second chance, Pax. I’ve bene twice bitten, now. I’ve learned my lesson.” She left the room, heading up a short hallway.

  I wanted to hold her and make her change her mind, but it was clear, she meant it when she said she was done with me. It was a loss that would live with me forever.

  23

  Not a Nightmare

  Victoria

  I woke up reaching across the bed for Pax, except he wasn’t there.
I opened my eyes, not recognizing the room. Then the day before came rushing back to me. I’d woken that morning feeling so happy and then Lily arrived, accusing me of using Pax’s celebrity to expand my business. I was so shocked at her attitude. It felt like she was a completely different person. I might have coped with that, had Pax supported me. But he doubted me too. He turned everything that happened as part of some crazy plot. Did he really think I was that conniving that I could manipulate him into doing my bidding?

  Except no...he’d come to find me. Begged me to give him another chance. I love you. God how I’d wanted to hear those words. But last night, I knew I couldn’t trust him. Not again.

  I turned my face into my pillow and started to cry again.

  “Hey, sis’.”

  I sniffled as I lifted my head. “Hey. It wasn’t a nightmare.”

  She sighed with sympathy. “No. I’m sorry. I brought you coffee.” She set the mug on the side table. “Do you want to do something today?”

  I shook my head. “I think I’ll drive home. I still have stuff at the cabin but I don't need it. It’ll remind me of him anyway.”

  “Well, I do have an extra toothbrush in the bathroom for you. And a brush.”

  “You’re the best, Allie.” I sat up and hugged her.

  “So are you. And Lily and Pax are jerks for not realizing what a wonderful friend they had in you.” She stood. “I’ll let you get dressed.”

  I went to the bathroom and nearly startled myself when I looked in the mirror. I looked hideous. I should take a picture and post it on Instagram. “Life married to Pax Ryder”, I could say. “#stupidlyfellforhimagain”

  I cleaned up and got dressed in the same clothes I’d worn the day before. I’d just made it back to the bedroom when I heard a knock on the door. I figured it wasn’t Josh, because he lived there and he’d have a key. Plus, I didn’t think his shift was over.

  My heart blipped thinking maybe it was Pax looking for me again, but I quashed down that tiny, traitorous kernel of hope. I wouldn’t fall for him again.