by KB Winters
Miles smiled and set his bag down on the bed. “Come here, Penny.”
I hesitated at his outstretched hand, but then gave in and let him draw me close. He held my arms and looked down into my face. “I get it, all right? You don’t have to apologize or explain it to me because I’m right there with you. We’re in this together. Trust me, I never thought this would be my life. A sham marriage with someone I hardly know. There’s not one thing about this plan that’s not insane. But that’s because my parents are insane for forcing me into this whole thing. We are just doing our best to make it work until we can each get what we want and then we’ll…get out.”
I nodded, his words having both a soothing and rattling effect on me. “Right.”
“In the meantime, let’s just have some fun and let it ride, okay?”
“Okay.” I looked up and met his dark eyes. For a moment, I wondered if I’d ever be able to look into those dark pools and not get hopelessly lost. “Thank you.”
“No. Thank you.” He dropped a kiss to my forehead and shivers exploded from the point of contact all through my body as I fought the urge to lean into him. All it would take was one move. One inch. He’d swallow me up in his arms and keep me safe and chase away all the anxiety.
But no. I couldn’t do that. He wouldn’t always be there to take it away. I was a self-reliant woman, pretty much always had been, and Miles Warren wasn’t going to change that.
I wasn’t going to let him.
Chapter Seventeen
Miles
Boarding the plane back to Georgia was bittersweet.
The entire flight, I couldn’t stop thinking about Penny. Everything about her had me wound up and captivated. I ping-ponged between the memories we’d built over the weekend and I couldn’t figure out if it had been a success or a loss. I was unable to shake the feeling that while I’d gotten what I wanted, I’d taken something from each of us at the same time. Something that couldn’t easily be replaced. If it was even possible.
It frustrated me, but I knew the sure fire remedy.
Calling my dear old parents and telling them the news.
When I made it back to my house, I dropped my bag in the bedroom, kicked out of my shoes, dug my phone from the pocket of my jeans and dialed my father’s number.
“Jeremiah Warren,” he answered. I threw an eye roll. It drove me insane how he’d answer the phone the same, knowing full well who was on the other end of the line.
It’s called Caller ID people…
“Hello Father,” I said, not letting my irritation bleed through my tone—keeping it short and warm.
“Your mother and I have been trying to call you all day! Where have you been?” he roared.
My smug expression vanished. Shit. What did I fuck up this time? “I was on a flight. I was up in New York for the weekend.”
“That’s not what we heard…”
What the?
“Oh?”
“The Delaney’s saw you in Hawaii.”
Shit! I groaned. “All right, fine. Yes, I was in Hawaii. Technically I was in New York first though…”
“Miles! Did you get married in Hawaii?”
“How do you know that?”
A bougie family spotting me on a beach was one thing. To know I was there for a wedding—my wedding—was definitely not something I’d expected.
“I just told you. The Delaney’s are there on vacation right now. They saw you and some blonde woman at a luau and someone told them that you were Mr. and Mrs. Warren. Newlyweds. What the hell is going on?” A muffled sound interrupted him mid-rant and I heard him call for my mother.
“Miles Archer Warren this is unacceptable!” my mother bellowed, clearly joining the call on speaker. “Running away and getting married to some tramp! That is not what we had in mind when we—”
“Okay, hold it up right there,” I roared back. “My wife is not a tramp and you will never, ever say that again. It’s true, yes, I did elope in Hawaii over the weekend. That’s why I was calling. To share the news.”
“This is absurd! Jeremiah, you talk to him, I can’t.”
“Wow, Mom, way to drop the mic…” I muttered to myself. “I thought this would be good news. So, please, enlighten me. Where did I go wrong here? You wanted—no, correct that—you ordered me to marry. Now I have. And yet you’re still not satisfied? Damn, I should have put money down on that…”
“Miles! You cannot seriously think this is what we wanted?” my mom chimed in, apparently not following through on her threat to bail. “We don’t even know who this woman is! How long have you been together? Is this a shotgun wedding?” I swear I heard a quiver in her tone at the last question.
Ah, the power was back in my hands. I had the information and they wanted it. Bad.
“We’ve been dating for a while now,” I said, smirking to myself. “We met at the gala, actually.”
“What?” my father said at the same time that my mother asked, “Who is she?”
“That’s right. Penelope Laken. Or, as I call her, Penny.”
“Penelope Laken? Earl and Wanda’s daughter?” my father asked.
“That’s right. We hit it off and I’ve been going up to New York to see her as often as I can and we decided that we simply couldn’t live without each other anymore. We flew to Hawaii and made it official.”
“Well, I…this is quite a shock…” my father rebounded, stumbling over his words. Which was a rarity.
“I understand it’s not the big, high society wedding you may have wanted, but Penny and I thought simplicity was better. More our style.”
“You’re really married?”
I chuckled. “Ball and chained.”
My mother squealed and I rolled my eyes at her abrupt change of heart.
“Our little boy! Married!” I grinned as I imagined her tugging at my father’s arm and the nonplussed look on his face.
It was hook, line, and sinker. It was almost too easy.
Almost.
“We’ll need to see some documentation, of course,” my father said, acting more like a border crossing guard than my father.
“Documentation?” I repeated.
“I’m assuming you pulled this little stunt to get your hands on your trust…”
“Oh—Jeremiah—” my mother sighed.
I bristled. “Stunt? I hardly call getting married a stunt.”
“It all just feels a little convenient to me.”
“So, let me get this straight,” I gripped the back of the couch. “You actually think I lied to a woman, an old friend of the family, and somehow duped her into marrying me just so I could collect my trust fund?”
I waited, my heart slamming into my ribs, each pump getting more frantic as the silence stretched out.
“Well, I don’t—” my father started, clearly stumped.
“Jeremiah, come on, don’t be so difficult. This is a happy occasion.”
“I held up my end of the bargain. You can’t keep dragging this out anymore. I want the money deposited in one payment as promised.”
My father jumped back into action, barking his next order. “Bring her by the house for dinner, two weekends from now, and we’ll have the paperwork drawn up. A few signatures and the money will be deposited in a lump sum.”
“Great,” I said through clenched teeth. One more hoop. I should have known. “We’ll be there.”
Chapter Eighteen
Penny
“The question is simple, Penny. Did you marry Miles Warren or did you not?”
I hadn’t even made it back to my loft before being ambushed by my mother. She’d called no less than a dozen times while I’d been in flight and just as I’d gone to send her most recent attempt to voicemail, my finger slipped and I inadvertently answered her call. So, I hunkered down in a semi-private corner of the airport, near baggage claim, and withstood a lengthy tirade about her hearing the news of my marriage through the gossip grapevine.
“Yes,” I said, sque
ezing my eyes shut against what was sure to be her next rant.
“What were you thinking? Running off with some stranger and getting married at the drop of a hat, without family or friends or even a proper wedding dress!”
I rolled my eyes. Of course that’s what the real issue was. She didn’t care that I’d ran off and gotten married. Her issue was the fact that I’d robbed her of the opportunity to host a grand spectacle of a wedding which would actually be nothing more than a springboard for her to show off just how fabulous she was.
“I’ve never wanted some over-the-top wedding filled with people I don’t even know. This wasn’t an attack on you. I actually thought you’d be happy for me. After all, you’ve always pushed for me to marry from within our circle and you’d be hard pressed to find a more desirable candidate than the Warrens’ only son.”
Apparently, that knocked her down a few pegs. After a long pause, she came back with… “That may be true but there is an order to things, Penelope. You don’t just go off and do things like this without discussing them with me first. If you want to vacation in Hawaii, fine. I don’t need to know about that. But running away and eloping is an entirely different matter and I should have been included!”
There was nothing I could say that would get me out of the argument. Everything that came to mind was inflammatory and would only serve to make things worse—and the conversation longer. My suitcase was at my feet and from my vantage point I could see a long line of taxis. All I wanted to do was grab my bag and run out to the curb, slide into the backseat of one of the cabs and have the driver whisk me as far away from all of the madness as possible. I wanted to be back in my apartment with Jasmine and Lo. I needed my friends. Not another lecture on how much of a royal screw up I was.
I sighed. “You’re right, mother. I should have called you.”
The silence stretched between us and I smiled slightly to myself. Agreeing with her, telling her she was right, and apologizing for whatever my mistake was had always worked in the past. It was a trick I learned from a fairly young age as a way to get off of her shit list as quickly as possible. In fact, I was pretty sure it was the only way my parents managed to stay married all the years they had. Whenever my mom would go nuclear, my dad would swoop in with the three-pronged defense that she couldn’t argue against.
“I still can’t believe you did this,” she said at last. The softness in her tone set me on edge. Oh shit. She wasn’t going to cry was she? I hated it when she cried. It meant that whatever she was upset about was real and not just another superficial, selfish demand.
My heart dropped like a rock, suddenly very heavy. “It happened so fast,” I offered, unsure of what else to say. I couldn’t tell her the truth. My mother wasn’t the queen of the gossip world we lived in, but she was definitely a member of the court. If I told her the truth, the way that I had told Jasmine and Lo, then everyone would know about Miles and his parents’ arrangement. It would also make me look like a gold digger if there was even such a thing as a wealthy gold digger, and it would ruin everything in regards to Miles, his trust and my hopes at getting a book deal with one of New York’s top publishers. But I couldn’t help the hot knife of guilt that stabbed at me over what sounded like my mother’s truly hurt feelings over the matter.
“Do you love him?”
The question was like a shot of cold water. I hadn’t noticed at the time, but during the flight home, thinking back over the weekend, I realized that Miles and I hadn’t said I love you the entire weekend. When you were getting married, or when you’ve just gotten married, people fill in the blanks for you. You don’t have to proclaim your love directly because everything you are doing confirms it without words. Even our vows had been scrubbed of those three important words.
I didn’t want to lie to her. “He’s the one I’m supposed to be with.”
I exhaled softly. Hopefully that would be enough of a confession for my mother, someone who didn’t usually delve too deeply into emotional matters.
“Well, you’re right about one thing at least, Miles Warren is an attractive catch. I mean the Warrens know everyone and have connections all over the city. You’ll be able to network and meet some truly interesting people now that you are a part of his family. What did his parents say about the whole thing?”
“He’s telling them right now. It’s a surprise for them too.” All I could hope was that Miles’ conversation was faring better than my own.
“I see. Well I’d better hurry to contact them. It is a smart alliance, Penelope.”
Alliance? Apparently she still thinks we’re living in medieval times. Had she missed the fact that her ridiculous mansion has heat, light, and indoor plumbing? All things that would serve as a reminder that there are no such things as alliances between warring houses. Whatever. If it got her off my back and nudged me back to her good side, then she could call it whatever she wanted.
* * * *
“Here comes the bride!” Lo sang out as soon as I walked through the front door of the apartment. Jasmine threw a handful of rose petals over my head.
“Thanks guys.”
Jasmine and Lo both frowned at me. Jasmine spoke first, “You don’t look very happy. What’s wrong? You’re supposed to have a newlywed glow.”
“Do they sell that at the MAC counter? Because I have a feeling I’m going to need to buy in bulk if I’m going to have a prayer at surviving the next few months.”
Lo giggled and wrapped me into a warm embrace. “I don’t know if it’s labeled as newlywed glow but they do have a new moisturizer that might come pretty close.” I laughed into her swarm of curls. “What’s wrong?”
She released me and I followed my two friends into the living room where we each took our normal places on the L-shaped sectional couch. I sat in the corner and alternated my glance between the two of them, one on each side. “My mother knows about the wedding,” I began, pausing for them both to gasp in horror. I nodded “Yup. Just got off the phone with her. Not exactly the kind of phone call you want to have in the middle of baggage claim.”
Jasmine pried her hand away from her mouth and gaped at me. “How did she even find out? I swear neither of us have said a word to anyone!”
“I know. It wasn’t either one of you. Apparently after a few too many Mai Tais at the luau, Miles and I became something of the center of attention not knowing that the Delaney’s were amongst the crowd.”
Lo wrinkled her button nose. “The Delaney’s?”
I nodded. “Tad and Barb Delaney. Old money.”
Lo gasped and covered her mouth again. “Oh no,” came her muffled response upon realizing who we were talking about.
“Do Miles’ parents know?” Jasmine ventured cautiously.
I shook my head. “I have no idea. I haven’t talked to him since we said goodbye at LAX when we had to go to our separate flights.”
Jasmine nodded but her expression remained conflicted. “So, what now? You’re married. Which PS, is weird to say. He lives in Georgia and you live here. How is this going to work?”
“I don’t know anymore. We talked about it the night he proposed this entire thing and I know he wants me to move to Georgia with him. He says if I stay here then people will get suspicious. People, meaning his parents. So I told him that I’d move but now I’m not so sure.”
Lo, seemingly recovered from her shock, drew her legs up and tucked them beneath her. “What changed?”
“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just a weird vibe between us all of a sudden. Last night after the wedding we went to the luau and got silly drunk—” I paused while Jasmine and Lo oohed and aahed. I rolled my eyes, silently dismissing their theory. “Nothing happened.”
I left out the part where I woke up naked beside him in bed. It would only make them speculate more.
“So this morning I woke up and I was pretty—”
“Hung over and bitchy?” Jasmine supplied. I couldn’t argue with her. She’d seen me through a few unf
ortunate nights and knew what I could be like the next morning.
“Slightly. The whole thing caught up to me and I was kind of a bitch.” I glanced down at my hands, my eye snagging on my ring which still looked unfamiliar, like looking at someone else’s hand. “Anyways, to his credit, he took it well. Really well, actually.”
“I think you might have found a keeper,” Jasmine said.
“I’m not that bad,” I argued, glancing at Lo for back up. She zipped her lips. “I don’t know. It was just a reality check I guess. I spent the whole flight home wondering if I’d made a mistake.”
Jasmine sighed. “Well, that ship’s kinda sailed. You’re in it now, Tootsie Pop.”
“Thanks,” I said, laughing. “I know. I’m sure we’ll figure it out. I’ll just wait till he gets settled and we can find some time to talk. In the meantime, I’m going to go wash off the airplane air and then head down to the office. A weekend away from my dark room has me feeling itchy.”
Lo smiled. “All right, doll. Let us know how we can help.”
“Thanks guys.”
“And congrats on your fake wedding!” Jasmine added as I stood up from the couch and started out of the room. “Let us know when we can go out to celebrate a late, fake bachelorette party, ya know, since we kinda got screwed out of one.”
“Oh good. It’s been far too long since I’ve been elbow deep in Speedo clad men and going home coated in second hand body glitter. Good times.” I waved over my shoulder, leaving Jasmine and Lo snickering together in the living room.
Chapter Nineteen
Miles
“I can’t believe you’re married.”
I shook my head, fully in agreement with Lucas’ sentiment. After getting off the phone with my parents, he was my next call, with Colton patched in—when he wasn’t running off to help Karena with Rose—to break the news and get advice on what the hell I was supposed to do next.