by Hart, Hanna
Cooper stared off at the dancefloor and the handful of people it still housed, then he looked at the radio headset around Grace’s neck. He shifted even closer to her and asked, “Who’s your second?”
“Turkish Ainsley,” she said, and Cooper gave a surprised laugh.
He hit the button on her headset and leaned in close so that his mouth was next to her neck.
“Miss Ainsley, this is Mr. Cooper Grant. Can you please escort our guests to their rooms for the night and call A&M for cleanup?”
“Uh-yes! Of course, Mr. Grant. Right away,” came Turkish’s quick, startled response.
“She’ll need help,” Grace said.
“Nah,” he gave a wave of his hand and said, “She’s a pro. Come on. Walk with me.”
Grace watched as Cooper stood up and he reached a hand down to grab hers. She slipped her hand into his and let him pull her up and escort her down to the beach.
They walked along the shore until the wedding site was far behind them. They were leaving the resort property, although the water and surrounding beaches were still lit up by a collection of tiki torches.
If they kept walking east, they would hit a triangle tipped portion of the island known as Kahakai Huna, which the tourists all called ‘Hidden Beach.’
If you looked at it like a triangle, there would be white beaches around the perimeters and a collection of forests and one impressive mountain in the center. It was an old volcano that had been long dormant. It was a popular spot for tourist hikes, and the beaches were renowned for the snorkeling and the vast collections of the vibrant coral reef.
They stopped at the shoreline and waited for the warm water to wash up over their feet. It did, and it was the first real thing Grace had felt since what she was now dubbing ‘the incident.’
“So what happened back there?” Cooper asked.
“Ah,” she began shakily, turning back to the faint wedding reception she could still see in the distance. “Just, weddings.”
Cooper laughed. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
“No,” she said, her eyes going wide. “Trust me. Definitely not.”
“Good. Because trust me,” he said with emphasis, “weddings aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.”
Grace nodded slowly. “I wouldn’t know.”
Chapter Eight
Cooper
“Do you ever want to get married?” Cooper asked as he stood next to his sometimes-assistant Grace Stevens. She inhaled deeply and shook her head.
“Never,” she said.
He inhaled sharply in a way that was meant to be humorous. “Must have been a bad ceremony,” he said, gesturing to the reception behind them.
“Not that one,” she said with a reluctant laugh. “Mine.”
“Yours?” he repeated and then it hit him. He pressed his eyes shut and inwardly cringed.
Grace wasn’t supposed to be working this shift, he thought. She wasn’t even supposed to be in the office. He remembered it now. Her name had been struck off the calendar in a pink marker with a heart at the end of it for the next two weeks. The words: HAPPY-HONEY-HONEYMOON written in bold letters.
Cooper exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ah,” he stifled out, “I’m sorry, Grace. I completely forgot.” And then it hit him further. The wedding disaster his mother had been on about before all the Brielle nonsense came up.
It had been Grace’s wedding. Left at the altar.
He couldn’t imagine what that would feel like.
“I had no idea that… you know,” he said, shaking his head.
“No,” she said, waving him off before taking a seat in the damp sand. “It’s fine. Refreshing, actually, not to have someone giving me the ‘aww, kitten!’ look.”
“The aww kitten look?” he repeated.
He looked down at the wet sand and considered his Italian suit briefly before conceding to sitting down next to her.
The sand was wet and cold, which was a stark contrast to the water that was lapping at his feet.
“You know,” she said as though she were ready to race through her next sentence. “Aww, kitten! You poor little thing. We pity you and so forth and so on. You’re seriously just about the only person who hasn’t made me want to jump off a pier this week.”
“You’re welcome,” he teased. “I aim to be as oblivious as possible.”
“Here I thought you were just being nice,” Grace shrugged.
“I mean, I heard about it from a business standpoint but…” he trailed off. “I’m sorry, Grace. That must have been hard.”
“Well, it wasn’t fun,” she quipped.
“I can’t say I’ve ever been left at the altar,” he offered quietly, “But I do know what it’s like to have the rug pulled out from under you. To be publicly humiliated.”
“Yeah, it’s not the best,” she agreed.
A silence passed between them, and he watched Grace. She was stunningly beautiful. It was beyond comprehension that anyone would want to leave her.
But then, Brielle had been beautiful too, and she was a devil in disguise.
“They played my wedding song,” she explained, pointing back toward the reception. He didn’t look. “And I don’t know. It sort of… killed me a little bit,” she laughed bitterly.
“Do you miss him?” he asked, genuinely curious. He couldn’t imagine a woman missing a man after such an act, but he also knew women to be fickle creatures. Nothing should surprise him these days.
“I don’t know,” Grace said absent-mindedly as she stared out into the black waters. It was like all the color had drained out of her voice.
He remembered what that felt like, to walk around in a blur. If he was honest with himself, he still was.
“I think I’m in shock,” she said and then set her jaw. “I thought we were in love. I thought he was my soul-mate,” she laughed bitterly. “So… that version of me misses what I thought we had. But, I’ve learned a lot in the last week about how little I knew about my own life.”
“I think it’s a rite of passage to be sent through the ringer in love.”
“That’s very cheesy,” Grace giggled. “But possibly, depressingly, true.”
“Why’d you come back to work?” Cooper asked, needling his brows together. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I just needed something to distract me. I feel… I mean honestly, I feel nothing. Then I feel this rush of horrible, soul-crushing numbness. It’s like, standing on a precipice and knowing you’re going to be pushed off any second.”
“Before Brielle and I broke up for the final time,” he began, “I remember feeling like that. Like my body didn’t know what to feel. I was just waiting for the final shoe to drop. But it just so happened to be a six-inch heel, and it didn’t so much drop as it was whipped at my head.”
Grace threw a hand over her wide grin and laughed into it. “Seriously?”
“Bree knew how to make an exit,” he said with raised brows.
“So did Shane,” Grace snipped. “With my forty-grand flushed down the toilet.”
Cooped winced. “Wedding money?” he asked.
“Yep,” she said. “Five more, if you count my surprise honeymoon gift to Iceland.”
“Iceland?” he teased, nudging her. “Why would you want to go somewhere so furiously cold when you’re living on one of the most amazing tropical islands in the world?”
“Says the owner of its beach resort,” Grace snorted. “Iceland was his dream vacation,” she admitted. “Glaciers, hot springs, Northern Lights. All that romantic stuff. We were hoping to make at least a little bit of it back from gifts and cards and stuff, but…” she shrugged.
“I guess you can’t open them now,” he said slowly.
“Nope. I don’t even have the heart, sorry, the strength to open all that stuff. It’s just sitting in a pile at my apartment. It’s horrible. I’m drowning in presents, and I’ve never been more miserable.”
“Do you think you’ll recon
cile?”
Grace turned to him then and let out a genuine, hard laugh. “Have you heard a single thing I’ve said? I’m broke, lonely, and humiliated. No!”
“You never know,” he said warily. “Maybe he’ll come back and realize what an idiot he’s been. Beg your forgiveness.”
“And maybe I’ll tell him that he wrecked everything and I can’t even bear the thought of being in the same room with him without a hammer,” she scoffed.
Cooper laughed. “Or maybe you’ll be so conflicted you’ll be forced into an emotional paralysis until the offer expires.”
“Or maybe that,” she said with some humor.
Cooper swallowed, and the girl next to him fixed a hand through her mane of honey-blonde hair and tilted her head. “Right,” she said knowingly, “Mrs. Grant.”
“Ex-Mrs. Grant,” he corrected and she smirked.
“How did that go, anyway?” she asked and then nudged, “Fill in the parts I couldn’t hear being screamed from across the office.”
“Ah,” he exhaled, “Not good. She wants…” he trailed off, and something occurred to him.
Grace.
She was the one!
He’d been wracking his brain thinking how he could make his mother’s ridiculous plan work. He’d thought of exes and close female friends who might be willing to commit their futures to be his wife… but the answer had been right here all along.
Grace. Beautiful, sexy, charming Grace. Done-with-love Grace. She was absolutely perfect.
“Do you want to get married?” he asked, tilting his head toward her and offering her his most endearing grin.
Grace blanched and said, “Ever?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t want to get married, ever again,” Cooper clarified. “I have no interest in anything to do with love.”
“Here, here!” Grace cheered. “The next guy who asks me out is getting a serious witch-stare. I’m so over relationships and their complications. And I’m over dating. Who pays for what, gross guys with their pervy pick-up lines. The games. The competition. I’m over it.”
“And what about marrying me?” Cooper asked and quickly swallowed.
“Because…?” The blue-eyed-girl blinked in surprise and asked, “Why would I do that?”
Cooper took a deep breath and explained the entire situation to her. The vicious ex, the island-stealing contract, the promise to be his wife, and finally, the one-million-dollar exchange for one month of her time and her endless marriage to him.
Grace set a hand against her chest and exhaled as she listened to Cooper’s very long explanation.
“That's,” Grace paused, seeming lost for words. Finally, she decided on, “Different.”
“Fair as in, hm, a million dollars for my time, fair? Or fair as in, Cooper you’re a demented love-Grinch, please get away from me?”
“Sort of, both,” Grace laughed. “But, I’m open to it.”
“I can show you the contract tomorrow if you like,” he said evenly. “You really should have your lawyer look over it. I want you to have all the information before making your decision. But, I will say, it’s a bit of a time-sensitive issue. There’s a lot of things you have to consider.”
“Certainly,” she said.
Cooper watched as she set her hand into the ground and continuously grabbed clumps of wet sand into her hand before pressing it back down into the beach.
“And why did you pick me for this offer?”
“You’re the first one I asked, actually,” Cooper said with a nervous smile. “I guess because we’re in the same boat, you and I. Burned by love. No desire to have a repeat. This makes things… nice and easy.”
“And?” she asked wryly, leaning into his shoulder.
“Oh, what? Are you looking for flattery?” he teased. “Well, sure, I mean, you’re beautiful. We’ve known each other for a while. And I like talking to you. You’re easy to talk to.”
“Alright, alright,” she said sweetly, brushing him off. “You had me at beautiful.”
“It’s true,” Cooper said.
He wanted this to work so badly. Not only because a marriage would save his parents the hurt of losing the island, but also because on some level, marrying Grace released him from love. It was some strange sort of visceral proof that things between him and Brielle were truly over. That, if he didn’t want to, he never had to court another woman. He could relax, for a change.
And then there was Grace to consider. Sitting in the sand with her was the most peaceful moment he’d had since Brielle left.
Scratch that.
It was the calmest and most peaceful he had felt since first he first married Brielle.
Spending a month with her might prove to be healing for him. For both of them.
“I’ll do it,” Grace said suddenly. Her voice was full of conviction, but he knew it would take more than an evening on the beach to get the real answer out of her.
“Well, think on it,” he laughed. “I’ll bring some papers by tomorrow for you to look over. It’s a lot to think about.”
“I’ve thought about it,” she said, “I’ll do it.”
“Before you answer, you really have to ask yourself how done with love you are. This means, potentially, never marrying again. Just me. And that one’s just for show.”
“Unless you get married again,” she said curiously, and he nodded.
“Which I don’t intend to do,” he said firmly. “You have to understand that part. I’m done. You can’t agree and then bank on me marrying someone else. If you leave and we divorce without my remarrying, the contract becomes void. No money.”
Cooper stood from the sand and inhaled the cool night air. His suit was soaked, and as he looked down at Grace, he kept hoping she would agree with him again.
She stared up at him, round eyes in wonder as she thought on his sentence.
“Cooper,” she said. “I’m through with love. I’m done, too.”
It felt as though a heavy weight had completely disappeared from Cooper’s shoulders.
“Then, I guess it’s official,” he said.
Just maybe, with the help of Grace Stevens, everything was going to be alright.
Cooper couldn’t help the grin that pulled at the corner of his mouth and erupted into a wide smile. He leaned down and picked her up by the waist. Then he offered his hand to her, and she took it graciously.
“Come on, wife,” he said with a smile in his tone, “We have a lot of work to do.”
Chapter Nine
Grace
Grace woke up in a cold sweat. She had only gotten four hours of sleep before her internal clock went off, startling her awake. She looked around the small bedroom in her small apartment and let out a sigh.
She set her feet on the cold floor below and grabbed her fluffy robe off the chair by the bed. She made her way down the hallway toward the kitchen without turning on a single light.
The kitchen, while luxurious like the rest of the resort’s staff condos, was small. Sure, it had marble countertops, but it barely had the counter space to peel a banana, let alone prep a meal.
Grace reached into the glass cupboard and pulled out an oversized mug. She filled it with tap water and brought it back to her bedroom.
Something felt... off.
And not in the 'Shane left me and my life is a crumbling mess' way that it usually did. No, something was different.
Grace guzzled down her water like she was a tourist lost in the desert and flopped back onto her feather-top mattress. She sunk into the cool sheets and let her close heavily.
Oh no.
She sat up in her bed and slapped a hand against her forehead.
She remembered now.
Had she... in some sort of post-wedding stupor... agreed to marry the billionaire Mr. Cooper Grant?
Had she actually called him Cooper to his face like they were old pals?
Did she agree to be her boss’s wife for life in order to receive a million dollars?
The night went on in a blur of half-awake, half-asleep thoughts. By the time her alarm went off, she was finally ready to sleep. If there were any excuse to sleep in, she thought, this was it.
Grace went into work three hours late that day, which was fine since there weren't any weddings scheduled for her care that day. Even so, she couldn't think of the last time she was late for work.
Possibly never, she thought. Not after she had to put her husky Huck down and not after her fiancé bailed on their wedding.
Grace stepped through the glass doors of the opulent Crystal Beach offices and walked by Mirna's office with an inner grimace. She swallowed nervously as she passed the woman's desk, hoping not to be interrupted.
"Grace!" Mirna called, waving her over.
Grace cringed and spun on her heel, marching back to the woman.
"You okay?" Mirna asked, making an obvious show of looking at the clock behind her. "You're three hours late."
"Rough night," Grace said groggily.
"Oh yeah, I heard that wedding was an absolute disaster," Mirna said with a regal wave of her hand. "People are calling the bride a nutjob. Was she crazy?"
"No," Grace said, suddenly feeling sorry for the girl. Then she remembered LOBSTER-GATE and changed her mind. "Actually, yes. She was horrible."
"Good luck to them!" Mirna said with a laugh and Grace began to walk back to her desk. But, as usual, Mirna wasn't finished with her. "Have you heard the latest?"
Grace grit her teeth and stared at the woman with round, wide eyes. If anyone was going to find out about her late-night agreement with Cooper, it would be Mirna. Grace didn't know how—maybe the woman had spies hiding in the sand?—but Mirna was the leading source of island gossip.
"No," Grace said in a weirder tone than she'd meant to vocalize, "What's up?"
"Turkish is preggers," Mirna said with a viciously evil grin. "Pregnant, Grace! Can you believe it?"
"N-no," she said, cocking a confused brow. "That's weird. Are you sure?"