Faking Forever (First Wives Book 4)

by Catherine Bybee

  She seemed to like his definition of her, if the smile on her face was any indication.

  “Are we talking about the same woman?” Avery asked.

  Victor’s eyes locked with Shannon’s.

  “I did tell him he was rude.”

  “And Justin said you called me an asshole before you knew who he was,” Victor told her.

  Her cheeks started to flush.

  “Who is Justin?”

  “Victor’s brother,” Shannon told Avery.

  “Ouch.”

  “You’re the only one who has accused me of being full of sass,” she told him.

  “I can vouch for that,” Avery added.

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  “Nope. Shannon’s the reserved one. Always watching but almost never speaking up unless asked.”

  Victor moved his gaze to Avery. “Now I know we’re not talking about the same woman.”

  “I’ve known her longer than you, buddy.”

  He smirked. “She sat in my lap on the airplane.”

  “I fell,” Shannon corrected him.

  He met her stare, lifted an eyebrow. “You didn’t get up right away.”

  “There was turbulence.”

  “Then you blamed me.”

  “I needed to get back to my seat, and you stretched out and fell asleep when I was using the restroom.”

  Victor grinned. “See the sass?”

  Shannon rolled her eyes.

  Avery’s mouth hung open. “You did not just roll your eyes. Shannon never rolls her eyes.”

  Dylan started to laugh. “Looks like you bring out the best in our new friend, Victor.”

  Shannon seemed to bite her lips together to keep from speaking. But man, did he want to know what she was thinking.

  “Looks like I do.”

  Chapter Ten

  “I just need a couple more hours.” Avery rolled back over when Shannon nudged her awake after eight the next morning. “I think I drank too much last night.”

  “Can I get you anything?”

  “No. I’ll meet you on the beach in a few. Jet lag and drinking. Bad combo.”

  They hadn’t been out that late, closing the beach bar and grabbing a bite in the hotel restaurant.

  “I’m within shouting distance if you need something.”

  Avery lifted a hand and then tucked it under her cheek.

  Five minutes later, Shannon left their room with a beach bag slung over her shoulder.

  Instead of going straight for the sand, she detoured to the hotel restaurant, sat, and ordered coffee. She picked up her e-reader and clicked into a book written by and about a single mother by choice. There were a lot of things she’d considered before making her decision to have a baby . . . and many she had not. Hearing from women who had done it helped boost her confidence in her plan.

  She sipped coffee and ordered a plate of granola, fruit, and yogurt and enjoyed the quiet before the restaurant and beach outside filled with people.

  Deep in a chapter about the support system needed to be successful at raising a child as a single woman, Shannon nibbled on her breakfast, ignoring everything around her. Her thoughts wandered to her parents . . . people she had tried to please most of her life but ultimately felt she disappointed. They’d been ecstatic with her marriage to Paul. What affluent parents wouldn’t be? Little did they know it was all a calculated plan to obtain financial security for her future. It wasn’t that Shannon was afraid of work. She wasn’t. Her liberal arts degree was for her parents, her minor in digital photography was for her. Except photography didn’t pay well, and as a new graduate, she couldn’t afford her rent. And her parents refused to help her financially so long as she pursued a career in taking pictures. Shannon ended up opening a small studio and had been working with wannabe actors who needed headshots and budget weddings. But she wasn’t getting ahead, and her parents were already one daughter short since Angie had run off. Since Shannon was a people pleaser more than she cared to admit, she started to look for alternatives that would make her parents happy and give her the financial freedom she needed.

  She’d met Samantha Harrison, owner of Alliance, the company that arranged her temporary marriage to Paul, at a holiday party at her father’s firm. Sam, as she liked to be called, clued in right away that Shannon was looking for stability while building her business. With her pedigree and poise, coming from a wealthy family, it was an easy match between her and Paul. Sam introduced her to Meg, one of her colleagues, and the facts of a temporary marriage were spelled out to her.

  When Shannon realized she only had to pretend to be the man’s happy wife for two years and then leave with six million and a house worthy of the governor’s wife, Shannon signed the contract.

  Falling in love with the man wasn’t part of the plan.

  Spending three years after her divorce mourning the loss of her temporary marriage wasn’t expected either.

  With her fertility clock ticking away and the desire to not put her heart out there only to be stomped on again, Shannon felt she was making the best logical step to making her future better.

  Her parents no longer nagged her to get married, and while they didn’t openly support her work as a photographer, they didn’t continually put it down either. Her mother referred to it as a hobby. And since it didn’t truly support her, Shannon couldn’t disagree. Then again, she wasn’t attempting to fill every extra hour with work. There wasn’t a need. Which led to her desire to have a child. She had love to give, and who better than her own baby?

  Like the woman who’d written the book she was reading, Shannon had enough money to support a baby on her own, and with her friendship pool filled with strong women with equally solid men, she knew she and her child would be fine.

  Shannon flipped through the virtual pages of the book discussing the lesbian choice of conception and moved on to the single straight woman.

  “It’s either a boring book or you’re a speed reader.”

  The voice behind her made her jump.

  She set the reader down, heart in chest. “Stop scaring me, Victor.”

  He slid into a chair, signaled the waiter, and sat back with a smile. “Good morning.”

  He still wore ridiculous pants, loafers, and what looked like a T-shirt from the hotel staff. “You’re up early,” he said.

  “I can’t help it.”

  He looked around. “Where’s Avery?”

  “Sleeping.”

  “Ahh. She seemed very protective of you yesterday.”

  “She is. Good friends are like that.” She looked at his shirt. “Did you bum the shirt off the waiter?”

  “Concierge offered a lost luggage pack.”

  She smiled. “Did you tell them the airline lost your suitcase?”

  He leaned forward, lowered his voice. “That was my first thought, then I realized they’d be on the lookout for when the airline found it and sent it here. So I told them my runaway bride ran off with my luggage by mistake.”

  “Sneaky, but resourceful.”

  The waiter brought his coffee. “I’m meeting Dylan here before we shop. Although I’m sure I can manage on my own.”

  “When was the last time you bought casual clothes?”

  “I order stuff online.”

  Shannon shook her head. “You need his help. Don’t worry, I know it’s a stereotype, but most gay men know how to dress. I’m sure he won’t lead you wrong.”

  “Everything I’ve seen since I’ve been here has a hippie, bohemian theme.”

  “I can think of worse looks.”

  Victor shrugged. “I guess.”

  “Isn’t today the day of your important meeting?” It was Tuesday.

  “I rescheduled.”

  She smiled, waited a beat. “Any word from Corrie?”

  “No.”

  Because she needed to know. “How are you doing with all that?”

  “I didn’t get wasted last night . . . so better, I guess.”

&nbs
p; “Progress.”

  “What about you guys . . . what are your plans today?”

  “Beach, swimming, dinner plans tonight. Tomorrow we’re doing the tourist thing.” And searching for a baby daddy away from the hotel.

  “What are the tourist things to do here?”

  “You can visit the ruins, the cenotes, do some snorkeling. Do you dive?”

  “Scuba?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “No. If I were meant to breathe underwater, I’d have gills.”

  “There’s kayaking, windsurfing. You can rent ATVs, ride through the jungle, find the monkeys, maybe a jaguar or two. I’m sure you can find plenty to do.” Shannon had a strong suspicion that Victor didn’t plan on doing any of it.

  “I’ll figure it out.”

  They both noticed Dylan approaching at the same time. He greeted Shannon with a kiss to the cheek. “Good morning, lovely.”

  “Good morning.”

  He turned to look at Victor, frowned at the shirt. “You’re a fashion emergency if I ever saw one.”

  “We’re going to fix that, right?”

  Dylan stood back when Victor got up from his chair.

  “Good luck,” Shannon said.

  “I’m going to need it,” Dylan said.

  “I know when I’m being insulted,” Victor added. “Let’s get this over with. I’m not a shopper. The sooner we start, the sooner I can walk around without looking like I just got off the plane.”

  Shannon waved as they walked away. “Have fun.” She couldn’t wait to see what Dylan would dress Victor in. Anything would be better than dress slacks on a beach.

  What had he been thinking?

  Curiosity, she told herself. To see him in something casual. Maybe a change in clothes would help him loosen up. He’d seemed a little more relaxed than the day before. When she’d asked about Corrie, he didn’t show much in the way of emotions.

  She remembered when she and Paul had split. The day their agreement was up, he handed her divorce papers. She was devastated, made worse by the fact she couldn’t show him how much. They were adults. They agreed to get married platonically, and somewhere into the first year of their agreement, they fell into bed.

  They both agreed it was just physical. Two adults having an affair within their temporary marriage.

  For Paul, that was exactly what it was.

  For Shannon . . . not so much. For months she couldn’t talk about her divorce without a world of pain. The fact that Victor didn’t even flinch with Corrie’s name just days after she’d jilted him told Shannon everything she needed to know about where his heart was.

  His heart wasn’t in the game.

  Maybe he was coming to that conclusion on his own. Or maybe he’d always known it wasn’t.

  Shannon stared toward the door the two men had left through and asked herself why she was concerned in the first place.

  Curiosity?

  She shook her head, lifted her e-reader, and continued where she’d left off.

  The chapter was titled “Consciously Conceiving a Child without a Partner.” She sat back to read, and pushed Victor from her mind.

  Hours later, Shannon and Avery walked up the beach along the water’s edge to scope out prospective hotel bars.

  They walked past several spaces of land that were boarded up and others that looked closed to the public. “I’m guessing private residences,” Avery suggested.

  When they came across an active beach scene, they’d meander toward the bar. Several employed female bartenders, and the men didn’t fit the daddy checklist. But staff circulated, and there was always a chance the right guy would be there the next day. Or so Shannon told herself as they walked away.

  They were a good mile from their hotel when Avery suggested they turn around.

  Shannon heard a party up a little farther on the beach. “Let’s find out where the music is coming from.”

  They walked around a grouping of palm trees and hesitated.

  Avery leaned in. “Well, at least you know what you’re going to get if you find the guy here.”

  Shannon scanned the crowd but didn’t see one face.

  Everyone was buck naked.

  Unlike a few topless sunbathers they’d seen on the beach, this was full-on, nothing-covered-up adulting like Shannon had never witnessed before.

  “We’re overdressed.” Shannon found herself staring at a woman putting oil on a man lying next to her. It would be one thing if she was covering his back, or even his legs . . . but Shannon couldn’t imagine the man wasn’t able to reach his own penis.

  Shannon turned away, grabbing Avery’s arm when she realized there was more than one couple doing more than nude sunbathing. “Let’s go.”

  “But this is—”

  “Not where I want to find a father for my child.”

  Avery twisted around and looked over her shoulder. “She’s full-on stroking him right there.”

  “Yeah, I saw. And I don’t want to see him finish. C’mon.”

  Thirty feet back in the direction of their hotel, Avery started laughing. “I can’t believe that.”

  Shannon squeezed her eyes closed, still saw the oiled couple. “That falls into the category of things I can’t unsee.”

  “I say we go back,” Avery said.

  “I say you’re crazy.”

  “I bet no one asks your name there. People will be too busy staring at your body to see your face. Could be perfect.”

  Shannon walked faster. “I like to think I’m progressive, but that is way outside my comfort zone.”

  “Fine, fine.” Only Avery kept looking behind her as if she were missing out.

  Back at their hotel, Shannon ditched her cover-up and walked into the water. It was bathtub warm without the crashing surf that spotted the shores of Southern California. In one word, it was relaxing.

  They ate lunch on the beach, decided to skip the alcohol and stick to bottled water until dinner, and gave up on the hot sand altogether after a few hours.

  Shannon found herself scanning the beachfront for Victor. Curious as to what he’d be wearing when she saw him again. Only he never manifested. Neither did Dylan or Erasmo. Maybe they were still shopping. Though she doubted a man who normally shopped online would make a full day of picking out resort wear.

  When Avery suggested they go up to their room and spend time in their private plunge pool, Shannon agreed.

  The second they were on their balcony, Avery removed her swimsuit and jumped in. The guests from the beach couldn’t see them unless they stood on the edge of the balcony, and the only other room that had a view was the second penthouse on the other end of the beach. From what Shannon could tell, no one was in the room. Not surprising, considering the price.

  “This is perfect.” Avery leaned her head back and floated toward the surface of the water.

  “I’ve never skinny-dipped.”

  Avery peeked at her with one eye open. “Doesn’t really count if there isn’t a guy around. This is more like girl time at the spa.”

  Shannon shrugged and slipped out of her bikini. Like Avery, she let gravity float her body toward the sun once she was in the water.

  The water soothed her warm skin and calmed her nerves. Strange how being naked in a public place had that effect.

  “I think I need to swim naked more often.”

  “We need to go back to the nude beach.”

  “That place looked more like an orgy than a hippie colony.” Then again, those things sounded like the same thing.

  “Those are the stories you tell your children about when they’re teenagers so they know you were cool once.”

  “I don’t know if I wanna be that cool,” she said, laughing.

  “I do. I’ll probably go without you.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  Avery looked at her. “I can’t?”

  “No. I mean . . . of course you can, but what if someone comes on to you? What would Liam say?”

&
nbsp; “My husband trusts me, and if anyone can fend for themselves, it’s me.”

  Avery had been studying krav maga for over a year, and while Shannon hadn’t seen her in action, Liam had told her that Avery could put a man twice her size on the mat and make him cry.

  “Of course it would be better if you came with me. Just in case I need someone to call my lesbian lover.”

  “Parading around as a lesbian might not be the best way for me to find someone to father my baby.”

  “A lot of men get turned on by that kind of thing.”

  “Why do I get the feeling you’re going to win this conversation?”

  “Because you secretly want to display that goddess body and cut loose the ties society has bound you in. Personally, I think you’re more apt to find a stranger to sleep with if you shed all the proper bullshit you’ve been fed all your life.”

  “Am I that pretentious?” Shannon truly thought she’d evolved in the last five years.

  “Not pretentious, just not the kind of woman who sleeps with strangers. I’ve never seen you flirt. Do you even see the men who smile at you?”

  “I don’t turn as many heads as you’d think.”

  Avery ran her hand along the top of the water. “You turn twice as many. You just don’t see them. And you don’t see them because you don’t want to. The second you let that guard down, men will line up. If they’re eligible and single . . . and even if they’re not, you’re going to need me there to knock them away.”

  Shannon couldn’t comment on the effect of dropping her walls, but she knew they were there. “I don’t know how to break out of this rut, Avery. I’ve been trying.”

  “Here’s my advice, like it or not. Treat all the men like they’re not a threat. Look at Dylan and Erasmo. Two guys, nonthreatening on any level . . . you relaxed around them, laughed. I even saw some of that sass Victor said you had.”

  Just hearing the man’s name made the hair on her neck stand up. “Victor riles me.”

  “I noticed. He is a prime example of a man watching you and you don’t see it.”

  “Oh, please. The man’s fiancée ran out on him three days ago, and he placed some of the blame on me. If he’s looking, it’s only to make sure I’m not sabotaging something else in his life.”