by Amy Brent
How did she handle the personal? Because we had officially moved into territory that neither of us was familiar with. Or at least I sure as hell wasn’t.
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, wondering where the hell she had gone when my sleep-addled brain finally heard it. The shower was running in the bathroom. Well, that was the answer to one question at least. Who knew about the answers to the million others that were still running in my head.
I could only imagine the crazy thoughts Faye was having, the panic and the doubt and the regret.
I hoped that wasn’t the case, but I knew Faye too well to expect anything else. There wasn’t a thing about last night that I regretted. I didn’t doubt or feel panic about anything that had happened.
A part of me had known it was inevitable. We had been on a collision course ever since that night over a year and a half ago, and for me, nothing had changed since that night. I still craved her like a drug in my system, even after having her last night—twice.
I still admired her and her humor and wit and loved her strength and tenacity. None of that had changed. The only thing that had changed was that she had agreed to my plan.
Even though I knew the marriage was a complete and total farce, I couldn’t help but feel a fierce joy at her agreeing, partly because I knew I could keep her safe and the idea of Faye getting hurt was worse than an injury to myself. But the other part was completely selfish. I would get to spend more time with her, and that was a win in my book.
For a year and half, I’d been desperately trying to show her how good we could be together if she would just give us a shot. It only took death threats and agreeing to a fake marriage to get us there, but I would take any chance I could get my hands on.
With a muttered curse, I pushed myself out of the bed and padded silently toward the bathroom. I knew she was in there by herself, freaking out. But one thing she would have to realize sooner or later was that she wasn’t alone anymore. She didn’t have to handle everything by herself, not even her emotions.
I was taking a risk, but that didn’t stop me from opening the bathroom door and sneaking into the steam-filled room. The mirror was fogged over and the air heavy and balmy with humidity that dampened my skin before I even stepped into the stream of the shower.
“Oh my god! What the hell! Sam!” Faye shrieked in surprise, turning to face me as her face flushed bright red, and then she turned away, trying to cover her body with her arms.
“You know I’ve seen you naked before, right?” I asked with a husky laugh as I stepped closer to her. As I did, though, my humor dried up like smoke in my throat. I could see the redness around her eyes and the moisture on her cheeks that wasn’t from the shower. “Hey, are you okay? Have you been crying?” I wiped the tears away, which were answer enough to my question, before pulling her body close against mine and wrapping her in my arms.
She resisted for a moment, but then the next she collapsed against me. I felt all the tension drain out of her body, but the tiny hitching sob she let out carved a hole inside me.
“It’ll be okay, Faye. I promise you. This plan will work. I know you think it’s stupid, but you’ll see. You’ll be safe. I promise I’ll keep you safe.”
I whispered the husky words against the top of her soaked hair, but she pulled back just enough to look me in the eye, and I could see the struggle in her dark gaze.
“But who’s going to protect me from you?” she asked solemnly. My brows furrowed in confusion at her question, but before I could ask her what she meant, she grabbed my head and pulled me down for a kiss that seared me, obliterating all other thought.
There was something so much deeper about this kiss than any we had shared the night before, and I knew it was because for the first time with me, maybe the first time ever, Faye had let down all her guards, all the walls she kept up at all times. She’d taken them down for me, or maybe they’d all gotten knocked down by the events of the last week.
Either way, I reveled in the intimate way she moved against me, the sweetness of the sigh that sounded against my cheek and the even sweeter taste of her. I let myself drink from her, sinking into her essence as the hot water of the shower pounded over us.
It was a long time before I finally turned off the water. It had already grown cool by that point and Faye was shivering, standing there in the middle of the shower dripping wet and trembling.
I grabbed a big fluffy white towel and wrapped it around her, drying her as gently as if she were made of porcelain before wrapping her in the soft fabric and carrying her back to the bedroom.
I reveled in the feeling of taking care of her. Reveled in the fact that she actually trusted me enough to do so. But her question still nagged at me.
But who’s going to protect me from you?
She may not have known it yet, but I would have rather chopped off my own hand than hurt her. She would learn though, eventually. She would learn she could trust me completely. But for now, I would settle for taking care of her. And I did, over and over again, until she was asleep and boneless in my arms once more.
And then I held her tight, still protecting her as she dreamed.
Chapter 10
Faye
“Where the hell is that man?” I was barely aware of muttering the words out loud to myself as I stomped down the empty hallway. Eureka Records was nearly empty on Saturdays, but I knew Archer was here somewhere. He had to be.
I had scoured the building, searching his office and the recording studio, but I still couldn’t find him and my desperation was starting to show.
I forced my fingers away from my mouth, telling myself firmly to stop chewing on my fingernails. It was a nervous habit I’d always hated, but when I was really stressed, sometimes I just couldn’t help it and I’d find myself chewing them down to the cuticle.
“Come on, Archer,” I growled, tacking on a curse for the man as I strode toward the tech room.
After my night with Sam, I had spent every hour frantically trying to find a different way out of this situation. A way that didn’t involve me fake-marrying Sam. A way that didn’t involve me spending more days with him, or nights. Especially nights.
Heat flickered into my cheeks like a flash fire, and I realized I had drawn to a halt as I’d thought about him. Damn him. He distracted me like nothing else in the world. Damn him again—though I wasn’t sure if that one was for Archer or Sam.
It took searching through three more rooms and down two more hallways before I finally opened a door and found Archer. He was standing in the middle of the green room with a folder in his hands. Rebecca, his assistant, was standing next to him.
The pretty young woman had a blush that stained her cheeks a bright pink, and I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes. No wonder he was such an egotistical asshole. All he had to do was flash his dimple and sensible women everywhere lost their heads over him. Sometimes to a dangerous degree, I thought, remember what he’d said about his ex.
I shook of the thought as I stepped into the room.
“Archer, there you are. Listen, I need to talk to you.” I kept walking toward where he and Rebecca were standing, and Archer turned to me with a smile.
“Faye! What a nice surprise.”
I caught the look Rebecca shot me, but I ignored it. She didn’t have to hurry. He was all hers.
“Archer, we need to talk about something.” His assistant was still staring at me like a strange cat. “Can I talk to you alone?”
The owner of Eureka Records grinned at me, showing both rows of straight, pearly white teeth as he dismissed his assistant with a nod toward the door. Rebecca shot me a full-on glare, but when I looked at her head-on, her expression cleared so quickly it made me wonder if I was seeing things.
She made her exit, leaving me and Archer alone.
“What is it you wanted to discuss?” Archer asked, leaning against the back of a chair casually.
“Penny.”
&
nbsp; He grimaced at his ex-girlfriend’s name, but I kept going before he had a chance to speak.
“Tell me about her. I need to know: Is there any hope that she’ll just…I don’t know, change her mind? Will she just back off on her own?”
Archer was shaking his head before I even had the question all the way out, making the dread inside me tighten even more.
“Things got pretty bad last time.”
“Bad? Bad how?” I said, that dread growing into panic. “Can’t you do something? Call her? Tell her to stop?”
“Honestly, Faye, I don’t even know where she is or what she does anymore. I cut off all contact with her. And even if I did have a way of contacting her, I wouldn’t. It would just escalate the situation.”
“Archer.” My voice was hard as I set my hands on my hips, giving him a sharp look. “What happened last time?”
“The last girl I seriously dated got into an…accident.”
“What kind of accident?”
“Her brakes failed. She was okay!” he hurried to say, obviously trying to convince me but sounding like he was trying to convince himself just as much. “She was fine after a few weeks of recovery. Something had gone wrong with her car, but there was no evidence so we couldn’t pin it on Penny, but…it was enough to scare Janelle away for good.”
“Yeah, no shit. She sounds like a smart girl,” I muttered, shaking my head. I had worried about something like that, but nothing that drastic. “Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
Archer gave me a confused look, and I just shook my head. How could I explain? I crossed my arms, suddenly cold to the bone.
“So, she really won’t give up?” I asked, but without any real hope. “Not unless I can prove that I’m not interested in you.”
“That might work,” Archer said slowly, “but I don’t know how… Oh, hey, Sam.”
I jumped at the sound of his name and had to fight the embarrassed flush that tried to stain my cheeks. Damn it!
I’d been so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn’t even noticed he had walked into the room with us until Archer had spoken.
Sam held out his hand, his dark gaze locked on mine. His expression was serious but tinged with a warmth that fired a similar feeling inside me, chasing away at least a little of the chill.
“You ready?” he asked. The question rocked me back on my heels. What I ready? Was I ready! Hell no I wasn’t ready. But it seemed like that didn’t matter one wit. With a deep sigh, I reached out and grabbed Sam’s offered hand, secretly delighting in the comforting squeeze he gave my fingers.
“Let’s just get this over with,” I muttered with a sigh. “Like ripping off a bandage, right?”
“Sure, just like that,” Sam answered with a laugh, and I was so lost in my own distraught panic that I didn’t see the gleam of happiness shining in his eyes.
We started to walk toward the door, but I stopped, tossing a narrow-eyed look at Archer.
“You might as well come along too.”
He was looking back and forth from me to Sam with a confused look plastered across his face.
“What’s going on?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Sam said, shooting the other man a gloating look over my head.
I followed after Sam as he led me from the room, still holding my hand. My whole body felt numb as we walked. I could hardly feel the tiles beneath my feet as he took me down a short hallway and into the small lounge that was there for the artists.
The walls were painted a muted dark blue and there were velvet-lined couches scattered around the space as well as a few overstuffed chairs. Gold and platinum records hung on the walls. And there was a bar!
I made a beeline for the little bar cart that was pushed against one wall and didn’t stop as I rifled through the bottles until I found the vodka. I pulled it out with a grin of victory and poured myself a shot.
It wasn’t until I looked up again that I noticed everybody staring at me. Sam was still standing in the middle of the room where I’d left him. Archer was in the doorway. Alice and Casey were taking up two of the couches. All eyes were on me.
“Sam and I have an announcement to make,” I said, shocked that my voice didn’t tremble as terribly as the rest of me. I held up the shot like a toast. “We’re getting married. Salud!” I tossed back the shot, the burn of the vodka distracting me from the blistering silence for a moment as I swallowed down the alcohol.
No one said a single word as Sam crossed the small distance that separated us and slid a comforting arm around me.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly against my temple. Damn him. Desire and need instantly rose up inside me at that slight contact, and all I wanted to do was curl up inside him and escape everyone’s burning stares.
But I couldn’t do that. I’d been taking care of myself for twenty-eight years. I didn’t need Sam damn it. I didn’t need anyone but myself.
With a deep breath, I pulled myself back to put a few inches of space between us. I threw my shoulders back and tilted my chin up and tossed back another shot of vodka just for that extra bit of courage before facing the room again.
“Here’s the deal,” I said slowly, swallowing the butterflies in my stomach before I could go on. “Sam and I are getting married, but it’s not real. We are going to publicize the whole thing so that Archer’s crazy ex-girlfriend won’t cut the brakes in my car.”
“What?” Sam said, sounding horrified, but I just waved away his question.
“I’ll fill you in later. The point is this: Only the people in this room know that it’s not a real marriage, and I need everyone to pinky swear to keep it that way. This has to stay a secret. No one outside this room can find out, otherwise the whole thing will be blown and I could end up hurt, or worse.”
One by one, they all swore that they would keep the secret, and all too soon it was done. It was really happening. I was getting married—to a goddamned musician.
Chapter 11
Sam
We had been engaged for exactly one day and Faye was already driving me insane. Where the hell was she? I had looked all over the recording studio for her and hadn’t seen even a glimpse of her long dark curls or sultry smile. It was like she had just up and disappeared!
I knew what she was doing. She was avoiding me. She had been avoiding me ever since we had announced our impending “marriage.” And it bothered me.
After she’d downed three shots of vodka and dropped our bombshell of an announcement on everybody, she’d just turned and walked away, leaving everyone stunned into silence. That had left me to stand there awkwardly until Alice had finally stood up and walked over. She’d given me a pat on the shoulder and told me good luck. I just wished she hadn’t looked quite so cynical about the whole thing.
I had given Faye the rest of the day to sulk by herself as she figured it out, but it had been three days! Three days and I still hadn’t been able to say more than a word or two to her.
Didn’t she realize that the point of this whole thing was to be seen together? To show her crazy stalker that she wasn’t interested in Archer by making a big deal out of the engagement?
And is that the only reason you want to see her? The question echoed soft and sly in the back of mind, and I tried to shake it off but it stayed there, lodged in my thoughts like a rusty nail.
Because I knew the truth. The truth was, after that night at my apartment, I wanted her again. I missed her. Not just her body and her touch, although that had certainly haunted me over the last three days, but just…her. Her smile, her fierce wit and strength, her spirit.
I found myself walking down a hallway, poking my head into doorways as I passed them, but my hope of finding Faye was dimming fast. She really knew how to hide when she didn’t want to be found.
I opened the door at the end of the hallway, so distracted by thoughts of Faye that I didn’t notice the nameplate on the door and didn’t realize where I was until it
was too late.
“Sam? Sam, is that you?”
I bit back a groan as I looked across the massive black walnut desk to the blond-haired, blue-eyed man sitting behind it. With a sigh, I opened the door the rest of the way and walked into Archer’s office.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” I said without a hint of regret in my voice. Even though I appreciated working with him to make the new album, I just couldn’t make myself like the man. “I was looking for Faye.”
“Well, as you can see, the little minx isn’t here,” Archer said with a rough chuckle, and I raised one eyebrow but didn’t say anything to that as I glanced around the large office. It was as opulent as I expected from the man. It was just as glittery and gaudy as he was.
Maybe gaudy was a bit too harsh, but after growing up in the foster system, any sort of obvious display of wealth made me uncomfortable. Even now, after making more money than I’d ever seen in my life on the tour we had just finished, I still didn’t feel comfortable with it. Maybe I never would.
The office walls were painted a pristine slate gray and there were platinum accents littered all over the massive space.
Posters and records signed by legends in the music industry hung next to photos of Archer with even more famous people.
There was nothing personal about any of them though. No friends. No family. It made me shake my head. What was the point of all this if you couldn’t share it with the people you loved?
One thing was obvious though. Faye really wasn’t here. I didn’t know she was, but it definitely wasn’t here with Archer. I didn’t know why that made me feel a little better as I turned to leave, but Calloway’s voice speaking from behind his desk drew me to a sudden halt.
“Hey, Sam, are you really going to through with it? The whole fake marriage thing?”
I turned to meet Archer’s incredulous stare with a shrug.
“Yeah, I am,” I said. It was the simple truth.