The Cowboy’s Contract Marriage: Grant Brothers Series Book Two

by North, Leslie

  “It would be such a lovely place for pictures,” she mused, looking up at the creamy stone architecture framed by a pretty set of trees. This town, bigger than their own, had the kind of courthouse a person could be happy to use as the backdrop for her wedding pictures, provided that the wedding was real and something she wanted photographic evidence of. Which, she reminded herself sternly, it was not. She was there for business purposes, and she was running late. Her wedding photographs would be for show and nothing more, just like the rest of this unusual arrangement.

  “Okay,” she whispered, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as she counted to ten. Her heart was still jackhammering in her chest, but at least the stitch was gone. She smoothed down the front of her simple pink shift dress, still completely unsure if it was the appropriate thing for her to be wearing. As it turned out, Google didn’t have any advice on what to wear to a sham courthouse marriage. She had probably tried on every single thing in her closet, hence being late to her own wedding, and she still wasn’t convinced that she had picked the right thing. She had even considered just going with a shirt and jeans so that it didn’t look like she cared too much. She would feel like an idiot if she made a point of looking nice only to find Jonah waiting for her in his work boots. In the end, though, she hadn’t been able to convince herself to show up to her own wedding looking like a hobo, no matter if the marriage was fake or not. Opening the door to the building and finding the inside as nice as the outside, with its deeply polished wood floors and art deco architecture, she was glad she’d dressed up. After all, there was nothing wrong with looking the part.

  “Virginia! Shit, darlin’, I was starting to think you weren’t going to show.”

  “I wouldn’t do that,” Virginia answered Jonah’s off-color greeting with only the slightest of frowns at his choice of language. She was too relieved to have found him so easily to do much more than that. She was even more relieved to see that Jonah had thought along the same lines as her when it came to attire. He had on dark blue slacks and a crisp, clean white button down that made it clear what good shape he was in. He was wearing a pair of cowboy boots, but they weren’t the ones he worked in and when it was all said and done, Virginia couldn’t help noticing how terribly handsome he was. Even with the five o’clock shadow he hadn’t bothered shaving off, he looked good enough to eat. And, to top it all off, he was holding a small but elegant bouquet of flowers in one hand and a ring box in the other.

  “Oh, um, I know, this is stupid,” he said when he caught her looking at the blooms, “but it seemed kind of odd to have a wedding without some flowers.”

  “No!” she answered just a little too loudly, then blushed furiously, “no, I don’t think it’s stupid at all. They’re lovely, Jonah, really. And the rings?”

  “Take a look see, tell me if you approve. Figured we had to have something if we want things to look right, you know?”

  Virginia didn’t answer, just took the small velvet box he was extending in her direction. She opened it carefully, like it held the crown jewels or something equally magical, and sighed. It was only for show, she knew that. She couldn’t help it, though. When she saw the slim gold bands resting side-by-side on the black display pillow, she got a lump in her throat. If it hadn’t been for Jonah’s brother standing right there beside him, looking at her, she might have had trouble keeping herself under control. As it was, she could feel him watching her, and it forced her into her getting married act right then and there.

  “Hey, Ian. It’s been a really long time since we’ve spoken to each other, hasn’t it?” she said, feeling a bit like an idiot but forging ahead anyway.

  “I guess it has. I think last time the two of us had a conversation, you had a pillowcase hooked onto the back of your head so you could play wedding. You let me have it for saying it didn’t look like a real bride. Didn’t figure the next time we spoke, it would be for your wedding for real.”

  “Yeah, well,” she laughed uncertainly, “I know the circumstances are weird. But I heard you got married, too, right?”

  “I did,” he said, his face breaking out into an uncharacteristic grin.

  “That’s so great! I saw a picture of her. She’s really beautiful.”

  “Well, thank you kindly, Virginia. I happen to think so, too.”

  “Where is she? Is she home testing out a new recipe or something?”

  “No, she’s in the ladies’. That’s why we’re standing here, actually. She’s not feeling so hot, but she insisted on being here. We left Andy with Carol for the day especially for the occasion. She’s a big fan of your future husband, here.”

  “Oh! Oh, no! That’s such a shame. I would hate to think we’ve put her out in any way. She really didn’t have to—”

  “I’m good! I’m totally good. What did I miss?” Katie said loudly as she hurried out of the bathroom. She looked just as pretty as she did in the pictures Virginia had seen, although she was a little pale. Whatever was troubling her, though, she looked genuinely pleased to be there, and that was something Virginia was grateful for. This plan had seemed perfectly legitimate when she’d presented it to Jonah, albeit unorthodox, but now that she was with his family she felt like she was right on the verge of having to defend herself for ever coming up with something so ludicrous.

  “Grant party? Is there a Grant party here?” a harried looking clerk called out of the nearest court room door. Ian’s hand shot up in the air and Jonah nodded, his calm expression contradicted by the way he was picking the petals off one of the flowers he was holding for her. When she looked a little closer, she saw that several of the flowers were down a petal or three. If the clerk had waited another thirty minutes or so, there would have been nothing left. She looked at his face, at his crystal blue eyes that sent a shiver up her spine, and for the first time she realized how nervous he was. When she saw that, all of her doubts and defensiveness went out the window. Without thinking about what it might look like or what he might think, she stepped closer to him and slid her hand into his. His eyes shot to her face, one eyebrow arched in surprise, but he made no attempt to pull away.

  “That would be us, ma’am,” he answered the clerk, moving to tip the brim of a hat he wasn’t wearing and then clenching the flowers harder in his fist when he remembered his naked head.

  “Good, and you’ve got your witnesses?” she asked, already turned to re-enter the room from whence she came.

  “We do, all present and accounted for.”

  “That’s fine. If you’ll follow me, please. The judge has got a busy docket today.”

  Katie gave a little shrug, then planted an impulsive kiss on Virginia’s cheek before linking her arm through Ian’s and following the clerk through the door. Virginia took a deep, shaky breath and looked into Jonah’s face. He looked right back at her, his eyes full of something she could not quite put her finger on.

  “You sure you want to do this?” he asked quietly so that none of the court’s employees might overhear.

  “I am. I honestly think this is the best thing for both of us. Why, have you changed your mind?”

  “Nope. We’re here. Might as well go on ahead and see the thing through. Just wanted to make sure.”

  Virginia let out an anxious, unnerved sigh and followed Jonah on legs that were shaking. Katie and Ian were already sitting on one of the benches up front, and in the very center of the room stood a judge, hands clasped in front of him and smiling at the soon to be wed couple. How strange it was to be getting married like this, after all the planning she had done for a wedding to Tom that was never going to happen. Jonah and Ian had both mentioned memories of her pretending to get hitched back when they were just kids, and it was no coincidence that it was their clearest memory of her. She had been planning her wedding since she was five, if not earlier. She loved, loved, loved weddings and all the promises they held. The only thing she wasn’t a fan of was the loss of control that came afterwards. Two weeks from now, she would have been wal
king down a very different kind of aisle to marry a very different man. It was difficult not to mourn the loss of that, not of Tom, but of the idea of marriage she had lost when she broke things off. It was a lot to run through a person’s head all at one time, and she was thankful for Jonah’s hand to hold, even if he didn’t care about her at all.

  “Wonderful,” the judge began, smiling down at their clasped hands approvingly, “and may I say what a lovely couple you two make.”

  “Oh, um, thanks, Judge,” Jonah said awkwardly, his fingers holding hers just a little bit tighter.

  “Now, if you don’t mind, let’s get right down to business. We are here today for the marriage of Jonah Grant and Virginia Leeland. Are you, Virginia Leeland, here of your own free will, and do you intend to make Jonah here your husband?”

  “I do,” she answered breathlessly. She had known courthouse ceremonies were shorter than most weddings in a church, but she was still stunned. How had they gotten to the “I do” part so fast?

  “Good,” the judge continued, unphased by the slight crack in Virginia’s too-high voice, “and are you, Jonah Grant, here of your own free will, and do you intend to make the lovely Virginia your wife?”

  “I do,” he answered in a croak, then coughed to clear his throat. She looked at him and saw that his face was pale, and for a terrible moment she was sure he was going to faint. Without giving it another thought, she held her flowers out to Katie, who stood quickly and took them from her. Virginia turned to face Jonah head on and linked her now free hand through his so that they stood with both hands clasped, just like they did in the movies. He smiled at her then, only a small smile, but enough to reassure her that he was going to stay vertical until they made it out of the room.

  “Lovely,” the judge said again, nodding his approval, “now I don’t think this is necessary, seeing as it’s as plain as the nose on my face that you two are in love, but I have to ask it; is there anyone here today with any reason why this fine young couple may not be lawfully joined?”

  “Not a one,” Ian spoke up, his voice ringing out strong and proud. If Virginia could have thrown her arms around him and hugged him right then and there, that was exactly what she would have done. Without realizing it, this was the part she had secretly been dreading. The idea that Ian, Katie, or both of them together might jump up and reveal Virginia and Jonah as frauds didn’t seem entirely outside of the realm of possibility.

  “Good. Now, you two, repeat after me, one at a time. I, Virginia.”

  “I, Virginia.”

  “Take thee, Jonah.”

  “Take thee,” she whispered.

  “Take thee,” he answered back, when it was his turn.

  “In front of these witnesses, this couple has declared their intention to join their lives in marriage. Let us now all accept them as husband and wife. Sir, you may now kiss your bride.”

  The kiss! With all the craziness, Virginia had completely forgotten that there would be a kiss! Her eyes widened while every awful, awkward way this could play out flew through her mind in a fraction of a second. If they had fooled the kindly old judge up to this point, he would surely see through them now. He would take one look at their pitiful excuse for a first kiss and tear up their marriage certificate right then and there.

  “Here I come, sugar,” Jonah said with a smile that was just shy of a smirk. Before she could move a muscle, he let go of her hands, slid his arms around her waist, and went in for the kill. The kiss was nothing like the horrifying images that had zipped through her vivid imagination. His lips were firm and soft, his breath tasting of spice. Her hands moved up to his chest and she melted into him, allowing herself to enjoy the moment, even if it wasn’t real.

  “Alright! Here they are, ladies of gents, the newlywed Mr. and Mrs. Jonah Grant!”

  And then, just like that, the kiss was over and Jonah was leading her right back down the aisle. Ian and Katie were up on their feet cheering and clapping while Jonah kept his hand locked in Virginia’s. It was almost too much for her to handle, suddenly becoming a wife, but despite everything going on there was one thing that kept playing through her mind: that kiss.

  It was a fake. Nothing about it was real. It was a fake kiss, and yet it was the most solid, caring kiss she had experienced in a long, long time.

  5

  It was funny how many little ways having Virginia as a wife changed things in Jonah’s life. For starters, he hadn’t lived with another person since he’d left home at eighteen, and now there was a woman he hadn’t known as more than an acquaintance in years living under his roof. It was all he could think about while he went through his morning chores: all of her stuff. She had so much shit she’d brought along with her, a whole U-Haul of it, to be exact. He’d just watched, jaw open and stunned, as she instructed the movers with the destination of box after box. Overnight, his house didn’t look like it belonged to him any longer, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

  But it wasn’t just his home she’d taken over—it was his head, too. He couldn’t turn off his awareness of her, constantly active in the back of his thoughts. Even now, shoveling out the muck from the horse stalls, he couldn’t get his mind off what kind of trouble she was getting herself up to. She had told him casually over a pizza and a glass of wine the night before that she intended to get started on her barn renovation project right away. By the time ten o’clock hit, he couldn’t take it anymore. He set his shovel aside, dusted his hands off, and started down the faded, overgrown path to the old barn.

  “Seriously? What in the heck am I supposed to do with this?” Virginia’s voice rang out loud and clear. Jonah stopped at the crest of the hill the barn rested on and smiled. He couldn’t be certain, but he was pretty sure he hadn’t ever heard a grown woman say “what the heck” before. It would have had him downright laughing if it weren’t for the damn barn. He had a bad feeling about her going to work on the building so soon and without a plan. If her tone of voice was an indication of how things were going, his concern had been justified.

  “Whoa, there, Virginia, what’s got you so riled up?” he called out, wanting to alert her of his presence so he didn’t cause her to fall off a ladder or something.

  “Ugh, nothing. I’m not riled up, okay? Just working with a bit of a speed bump over here.”

  “Yeah, I guess I can kind of see that,” he said carefully. From where he was standing, it looked like a hell of a lot more than a speed bump. There were at least four different cans of paint littering the floor with a thick stack of samples sitting alongside for good measure. There was a stack of fabric samples perched atop a bale of hay. To top it all off, there was an economy-sized bucket full of sudsy water with an unused mop propped against the wall beside it. Virginia stood in the middle of it all, her hair piled up in a messy bun on top of her head with little wisps falling in front of her face. She was wearing some kind of yoga pants that made her ass look fantastic, and her face was flushed with heat, frustration, or some mixture of both.

  “Everything’s fine here, really, okay? I don’t want you to worry about a thing. I told you right from the start, the barn is totally my thing. I’m going to take care of everything. You won’t have to lift a finger.”

  “Yeah, I remember you saying that, but it’s kind of a lot, don’t you think? For one person to take on?”

  “I’m very resourceful. I’m pretty capable, actually.”

  “I bet you are,” he said mildly. He had no doubt she was up for cleaning and painting the place on her own, but it needed a hell of a lot more than that. Someone had to deal with everything from holes in the roof to a seriously scratched floor—and problems just about everywhere in between. It didn’t take a genius to see that a job like this one was going to require some contractors. The barn was all well and good for nostalgia’s sake, but that’s not what they were talking about anymore. They were talking about a genuine business, and for that to work they were going to have to comply to certain building safety
standards; standards he very much doubted Virginia was going to be able to meet on her own.

  “It’s actually going really well,” she insisted, almost like she could read his mind, “this is just the planning stages, that’s all.”

  “Right, I gotcha. I’m just going to take a look at the walls outside, if that’s okay with you. Just tinker around with things.”

  “Um, sure. Okay. I’m not doing anything out there right now,” she said uncertainty. He picked up a hammer from his toolbox, which she must have liberated from the shed without asking permission, and headed outside. He managed to work for about ten minutes before Virginia poked her head around the open door of the barn, her forehead furrowed in concern.

  “What’s going on out here?” she asked lightly. She sounded like she was trying to come off as nonchalant, but it was too easy to see through her act. He was playing with her toy and she wanted to know his intentions.

  “I’m just checking out the structure. If I’m being honest, I’ve got a few concerns about the integrity here.”

  “Oh, come on, there’s no need for that, is there? I think everything looks just fine.”

  “Look, I know you love the place and that’s great, but the people who have their weddings here aren’t going to have that same sentimental attachment. They won’t look at it and fall right in love.”

  “It just needs some sprucing up, that’s all! When I decide on some paint, it’s going to look about a thousand times better.”

  “Paint is great, but it doesn’t do anything for the structure. A venue needs a good foundation. Gotta have that if people are going to be safe here.”

  “You think it needs a new foundation?” she asked, frowning in concern, “That sounds like kind of a big deal.”

  “Like I said, it’s important,” he answered, down on his knees now and really exploring the wall in earnest. He could tell by the rising pitch of her voice that she didn’t want him going any further with this. In his humble opinion, though, refusing to acknowledge serious problems was exactly the kind of thinking that got people in legitimate trouble. Slapping a coat of paint on the barn and calling it a day was no better than trying to fix the check engine light on your car by filling it with a tank of gas.