The Billionaire's Fake Marriage: A Single Dad Next Door Romance

by Sarah J. Brooks

  My jaw dropped. I had no idea weddings were going to take so long.

  Garth glanced at me.

  “We’d be open to looking next weekend; of course, we’d like to not have to wait four years if we can.”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  My heart raced as I thought about everything I wanted from the wedding. Everything I wanted it to be. Not just a celebration of us, but a celebration of love and family, of everything we’d been through and of our business together.

  I turned to the man beside me, resting against his shoulder softly as I placed a kiss on his cheek.

  “You two are so cute together.” The girl smiled. “You can tell just by looking at you guys that you’re really in love.”

  I wasn’t sure if it was something she said to everyone or if she actually meant it, but it made my cheeks flush.

  The past few weeks had been hell on us both, and now here we were both jobless for the time being, and we were thinking about a wedding, it seemed crazy, but with the new company going live in a week, I knew we were going to be swamped with work soon, and that meant we weren’t going to have time for stuff like planning a wedding. I knew it was going to be hard but also knew we were going to make it work.

  The woman, Jan, didn’t stay very long. She got to know us a little, asked some questions and then got my email, promising to email me some info, along with some suggestions for the venues we could go to. She tried not to show it, but she was thrilled that she didn’t have a budget—then again, I guess she probably got a commission for everything she did. And the more she did, the more she got.

  She left us with a wide smile after saying she was going to contact some photographers about an engagement shoot.

  I swallowed dryly as I turned to Garth. His eyes sparkled.

  “So, you sure you don’t want to back out of it? I mean, you’ve still got a little time.”

  “Sounds like I have two or three years at least.” I shot him a grin. “Why do you want to back out?”

  He laughed softly. “Of course not. I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather spend my life with than you.”

  His words sent color racing to my cheeks. I tried to ignore it.

  He reached out and touched me. Suddenly, all serious.

  “I’m glad you’re with me,” he whispered.

  “I’m glad I am too,” I replied, a little unsure of what I was actually supposed to say.

  He smirked.

  “I mean it, you had a lot of chances to run away over the past couple weeks, and I pushed you away one of those times. I’m glad you came back. I love you, Ally.”

  “I love you too, Garth.”

  I stepped towards him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him towards me. Our lips met softly, but the kiss didn’t stay soft for long.

  Garth pulled me close to him, a deep breath passing through his lips as his teeth grazed my lower lip.

  I moaned, my fingers tangling in his hair.

  Mom.

  I pulled away, laughing softly. “We can’t,” I whispered. We have to wait.

  He pouted.

  My heart skipped a beat. “Later,” I promised.

  His eyes sparkled. “You’d better mean that.”

  I do.” I grinned. I wanted nothing more than for us to just stay here and make our way to the bedroom, but my mom was going to be pissed if we didn’t meet up with her.

  I pulled away and headed to the bedroom, slipping out of my clothes.

  “Sp, what kind of flowers do you want at the wedding?” he asked, following me into the room.

  “I was thinking we could have those colorful ones,” I said, like the ones he had sent me the time everyone found out about us.

  I paused as I slipped into my skirt.

  “I like that idea.”

  “Do you think we’re moving too fast?” I asked. I mean, we were moving fast, but was that a bad thing? We were moving too fast? Was it going to get us in trouble?

  “No,” he said without thinking about it. “I wondered that a lot over the past couple days. I mean when I said I wanted you to marry me; I hadn’t quite been thinking this year. Then I realized that the wedding could be this year and it kind of freaked me out. But I realized that you are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

  My cheeks flushed as I watched him come into the room. I grabbed my shirt and slipped into it as he paced over to the window and stared out.

  “I realized while we were designing the business website that we were going to be partners for life now … unless you’re going to try to set me up for murder.” It didn’t sound like a joke, but I knew he was trying to make light of the situation. So, if we’re going to be partners for life, why not be life partners too?” He paused, turning to me.

  I smiled, taking it all in. My heart raced as I thought about his words.

  “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have as a life partner than you,” he said, giving me a smile.”

  That did it!

  My heart did another backflip, and for a second, I thought I might have to worry about having a heart attack. I took a deep breath and finished getting dressed before I made my way into the bathroom and applied some makeup.

  I was nervous, mostly about how my mom would like him. My dad was easy to please, he’d see that I was happy and then he would be happy. My mom would want to judge every part of the relationship, and there were some parts I didn’t want her knowing. I didn’t really want her knowing that he had been my boss, she’d judge that.

  She’d judge that he’d taken me traveling already, that we were getting married this soon. But how long am I going to be able to hide that from her? I wondered.

  I was hoping I’d be able to do it for a while. But if I couldn't, then I’d just have to face facts and tell her. Maybe after we book the venue, I thought

  That might be a nice time to do it. It was still a few weeks away, maybe. I’d tell her sometime next month. Yes. That’s what I will do, I told myself.

  Garth had every intention of going in there and telling his family right here and now. I couldn’t believe he was going to do it, but he insisted that that’s how he wanted to do it, so I wasn’t going to tell him otherwise.

  I tied my hair up into a bun and came out of the bathroom. I stared down a murder. I can meet his mom.

  Sadly, I think I was more nervous about meeting his mom than the murder.

  My mother took everything much better than I thought she would. She actually liked him, after finding out he had started his own business when he was still in high school.

  “So,” her eyes shone. “how did you two meet?”

  “At work,” I said.

  Garth grinned widely. “Actually, she inspired me to start my own business.”

  My mother’s eyes widened, and my cheeks flushed.

  I hadn’t planned on telling her that yet. I had been hoping to wait a little longer so she didn’t think we were moving too fast, but I guess that was out of the options.

  “Yea.” I cleared my throat. “You’re looking at the proud new owners of a business.”

  My mother's jaw dropped.

  My dad perked up, setting his beer down. “Owners?”

  “Yup.” I gave him a smile. “We’re going into it together. Don’t worry,” I added quickly, “we’re getting a fair contract done up in case things … don’t work out.” It had been a hard topic for Garth, but he understood we had to do it. We both knew we had to have something in place. WE were in love, not stupid.

  “Wow.” My mom stared at me with wide eyes. “Talk about moving fast.”

  “Yea.”

  I was so glad she didn’t know about the wedding. She’d have a heart attack.

  I let Garth take over, explaining what we would be doing and why there was a market for it. My father half-listened. I caught his eye during it. He just gave me a smile and nodded, taking a sip of his beer. As always my dad said little, but I think he caught onto more than people told him. H
e just smiled watching, listening as Garth told my mom everything. Slowly, she was beginning to become quite the fan of him, I could tell.

  By the time we finished our dinner, my mom was more than impressed with the boyfriend I had brought to meet her. Finally, I was able to say my goodbyes.

  My mom pulled Garth into a hug.

  “It was so nice to meet you,” she gushed as my dad pulled me into a hug of my own.

  “You look happy,” he whispered in my ear. “If he makes you happy, I like him.”

  My cheeks flushed as the sudden emotion overwhelmed me. I wanted to tell him. I wanted him to know how happy Garth made me. Happy enough that we were getting married. But I didn’t say it. I pulled away and smiled, giving him a smile and nod.

  That seemed to be enough for him. His smile widened as he turned to Garth and held his hand out.

  “Take good care of her, eh? Otherwise we’re going to have an issue.”

  Garth smiled, shaking my dad’s hand. “Trust me sir, I try. But your daughter takes damn good care of herself.”

  My dad laughed softly. “Good.”

  He looked at me again, and my smile broadened. You raised me right, dad, I thought.

  He always said I shouldn’t have to rely on a man to take care of me. And here I was, alive and proof that I’d somehow managed to take care of myself. Garth turned his attention to me, took my hand and led the way out of the restaurant.

  “You know, my mom would have had a heart attack if we’d driven here,” I said.

  “You mean, in your Jag?” I laughed, shaking my head.

  “No, we’d have to take one of your cars.” I wasn’t willing to explain to her why I had a new car, and such an expensive one.

  Garth laughed softly, letting me take his arm to support myself as we headed down the street.

  “So, you’re just not going to tell them are you?”

  I shrugged. “I hope they don’t find out.” My parents never were ones to watch the news, and thankfully, they didn’t have many friends who could tell on me. “I don’t see the point. I mean, it’s in the past now—right?”

  I wasn’t sure I fully believed it was, but I had to keep telling myself that; otherwise, I’d never move on. Garth wanted me to go to therapy for it, and he made a good point. I mean, it was covered under my insurance.

  It was all kind of confusing because with Brent in jail, we didn’t have to leave the company. Garth was fighting to have him removed from the company without giving him the payout. That was more a shot in the face than anything else since the whole thing started with Brent not wanting to just give Garth his payout.

  His lawyer was confident it wouldn’t be hard. Which meant we didn’t have to leave the company.

  We were going to keep the connections, though. We were going to keep everyone if they wanted to stay. Which I wasn’t sure why they wouldn’t want to. We had a lot going for us, and why would they want to find a new job if they didn’t have to?

  We walked in silence for a while, both of us lost in our own minds. We were having Garth’s parents over later that night, just for a quick bit of coffee. Just so we could all meet each other. Just to get it all out of the way. I was still nervous but didn’t dare admit it.

  “So, I was thinking. Do you want to have the wedding on a boat?”

  “What?” I turned to Garth.

  “I mean, we could easily rent a boat for the reception.”

  “What kind of boat are you thinking?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.

  He grinned. “There are some gorgeous cruises that go through the area.”

  I snorted. Of course, he wanted to rent a cruise for our wedding. I shook my head. “You’re crazy,” I muttered. But I wasn’t saying I didn’t like the idea, and Garth picked up on that. His eyes sparkled. He pulled me closer to him and placed a kiss on top of my head.

  “I love you, Ally.”

  “I love you too, Garth.”

  His brow furrowed as he pulled away from me, and his phone came out of his pocket. He looked down at it. “So, it seems like my parents are too busy to get together tonight.” I didn’t hear any disappointment in his voice, but I still felt bad.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He shrugged, then came to a stop. I looked around. We were only a block away from his condo. Why were we stopping?

  I opened my mouth to ask, but he cut me off.

  “You know, there’s no reason we have to be here right now.”

  “What?”

  “Well, I mean we could go to the airport. We’re not working right now; the office is shut down for renovations. Why don’t we go somewhere?”

  “Where?”

  Garth shrugged. “Let’s go pack our bags and then go to the airport. We can see where is cheap.”

  I stared at him with wide eyes. He wasn’t joking. He meant what he was saying. “I … of course!”

  Was this going to be something we could just do? Just go. Somewhere, anywhere, on a whim? Oh God, I hoped this was going to become a normal thing for me.

  Garth grinned widely; he took my hand, and we made our way back to the condo, moving a little faster this time than we had been before.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Hawaii.

  That was where we decided to go. We’d talked about it before but decided on Japan, instead, which had been worth it. But now, here I was. Sun and sandy beaches; and I could not be more excited about it.

  I looked around.

  “So, can I get you a coconut bra?” Garth teased.

  I wrinkled my nose at the thought of wearing one. It sounded like it would hurt—a lot.

  “No,” I said. “Not unless I can get you a coconut jock strap.” I said it loud enough for the people behind us to hear, and I know they heard it because I heard the man snort.

  Garth laughed.

  “Fine, you win.”

  “Of course, I do, honey.” I gave him a wide, fake smile. My eyes sparkling. “You should get used to that with the whole wife thing.” I grinned widely, and Garth laughed again.

  “Too late to back out?” He teased.

  “Sorry, my mom already loves you. Too late to back out.”

  Garth grinned. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of backing out.” He finished paying for our hotel room, and we headed down the hall. Unlike most places, where the higher up you went, the more expensive it was, this place was more expensive if you were on the ground floor; so you could just walk out onto the beach. And boy was it worth it.

  I unlocked our door and looked around. “Wow.”

  This sure wasn’t a simple dingy motel. This was top of the time.

  The entire place looked like it was all done up modern style. With sleek black furniture and red walls. There was a big TV, not that we’d be using it—since everything that happened, we didn’t watch much TV; otherwise, we’d see the news and risk seeing an update on Brent. It was hard on Garth to see his best friend like that, and it was hard on me to see the man who had tried to kill me smiling on TV. So overall, it was just easier to avoid it. Which would be easy here.

  I tossed my oversized purse onto the bed; we’d agreed we would both just bring a carry-on, and then probably end up buying something here so we could take a bunch of crap home.

  I headed over to the window and stared out of it.

  This was the perfect idea.

  I’d been thinking about getting away from home ever since we’d gotten back from Japan, but last night had been the end of it. I’d always wanted to just get in the car and go, so now here I was. We were in Hawaii because I suggested we just left. And it felt so damn good.

  I watched her eyes sparkle as she headed over to the window and stared out at the calm ocean.

  I followed her over to the window, my arms wrapping around her hips and pulling her close to me. She let out a soft sigh, her fingers tangling with mine.

  “It’s perfect,” she whispered. “This … all of it … not just the ocean.”

  “You’re perfect.�
� My lips touched her cheek for a fraction of a second. I watched the blush grow and grinned.. Another kiss touched her cheek quickly.

  She pulled away from me, just enough to spin around, my arms still around her as she reached out and wrapped her arms around my neck. Her lips touched mine.

  My body ached, I was so tired. But that didn't matter to me. All that mattered was his hot lips against mine.

  I pulled him closer to me, letting out a soft breath. His hands traced over the curves of my body, pulling me closer to him as he guided me over to the bed. Despite how tired I was, I wanted nothing more than to just have him inside me. Not rough, it wasn’t about the second. Not this time.

  This time, it was about being close. Him being so close to me he couldn’t get closer.

  He pulled me down onto the bed, his hands tracing my body’s curves. I bit his lip gently and he let out a deep breath, his nails digging into me. I moaned louder, crawling on top of him, my legs straddling his hips.

  I could feel his boner, even with his thick jeans on and my shorts on. I pulled away, my eyes locking on his. He grinned widely.

  “We should try to fuck all over the world,” he whispered.

  I barked out a laugh but wasn't going to disagree with him on that. I lowered myself to him, my lips touching his neck ever so gently.

  His fingers tangled in my hair, pulling me closer. My lips traced up his neck, my hand reaching for his and our fingers tangling together. My free hand traced over his muscular chest; memorizing every part of him.

  I pulled away, looking down at him.

  Those grey-green eyes sparkled at me as he looked me up and down.

  “Take your shirt off. “

  “Yes, sir.” My eyes shone as I did as I was told, tossing my shirt over toward the window. It was wide open, but I couldn’t see anyone out on the beach. I'll close it later, I thought, unhooking my bra. It’s not like anyone would be able to see anything except my bare back anyways. Garth grabbed my wrist, pulling me down, our lips crashing together.