Married This Year

by Tracey Pedersen

  “Oh, crap. This isn’t how I wanted to do this.”

  “Do what? What are you rambling about?”

  “Shit.”

  “Luke, what’s wrong?” She was worried, now. His tone was not his usual cheery one, and dread gripped her insides.

  “Stand up,” he said, and she quickly did as she was asked. Whatever this bad news was, she wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. He took a deep breath, like he was about to give a prepared speech. “Jordan, do you remember this time last year, you made that list and decided to commit all those dating crimes with the strange men of the world?”

  She laughed and relaxed a little. He was back to his old self. “I do remember. I actually found the original handwritten list while you were in the shower.”

  “I was only in there five minutes; you sure got busy during that time, didn’t you? He ran his fingers through his wet hair and tried to regain his train of thought. “Anyway, what you wanted above everything else is to be married. Is that still the case?”

  “No.”

  His face registered his shock at her unexpected answer. “Wait, what? What do you mean?”

  “Well, now I have you.”

  “So, now you don’t need to get married?”

  “No, silly. Now I’m not feeling like I’ll end up an old spinster—now I’m happy with whatever develops between us. I feel like I wasted a whole year, and now I need to make sure I do everything to get to know the real you.”

  “Oh.” He was frowning again. “Well, that should be easy. I was the real me all year—especially when I was snoring on your couch.”

  She laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Are you going to get to the point soon? I need to change my clothes.”

  “Okay, bossy much? You totally are going to turn into your mother, just so you know.”

  “Oh, how to ruin the mood,” she said, laughing and pulling away. “Come on, spit it out.”

  “Alright, sorry. What I was trying to say is,” he pulled a ring from the box he’d been trying to hide in his pocket, “would you make me the happiest man alive and marry me, Jordan Parker?”

  Her mouth fell open as he held the ring up for her to see. She looked from it to him and was speechless. He laughed and kissed her nose, but she was still silent.

  “Well?”

  “Why? Why would you ask me that?”

  “Because I want to marry you. I want to make sure that we’re together always. I want to wake up next to you and go to sleep with you in my arms. Oh, and I really love your dog—I want us to be a family.”

  She frowned as she stared at the ring. “You’re not asking me because you think it’s what I want?”

  “No way, baby. It’s all about me. I’m asking you because it’s want I want. Now, come on, I’m waiting for an official answer. I expected a lot more screaming than this.” He smiled at her, but she could see she’d made him uncertain.

  “Okay, I’ll accept your offer… on one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We have a very long engagement. I don’t want us to rush into this. After all, we only had our first date a week ago.”

  “I can do long-ish, but not too long. Can we get married next year on New Year’s Eve? Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “I do,” she said. His eyes widened as he suddenly realised that she was accepting his proposal. He let out a shout as he kissed her and squeezed her tightly against him, and then he pulled away to push the sparkling ring onto her outstretched finger.

  A loud bark from Rex sealed the deal. They really were going to be a family.

  The End

  Acknowledgment

  The people who need the most acknowledgment in the creation of this book are my fabulous readers. This book was half written in my head when I realised there would be a lot more characters than I usually write into a story. So I ran a fun competition to give my readers the chance to be included in my book.

  I wasn’t too sure what response I’d get but I was blown away by the entries! Not only did people enter, their entries were hilarious, touching and outrageous. Where I thought I’d have a handful of winners, I ended up choosing seventeen winners instead!!

  Some of the dates poor Jordan had to endure are straight from my reader’s imaginations. The winners of my competition have characters named after them in this book but for clarity’s sake, their names are listed here. I’ll leave it up to you to wonder who submitted which idea!

  Special thanks goes to these readers (in no particular order):

  Aracelis Vestal

  Cindy Merrill

  Patricia Hoffstaetter

  Shelly Cross

  Lori Byrd

  Tina Jones

  Bonnie Brown

  Ally Hastings

  Sarah Flannery

  Lori Shore

  Megan Coppadge

  Rachel Canales

  Emily Pennington

  Diane Sinden

  Andrea Hilton

  Shannon Molloy

  Megan Varnell

  Sneak Peek

  I always hate waiting for new books in a series to be released, so while you’re waiting, here’s a sneak peak of my previous book, Contracted For Love to tide you over. Here’s what you can expect:

  Two people. Total strangers. Asked to convince the world that they're in love

  Imagine if your favourite engaged celebrities weren't really in love. Imagine if their relationship was cooked up to boost their careers. What if everything was fake? From the holidays, the public romance, right down to the bedroom antics?

  That's exactly what you'll discover in Contracted For Love.

  Potty-mouthed Charlotte Shipton and child-star Jack Fawkner strike a deal when both put their signatures to an unlikely, and top secret, marriage contract. She'll rise through the unknown ranks in Hollywood. He'll show the world he's left behind his tap-dancing child-star days. Together, they'll set the world's hearts on fire, while ignoring their own secret desires.

  Only time will tell if the truth will tear them apart, or if their secret will stay locked away, along with the contract.

  Contracted For Love is a roller coaster ride of crazy activity, from the first moment they meet, to their Paris vacation under the gaze of the media and the constant pressures of a famous rockstar and his crazy bandmates. You'll laugh out loud as Charlotte makes her mark on Jack Fawkner and his heart!

  Contracted For Love

  “What. The. Actual. Fuck?”

  Charlotte Shipton stood open-mouthed as she stared at Jack Fawkner across the conference room table. His fat, balding manager, Freddy Caspian, was grinning like an idiot who’d just won the lotto and would be broke within a month. Her own partner in crime, Jay Stevens, was grinning just as widely, which was the part she couldn’t actually believe. “Did you really just say you think we should get married, Jay? The two of us,” she indicated herself and Jack, “who just met,” she checked her iPhone with the push of the home key, “seventeen minutes ago?”

  “Charlotte, calm down. Let me explain why this is such a good idea.”

  “This is not a fucking good idea, Jay.”

  “You were right about the potty mouth,” Freddy said quietly, to no one in particular. Jay sighed and glared at him.

  “A fucking potty mouth? That’s what you think I have? I can tell you, Mr. Fat Fuck, that I have so much more where that came from that it’s not even funny.” She crossed her arms across her ample chest and glared at him, daring him to say another word. He finally looked away and she turned her icy stare on Jack. “Did you know about this bullshit?”

  Jack put his hands up, as though to ward off the sun. “Woah, don’t turn your spotlight on me. I’m hearing this for the first time, too.” He turned to Freddy. “What were you thinking? Why would I want to marry her?” he flicked his head at Charlotte dismissively.

  Jay piped up before Jack’s agent could say anything. “Freddy and I have discussed it and we think it cou
ld work really well for both of your careers.”

  Charlotte shot out of her chair, making it fall over with a crash. “Since when do you have discussions of this magnitude without me? What are you, my fucking pimp, now? You’re arranging marriages for me? If not him, would you have had someone else lined up to take his place, Jay?”

  Jack watched her with interest. He’d heard whispers of a feisty Australian who’d recently shown up in Hollywood, and now here she was in front of him, living up to every story he’d heard. The gossip had been spot-on for once. Her eyes were flashing and her sun-kissed, blonde hair flailed around behind her whenever she flounced around the room. She was a ball of furious energy, right now. In Los Angeles, everyone seemed so fake that, even with her crazy temper, it was refreshing to see someone being themselves and being totally honest with everyone in the room. There was no way he wanted to marry her, though.

  “Charlotte, this could make a huge difference to your career. You’re having trouble getting those great roles, but being married to someone who’s been in the business for as long as Jack has will give you the credibility you need to get more auditions. It’s a huge foot in the door. I know you’ll be a great actress, but you need to get your name known in the papers. If that’s not through acting, then we need to find another way. This is a perfect option.”

  “Wait,” Jack finally spoke up. “What am I getting out of this? Why do I have to be her meal ticket?”

  “You’re not my fucking meal ticket, asshole. There’s not a hope in hell of me marrying your high-and-mighty ass.” She glared at him and he glared straight back.

  “Why are you calling me an asshole? We just met. You could at least save that for after we’re married, sweetheart.”

  Charlotte let out a scream of frustration and spun around to look out the window. She could feel tears of fury pricking the corners of her eyes, but she’d be damned if she’d let them think she was crying. She contemplated hurling her agent out of this twenty-six story window, if she could get it open, but she would not cry real tears.

  Freddy addressed Jack in his most conciliatory tone. “What you get out of this Jack, is a marriage that makes you seem older in the eyes of the public. You’ve been out of the spotlight for a while, but you’re still a big star. We’ve been trying to shed that childish good-boy image and this is as quick way to lift your music career out of the teeny-bopper stage and into the big-time.”

  “I don’t need to get married to do that. My music isn’t for kids.”

  “We know that, but so far, they don’t. The kids are your fans, and adults think of you as their children’s crush. No one has quite worked out that you’ve grown up, yet. You’re fairly clean-cut, so unless you’re planning a bender in Vegas, or to woo a Kardashian, this is the next best thing.”

  “Well, I do prefer brunettes.” Charlotte snorted from the other side of the room, where she gazed out over the city. “Regardless, it sounds like a bad idea. When word gets out...”

  “Word won’t get out,” Jay interrupted. “It can’t. We’ll have an ironclad contract for you both to sign and you’ll be sworn to secrecy. The only people who will know about this are in this room, and all of us stand to benefit from this going off without a hitch—pardon the wedding pun.” He smirked at his joke, as Charlotte spun around from the window, wide-eyed.

  “We wouldn’t even tell our own family?”

  “No. It’d have to be an absolute secret. There’s too much chance of this getting out, if you tell anyone, and the scandal would most likely have the exact opposite effect on your careers.”

  “Although, it might help, you never can tell…”

  “Don’t even think about it, Freddy. You’re not leaking this shit to the press. How desperate do you think that will make me look?” Jack glared at his manager, daring him to continue.

  “You’re right: bad idea. Stick with the wedding.”

  “There’s not going to be a fucking wedding, you morons.” Charlotte shouted at the three of them. “Why would I marry a washed-up child star? He’s nearly ten years older than me!”

  “Why would I marry someone who can’t speak a single sentence without cursing? Are you sure you’re an actress, honey? Can’t you act like a lady for a few minutes?”

  “Fuck you, Jackie Fawkner.” She put the emphasis on his old acting name that had followed him around since he was seven. “You’re a grown-up, now, kiddo: you’re allowed to swear whenever you want.”

  “Pleased to see that you know who I am, even if I’ve never heard of you.”

  She raised her middle finger to him and held it in front of her with a fake smile. Jack shook his head and returned his attention to Freddy. “You’ll get married because you’re in love, of course!” He clapped his hands together in glee. “You met and it was an instant attraction. We’ll have you go out for a couple of dinner dates, and maybe to a theme park, and then, voila, a wedding announcement! Charlotte, you’ll gush about his manly abs and how you love his grown-up music.” She snorted and made vomiting sounds as Freddy turned to Jack. “You have a crazy attraction to her free-spirited ways and her complete refusal to be intimidated by Hollywood or conform to the usual expectations. You get to marry a smoking-hot woman, and this will have your female fans taking notice of what’s now gone off the market. It’s genius—very adult.”

  “Except that he prefers brunettes, dickhead. Have you thought about what you’re saying? How long do you expect this charade to go on for?” Charlotte looked at all of them, horrified that they hadn’t already dismissed this insane idea. Jay cleared his throat, as though he’d thought this wouldn’t have come up so early. Charlotte glared at him and crossed her arms again. “How fucking long, Jay?”

  “We think three years is a reasonable time frame.” He said, waiting for the explosion that was sure to follow. Amazingly, Charlotte stood in total silence, absolutely stunned, judging by the look on her face.

  It was Jack who spoke up first. “Three years? We have to be married for three years? How the hell will I put up with her for that long? We haven’t even been here for three hours and I already have a headache.”

  “You have a headache? I thought you were a rock star?” Charlotte turned to Jay, “Do you want me to marry him because he’s gay?” She turned back to Jack. “Are you gay, Jack? Because again, you’re an adult and you don’t have to hide that shit, anymore. Just be yourself dude.”

  “Really?” he looked at her in disgust.

  “Really,” she said with another fake smile and a nod to show that she meant it.

  “How would we explain living apart?” Jack asked Freddy. Jack’s manager glanced at Jay, wondering if they’d even discussed that when they had hatched this plan last night over a bottle of Jack Daniels.

  “That’s easy: you’re gay.” Charlotte threw in helpfully.

  “Would you shut up?” he glared at her.

  “Charlotte, please don’t get mad,” he glanced at her before he continued, “The only way this can work is if you’re married for all intents and purposes. You’d need to live together, shop together, vacation together—it’s all or nothing. There’s no other way to make it work in this age of social media and instant news. You can’t half-ass it or the secret will be out in the first week.”

  Jack and Charlotte stared at each other as the details of this crazy arrangement sank in. She blinked once and dropped into the nearest chair, all the fight shocked out of her. “Let me get this straight in my poor, blonde brain,” she glared at Jack before she went on. “You want us to have a fake engagement, move in together, have a fake wedding, actually include our families in the lies and not tell them that they are feeling happy for a fake future we’ll never have… and you want us to do it for three years?”

  “That about sums it up.”

  “What. The. Actual. Fuck?”

  Contracted For Love is available now on Amazon. Order your copy now so you don’t miss out! This is one of the most fun books I’ve ever written. Now I want t
o write more rock star books because those characters can get away with anything!

  If you’re not ready to order yet, remember you can join my mailing list HERE and receive an email when the book is due for release.

  Before you go, please consider leaving an honest review for Married This Year on the Amazon site where you purchased this book. Authors live and die by reviews and I would love it if you did me the honour of leaving one. Thanks in advance for giving up your precious time. I am eternally grateful.

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  Email: tracey@daringonlineadventures.com

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