by J. J. Bella
When the summer came, Evan and I were wed. Darla and Noodle, her tabby cat that she'd finally managed to talk Evan and I into, serving as an adorable ring bearing team. And as Evan and I kissed, our future stretching out before us, I couldn't help but think how wonderfully odd it was that a fake marriage would end up so amazingly real.
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Bonus Story by Alison White
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“DENILE”
1
Lucas Reid heard the doorbell from upstairs in his massive bedroom. He rolled his eyes. No matter how many times he told Isabella, his son’s nanny, to just come in, she refused. The next sounds he heard downstairs were Jackson’s pounding feet, then the door opening. Even his housekeeper, Lisa, didn’t bother going with him to see who was there when it was 7:30 a.m. It was always Isabella showing up for work at that time.
Lucas finished tying his tie and stood in his floor-length mirror. His pants were perfectly pressed—thanks to Lisa. His shirt crisp—again, Lisa. His tie was impeccably tied and he gave himself a nod of approval before slipping on his shoes and heading downstairs.
Isabella and Jackson were playing in the living room. He could smell coffee and eggs coming from the kitchen. He walked past the living room and stuck his head in.
“Hey!” he called to them.
They hey’d back and waved. Lucas stood at the kitchen island, drinking his coffee, scrolling through the emails that had come during the night. Business deal correspondence, newsletters with the finance information, stock market updates. The usual stuff and nothing too pressing. Reid Technologies was a well-run machine. So well run by his top-dollar employees that only the most important business decisions were up to him. The day-to-day junk was handled by one of thousands of Reid Technologies employees.
He scraped some eggs onto a piece of toast and ate them quickly. If he could get in and get done the things he needed to attend to, he could be home early and spend some time with Jackson. They’d been working on throwing a baseball, and it was easier to do it before dark.
Lucas went back to the living room and perched on the end of the sectional sofa, listening to Isabella and Jackson play with his toy soldiers. He got up to hug Jackson. Jackson squeezed back for a moment, then tore away to get back to his game.
Isabella stood. He usually hugged her, too, but today she nodded toward the door to the garage. “Can we talk a minute?”
“Sure.”
She followed him into the six-car garage, and he shut the door behind them. “What’s going on?”
His heart rate sped a little. It often did that in her presence, but her wanting to talk had an ominous tone. She wore her usual jeans and t-shirt with her long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, but it always looked so good on her. He longed for her. As he had for years. And, as he had for years, he pretended he had no feelings for her, that she was just his son’s nanny. The fact that she was also his aunt hardly seemed relevant in their daily routine, but that helped to make his feelings even stronger. She wasn’t just some girl. Isabella was family.
“I have kind of a favor to ask.” She twisted her mouth to the side and gave him an apologetic look.
“Okay.” He chuckled, waiting. But he knew he’d do nearly anything for her.
“This Saturday, I have a wedding to go to. I RSVP’d yes for two people, and I was wondering if you’d accompany me?” She squeezed her eyes shut as if waiting for him to be angry.
It was an unusual request for many reasons. First, she had a fiancé. Why in the world wouldn’t she take Matthew with her to a wedding? They could get ideas for their own big day. Not that he was looking forward to that at all. But that wasn’t the only reason. It was her sister, Jackson’s mother. Abigail had died when Jackson was just one, and left the whole family devastated, especially Lucas.
Isabella had been there for him from the start, helping with Jackson, and helping him. It was how he’d fallen in love with her over the last five years. She was a lot like Abigail, who he had adored, and she was wonderful with Jackson. She seemed more like a mother to him in a lot of ways, and he was grateful for her presence in their lives. But there was also an unspoken rule between them that they’d never go there. For respect for Abigail and their families, to avoid confusing Jackson, and to avoid getting mixed up themselves, they’d never spent time together alone.
And now she wanted him to accompany her on a very public, very romantically charged outing. Him, and not her fiancé.
He let his confusion show on his face. “Why aren’t you taking Matthew?”
Her hesitant smile faltered. Suddenly, she wore a mask of sadness and her words wavered when she told him, “I ended things with Matthew last night.”
He tried not to let his happiness show. She was no longer engaged? The fact that she ended it was better, too. He couldn’t wait to find out why she decided she couldn’t marry that loser.
“Last night?” he asked. “Don’t you think it’s too soon to take another man to an event like a wedding?”
“Yes. That’s exactly why I’m asking you. I can play it off like you’re just my brother-in-law, stepping in to help me out.”
“Former brother-in-law,” he said. He didn’t want her to keep thinking of him as married to her sister.
She shrugged. “Whatever I call you, you’re the best option. There’s no one I’d rather go with anyway.”
The idea of sitting with her, walking with her, dancing with her for hours, just the two of them, excited him. He wanted nothing more than to go with her. “A favor. So, you’ll owe me?” He raised an eyebrow playfully.
“I’ll be completely indebted to you.”
He took out his phone to make sure he had nothing planned. His calendar was clear, but that still didn’t mean he was available. “Did you check with your parents to see if they could watch Jackson?”
“Of course.”
She’d thought of everything. Grandma and Grandpa would love to have their grandson for the night, anyway. It’d been a few weeks since he was over at their house.
“I guess I have no more excuses then,” he said. “What color tie shall I wear?”
“Ah! Thank you, thank you!” She bounced on her toes a few times, then squeezed him in a tight hug.
He held her back, inhaling her scent, and not wanting to let go. But like always, the embrace ended quickly.
“Who’s wedding is it, anyway?” he asked. “Maybe I should have asked that first.”
“Just a friend from college. No one you know. But a lot of people from college will be there, and I just didn’t want to be the only one alone. Bringing a highly eligible, extraordinarily handsome bachelor will make me look very good.” She winked.
“You don’t have to flatter me. I already agreed.”
“I know, but it’s the truth. Maybe if guys see me with you, it’ll make me more attractive to them. I just might meet the man of my dreams this weekend.”
He chuckled, but the idea stuck in his throat. He’d have to watch for that, for any men checking her out. He didn’t want her running off with some new man right away. Not when she’d just become single again. Who knew how long he had to make his move. Should he even make a move?
Something inside him said it was a bad idea. For all the reasons that had ever been there and then some. She’d also just gotten out of a very serious relationship. She probably wasn’t ready to date anyone. But when she smiled at him, he wanted nothing more than to grab her and kiss her and never stop.
“I better get to work,” he said.
“Oh, right. Thank you so much!”
She stood and watched him get into his car. Then, before he backed out of the
garage, she called out, “Silver! My dress is silver!”
He nodded and pressed the button to close the garage door. He’d wear his charcoal gray Kiton suit, light gray shirt, and favorite silver tie. And he’d make sure to take her a bouquet of the prettiest silver flowers he could purchase.
When he got to his office, he called to his assistant, Joe. “Can you order me a bouquet of the finest silver flowers you can find for Saturday?”
“Of course, Mr. Reid.”
2
When Saturday arrived, Lisa had his suit pressed and waiting for him. She’d gone to retrieve the painted silver roses. He dressed, loaded Jackson into his new Mercedes, and drove over to pick Isabella up.
She was at her parents’ house already. She’d been staying there, sleeping in their guest room, which was painted with cars all over the walls because it was usually referred to as “Jackson’s room.” He pulled into the driveway and got Jackson out of the car with his overnight bag.
His former mother-in-law, Michelle, answered the door. “Well, aren’t you a sight!” She pulled him into a hug, then bent to hug and kiss Jackson. “I don’t know who is handsomer.”
“He is,” Lucas said and smiled at her.
They followed Michelle inside and Jackson immediately ran to the living room to find his grandfather. Michelle stood at the bottom of the stairs and called up to Isabella that he had arrived.
“Wait until you see her,” Michelle said. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen after things with Matthew ended, but if there are any single men there tonight, they might not be single for long.”
He forced a smile, but again, the idea of Isabella meeting someone tonight made his stomach turn. He lowered his voice. “What happened there?”
She shrugged. “She hasn’t told me much except that she just didn’t love him enough. Maybe she’ll tell you more.”
Didn’t love him enough? Interesting reason to give. He supposed it could be true. Perhaps they’d grown apart over the two years they’d been together. He’d try to find out more tonight.
When Isabella made her appearance at the top of the stairs, Lucas’s heart almost stopped. She had outdone herself. He hoped the bride was a supermodel, because Isabella looked drop dead gorgeous. She’d steal the show if she wasn’t careful.
“Isn’t that poor etiquette?” he asked, holding out his hand to her.
“What?” she asked, her glowing smile fading.
“To be more beautiful than the bride on her wedding day.”
Isabella rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t worry about that.”
“I told Lucas no single man at this wedding stood a chance with you looking like that,” Michelle said.
Did that include him, he wondered? Or had they both forgotten he was single? Did they think of him like that, as available? Or did Michelle still think of him as her daughter’s husband? He’d wanted a hundred times to ask her and John, Isabella’s father, if he could date Isabella. If they would be okay with that. But then she’d met Matthew and had gotten engaged and it seemed that was one awkward conversation he could avoid forever. But now, he wondered. It’d been five years. Surely, they would want him to move on, wouldn’t they?
But he noticed, in the time it took them to get a few photos, to say goodbye to Jackson and her parents, that though Michelle and John both encouraged Isabella to keep her eyes open for eligible men, they never said a similar thing to him.
And Isabella, having just ended an engagement less than week ago? It seemed much to soon for her to be moving on. Yet, it’d been five years for him and they didn’t think he should be looking out for single ladies? It seemed to confirm his suspicions. They didn’t want to see him with someone else.
He was sure if he asked, they’d say of course they wanted him to be happy. They were good people. But their actions showed their true desires. That he would forever love Abigail, and only Abigail, and somehow, that would keep her memory more alive.
“The flowers are a nice touch,” Isabella said as he held the car door open for her. “I didn’t know roses came in silver.”
“They don’t,” he said, and climbed in to start the car.
They drove for a few minutes in silence, Lucas still pondering the situation with her parents. Maybe Isabella would have some insight.
“What do you think your parents would do if I started seeing someone?” he asked.
She turned to him, a surprised look on her face. “You’re seeing someone?”
“I said ‘if.’”
“So you’re not seeing someone?”
“Not yet. But I noticed they don’t ever ask. They don’t ever offer to fix me up, like so many people like to do to single men who are in their late twenties. I wonder if they secretly want me to stay single forever.”
“Why ever would they want that?” she asked.
“So they can always think of me as Abigail’s husband. It would be hard to do that if I were with someone else.”
“Yeah. I guess it would.” She grew silent and stared out the window at the afternoon sun.
“So, you think that’s it? The don’t really want me to move on?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard them say anything like that.”
“But have you heard them say otherwise? That they wished I would find someone or something along those lines?”
“I don’t know,” she said quietly. “I guess not.”
He’d been hoping she would reveal to him that the conversations he wasn’t a part of were all about them trying to find someone to set him up with, them hoping he’d meet someone. But it seemed those conversations never took place, and it secured what he’d always dreaded. That they likely wouldn’t be happy if he dated Isabella. It was just another strike against them being together in a long list of things.
But it didn’t stop him from wanting her. And when she looked like she did today, he couldn’t stop picturing her in a white dress, walking toward him as Abigail had done so many years ago. That was before he’d become rich. He wished he could have given Abigail her dream wedding. But at the time, he was fresh out of college. He hadn’t started his life in the business world, and he hadn’t found out yet how very good he was at making investment choices. If they were married today, it would be a multi-million-dollar affair. Then, it had cost less than fifteen thousand.
All throughout the ceremony of Isabella’s friend, he pictured both his wedding to Abigail and what it would be like to marry Isabella. They looked similar enough, it wasn’t hard to imagine. He loved them both just as much as well, though he had to admit Abigail had moved backward in his heart. He’d always love her, of course, but Isabella was there every day with him, caring for their son, and his love for her was refreshed all the time, while his love for Abigail was tied only to memory and what he saw of her in their son. Even that, Jackson’s nose and hair color, were the same as Isabella’s. He couldn’t escape this woman beside him, and he didn’t want to. He wanted more of her. He wanted all of her.
By the time the reception started in full force, the dance floor filling with couple after couple, he’d decided to take a chance. Sure, there were a hundred reasons why they shouldn’t be together. But they had the best reasons to try. Jackson, for one, would surely benefit from having a steadier mother figure, and who better than his aunt, who loved his mother even more than Lucas had? And, though he didn’t know if she had any feelings for him at all, he thought she could love him. They could be in love and be happy forever. They could make their family complete again. And wasn’t that worth taking the risk?
The hours passed, but Lucas still hadn’t found the right moment. It had to be done just right, he knew, or he could blow it all. He had to be able to read her, gauge her interest level if there was one, and that would take just the right words.
“Do you want to step outside?” he asked. They’d been dancing so much that he was getting hot in the stuffy room.
“Sure.” She waved her hand in front of her face, showing tha
t she, too, was warm.
He took her hand and they strolled along the edge of a curved garden. “Beautiful spot for a wedding.”
“It really is,” she said. “I thought I’d be gathering ideas for my own wedding tonight.”
“You still can.”
“Umm, not if I don’t have a fiancé.”
“I’m sure you’ll find someone else and be married one day.” He took in a deep breath, surprised he was feeling so nervous about this. “Do you mind me asking, what happened with Matthew? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No, nothing like that. I just realized that I didn’t love him like I should if I was going to spend the rest of my life with him.”
The same answer she’d given her mother. Was it the truth, then? “That’s it?”
“What better reason do I need?” She chuckled. “Would you want me to marry someone I wasn’t head over heels for?”
“I didn’t want you to marry him at all.”
She stopped walking and turned to face him. “Why is that?”
Their positioning was now perfect. All he had to do was lean in. “You’re too good for him. And maybe I always sensed that he didn’t light you up. You deserve someone who can really take care of you.”
She looked away, staring at the flowers. He wondered what she was thinking. His heart started to race.
“You’re so beautiful, Isabella. And so much more. Intelligent and kind, a perfect aunt. You’re going to make a fabulous wife one day.”
She looked back at him, meeting the intense look in his eyes with one of her own. They said nothing with words, but their shared gaze spoke a lot. She did want him, he thought. She pulled the edge of her lip into her mouth and held his stare. This was the moment.
He took in a slow breath, but had to look away. It was too much. If she turned him down, if he’d been wrong about her interest, it would crush him. But not knowing might crush him worse.