Fake Bride: A Fake Marriage Billionaire Romance (Forbidden First Times Book 2)

by Summers, Sofia T

  I could hardly believe her for a moment. It seemed too good to be true. It felt like something that I couldn’t quite believe. “You… are you sure about that, love?”

  “You’re asking me if I’m sure?” Trudie laughed. “I should be asking you that!”

  “You love me,” I repeated.

  “Yes.” Trudie nodded. “I love you.”

  I couldn’t hold back any longer. I pulled her up to standing and drew her to me, kissing her over and over again, diving into her, soft and smiling. I could hardly believe it, she loved me too, we could be together—nothing could stop us.

  Well, there was going to be some awkwardness when I explained to my parents that this was my girlfriend, Trudie, and not my wife, Trudie, but I was sure they’d forgive me. It was only fair that they got what they deserved for lying and putting me in such an awkward position, and since it was how I’d met the woman I was now in love with (the woman I fully intended to marry properly one day), there really couldn’t be too much complaining.

  We kissed again and again, sliding to the floor, our hands roaming everywhere. Not like I was groping her, but like we were just… finally getting the chance to feel, to revel in the feeling. It wasn’t just sex anymore. We didn’t have to pretend that it was. We could be honest about how it was being in love.

  God, I wanted to make love to her right there, on the floor or on the kitchen table. I wanted to kiss her everywhere. I wanted to drag her to bed and not let her out for days. I wanted to—

  My cell phone rang.

  I cursed colorfully as Trudie laughed. “It’s Jack,” I said, seeing the caller I.D. on the phone. “The fucker—that bastard better have a bloody good reason for calling and interrupting.”

  “You know what the great thing is?” Trudie said, still clearly amused. “We don’t have to be mad about being interrupted. Because we can do this anytime. We can have each other anytime.”

  I stared at her, the phone still ringing. “You’re right,” I admitted. It was true. We could sleep together, kiss, do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Nothing was going to tear us apart.

  Grinning at her, I answered the phone. “Hey, Jack, how’re you doing?”

  “Somebody sounds chipper,” Jack said, sounding a little wary. “What did you do?”

  “I didn’t do anything.” Or anyone, technically. Not yet, anyway. “What’s got you all in a twist?”

  “It’s not that I’m in a twist, it’s more that I’m concerned. Red came to see me just now. He said that there’s this guy who’s lurking around, and he told me he thinks the guy might be Trudie’s shitty ex-boyfriend. I didn’t know that she had an ex? But apparently she does and he’s the worst. Red wanted to tell you but you aren’t here so he told me and I figured I’d call.”

  “Thanks. Y’know what, do me a favor, call the police and have them come and arrest the guy. I’m going to head over with Trudie. We’re taking care of this right now.”

  I could hear Jack’s smile—it wasn’t his usual carefree smile, but the one that he got when he was about to deal with some fucker who’d just tried to screw us. We’d dealt with people trying to pull one over on us throughout the years. Every business ran into that at some point. I could hear that smile in his tone now, and I grinned in response, even though Jack couldn’t see me. “I can’t wait to hear all about this,” Jack said.

  “Trust me, you will,” I promised, and I hung up.

  “What’s going on?” Trudie asked as I put the phone in my pocket.

  “We’re going to the police station,” I said. “Pete’s been hanging around the coffee shop, and Red was worried so he spoke to Jack about it. I told him to call the police and have the guy picked up. We’re going to file charges and we’re doing it today, before that fucker gets one more day of making you worried.”

  Trudie stared at me, a blush rising to her cheeks. “Are you sure? Are you sure that this is the best thing?”

  “If you’d rather not be there…”

  “No, no, I want to be there.” Trudie stood resolutely. “I want to take care of this once and for all. I want to stop have to worrying about him. I want him to get what he deserves. He’s made me feel so… so scared this whole time and he put me on the run. He’s taken over so much of my life already. He doesn’t get to own anymore of it.”

  I nodded. “You’re a brave woman,” I told her. “You really are.” I took her hand. “Let’s deal with this bastard once and for all.”

  Trudie smiled at me, but there was steel in that smile and I could tell that she was determined. I was so proud of her. “Yes. Let’s do this.”

  We got to my office just in time for the police to show up. I’d found, in my limited experience, that the police always took so much longer to arrive than everyone expected. Same with ambulances and fire trucks. It was why it was so important to know how to do CPR and things like that because you just sort of… automatically expected the people to show up the moment you called them, to come screaming around the corner in under a minute, and usually it took ten minutes and you were panicking the whole time. Especially for something that wasn’t a murder, something that wasn’t gang violence—the police felt they could put it on the back burner.

  As Trudie and I approached, she tensed up beside me. The police were stepping out of their car and addressing a tall, thin man, with hair that was so blond and flat it looked like a mound of straw on his head. He was arguing with the officers, and the closer we got, the more Trudie shrank against my side.

  I put my arm around her. “It’s all right,” I soothed her. “It’s okay. He won’t hurt you. I’ve got you.” I would die, or kill, before I let Pete hurt her again. And bugger the police.

  Jack emerged from Buzz, with Red behind him, the two of them speaking to the police and nodding along as the police replied.

  One of the officers saw us and turned. “Are you Trudie…”

  “Harris,” Trudie said, finishing for him. “Yes, that’s me.”

  “Will you be pressing charges?”

  “You.” The word was spat out of Pete’s mouth and he glared at Trudie with such anger and vitriol that I almost lunged forward and strangled the fucker on the spot. How dare he look at her that way, how dare he speak to her like that!?

  “Me,” Trudie said simply, and her voice didn’t shake at all. I was incredibly proud of her for that.

  “You’re arresting me!?” Pete sounded incredulous. “I can’t believe this. And what the fuck, why—you dyed your hair!?”

  Personally, I thought Trudie looked good as a blonde, but when she’d told me that she was originally a brunette, I’d been excited to see that as well. I’d always had a bit of a soft spot for brunettes. But it was Trudie’s choice to look how she liked, and that included her hair color—and I thought she looked damn good as a blonde. Or even if she’d dyed it blue. She would still be beautiful, and she would still be herself.

  “Stay back,” Trudie said, ignoring the hair comment. “You need to stay away, Pete. I mean it. I’ll be getting a restraining order.”

  “You’ll be—oh you’ve got to be kidding me.” I could see that Pete was caught off his guard by being surrounded, and with the police here. “I can’t believe you would do this. After all we’ve been through together and all that we’ve shared. This woman—practically my wife—steals a bunch of money and runs away, what was I supposed to do?”

  “File a missing persons report,” one of the officers suggested, obviously unimpressed.

  “How did you even find me?” Trudie demanded, losing her cool a little. “You can’t—get away from me. This is going to happen and you can’t prevent it. So stop trying to lie, and stop trying to sugarcoat things and sweet talk, and get away from me.”

  A snarl passed over Pete’s face. “You,” he hissed, “are a horrible, lying little snake. After all that I did for you, you’re having me arrested. Arrested!”

  He lunged for her. “You can’t escape me! You’re mine! You’re mine and you’
re going to always be mine!”

  Two police officers grabbed him and yanked him back, holding his arms so that Pete couldn’t get to her. I shoved Trudie behind me, protecting her, keeping her from being touched by Pete. I cocked my fist back automatically, and I noticed that Jack and Red both took steps forward as well, as if they were ready to jump in and land a few blows as well.

  “That’s enough,” one of the officers said. They started to lead a struggling Pete towards the car. He was putting up a hell of a fight, but he eventually was shoved into the car, and I couldn’t resist smirking at him a little in triumph.

  “You’ll want to come down to the station with us,” one of the other officers said, turning to look at Trudie. “You’ll need to give a statement, fill out paperwork, make it all legal and aboveboard.”

  “Of course.” Trudie nodded. “I… I have a confession to make, but I forged my legal papers so that I could escape him. I’ll have to… get that all sorted out. I was scared he would follow me.”

  “Rightfully so, it seems,” the officer replied. He sighed. “Well, you’ll have to pay some fines, but given the circumstances I’m sure nobody will want to convict you of anything. You’ll just have to sort it out at the precinct.”

  Trudie nodded, apparently ready to take her medicine. “It won’t be a problem, thank you officer,” I said quickly.

  I’d pay any fines that were needed, and I’d get her a lawyer or anything else that she needed. She had been fleeing for her life, and rightfully so. If she hadn’t changed her name and her documents, who knew how quickly Pete would’ve found her? The fact that it had taken this long was probably due to the fact that she’d gotten these forged papers in the first place. I was proud of her for thinking to do that. I thought it showed good planning and foresight on her part.

  My girlfriend—my girlfriend—was a clever woman. I still couldn’t quite believe that Trudie was my girlfriend, that it was actually real now. I grinned down at her encouragingly and squeezed her shoulders. “We’ll get this all sorted out, don’t worry.”

  I drove us to the station and I was glad to see that the officers kept Pete well away from Trudie. We had to go in and fill out a statement and take care of paperwork, and I insisted that I would take care of the fees. The police seemed eager to help us and were kind and solicitous to Trudie—although that might’ve been because I was standing there glowering and waving a lot of money around.

  “Can you hold him?” I asked, because I knew that Trudie would be too shy to ask. I wanted to make sure that Pete wouldn’t come near Trudie while we waited for all of the paperwork to come through.

  The officer helping us out nodded. “Oh, yes, sir. For stalking first and foremost. We can also get him on loitering, if that’s not enough.”

  “Thank you,” I said, and I meant it.

  Jack insisted on accompanying us, including back to the apartment. “I want to hear everything, and then we need to have a drink to celebrate!”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. I wanted Trudie to myself, even if I suspected we wouldn’t be having sex that night. She was going to be too emotionally drained, my poor love. And who could blame her? The man who’d abused her for years had just appeared back in her life and had tried to attack her just now.

  “Of course.” Jack grinned. “And you two can tell me how you finally figured your shit out, don’t try and deny it.”

  Trudie laughed. “Oh no, were we really that obvious?”

  “Terribly.” Jack smiled at the both of us, his face gentling. “But despite the asshole who just tried to interrupt everything, you two seem so much happier than you were before. I want details, spare nothing.”

  I laughed, looking at Trudie. “What do you think, love? Should we tell him?”

  She smiled back at me. “I guess we might as well.”

  31

  Trudie

  I woke up the next morning feeling like a whole new person.

  We’d stayed up late last night talking with Jack as I’d filled him in on my past life, and then we explained what happened in Ireland and when I got back. He was fascinated by all of it and kept complimenting me, telling me how brave I was for what I’d gone through. He’d also kept teasing both of us on how long it had taken us to get together for real, how we’d both been dancing around it for long enough.

  Falling asleep in Laird’s arms had always felt good, but now it felt amazing. I didn’t have to hide how I felt, and it was shocking what a difference it made. I could snuggle close and nuzzle at his throat, I could hold onto him tightly, I could smile dopily up at him. And Laird… I realized now how much Laird had been holding back. I’d thought that he was affectionate before but that was nothing compared to how he was now. He held me all night like he was a little worried I would disappear on him.

  I woke up before him in the morning, and just lay there, relaxed in his hold, and realizing that I didn’t have to hide anymore. I could… just be myself. It wasn’t just that I was getting to show Laird how I felt about him—it was also that I didn’t have to hide anymore. I no longer had to look over my shoulder. I didn’t have to worry about Pete, or about the police or the IRS or someone coming after me for my false paperwork. It was crazy, really. After so much time being afraid, I was a little unsure how to feel now that I didn’t have to be afraid anymore.

  I would get used to it, I told myself. I would learn how to be free again. And Laird would help me. It brought a goofy smile to my face.

  As much as I would’ve liked to lie there all day, lounging around and possibly making love at some point (and I could call it that now, I could call it the connection that we really felt), Laird had to go into the office and take care of some business, and I had a work shift. I could actually go to work, now. I didn’t have to quit now.

  Red gave me the biggest hug when I came in. “Is that jackass taken care of?” he asked.

  “He is,” I said. “I’m pressing charges and Laird’s lawyers are going to be taking care of everything. There’s nothing for me to worry about anymore.”

  “Good.” Red clapped me on the shoulder. “I was worried I might have to actually replace you. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find baristas as good as you?”

  “I’m glad that I didn’t have to break your heart,” I told him dryly.

  “I’m going upstairs to work,” Laird said, sounding amused.

  Without even thinking about it, I turned and put my hands on his chest as Laird’s hands fell to my waist and I kissed him. It was definitely not a work-appropriate kiss—it was slow and deep and a bit filthy. But I figured Red would let it slide just this once.

  In fact, when I turned back, Red’s eyebrows had climbed all the way up to his hairline. “So, are you two together for real now?”

  “Oh, hush up,” I told him, putting on my apron as Laird headed for the elevator. “You’re far too smug about all of this.”

  Red just winked at me. Clearly he felt he had a right to be smug, and given how he had been encouraging me to date Laird for real from the start, I couldn’t quite blame him. I supposed he did have a bit of a right.

  And it was a fair trade, in a way. Red got to be smug about how he’d called it and how he’d told me to date the guy, and I got to get off work an hour early so that I could go up and see Laird.

  My hands were shaking a little with anticipation as I took off my apron and hung it up. I still felt so nervous. Part of this felt like… some kind of dream that I’d wake up from. Laird was so kind, so sweet, so thoughtful. He protected me, respected me, he loved me. How could he possibly be real? How could any of this actually be happening to me? How could he want someone like me?

  But he did, I reminded myself as I took the elevator up. He did, and it was all real.

  Finally, I got to have good things. A good person.

  The elevator dinged open and I stepped out onto the top floor of the magazine, adjusting my outfit, resisting the temptation to run to the bathroom and check my hair. Laird had never c
ared about how I looked coming off of a work shift. He had always just liked me for who I was.

  There were still people milling around, finishing up their work. Laird was always good about making sure his employees didn’t overwork themselves, although there was an inevitable rush and overtime work when they came up right before a deadline. Most people ignored me, either not paying attention or used to me by now. A couple of people glanced at me and I smiled at them, vaguely recognizing them from having stopped by the office before.

  Jack was inside Laird’s office when I knocked on the open door. They seemed to be in the middle of discussing a sports person or other that they needed to interview.

  Since Laird was preoccupied, I took the moment to just… stare. I had never let myself stare before. I’d always been scared that it would reveal too much, that I would let myself show my emotions on my face and Laird would realize how desperately in love with him I was.

  But now I could look as much as I wanted. Laird’s hair was usually tamed down for work, combed and slicked back a bit, but now a few curls were starting to emerge, a lock of hair beginning to fall down over his forehead. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, and his tie was a bit loosened. Laird always wore these nice suits, complete with a waistcoat (which was apparently the same thing as a vest but you weren’t supposed to call it a vest, for some reason, because it didn’t sound fancy enough I suppose) going into work, especially since he was usually the one handling board meetings or going out to dinner afterwards to handle clients. But as the day went on he got more and more undone, becoming casually debauched, and it made my entire body heat up.

  He was so goddamn handsome. That had been the first thing I’d thought when I’d seen him for the first time, staring at me over the counter in the coffee shop, and it still held true. I hadn’t been able to believe at the time that someone so good looking could also be so soft and kind inside. I had never been gladder to be proven wrong.