Cocky Billionaires: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

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Cocky Billionaires: A Contemporary Romance Box Set Page 25

by J. P. Comeau

Everything was dreary.

  And that didn’t help with my spirits.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Hearthstone?”

  My head jerked up. “Yes! Hi. Yes. That’s us.”

  Brenden stood. “Where are we needed?”

  The woman thumbed behind her. “Go in and have a seat. Judge Johnson will be with you shortly.”

  He offered me his arm, and I took it. He led me into the courthouse, and we sat down at the table on the left, preparing ourselves for the embarrassment of the entire thing. I wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but I didn’t like the fact that we had to sit in front of a judge like we had a case to plead. All we did was sign our names to documents we weren’t aware of.

  But we had to go through all of that to annul?

  “I don’t like this,” I murmured.

  Brenden leaned over. “Just let me do the talking, okay?”

  I nodded. “I can do that.”

  “All rise for the honorable Judge--.”

  I saw the judge enter the room. “Let’s skip the formalities. My coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.”

  “Not good,” I murmured.

  Brenden took my hand. “Just breathe. I’ll handle the rest.”

  I drew in a deep breath through my nose as the judge sat at his desk. I saw him rifling through the documents Brenden gave to that woman in the office, but I couldn't read his face. His lips were pursed. His eyes were practically slits as he stared at them through his thin reading glasses. The gray hair at his temples told me he’d been doing it a while, and the wrinkles of his forehead told me he wanted to be anywhere but here right now.

  That might work in our favor.

  Then again, it might not.

  The judge removed his glasses. “All right. Help me make sense of what’s in front of me.”

  Brenden stood. “Your Honor--.”

  “You don’t have to stand. Just talk to me.”

  He sat back down. “Your Honor, my friend and I, we--.”

  I looked over at Brenden as he struggled with his words.

  “Yes?” the judge asked.

  He sighed. “It’s a ridiculous story, but I promise we had the best of intentions.”

  “Then, why don’t you tell me this ridiculous story?”

  He nodded. “My friend here, Kelly Brown--Crown. I’m sorry, Kelly Crown.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Wonderful.”

  The judge chuckled. “I know you’re nervous. I just want to know the story.”

  Brenden cleared his throat. “Yes. Right. Okay. So, my friend here is a virgin.”

  “Oh, God,” I groaned.

  “And she feels like it’s holding her back in the dating world.”

  “Can I die now? Is that a thing?”

  The judge chuckled. “Go on.”

  “And what she wanted to do was sleep with my brother, which isn’t good enough. Not for her. She needs someone who cares about her, right? Who knows her.”

  “So, you offered up yourself. Right?”

  Brenden nodded curtly. “Right. But, I wanted to make her comfortable and get her to relax and kind of ease into things. So, I figured, why not stage a wedding? I could add all of her favorite elements, make it a Christmas-themed sort of thing. We could go have dinner, book ourselves a nice honeymoon suite for a week, and kind of ease into things as she wanted. No pressure, no commitment, and her completely taking the reins on this part of her life.”

  The judge smiled. “It’s not a terrible idea. I can see why you thought it would be a good one.”

  I wanted to melt into a puddle and soak into the sewer system. Anything to get out of that embarrassing situation.

  “Right?” Brenden asked. “But the receptionist I coordinated all of this with quit. And I wasn’t informed. So, instead of us signing a waiver that stated the wedding wasn’t actually legitimate, we signed a marriage certificate that had been filled out by the new receptionist that had gotten things confused.”

  I sank further down into my chair and pinched the bridge of my nose.

  Brenden started chuckling, but I didn’t hear the judge joining in. And when I peeked up, I saw him staring at me. Clear as crystal, with a hard look on his face.

  “Is this what happened?” he asked.

  I swallowed hard. “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “So, the two of you thought faking a lifelong commitment might make it easier for you to have sex.”

  I grimaced. “Yes, Your Honor.”

  Brenden jumped in. “Sir, if I may--.”

  The judge held up his hand. “I’m talking to her.”

  I sat up in my seat. “Your Honor, I know this sounds--.”

  “Crazy? Reckless? Selfish? Asinine? Yes, to all of those.”

  Brenden stood up. “Your Honor, if you could direct your frustrations at me, that would be--.”

  The judge stood. “You don’t give the orders in this courtroom, I do. Mr. Hearthstone, do you know how many couples I see just like you? Who use chapels around here as some idiotic excuse to make a memory for a night before finding themselves right in front of me?”

  “No, sir. I don’t.”

  “Right. You don’t. I’ve spent my entire life’s work sorting out crazy schemes children like yourselves get into because all you can think about is yourselves.”

  I stood. “Your Honor, we aren’t children. We’re grown adults--.”

  He glared at me. “Who will take responsibility for their actions, yes.”

  I felt my heart drop to the floor. “What?”

  Brenden took my hand. “Sir, please. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I have a written note up there--.”

  He held up the note. “I see your note. But that doesn’t mean you’ve learned your lesson. I’ll grant you your annulment. Once I know you’ve learned what there is to learn from this blunder.”

  I blinked. “Which is?”

  The judge picked up his gavel. “In one month, you come back and see me. And if you can tell me what you’ve learned from all of this, I’ll grant the annulment.”

  “Wait, Your Honor, you can’t do this. This was never supposed to--.”

  The banging of the gavel on his podium made me jump. Tears streamed down my cheeks as he gathered up our paperwork and walked right out of that courtroom. I felt the room spinning around me. I felt like I was going to be sick to my stomach.

  Four weeks.

  I had to stay married to Brenden for four weeks.

  “Your Honor!” he exclaimed.

  “Brenden, don’t,” I whispered.

  The judge slowly turned around. “Yes?”

  Brenden huffed. “What in the world are we supposed to do for a month? Just sit around and wait for our next court date to come up? We’re both busy people. I own the premier real estate agency in Vegas. Kelly here is starting her own fashion line. We don’t know if we’ll be--.”

  “You want to fight my order? Fine. Let’s back it up a bit. Not only will you stay married for a month to make sure this really is what you two want, but now you get to live together and act like a married couple.”

  I snapped back to reality. “You can’t do that.”

  The judge glared at me. “Would you like to test that bet?”

  Brenden took my hand and squeezed it hard to get me to shut up. And it worked.

  “Yes, Your Honor. We’ll make it work,” Brenden said.

  The judge nodded. “Good. Now, get out of my courtroom. I’ve got another couple just like you to see in the next few minutes.”

  I murmured beneath my breath. “Try not to ruin their lives, too.”

  “What was that?” the judge asked.

  Brenden started scooting me towards the door. “Nothing, si--Your Honor. Nothing at all.”

  “Mhm. And if you continue to argue with me, you two will spend the next month in jail for contempt of court. Your case is dismissed.”

  I felt Brenden guiding me out of the courthouse. I felt him leading me to his car. But, when he opened the car door for me, I turned to
look back at the courthouse. The brick facade had worn down with time and looked as cold and unforgiving as the judge. Brenden placed his hand on my shoulder as a tear streamed down my neck, and I felt him brush it away with his fingertips.

  “Four weeks will fly by, okay?” he asked.

  I was in too much shock to make a rebuttal, though.

  “Mr. Hearthstone!”

  I slipped into the car as the woman from the front desk came rushing up to Brenden.

  “Mr. Hearthstone! You forgot your formal orders from the judge.”

  I shook my head. “You can burn them for all I care.”

  Brenden took the papers. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

  “And I don’t,” I snapped.

  He closed my car door and quickly walked around to the other side. After sliding behind the wheel of the car, Brenden’s eyes danced over the sheet of paper. Even from the corner of my eye, I saw his face turn white as snow. So, I plucked the paper from his hands and read it myself.

  “My God, he really is serious,” I murmured.

  Brenden swallowed hard. “At least we don’t have to share finances or anything.”

  “And I suppose this means I’m moving in with you since there’s no room for you at my place.”

  “Most likely.”

  I squinted. “It says here that we are ‘required to file a weekly report’ with his clerk? Is this man serious?”

  “Apparently.”

  I scoffed. “At least it can be done online.”

  “This is such horse-shit.”

  I handed him the official paperwork. “I know. But, it looks like there’s no way out of it.”

  He cranked up his car. “I guess this means we should go start packing you up for the next four weeks.”

  “What in the world are we going to tell everyone? What am I going to tell Roxy? And you know Karina won’t stop breathing down my neck until--.”

  “To be honest, I don’t really care what your sister and friend are going to think about this.”

  I paused. “Right. Yeah.”

  “The only thing I’m concerned about is making sure we come out of this with our friendship intact.”

  “Wait, really?”

  He cranked up his car. “Yes, really. Because if I lose you in all of this, I might just stalk out that judge and do him in myself.”

  I didn’t know what to make of his words, so I stayed silent. Part of me wondered if lying to the judge about what happened would have helped our case. But, my guess is it would’ve only made things worse. We meandered through town, navigating traffic, and rushing through yellow lights to get me back to my place. However, when I looked up at my apartment complex to find the window of my bedroom, I froze.

  I don’t want Roxy to see this.

  “If you want, I can send someone to help you instead of helping you myself.”

  I nodded slowly. “That might be better.”

  He sighed. “All right. You head on up and start packing, and I’ll see when I can get a mover or somebody over there. It might not be until tomorrow morning, though.”

  I opened the door. “That’s fine. That works for me. It’ll give me time to find a way to explain this insane situation to my sister.”

  “Do you really have to, though? I mean, who the hell cares what they think? Right now, all we need to think about is--.”

  I stepped out of the car. “On second thought, never mind.”

  He paused. “Wait, what?”

  I dipped down to see him. “I can take care of myself, thanks.”

  “Kelly, wait. You’re going to need some sort of help to--.”

  “And that’s where you’re wrong, Brenden. Because I really don’t. You’ve helped enough. And if you really can’t see why explaining this to my best friends is a priority to me, then that only confirms my fears.”

  “Which are?”

  “The fact that you really aren’t capable of caring about other people.”

  Then, I closed the door and walked inside. Not bothering to look back. Because if he really didn’t get it--if he was really going to chastise me for wanting to talk with Karina and my own damn sister about it--then our decision at the end of these four weeks would be an easy one.

  Because I’d never share my life with someone so narrow-minded and so fucking selfish as to put his reputation before my own damn needs.

  12

  _____

  BRENDEN

  THE NEXT DAY

  Kelly whispered with her sister. “I don’t want to do this, Roxy. There has to be another way.”

  Roxy rubbed her back. “It’s not going to be that bad. I mean, look at this condo! It’ll just be the penthouse honeymoon suite, except for four weeks instead of one.”

  “Yeah, and no sex.”

  I tried to act like I didn’t hear them talking, but it was hard. Hauling boxes in with Clint while he gave me side glances and held back his snickers wasn’t helping much. And now, to add the cherry on top of an already screwed-up cake, one of my best friends was angry with me.

  For good reason, too.

  “Hey, come on. Cut him some slack. He did everything right, and it still bit him in the ass. Give him some room,” Clint said.

  Roxy scoffed. “Well, next time? Tell him not to reroute our plans without our knowledge, and we’d be fine.”

  Clint lowered his voice. “He was just trying to do what was right for the your sister.”

  Roxy bucked up to him. “And Kelly can take care of herself. You know, since she’s a grown-ass woman with her own business.”

  I walked past my brother, bickering with Roxy, and headed to the guest bedroom. Where Kelly insisted on staying. I mean, I couldn't blame her. But, part of me was disappointed that I wouldn't be waking up to her every morning. Man, what a rush that had been. What a wonderful memory that was for me.

  “Just drop it,” Kelly said flatly.

  I placed the box on top of the dresser before backing towards the doorway.

  “Do you need anything? Are you hungry? Or thirsty?” I asked.

  “If I am, I know where your kitchen is now.”

  I nodded slowly. “Would you like some takeout for tonight? You know, to take it easy?”

  “What I’d like is for you to leave me alone. Thanks.”

  I turned to walk out of the room and found Clint behind me, pursing his lips. I glared at him before I charged back down the hallway, ready to remove myself from the situation completely. Maybe Kelly could stay here, and I’d take a vacation somewhere. We could forge and lie on the weekly reports and get out of the mess without ever having to see one another.

  Then again, if we’re caught, we’re in bigger trouble.

  “You got anything else!?” Roxy yelled.

  Clint grunted. “Nope. I got the last one. She’s all emptied out.”

  Roxy sighed. “Awww, look at this room. It’s so big. And roomy!”

  “That’s usually what a room is, yes,” Kelly hissed.

  “But, I mean, look at it. The flowers he set out for you. The decorative towels. The desk! That desk is new. I know new furniture when I spot it. He pulled all of this together for you at the last minute. Isn’t that nice?”

  Clint turned around and looked at me, chuckling as I rolled my eyes.

  “I don’t give a shit what he did. I just want to get through these next four weeks,” Kelly said.

  Roxy tried to console her. “Girl, just try to look at the bright side. There’s no sense in both of you being miserable, especially with this condo. I mean, look at the view you’ve got from your desk! That’s all of Vegas, girl. And he’s got a balcony.”

  “With a hot tub!” I declared.

  Clint barked with laughter. “Like that’s getting you out of this.”

  “You can leave now. Thanks for your help,” I said.

  Kelly poked her head out of the room. “He can stay as long as he likes.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And here I thought you didn’t want to act like we we
re married.”

  “Don’t you give me lip.”

  “Then, don’t sass me like I’m your husband.”

  Clint cackled. “Joke’s on you, then.”

  I pointed at him. “You. Out.”

  Kelly fought me on it. “He stays.”

  And before I could catch myself… “I’ll throw you out, too, if you keep on like that.”

  Everyone came to a dead standstill while Clint shook his head. He made his way for the elevator as Roxy’s jaw fell to the floor, and I watched Kelly slink back into her room. Fucking hell, seriously? Did no one see the situation it was putting me in?

  Roxy stared at me. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Try not to toss her out a window.”

  I shook my head. “You know I didn’t mean-”

  “It doesn’t matter what you meant. Because once you say something, you can never take those words back. You can never undo the damage you do with them. So, try not to break my sister in the next four weeks.”

  My brother and Roxy left, leaving me alone. In my condo. With a woman that hated my guts. I stalked over to my couch in the living room and flopped down, then lobbed my head off to the side. I stared through the wall of tinted glass and out towards the expanse of Vegas. The whole of the world laid out before me, and I was a prisoner in my own condo.

  With a woman, I wanted to enjoy instead of hate.

  I don’t know how long I sat there. I’m not sure how much time passed. But, the soft pitter-patter of feet pulled me from my trance, and I saw that the sun was setting. My stomach growled with exponential hunger. I felt myself growing light-headed.

  However, when Kelly sat in front of me on the loveseat, I focused my attention on her.

  “I want to apologize, but I feel that’s overdone at this point,” I said.

  She nodded. “Probably.”

  I looked back out the window. “This place is yours as much as it is mine for the next four weeks. Whatever you want, I can get it for you. Whatever you want to eat, I can whip it up. You just let me know.”

  She paused. “You can cook?”

  “Yep.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Well, now, you do.”

  She sighed. “I’m sorry too, Brenden. This is… rough all around for everyone. And Roxy’s incessant teasing this morning didn’t really help matters.”

 

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