“What’s your middle name?” I asked. “Funny. I should probably already know that.”
“William.”
“You were named after your grandfather? How sweet.”
Trevor tilted his head. “Is it when he’s the reason we’re doing this?”
“How ironic? Is that better?”
“I don’t think that’s it either.”
“You’re probably right.” I typed in Trevor’s full name. Trevor William Nelson.
Next was birthdate and sex.
“You know my birthday?” Trevor asked, and I blushed.
“You were my husband’s brother. It was my job to know when your birthday was.”
“That makes sense.”
Good. Because I didn’t want him to know I had already remembered it from before I got married. Trevor’s birthday was when I’d met him after all. But that had probably slipped his mind.
“I need your address, county, phone number, and email address. For the marriage certificate and for me.”
“Yeah, it’s probably a good idea to know my future wife’s information.”
After we put our info into each other’s phones, I returned to where I’d left off on the application, completing Trevor’s information. I clicked no for the question asking if Trevor had been previously married, and then I moved on to enter my information.
“Alexis Grace Moore,” Trevor said, reading over my shoulder. “You changed your name back after you got divorced?”
“Actually, I never changed it in the first place.”
“Yes, you did.”
I laughed. “Nope.”
“Wow.”
I looked over my shoulder at him. “What?”
“Nothing. Maybe you knew the marriage wouldn’t last.”
I leaned toward him. “Or maybe I’m a modern woman who thinks changing my last name is archaic and misogynistic.”
He shrugged. “Maybe it was both.”
“You’re not going to call me out for being a feminist or anything?”
He frowned. “Why? It’s just a last name.”
“Your brother did.”
“I thought we’d already established that I’m a better person than him.”
I smiled. “Touché.” I turned back to the computer and finished my portion of the application.
The next section made me laugh. It just happened to be about what we wanted our names to be after we were married.
“So, do you want to be Trevor Moore?” I joked.
“Tempting, but Nelson goes with the name of the family business.”
“Right. It probably wouldn’t look good if you changed your last name before fighting for Nelson Pharmacy.”
“You got that right.”
I typed in Trevor’s name the same as previously, but when I got to my part, I put down Nelson for my last name.
Trevor leaned forward. “What are you doing?”
“Putting down my future last name.”
“But you didn’t change it with my brother.”
“And won’t that really piss him off?”
“I think I might be getting married to somebody evil.”
I looked him in the eyes. “Don’t cross me, and you’ll be just fine.”
The corner of his mouth tilted up. “Good to know.”
I looked away and licked my lips. Is Trevor flirting with me? Probably not.
I regrouped my thoughts and moved on. “Address after marriage?”
We hadn’t talked about this yet.
“My house. Unless…”
“I live in a tiny-ass apartment, courtesy of your brother.”
“Well, not any longer.”
I tapped the keyboard and bit my lip. “Are you sure you’re okay with me moving in? That’s a big change. I can stay at my place.”
Trevor’s brow furrowed, and he almost looked angry, but I didn’t feel like it was directed toward me.
“Is my brother or anyone else going to believe that we’re married if we live separately?”
“No.”
“Then, you’re moving in.”
Filling out the application was the easy part. Trying to find an appointment was a headache. And this was just to get the license.
“A month? We can’t wait a month,” Trevor said. “My grandma will likely have only a month or two to live.”
“Don’t panic yet. We have a few more places we can book an appointment.” I clicked on another location. “This one is in two weeks.”
“Better.”
“I’ll keep looking.”
On the fifth one, I got lucky.
“This one has an appointment tomorrow morning.” I checked the address. “It’s a bit of a drive to get there, but—”
“Do it.”
“Done. But next, we have to schedule our ceremony.”
This required a couple of phone calls, but we were able to get in two days later.
I set my phone down and slumped in my chair. “I’m tired, and we haven’t even done anything yet.”
Trevor stood, giving me a full shot of his amazing package. I could see the outline of his dick pressed up against his gray pants, and I tried not to stare.
The night I had met Trevor and Kevin, they had gone skinny-dipping. I wouldn’t say that I had first been attracted to Trevor over his brother because of what he carried in his pants, but it sure hadn’t hurt.
“Alexis?”
Crap. I hadn’t looked away fast enough. I hoped he hadn’t caught me.
“Yeah?”
Trevor held out his hand. “Let’s go.”
Pushing myself off my chair, I asked, “Where are we going?”
“There’s something else we need to do before we get married.”
“We don’t have a lawyer yet.”
“Not that.” He took my hand. “Something else.”
He led me out of the office, his palm warm and secure. It was nice to be single, but I sometimes forgot the good things about being in a relationship.
“Where are you going?” Tessa asked when we passed her.
I lifted my free hand and shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Pick out any one you want.”
I laughed and looked up at Trevor, thinking he was joking.
His face was serious.
“I’m not going to pick out a ring.”
Had this man forgotten that this was a fake marriage? It seemed so since he had dragged me to a jewelry store. I knew Trevor had money from his parents passing away and had a good job, but he didn’t need to get me anything.
He shifted toward the sales attendant. “We have a short engagement—very short—and we need wedding rings. Is there anything you can do for us?” He looked at me again. “Are you sure there is nothing you want to request?”
There was something I had wanted with Kevin, but he hadn’t gotten it for me.
“Tell me.”
“I always wanted black diamonds or a black ring.” I quickly turned to the salesclerk. “But if you don’t have anything, it’s okay. I’ll wear whatever.”
The woman smiled and held up her finger. “One moment. I’ll be right back.”
She moved down the long display and opened a drawer underneath. She pulled out a few things and brought them back to us.
“We had these out, but there wasn’t much interest in them, so we made room for new inventory.” She opened the first box and set it in front of us. Then, she opened the second and set it next to the first.
“They’re beautiful,” I whispered.
They were both silver in color with black diamonds. I wasn’t good with identifying if something was made out of silver, white gold, or platinum. The woman’s ring had a black solitaire princess cut diamond with black baguette diamonds on the sides. The man’s ring was thick with a line of small black diamonds in the center with black baguette diamonds on each side.
“Are they white gold?” I asked.
“Platinum.”
I took a step back
. Platinum was much more expensive.
“We’ll take them,” Trevor said.
The saleswoman looked alarmed. “Don’t you want to try them on?”
“Nah, we’re good. I’m a size ten. Alexis?”
“Seven.”
“When can you have them ready?” Trevor asked her.
“In a day or two.”
“Perfect.”
Chapter Six
ALEXIS
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. I just need you and your witnesses to sign the paperwork, and we will get that filed for you,” the justice of the peace said.
It was Saturday morning, and I watched my new husband—something I’d never thought I’d say again—sign his name on the dotted line.
I signed after him, and I turned the marriage certificate over to Pru. “Thanks for being my witness today.”
“I still can’t believe you’re doing this, but I’m happy to help out.” She scribbled her name on the witness line. “I hope this gets what is owed to you.”
“It will.” Trevor took the marriage certificate from Pru. “I’ll make sure of it.” He handed it to his friend, who was our other witness. “Here you go.”
While both men were looking the other way, Pru wiggled her eyebrows at me and mouthed, That’s hot.
She wasn’t wrong. His determination to do right by me was pretty hot. He also looked good. He wore a pair of black slacks and a gray button-down shirt. I was glad that I had worn something a little fancier than jeans.
I shook my head. It’s not real, I mouthed back.
She rolled her eyes. Right. “Just look at Bree and Zack.”
“Who’s Bree and Zack?” Trevor asked.
“Our friends,” I quickly said before Pru could say more. “They’re getting married soon,” I added because I couldn’t come up with anything good to justify why we had been talking about them.
Pru snort-laughed into her fist but quickly composed herself. Pulling her phone out of her purse, she said, “Let me take a picture of the two newlyweds.”
“That’s a good idea.” Trevor put his arm around me and pulled me to his side. “Smile like I love you,” he joked.
I laughed. “How about I smile like I’m about to crush my ex?”
He grinned. “Even better.”
“Hold up your hand,” Pru said.
I wiggled my ring finger for the camera.
“That’s very pretty.”
“Alexis picked it out,” Trevor told Pru.
Pru gave me a look, but I shook my head.
She took a few pictures of us and studied her work. “These look great. I’ll send them to you, Alexis. But I need to get to work. I have to meet a bride and her mother in twenty minutes.”
I gave her a hug and sent her on her way while Trevor said good-bye to his friend.
“Can your friend be trusted to keep our secret?” Trevor asked.
“Definitely. She hates Kevin just as much as I do.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“What about your friend?”
“He’ll keep his mouth shut.”
“Great.” I looked around, not sure what to do. There was no handbook on what to say to your husband who wasn’t a real husband after you got married. “So, what do we do now?” I asked.
“Go home.” He looked at his watch. “The movers are supposed to show up in an hour or so.”
“Right. Home.”
Trevor’s home was my home now. My, how my life had changed in the last few days.
Just like the day he had come to my café, Trevor took my hand and led me out into the hall. We continued out to the parking lot, and he didn’t let go until we got to his car. I liked to think that holding hands was Trevor’s thing, but I was sure it was all for show.
We rode to his house in silence, and it was soon apparent that this was going to be an awkward marriage. The last few days, we had been busy, setting the appointment at the courthouse, picking out rings, getting our marriage license, speaking to a lawyer and signing papers, and planning my move to his house. With nothing more to do, we didn’t have much to talk about.
Thankfully, I got a text from Pru with the pictures she had taken. I did a double take when I first pulled them up. I thought I had done a good job of acting like it was the happiest day of my life. But Trevor…Trevor was a great actor. He looked like he couldn’t wait to get me home and consummate our marriage. No, that was too tame. He looked like he wanted to take me home and fuck me until I forgot my name.
I slammed the phone down on my lap.
Trevor glanced down and up to my face. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just realizing how real this all is.”
He adjusted in his seat. “I understand that. With all the planning, it almost seemed surreal.”
“And now, it’s just real.”
I picked up my cell again and looked at what were my wedding photos and sighed.
At the end of my marriage to Kevin, it had been obvious we were headed toward divorce. We hadn’t had sex in months, and even before then, it had been weeks apart when we did. The last couple of months, we started sleeping in separate beds. Kevin had claimed his back hurt, so he went to the guest room, and I hadn’t stopped him. Even though I wasn’t in love anymore, I had been lonely. It’d turned out, being alone made me feel less lonely than being married to Kevin had.
I had forgotten how much I had felt like that until right this moment.
Studying Trevor’s face and the heat in his eyes reminded me all over again of how I had been in a loveless marriage. I had known that going in, obviously, so why it felt like a revelation, I didn’t know.
But it sure felt like crap.
“Pru sent the photos she took of us,” I said, needing to do something to distract me from feeling sorry for myself. “Do you want me to send them to you, so you can send them to your family?” We both knew I was really talking about Kevin.
Trevor scratched his five o’clock shadow. It wasn’t really a five o’clock shadow. He kept his facial hair short and trimmed, and that was the best description of it. “What do all the kids do these days with news like that?” he joked. In a serious voice, he said, “Since we didn’t tell many people about the wedding, post it on social media.”
My mouth fell open. “That’s how you’re going to tell your brother?”
“Maybe. If he doesn’t call me or come by the house in a few days, I’ll invite him over for dinner.” Trevor laughed. “He’s going to flip his shit.”
I laughed too, feeling better. This was why I was doing this. Watching my ex be miserable was going to be worth it.
Pulling up every social media site I had an account on, I posted the pictures, tagging Trevor where I could. I even put them on Twitter, which I hadn’t posted on in almost a year. As I went to my home screen, a thought occurred to me.
“I immediately regret what I did.”
Trevor’s eyes got huge, and he looked alarmed.
I didn’t think my statement was that big of a deal, so I continued on. “I’m going to get an abundance of notifications soon. I’d best prepare for the questions of how and when.”
He relaxed. “Yes, we are going to have to field a lot from friends and family.”
My phone rang in my hands.
“Uh-oh. Kevin isn’t the only one who’s going to lose his shit.”
“Who is it?”
“My mother. I might have forgotten to tell my parents about the wedding.” I bit my lip. “What do I tell them?”
“Does your family like Kevin?”
I snorted.
“Then, tell them the truth.”
“Right.” I hit the Answer button and lifted the phone to my ear. “Hi, Mom.”
“Don’t you Mom me, young lady. You got married? To your ex-husband’s brother? And didn’t even tell me? I had to find out through Facebook.”
Yikes. She was mad.
I glanced at Trevor and realized the truth might be worse than ficti
on. I’d never told her that Kevin hadn’t given me all the money he owed me in the divorce, and I didn’t want to upset her by telling her that news too.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I know it seems crazy, but Trevor and I met up again, and we decided we’d already wasted enough years being apart. Why wait, ya know?” I chuckled nervously.
“Honey, I know you originally liked Trevor before Kevin when you first met them back in the day, but people change. Are you sure this is wise? He might not be the same person anymore.”
My eyes flew to Trevor. Had he heard what my mom said about him? I didn’t want him to know I’d had a crush on him first when he never liked me back. The embarrassment of then marrying his brother and it all going to hell was even worse.
Thankfully, Trevor was staring straight out the window.
“Yes, I know people change. Some for the better.”
“Honey—”
“Look, let’s talk about this later, okay? We’ll have dinner this week.”
“If you think I’m going to be less upset if you wait a few days, think again.”
“I would never.”
“Dinner on Wednesday. Six sharp.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And bring your new husband.”
Click.
My phone was flashing when I looked at it, indicating what I’d already known. She’d hung up.
“Decided to lie?”
“Yes. It’s a long story.”
“You’re helping me out. I’m not going to judge.”
“Good. Because we have to do dinner on Wednesday. I hope you’re ready to re-meet your new in-laws.”
Chapter Seven
TREVOR
Looking out the window, I frowned at the size of the moving truck that backed into my driveway. It didn’t look big enough to hold a whole apartment’s worth of things.
“Your stuff is here,” I called out to Alexis.
She had packed some clothes in her car and was putting them away in the spare bedroom. We had already decided it would be believable for her to have her own closet in the other room. And it was logical for Alexis to bring her old bed and put it in the room for guests. We had tried to justified everything in case my brother found a way to snoop around. And if he did, hopefully, it wasn’t at night to catch her sleeping in her own bed.
Not Another Fake Marriage (Not Another Romance) Page 3