“No!” she protested, then bit her lip. “I mean, don’t issue a statement asking the press to leave me alone. That’ll have the opposite effect.” Her heart drummed at the thought of what she wanted to say next. “And as for the annulment … maybe … perhaps … we can hold off just for a bit. At least until the attention dies down.”
His head snapped up. “Hold on. Are you saying we should stay married?”
“Uh, yeah. I mean … I thought about what you said.” Her hands wrung together. “I think it would be best if we could keep certain details about our wedding from leaking out.”
“You mean, about us getting drunk?” he asked sheepishly.
“Yeah. The thing is, I have to protect my family, you know? I mean, I don’t want them to bear the brunt because I made one mistake.”
His shoulders stiffened. “Mistake?” he said in a low voice.
“Yes,” she said. “And I’m sure you … I mean, what would your family think if they find out you got drunk and then married a stranger?”
“I …” He let out a low grunt. “I guess you have a point. I haven’t even thought of them. I mean, I said I’d tell my dad about it, but I read the papers and they seemed legit. Didn’t seem like there was a point in letting my parents know.” His brows snapped together. “I really am sorry that the press is dragging your name through the mud.”
She chuckled nervously. “It’s fine. I mean, if anything, I’m getting some free publicity for my business.” She hoped she had mentioned that casually enough.
“But what about your boyfriend?”
“Boyfriend?” she asked, puzzled.
“I asked you if there was someone else and you didn’t answer. I assumed you were dating someone.”
“I didn’t say I was,” she said. “So you don’t have to worry about a jealous lover or anything. But if you changed your mind—”
“No,” he interrupted. “I haven’t.”
“But so … how should we go about this? I’ve never faked being married before. Or real married either.”
The smile on his face lit up the room. “I guess the first thing we need to do is explain how it is we got married in secret. How about—”
The office door flew open behind them, interrupting Daniel. “Well, look what we have here.”
Whirling her head around, she saw Anders standing in the doorway.
“Hey, Rogers,” he greeted, then nodded at Sarah as a shit-eating grin spread across his face. “Mrs. Rogers.”
“Anders, you asshole!” Gabriel skidded behind Anders, pushing him into the office. “Sorry, Daniel,” he said sheepishly. “I tried to stop him, but this fucker’s too fast.” He looked at Sarah apologetically. “Sorry.”
Anders burst out laughing. “Oh my God, you should see your fucking face, Rogers. What’s the matter? Are the bonds of matrimony strangling your neck already?”
“Matrimony?” Gabriel’s jaw dropped. “What is he saying?”
Daniel’s face was red, and a vein strained at his neck. “Get the fuck outta here, Stevens, before I break your fucking face.”
“Jeez, so touchy,” Anders said, rolling his eyes.
“What’s going on Daniel?” Gabriel asked.
“Nothing,” Daniel answered. “Just get out of here.”
“Wait, you don’t know?” Anders looked at Gabriel.
“Know what?”
Anders shook his head. “Remember that little trip to Vegas three months ago? When our man Rogers here disappeared, he didn’t just hook up with little miss inked goddess here. He also married her.”
“You got married?” Gabriel exclaimed. “I thought you just got her pregnant!”
“Pregnant?” Sarah sputtered. “You thought I was …” No wonder he kept trying to make her comfortable. “I’m not pregnant.” She slapped a hand on her forehead. “I can’t believe I’ve had to say that twice in twenty-four hours.”
“What the hell is going on here?”
All three men went stiff as a board.
The man who walked inside the office filled the room with his mere presence. He was tall, dark-haired, and there was something menacing about him that Sarah just couldn’t explain. His bright green gaze bore right into her with a laser-like precision.
“Chief,” Daniel began, his tone deferential. “I can explain.”
“Who’s this, and why is she in here? This area is for employees only,” he said.
“I’m sure you can give her a pass,” Daniel said. “After all, she’s my wife.”
A thrill ran down her spine at the possessive way he said those words. The chief, on the other hand, went slack-jawed.
“Wife?”
“I can explain. Maybe we should go into your office?” Daniel suggested. “If you give me a few minutes, I can get Sarah settled.”
The chief composed himself. “Fine. I’ll see you in five—ten minutes.” Turning on his heel, he walked away.
Anders chortled. “I’ve never seen him so—”
“Buzz off,” Daniel ordered. “Now.”
“But—”
“C’mon.” Gabriel hooked an arm around his. “Let’s go.” Ignoring Anders’s protests, he dragged him out of the office.
“I’m sorry,” Daniel said. “I’m really sorry about this mess.”
“There was no way this was going to be easy,” she said. “That was your boss, right? Are you going to be okay? Will he fire you?”
“For having you in here? Nah. His wife comes by all the time.” He grinned sheepishly. “But I do have a full workday ahead of me. I could try to get out early and—”
“No, please. Don’t take off work on my account.”
“All right. But we should talk. Do you want to stay here for a bit? Or go back to your motel?”
The thought of going out there and facing the people waiting outside did not sit well with her. “Would you mind if I, uh, stayed here while you met your boss? And use your computer? I need to check my email.” Since she was going to stay here for a while, she might as well get some work done and have Darcey overnight her some of her stuff, like her tablet PC where she did all her work.
“No, go ahead.” He gestured to the chair behind the desk. “Take all the time you need. If you’re hungry, there’s a cafeteria outside.” An awkward silence hung between them. “I’ll go talk to Damon, and then I’ll come back and we can figure this out.”
“Sure,” she said as she sat down on the leather office chair.
“I’ll see you. I won’t be long.”
“Okay.”
He hesitated for a moment, then turned on his heel. When the door closed behind him, she let out a sigh. Focus, Sarah. She had decided to go on with this farce for her business and her family, so she had to think of the end goal. With that in mind, she called Darcey.
“Hey, Darce, it’s me. Everything okay?”
“Uh-huh. Whew!” It sounded like she plopped down on the couch. “The manufacturer got back to me and said they can push our delivery up, and we can have the stock next week. And I’m getting ready to start packing all the stuff and sending them out.”
“Great, but we’re fresh out of what we have on the site?”
“’Fraid so,” Darcey said. “But we do have the new collection in the storage locker.”
“I wasn’t planning to have that out until fall.” Sarah bit her lip. “It’s not ready to go on the site yet. I haven’t even photographed the samples.”
“Yeah, but next week might be too late,” her sister replied. “We’ve got nothing to sell, and our social media’s getting flooded with messages and comments. I’ve put up ‘sold out’ graphics and everything, but people are still wanting more.”
Sarah wanted to kick herself for this lost opportunity. If she had an actual store, it wouldn’t have been a problem keeping extra stock. “All right. Can you send me a couple samples from the fall collection? Overnight it to me. And I’ll need my tablet, some clothes and a couple of things, too. I’ll message you a list a
nd give you the address to my motel.”
“I’m heading out for some packing material so I’ll get that out right away.”
“Thanks, Darce.”
Am I doing the right thing, she thought as she hung up. Everything happened fast and soon she was the one propositioning him to stay married, and now, here she was. How did one fake a marriage anyway? Would this even work? What if someone discovered this was all a lie?
Don’t concern yourself with that. Growing up the way she did, there was no use in thinking of all the bad things that could happen, because at some point or another, something bad would happen anyway. It was better to live in the moment. But hopefully, none of this would blow up in her face.
Chapter Five
Daniel didn’t want to leave Sarah all alone in the office. Hell, his bear didn’t want to leave her, at all. But her coming here was a surprise—a pleasant one, but a surprise nonetheless—and it was like his world was thrown off its axis.
God, she was even more beautiful than yesterday. The white linen top she wore went up to her neck but left her arms bare, making her skin seem like golden bronze and the stained glass tattoo stand out even more. Her hair was pulled back in a high, sleek ponytail that fell behind her like a glossy waterfall.
He didn’t expect to see her today. Heck, he didn’t expect to see her ever again. Though his entire being—not to mention his inner bear—fought with him as he looked over the papers and signed them, he knew it was the right thing to do. He thought it would be easy to convince her to stay married, even coming up with the harebrained excuse of needing her to keep over-amorous women away.
But, mate or not, Sarah was a real-life person, who had a life before him. It was physically painful to think that there was someone else in her life. She didn’t confirm it, but didn’t deny it either, but it sounded like there was someone else that she cared deeply about. And while the thought of that made him want to tear something apart, he had to respect that she was her own person and that even though she was his fated mate, he couldn’t just take something that belonged to someone else first.
Now, here she was, like fate dropped her in his lap—again. She wasn’t attached, a fact that made his heart nearly burst out of his chest. Which meant he could still find a way to woo her and make her stay and be his mate. He didn’t want to blow this chance to show her they were meant to be together.
But first … He glanced down the hallway, in the direction of Damon’s office. He had to take care of this first. Not sure what he was going to say to his friend and boss, he straightened his shoulders and strode toward the chief’s office.
Being the type of person who preferred to rip off a Band-Aid, he grabbed the door handle, yanked it open and strode inside. “Chief, first of all let me—what the hell are you all doing here?”
It wasn’t just Damon in the office, but Gabriel and Anders were there as well, standing by Damon’s massive oak desk. “Chief, I need to talk to you, alone.”
“Were you going to mention your wife at all?” Damon asked, hands folding over his chest.
“It’s not what you think,” he said.
“Why don’t you sit down and explain.” Damon waved him over and motioned for him to sit. “Let’s talk. As friends. What’s going on?”
His instinct was to turn around and run; this was his workplace after all, and Damon was his boss. But he reminded himself that he had gone through the punishing training camp with these three men, and they had forged a bond no one else would understand. So, he walked over and sank down on the chair. “She’s mine,” he said with a sigh. “My mate.”
“Sarah?” Gabriel gaped. “Your wife? She’s your mate?”
“Jesus.” Damon looked flabbergasted.
“Fuck me,” Anders moaned. “Not you, too. All right, I’m out.” He threw his hands up in the air and pivoted on his heel, walking toward the door.
“Where the hell are you going?” Gabriel called. But the door had already slammed shut, and the tiger shifter was gone.
“Leave him alone,” Damon said. “You know how he is about women.” He turned back to Daniel. “So, you married your mate.”
“That’s kinda like cheating, isn’t it?” Gabriel asked. “I mean I had to kidnap a gnome to get Temperance to go out with me. And we only got engaged last night.”
“What do you mean kidnap a gnome?” Daniel asked.
“He’ll explain later. But, hey, congrats, man.” Damon clapped the lion shifter on the back and pulled him in for a quick hug.
“Thanks. I came here to tell you, but then I ran into Sarah.” Gabriel’s golden brows furrowed together. “So, Rogers, tell us what happened.”
“I’m not really sure. I can’t remember,” Daniel said sheepishly. “But here’s what I think did happen.” He told them about the night of the bachelor party, how he was drugged by the guy who was harassing the stripper. “I drank the gin and tonic, and then … I must have bumped into Sarah. Their group was next to us at The Pink Palace. She remembers that much at least. We left and then … it was kind of a blur from there for both of us. I remember bits and pieces.” His cheeks warmed at the flashes of tawny skin and sweet, plush lips. “We must have gone to the chapel at some point. And then I woke up alone at the motel.”
“Only you would get drugged, then marry someone, Rogers,” Gabriel said with a chuckle. “But you gotta admit, it makes it easier to convince her to be with you.” He paused. “I mean, that’s what you want, right?”
“Of course it is!” His grizzly gnashed its teeth at the implication they would want anyone else. “But … she came here to ask me for an annulment.” He continued his story of how Sarah showed up yesterday and asked him to sign the papers and he tried convincing her to keep up the charade. “She said no, of course, but then she came here this morning to tell me she changed her mind. Something about protecting her family and her business.” He was still confused about it, but he wasn’t about to let this chance get away.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Damon asked.
“Well, I was hoping you guys could help me out. I mean, you two are mated to humans. What do I do?”
Damon and Gabriel looked at each other, a silent communication passing between them. Finally, Gabriel spoke up. “There isn’t any formula or steps in claiming your mate.”
“It was different for me,” Damon said. “I fought with my bear because I didn’t think I deserved Anna Victoria. I tried keeping her away, but I ended up hurting myself and her.”
That definitely sounded like the closed-off, broody chief. Still, Daniel saw the changes that Damon had gone through after meeting his mate, and he was happy that the chief was finally living his life to the fullest.
“And I went after Temperance the moment I met her, but she didn’t want anything to do with me at first. Not because she had anything against being mates, in fact, she pretty much accepted it once I told her.” Knowing Gabriel, he probably pushed and shoved his way into his mate’s life until she relented.
But Sarah was nothing like Temperance and Anna Victoria, so it was obvious he was going to have to figure this out.
“Don’t let her go, man,” Gabriel continued. “Do what you need to do to keep her. She’s human, but she seems like a smart girl. She wants to stay married for show? Use that to your advantage. Keep her close, get to know her.”
“And let her get to know you.” Damon’s tone turned serious. “Daniel, speaking as your friend and not just your boss, you’re a catch. Any girl would be lucky to have you as their mate.”
“You just have to convince her,” Gabriel said. “And something tells me she won’t make it easy.”
“They usually don’t,” Damon added with a snort. “But it’s all worth it, when you bond.”
A blissful look passed on both men’s faces, and Daniel’s gut twisted in envy. This was what he was waiting for his whole life, right? To find the other half of his soul and have a relationship just like his parents had?
“So,�
�� Gabriel said. “What are you going to do?”
“She and I need to sit down and talk,” he said. “Work out what we’re supposed to do.”
“Take her to dinner,” Gabriel urged. “Giorgio’s. I’ll make the reservations for seven tonight.”
“I know you didn’t want to take the time off,” Damon said. “But if you need to take off early, do it.”
“Thanks, guys,” he said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
He left Damon’s office and walked back to his own. Sarah was still at his desk, typing away at the computer. Sensing his presence, she looked up. “You’re back.”
His heart squeezed in his chest at how gorgeous she was. “Yeah. Um, don’t worry, I worked it out with my boss. He said take any time I need.”
Dark brown brows snapped together. “For what?”
“To, uh, work out our situation. He’s been urging me to at least make a statement of some kind to get the press off my back.” He walked in and sat on the chair opposite her. “I have to get some work done outside for a couple of hours before I can clock out. If you want, you can stay here or meet me for dinner tonight.”
“Dinner?” A dark brow rose suspiciously. “Like a date?”
“Just a meal,” he said quickly. “So we can talk about what this arrangement will entail. Seven o’clock at Giorgio’s on Main Street.”
She nodded, seemingly buying his explanation. “Sounds fair. I’ll go back to my motel.” Getting up from the chair, she walked around the table. He got up, too, at the same time, but the cubicle was so small that they bumped into each other as they both tried to get out at the same time.
“Oops!” She bounced back, but he caught her, snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her to him.
Blackstone Ranger Hero Page 7