Legally in Love Boxed Set 1

by Jennifer Griffith

  “He who has the gold makes the rules.”

  “Luckily for him, I don’t need or want his gold.” That wasn’t precisely true. Josh very much needed his dad’s money. But he refused to pay what it would cost him to get it: his dignity, his future career, and the girl of his dreams. The price was astronomically too high.

  “Then how are you going to pay tuition? Commit bank robbery?”

  “I almost would if I thought I could get away with it.” Josh loved Chip, but he was done with this conversation. “I’ll figure it out. But thanks for being interested.” It was, actually, nice to have someone in the family who cared. “Maybe I’ll win the lottery.”

  “You can’t win if you don’t play.”

  “Oh, yeah.” He hung up.

  Josh needed some air. He locked up the apartment and went out into the courtyard. It was going to rain. Like always. He liked the coast, but couldn’t the universe send him just a little sunshine? Please?

  As he unlocked his old Ford Explorer, a monstrous sound roared up behind him, and gravel spewed everywhere, pelting the side of his vintage red paint job on his truck.

  “Hey!” he yelled, but then he twisted around and saw the source of the rocks and noise. The swimsuit girl in her old Dodge truck. She’d jammed it into park and her head was on the steering wheel. She wasn’t moving. Was she dead? No, but something definitely wasn’t right.

  Josh jogged over to her and knocked on the window. She jarred upright, looking at him in fright. Her eyes were red.

  “You okay?” He motioned for her to roll down the window. She swiped at her eyes and shook her head. “Come on, what’s wrong?” He shouldn’t be prying, but she was clearly in distress. He opened the door so he could talk to her.

  “Did someone die?”

  “Not yet.” She slid off the truck’s bench seat and stood with her back against the yellow door panel. Her eyes closed. She looked almost as good in her jeans and t-shirt as she’d looked in the swimsuit. Not that he was noticing.

  “But they’re gonna? I get the sense you’re ready to kill.”

  She opened her eyes. “It’s my stupid mom’s dog.”

  “Wait. Your mom is stupid, or the dog is?”

  “Yes.” A little sob hiccupped from her throat when she drew a deep, shuddering breath. He watched her chest rise and fall.

  “Okay.” Josh definitely understood stupid parents, if anyone did. One more breath and the girl opened her eyes again. Wow. They were really blue. He hadn’t noticed before.

  “Oh, I love my mom. She’s got troubles, but I love her. And the dog—whatever. I love it, too.”

  “But they’re stupid.”

  “The dog is her life.” She tilted her head to the side, making her blond ponytail swing a little. It was bewitching. He had to make a fist to keep himself from thinking about burying his face in it. It probably smelled like honeysuckle or something. He waited until she continued—and when she did, it flowed out in a torrent of information. “She loves the dog more than I love chocolate, and she just called to say it’s sick and needs surgery and will die without it, but the surgery costs a mint, but it will almost guarantee the dog’s life will be saved.”

  “Well, that’s good news, right?” Josh didn’t get it. What he did get was how her eyes sparkled through the tears as they looked upward at him, all forlorn. It tugged at his heart in a way he’d never experienced before. Suddenly, he had to help make everything right for this girl—whose name he didn’t even know. “It’s not every dog that can be cured. I lost my dog last year. It about ruined me.”

  “I’m sorry.” She snapped to life, as if suddenly realizing she was talking to him, and not just lost in her own world of thoughts. “That’s so sad.”

  It had been sad, and it was kind of cool that she cared enough to notice him and his old wound when she clearly had a hill of problems of her own. He nodded. “So, why are you so upset?” He wanted to place his arm around her shoulders, to comfort her or something.

  She swallowed hard. “Because my mom just called to ask for help. She doesn’t have money for the surgery.”

  Josh pushed his eyebrows together. “Wait. Weren’t you just telling me about school financial aid problems?” He hated to bring up a sore point, but it seemed salient.

  She nodded, and a big, round tear spilled out of her eye and down her cheek. He saw things pretty clearly, he thought. “Don’t do it. Don’t give her the money you’ve saved up for school, or rent, or books, or whatever.”

  “But it’s Nixie. Her dog. Her life.”

  Josh recoiled at this. “Oh, come on. That’s just not right of her to ask you. She’s the mom, not you.”

  “You don’t know how it works in our situation.” The girl started walking. “I have to do this.”

  “But you have a part-time job, right?” He followed after her on the gravel, listening to the cute slap of her flip-flops.

  “Waitressing at Veg-Out.”

  “The place with the roller skates?”

  “That’s the one. Also known as The Weedeater. Or Lettuce Feed You. Or Miso Sorry. Or Wholly Frijoles. My sister has a million names for it.” She sounded resigned to her fate. “And I’ll have a lot more time this fall to be earning tips. Maybe I can go to college next year. Maybe they’ll hold my slot in the accounting department.”

  That wasn’t how things worked at Clarendon College. Josh knew. He’d personally dropped out and tried to get back in, and it wasn’t simple like that. “You can’t just drop out. People don’t just drop out of Clarendon College.” Well, he had, but that was different.

  “I don’t really have a choice, now, do I?”

  “You absolutely do. Don’t give your mom money for her dog. Dogs—they die. All pets do. Every dog you ever own will die. Until the last one—which will outlive you.” He was getting tripped up. “That’s just the deal with pets. We love them, and then they die. It’s the way life is.”

  “Try telling that to my mother. I dare you.” The girl sounded desperate, hopeless. “Look, I appreciate your interest. Really. But I’m just done fighting against fate. A bachelor’s degree just isn’t in the cards for me, apparently. The job at Veg-Out isn’t that bad, really. I might work my way up to management someday. And I’d be off the roller skates then. Don’t tell me I haven’t got dreams.” She stopped and was looking up at him.

  “Big dreams.” What she had was big, beautiful blue eyes.

  The side of her mouth twitched, and the tears welled again.

  “What?” He stepped closer to her. “Is there something else?” He couldn’t help it. He rested a hand on her shoulder. His pinkie finger brushed the skin just where her sleeve met the soft brown of her arm.

  “It’s just—I told my younger sister as soon as I finished my degree, I’d put her through school.”

  Realization dawned on him. This girl was a really good person. She had goals, and they weren’t just for herself. “And if you quit, she can’t go?”

  The girl closed her eyes and shook her head in the slightest movement.

  “Well, for that reason alone you shouldn’t quit. Not now. What year are you?”

  “Starting my senior year.”

  Oh, she was close. No wonder it seemed so tragic to her. Nearly grasping the brass ring, only to have it snatched away.

  “Look, is there anything I can do?” He asked this, knowing full well he was just as broke as she was, but that he might have access to something that might be useful—if Chip would go for it. “I know somebody. My brother is a vet. Maybe he’d help you out.”

  She looked up at him with a glint of hope. “Really? You think he’d do that?”

  Josh tugged his phone from his jeans pocket and redialed Chip. “Hey, Chip. Remember when you said you wished there was some way you could help me out? You got time to do a pro bono dog surgery?” A few moments later, he snapped the phone closed. “Done.”

  The girl flung her arms around his neck, and then she pressed a kiss to his cheek. Mayb
e lack of Brielle had made him ultra-sensitive, but this woman’s body pressed against him revved his engine more than he expected.

  “Thank you! Josh, you’re amazing! I can’t wait to tell my mom.”

  He couldn’t help smiling. It felt really good to be able to help this girl. She seemed like such a good person—and she really rocked a swimsuit and did blue eyes better than anyone else. Ever.

  Suddenly, though, she let go of him and started walking away looking dejected.

  “What is it now? Does she have a sick cat, too? Because my brother Chip owes me a few more favors.”

  The girl shook her head. “It’s no use. Even if I don’t have to give my mom all my savings for Nixie’s surgery, I still come up way short for tuition for this fall. I don’t know why I even let myself rejoice. It doesn’t matter if the money goes for the dog or not. I’m still never going to be able to afford to start school.”

  This came as a slap in Josh’s face, reminding him he couldn’t pay tuition either. He slumped down on one of the graffiti-covered boulders Estrella Court used for landscaping.

  “Same.” He shrugged one shoulder.

  The girl came over and plopped down beside him.

  “Do you actually know a guy willing to get me a false identity?”

  “I wish. I’d get one myself.” She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her knees. Estrella Court, for all its shortcomings, was close to the ocean, and a slice of it was visible past the parking lot. She was staring out at it, he could tell. “I’m desperate.”

  The word sparked a memory in him from their earlier conversation. “Desperate guy seeks equally desperate girl to fake sham marriage to apply for government student financial aid.”

  Without missing a breath, she said, “I’m your girl.”

  Josh’s head jerked toward where she sat, unblinking, looking at the sliver of ocean visible over the trees. “You’re kidding.”

  “I wish I were.”

  Josh was so stunned he couldn’t move, could only sit staring at this very pretty girl who just, sort of, agreed to sacrifice herself so he could go to school. Well, and so she could, too.

  “You’re being serious,” he finally managed. “You’d do that for me?”

  “For myself, too.” She looked up at him. “I’m that desperate.”

  The words had a tiny sting to them. All his life he’d considered himself pretty much a good catch. Well, lately, he’d been the play-at-your-own-risk guy, but he still wasn’t the kind of guy a girl had to be desperate to accept, was he?

  Oh, stop it. He was being ridiculous. She wasn’t any more or less emotionally invested in this idea than he was. “It’s like a business arrangement, then.”

  She looked up at him. “Exactly.” With a shrug she said, “Once the check for the financial aid comes in, we can just get the marriage annulled. Done. Over. Problem solved.” Her blue eyes looked up at him, a spark of hope in them, energizing at the option lying open to them.

  “Problem solved.” Josh’s heart started to beat again. In fact, it started to race. This gorgeous wisp of a blonde just agreed to pull him out of disaster and fix everything. Tuition—paid. “Problem solved,” he echoed. “Wow.” Josh got up and started pacing back and forth in front of her, progressively faster. “Wow. So, you really mean it?”

  She shrugged one shoulder, a little smile breaking near the corners of those pretty blue eyes.

  Josh stepped toward her. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?” He swept her into his arms, picking her up. “Thank you!” He swung her around, and she was lightness and gloriousness in his arms, this gorgeous girl who just made all his problems go away. He pressed a kiss to the side of her blonde hair.

  She let out a sweet laugh. “Stop! You’re making me dizzy.”

  “Let’s get down to the courthouse and make this happen.” He carried her to the passenger side of his Ford Explorer and set her inside.

  “Deal.” Her eyes, sad a few minutes ago, now sparkled with excitement and relief. “I’m Morgan Clark, by the way.”

  “Nice to meet you. Now, let’s go get married.”

  Chapter Seven

  Well, here goes a mockery of something sacred.

  Morgan didn’t even pause to let Josh get the door for her. She was about ten feet ahead of him going into the courthouse, and he’d stopped to tie his shoe. It was an inauspicious beginning to something that shouldn’t even be starting in the first place.

  If this many butterflies were at war in her stomach on her fake wedding day, she’d probably be vomiting all the way to the altar on the day she really got married.

  If that ever happened.

  Especially after her future husband found out someday what a cavalier attitude she was taking toward something that really, truly ought to mean something.

  Maybe that was the source of the butterfly wars in her gut. And maybe it was her own nature, not the winged insects of nature.

  Either way, she couldn’t see any other solution to her situation. Tory absolutely should not wait another year to start school after this one. And there was no guarantee that Morgan would be getting financial aid next year, either. Somehow the gods of fate would snatch it all away from her again. She had to take the reins and make her own fate.

  Even if it meant roping Josh Hyatt into this mess with her.

  She looked up at him. Dang, he had nice teeth. Morgan had always been a sucker for a good smile. It was doubly terrible, this thing she was doing—faking a vow—being as she wouldn’t actually mind exploring a future with this guy sometime. He seemed like a really nice person, and he did help her mother with Nixie without asking anything in return. Wow. He’d carved out a spot in her heart forever for that deed alone.

  Nevertheless, together they were perpetrating something wrong. And that made neither of them nice people.

  “Hi,” Josh was saying to the Clatsop County Clerk. “We’d like a marriage license.”

  The clerk handed them some paperwork, and Morgan began filling it out. “I have better handwriting, hon. I’ll do it. But you have to make sure I spell everything right.” She winked at the clerk. “I’m an awful speller.” Then at Josh she said, “Isn’t that right, Josher?”

  Josher. She’d just called Joshua Hyatt Josher. She’d hit rock bottom.

  Or so she thought.

  “Hyatt has a y, not an i.” Josher pointed a fingertip at where she’d misspelled his last name. He laughed. “You’ll need to know that soon, sweets.”

  Sweets. Hearing him call her sweets, she shouldn’t have been so taken aback. After all, she’d just called him Josher, but it made her drop the pen.

  They bent down simultaneously to pick it up, and they bumped heads. He laughed, and then whispered, “You’re handling this like a dream.”

  Morgan nodded. This kind of felt like a nightmare. Heart pounding, she finished filling out her portion of the paperwork. “I can never quite remember the exact date, hon.” She pointed a finger to where he needed a birth date.

  “January sixth.”

  She dropped her pen again. Her mouth went totally dry. After a second he looked at her, and she oh-so-casually pointed at her own birth date. January sixth. He wrote in the year. He was exactly two years older than she.

  “Oh, how cute, y’all. Matching birth dates. What’d you do this year to celebrate? One cake or two?”

  “Uh, no cakes. We hadn’t met yet.”

  “Ooh, a whirlwind romance.” The clerk gave a little shiver of happiness. “You’re such a gorgeous couple. When’s the big day?”

  Josh answered immediately. “Today, if possible.”

  “Oh, you’re talking really whirlwind stuff.” The clerk laughed. “Well, when it’s right, it’s right. Let me just check with Judge Byron to see if he’s got a time available this afternoon.” She scooted out and left them together at the desk.

  Josh turned to her. “Josher?”

  “Sweets?” was Morgan’s weak retort.

  “I thought it�
��d be the perfect balance for when you called me hon.”

  “Touché.”

  He took the pen from her hand, and in a flash he’d filled out all the remaining lines on his portion of the paperwork. To think, they’d been eating cake on the same day every year of their lives up to now. Weird. Morgan peeked and saw his father’s name was Bronco. Bronco? He’d never been married before, and neither had she. He verified they weren’t first cousins.

  “Look,” Josh said with a lowered voice. “I know we honestly haven’t discussed all the implications of this, but if we’re going through with it, we need to make sure no one ever finds out it’s not for real. We could get in a lot of trouble.”

  Morgan just nodded. She never thought about the fraud implications of what they were doing. She’d had the moral implications running through her brain on a loop, but now were they lawbreakers, too?

  This was just getting worse.

  “I mean it. Don’t tell anyone.”

  “But isn’t that the point? We’re supposed to tell everyone, so it seems like we truly mean it.”

  “Well, yeah.” Josh hesitated. “Of course. But I mean we don’t tell anyone it’s temporary, or that it’s just for, uh, you know, money.” It sounded so bad when he put it that way. Morgan’s stomach turned over.

  “That’s fine. Fine. But I have to tell Tory. I live with her. She’ll figure it out, anyway.”

  “She’s your roommate?”

  “Sister.”

  He chewed on this a second. “Fine, but no one else. And I’m telling no one.”

  Morgan wondered if that included his girlfriend, wherever she was. That could be problematic at some point, for sure.

  “Maybe we should just forget it.” She closed her eyes and chucked a little prayer toward heaven, but it hit the ceiling of the Clatsop County Clerk’s office and bounced back and hit her in the face.