Mr. Mistake: A Fake Marriage Romance (Mr. Mistake Series Book 1)

by Karice Bolton

  I let myself surrender to my fantasy, my world, to him.

  The entire moment swallowed me whole, and happy tears were shed, his strong embrace engrained into my every memory as he spun me around and I shouted, “Yes!”

  Every.

  Single.

  Moment.

  I inhaled as if I’d never get to experience an engagement again.

  I remember him smelling of fresh air and clouds.

  Do clouds smell?

  Yes.

  Like heaven

  And Maddox McKenzie was my idea of heaven.

  As he spun me around and I held onto him tightly, his lips found mine, but his kisses were no longer gentle and unsure. They were demanding, as if testing the false boundaries of our relationship.

  Cheers, whoops, and hollers surrounded us as our friends and family encircled us, but I didn’t open my eyes.

  I stayed in this perfect fog of pretend love because my heart knew no different.

  I’d fallen for Maddox McKenzie.

  Was this type of love deep love?

  Maybe not yet, but my heart knew that someday, if our love could grow, it would be more profound than any explored ocean.

  Right now?

  Maybe it was only a seed of love, ready to sprout.

  But I savored every single happy tear as we kissed as if there were no tomorrow.

  And partially, I suppose that was true.

  This time next year, we might be no different from strangers passing on the sidewalk.

  “What did I say?” Winter laughed. “I told you that you’d be a grandma this time next year.”

  I felt Maddox’s body shudder between kisses as he held in laugher, and we both blinked our eyes open.

  It was like we were seeing each other for the first time.

  His bright blue eyes canvassed me as his lips formed into a perfect smile as he uttered the words, “You said yes.” His crooked smile made my tummy dip as I craved another kiss.

  “How could I not?” I gently touched his lip with my finger before he got down on one knee.

  The ring?

  I’d completely forgotten about a ring.

  The ring.

  Any ring.

  “T, since I became your Mr. Mistake, I’ve learned to love every second that life is giving me. I’ve remembered how much fun imagining a different life can be. T, you made me fantasize about another way of doing things. Another path to take. I want our paths to forever cross and entwine as we venture into the unknown. T, will you marry me?”

  Tears streamed down my face as he waited for my reply again. He opened the ring box to reveal an enormous solitaire diamond. My gaze flew to his, and I was suddenly paralyzed with fear that everything would end.

  Because it would.

  In between tears, I removed my gloves and held out my hand as he slid the ring onto my finger.

  And then he kissed me again, and the cheers led us back into our fantasy.

  By the time Maddox and I had gotten back to the car, my pulse had slowed marginally and I was able to speak again, sort of.

  “Wow.” I smiled, watching the other cars begin to leave the parking lot.

  “Did I surprise you?” he asked, turning in his seat slightly.

  “I’m still in shock. I’ll probably be in shock for a month.”

  He grinned. “Good.”

  “I had no clue. I don’t know how I didn’t see it coming, but I was so focused on my birthday that I just never imagined you’d—”

  “Care enough to plan something like this?”

  I drew a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah.”

  A few seconds of comfortable silence sat between us as I looked into the sky I’d just fallen from. Everything about today was like a dream, a fantasy I’d wake up from at any moment.

  “Do you like it?”

  I brought my hand up and smiled at the sparkly solitaire. “They make the fakes so well now.”

  “T, that’s not a fake.”

  I whipped my gaze to him with an open mouth, unable to speak.

  He shook his head and laughed. “I don’t do anything half-assed. That puppy is gen-u-ine.”

  I splayed my fingers and stared at the beautiful ring. “I don’t think I’ll be leaving the house…or maybe I should put it in a safety deposit box.”

  “Kind of defeats the purpose, don’t you think?”

  I laughed. “Not if I lose it.”

  “You won’t lose it.” He turned on the car. “We should probably catch up to the others.”

  “Yes, or their imaginations will run wild with things we’ve never done.” I laughed. “Especially Winter.”

  He laughed and glanced at me before turning on the main road. “I have to tell you something.”

  “What’s that?” I asked, feeling lightheaded.

  Between falling from the sky and surviving and being proposed to, my mind was spinning with emotions not meant for this world.

  “I’m not sure Winter will ever learn the lesson you’re trying to teach her.”

  “That would be a shame, to go through all this and have her still pester me about being single.”

  “That really would be a shame.” Something was smoldering behind his gaze, but it went away as quickly as it came. “But some people are just really stubborn.”

  “Yes, they are.” I cleared my throat. “I’m not one of them, but Winter is.”

  “Whatever you say.” He laughed and kept his eyes on the road.

  “Maddox, what you did for me today touched me in a way I didn’t know possible.” I shook my head. “I’m so scared of screwing it up. This phony version of us is working out really well.”

  He bit his bottom lip and stared straight ahead.

  “But it is still phony, right? I’m reading your emotions correctly?” I asked softly.

  “Yup.”

  “Because for starters, you live in Seattle and I live on Fireweed. You work a lot. I have summers off.”

  He laughed. “Well, that seals it. We’re officially from two different worlds.”

  I chuckled and stretched my legs in front of me. “You know what I mean. You’ve got your life, and I’m still trying to pull practical jokes on my friends.”

  “For a good cause,” he reminded me.

  “True. I do stand by that.” I let out a sigh, pleased that I was able to wrangle in his true feelings.

  We were still entirely in the veil of this challenge.

  “Good.” He nodded as he turned down the private road leading to his home.

  “But can I say that you have to be the best kisser in this universe?” I laughed. “You might need to turn it down a notch or I don’t know what will happen.”

  He let out a low growl and laughed. “We’ll see. You might just get better at playing the part.”

  I smacked him, and he laughed harder. “In your dreams.”

  “Possibly,” he conceded.

  “Well, I’ll never forget that engagement as long as I live.”

  He shook his head. “Well, there’s that. Glad I could help.”

  Everyone’s cars were parked in the drive.

  “I’m still kind of blown away and in shock, actually. You really might have missed your calling.”

  He pulled in front of his garage. “Well, I meant every single word I said.”

  “Wait. I thought you were acting?” I asked as he turned off the car.

  “I was.” A wry grin spread across his features as he opened his door and got out of the car.

  “But—"

  He shut the door on me, cutting me off, and I sat there for a second trying to figure out how I got back to square one. I was beginning to get the feeling that this man liked to toy with my emotions or clarity…or both.

  Our friends and family were huddling on the porch, watching our every move as Maddox climbed the stairs and I lagged behind. I couldn’t help but chuckle. Of course, Winter, Arie, and Samantha had front row seats to see us come home.

  The m
oment I reached them, Winter squealed and hugged me again as Samantha grabbed my hand and stared at the engagement ring.

  “Whoa, is all I can say.” Samantha examined my ring. “That has to be the most beautiful ring I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

  “Thank you,” I said sheepishly. I wasn’t expecting so many feelings to wash over me so completely. Yes, this was a fake engagement, but hearing Maddox’s words threw me for a loop and tapped into something I’d refused to believe, wish for, or fall for. “I’m still in shock.”

  Winter filed in after Samantha, and I stood outside on the porch with Arie.

  “Kind of fast, isn’t it?” she whispered.

  “But it feels right.” And on some odd level, it did.

  She nodded and glanced at Winter. “She thinks it’s all her fault.”

  “Fault?” I crinkled my nose. “Why would getting engaged be someone’s fault?”

  “She thinks with your type-A personality, she put too much pressure on you, and you took this whole challenge literally.”

  I laughed. “Well, it was a real challenge. The thirtieth birthday, find a man, bag a man, tag a man.”

  “Yes, it was. Just as long as you’re happy.”

  I saw Maddox talking to his parents and grinned. “I’m happier than I ever could have imagined.”

  And I was.

  “Good. Then that’s all that matters.”

  I gave her a hug, and we walked inside when Winter hollered from the family room.

  “When’s the big day? We’ve got a lot of planning to do.” She wiggled her brows and grabbed hold of my mom’s hand.

  Maddox shook his head, thinking the same thing as me.

  She would never learn.

  Maddox’s smile grew, and we exchanged a knowing look.

  “We don’t want to keep living apart.” He looked at his family and then mine, skipping right over Winter. “We’re hoping to get married in the next thirty days.”

  The room fell silent. Like, I could hear field mice in the woods behind silent.

  “Isn’t that kind of soon?” Winter couldn’t contain herself any longer. “Like…just marginally?” She pinched together her index finger and thumb.

  “When you know, you know,” my dad boasted, walking toward my mom.

  My brothers were both beaming and grinning, happy to be on the right side of the joke.

  I glanced at Maddox’s parents and brother, and they all looked shocked…like, bonafide, deer-in-headlights, Son, what-did-you-do shocked.

  His mom tried to plaster a smile on her face, but it kept sliding off as if her lips were chocolate in one-hundred-degree weather.

  I looked at Morgan McKenzie, who slowly started to nod as if he were toying with the notion himself, and then at Maddox’s dad, who just really looked…confused.

  “Isn’t that right, T?” Maddox continued. “You were thinking around the Fourth of July?”

  I nodded, realizing I hadn’t given much thought at all to the dates of anything. I suppose that would be around the holiday.

  “We didn’t want to do anything over the top,” I added. “Just something small and intimate.”

  And easy to fake, clean up, and forget about.

  “Wow.” His mom finally spoke, but it looked as if she needed a stiff drink and a couch to collapse on. “I’m…speechless.”

  “Well, I can see why you don’t want Tessa Berry to slip away,” his brother, Morgan, began, rocking back on his heels. He drew a deep breath and looked out over the room like he was in the middle of the ocean, instructing his crewmembers. “I let a girl get away once, and I’ve never been the same.”

  Winter snickered as his parents exchanged a hopeless look, and that seemed to be the charge Maddox’s mom needed.

  She walked over to me and gave me a big, long hug. “I couldn’t be happier to have you as a daughter-in-law. I don’t know you well, but you seem lovely, and I can’t wait to get to know you more.” She took a step back and breathed in. “And your family.”

  “Thank you,” I said, realizing Maddox really hadn’t filled his parents in on any of this, not even a morsel of the truth.

  Horror and confusion filled every fiber of my body as his mom put on a brave face and glanced around the room.

  “Your son is the kindest man I’ve met, and it’s an honor.” The words couldn’t be truer.

  Her expression softened, and she heaved a deep sigh as everyone began mingling and talking among themselves.

  “I’m sorry for looking so shocked.” She smiled, bringing her hands to mine. “Maddox has always been the sensible one. He’s always the one bailing his younger brother out or hauling him into rehab or finding places for him to stay.” She shook her head. “It’s just nice to see Maddox do something for himself, for once. He always puts himself out for others. Always puts others’ needs first. If this is what you two want and need in your lives, then I couldn’t be happier. For once, Maddox needs to think about Maddox.”

  I swallowed hard, realizing how little I knew about the real Maddox. How much he kept from me and how, true to his mother’s words, he was good at putting everyone else’s needs before his.

  “My only wish for you is that you truly get to know him as a man and understand what makes him tick.” She squeezed my hands. “He’s always doing daredevil stuff, trying to skirt the limits and edge death.” She shuddered. “Or that’s how I see it, like even today.”

  I nodded, wondering what more there was to uncover about Maddox McKenzie, the man so eager to make my dreams a reality while forgetting about his own.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The dressing room of the bridal store was spacious, but the dress I was trying on ate up the entire place. I tried to turn around without knocking over the salesgirl, but she graciously jumped out of the way before I had the chance. She looked like Spiderman plastered on the dressing room door.

  “Ooh,” Samantha nearly squealed on the other side of that door. “Let us see it. Let us see the first dress.”

  I grimaced and picked up the top layer of tulle, embroidery, and sequins. I wanted to feel like a princess on my wedding day, always had, but I thought this gown might take it to the next level. But it was on the sales rack, and since I also had a wedding to pay for, it didn’t look so bad.

  “This might not be it,” I called through the door.

  My mom, his mom, and my best friends were stationed in the parlor outside my door. They all had their champagne flutes and were enjoying this far more than I was.

  “Just come on out, and at least it gets us a starting point,” Winter chimed in. It sounded like she was speaking to me with her lips still wrapped around the flute.

  “Okay.” I nodded at Selma, the sales associate, and she opened the door to a wave of gasps.

  “It’s beautiful.” My mom’s hands flew up to her mouth. “You’re beautiful. How can this not be the one?”

  Selma slipped a veil over my head, and Winter nearly fainted. “Gorgeous. You look like a princess.”

  I slid my hands down the tulle and took a deep breath, spinning slowly in front of the large mirror in the parlor.

  “It is kind of amazing, isn’t it?” I glanced at my mom and our eyes connected for a few beats, and she smiled.

  “You’re beautiful, Tessa. It doesn’t matter if you wore a sack.” She smiled and glanced at my soon-to-be temporary mother-in-law.

  “Yes. You’re stunning. Truly stunning.” Dorothy picked up a tissue from the table in front of them and dabbed her eyes. “I’m just so glad Maddox found someone so…normal.”

  My stomach knotted into a million little loops as my mom and I traded glances.

  Maddox refused to answer why he didn’t tell his parents this was make-believe, and all I could do was follow his wishes at this point. It wasn’t my place. It was my plan, but not my place.

  “Thank you.” I smiled and heard Winter and Arie sniffle. “You guys, you’re making this hard. Okay, I’ll put on the next one.”

  Th
e sales associate helped me back into the dressing room where I traded out this mondo-sized ball gown for a slightly less poufy one. The beadwork was magnificent and so was the price tag. I was able to turn around without making Selma run for her life, and my waist looked small, somehow, because it actually wasn’t, and my boobs had more volume. The sweetheart neckline and short sleeves seemed perfect for a summer wedding.

  My summer wedding. I shook my head and drew in a deep, slow breath.

  This could be the only time I was actually getting married. After this is all over, I still might never find the one.

  So, I’d better enjoy every second.

  Selma slipped on a different headpiece, this one a tiara, and she buttoned up the back.

  “This is beautiful,” I said, finally letting the giddiness overtake me.

  This really might be the only time I get to experience this, so I’m going to soak up every glorious second.

  Of course, there was that tiny possibility that I could somehow convince Maddox I wasn’t clinically insane for doing this, and we could date, but I think at this point, that might be off the plate.

  “Hurry it up. We’re dying out here.” Samantha laughed as another bottle of champagne went pop.

  I nodded my head, and Selma opened the door to another round of gasps, but this time, my mom was wiping away the tears and his mom was clapping.

  “Gorgeous.” Winter stood. “Absolutely gorgeous.”

  I turned to look in the mirror, and my heart stuttered to a stop. I was able to see all of me in this mirror, and all of me looked pretty amazing, and I wasn’t really one who looked terrific every day of the week. It took real effort. Yes, I had blonde hair, but that meant I had blonde lashes and eyebrows that vanished unless I made sure to color them in. I always dabbed lots of black mascara on my lashes so I didn’t look like one of the living dead. Plus, it made me feel good.

  But this dress.

  This dress made me feel like a queen, forget princess.

  “I think this is the one.” I glanced at my mom, who quickly stood and darted to me, hugging me as if this was the real deal. I closed my eyes and imagined it really was and hugged her back.

  Tears welled up, and I became speechless as my mom continued hugging me, falling into the fantasy Maddox and I had created.