That One Night: A Fake Marriage Romance

by Amy Brent

  “This woman is having a baby!” Casey shouted, but the nurse just gave us another calm smile. A moment later, Alice was being wheeled away in a wheelchair to a maternity room.

  Ten minutes later Connor arrived, barely seeing us as he rushed down the hallway to Alice’s room, leaving me, Casey, Faye, and Archer all twiddling our thumbs in the waiting room. There was nothing else to do but wait.

  I was sitting on one end of the row and Faye was on the opposite end with Casey and Archer in between us, but I could still feel the ice coming off her.

  “I, uh, think I’m going to go see what they have in the cafeteria,” Casey suddenly said, nudging Archer in the ribs. “You want to come with?”

  “Not rea—oof. I mean, yeah, sure. Let’s go.”

  Casey stood, giving me a nod and then gesturing toward Faye, and I rolled my eyes, but a moment later they were gone and it was just me and Faye. It was finally the chance I needed to talk to her, and I was surprised to find that I had no idea what to say.

  “You know, one of my earliest memories is waking up in a hospital,” I said softly, not really sure what I was saying, but now that I’d started I couldn’t stop. “I was four, maybe five. I had been playing on the swing set in our backyard and had fallen off the top and broken my arm.”

  I shook my head, remembering. “I woke up and my parents were there, I was so afraid that they would be mad at me, so afraid that I would get in trouble because they’d always told me not to play on it by myself. But they weren’t mad. Not at all. They both gave me big hugs and told me they loved me. When I asked why they weren’t angry, my mom just smiled at me and said that it’s never our fault when we get hurt. It’s only our fault if we don’t get up again.”

  I was so lost in thought that I didn’t realize Faye had moved until she was sitting down in the seat next to me, not quite meeting my eyes. Her own were downcast and serious.

  “Sam, I know you think—”

  “No. Let me say what I need to say first,” I said, my heart pounding wildly in my chest. But I needed to get it out. I needed to tell her. “When I lost my parents, I thought my world had ended. I never thought I would be able to go on living. I built up walls to protect myself from ever being hurt like that again, but then I met Alice, and Casey and Lori. They showed me that, sometimes, love is worth the pain. It might be scary, and it might hurt, but it’s worth the risk, Faye.”

  “Sam, I…”

  “I’m not done.” I hushed her with a finger across her lips. If I didn’t get this out now, I didn’t know if I ever would. “And then I met you. You’re funny and smart and so clever I can’t keep up with you. You’re ambitious and strong and you have the most beautiful spirit. You never give up, and you fight tooth and nail for the people you care about—except for yourself.”

  She frowned at that last one but I didn’t let her try to interrupt me again. I just kept going.

  “You got hurt, like I did, and you walled yourself off. But you never learned to open up again. I’m not saying it’s easy for me, and I know it’s not easy for you either, but I’ve done everything I could think of to prove that you can trust me, that you can let me into your life and I won’t hurt you. I don’t…I don’t know what else to do.” I turned to face her, locking our gazes together because I needed her to feel the truth in every single word.

  “I love you, Faye. I love you more than I thought I could ever love anyone. I always thought I was…damaged. But you made me whole again. I love you more than anything in the world, and if you really…if you really think you’ll be better off without me then I’ll…I’ll let you go. If that’s what you really want from me. But I don’t think it is.”

  God, I hoped it wasn’t. It felt like I was tearing off my own skin by saying that out loud. But it was the truth. I loved her enough to leave her, if that was what she really needed.

  Faye was quiet for such a long time that it made me nervous. Hell, it made me terrified.

  “You didn’t just break through my walls, Sam. You demolished them,” she finally said, and I could hear the tears in her voice. “You scare the hell out of me because…because every moment we’re together I fall more and more in love with you and I don’t…I don’t think I can handle my heart getting broken again. Not by you. I think that would destroy me.”

  She let out a watery laugh, but there was a bitter edge to it. “I’ve always been on my own. I’ve never had to rely on anyone else before but…I need you, Sam. I thought if I pushed you away hard enough, if I told myself enough times that I didn’t need you, it would somehow come true. But…”

  I looked over at her and wiped a stray tear as it made its way down her cheek.

  “I don’t know if we can make this work, Sam. How can we be together for real if we don’t trust each other?”

  I cupped her cheek, pulling her around until we were eye to eye. There was nowhere for either of us to run, not anymore.

  “It won’t be easy. We both have pasts we have to deal with, but we can do anything as long as we handle it together. You make me stronger, Faye. You make me a better person. You make me braver. As long as you remember that I love you, we can do anything. Just give me another chance to prove myself.”

  I sat there, breathlessly waiting for her answer, and relief shot through me at her slight nod.

  Running on nerves and impulse, I leaned forward and took her mouth with mine, trying to put all the words I didn’t have into that kiss, and she kissed me back just as hard.

  I had told her the truth. It wasn’t going to be easy, but it would be worth it. Love was always worth it.

  *

  Faye

  I ignored Casey’s knowing glance as he and Archer came back from the cafeteria and saw me sitting next to Sam, our fingers entwined. I fought off another blush. This relationship thing was going to take some work. It had been so much easier when it was all pretend.

  But luckily, Casey didn’t say a word about it, just took the seat next to us as we all buckled in to wait.

  “Any news about Alice?” he asked, and I just shook my head.

  “Nothing yet.”

  Everyone fell back into a comfortable silence but my mind was full of everything Sam had said. And my own confession. That might have been the single most terrifying moment of my life, opening myself up like that. It had definitely been one of the hardest things, but the certainty in Sam’s eyes had made it a little easier, and the fact that I could see the love shining from him like a beacon. I knew he’d been telling me the truth. I didn’t know how we were going to make it work, two people with serious trust issues, but I knew he was right about the other thing as well. It would be worth it.

  I couldn’t live my whole life playing it safe just on the off chance I might get hurt. Besides, I thought, shooting him a sideways glance and drinking in the sight of him, sometimes the pain was worth the risk.

  I lost track of the time as we sat there, waiting on any word about Alice and the baby. Connor came to say she was doing great before disappearing again. His face had been as white as a sheet and his steps unsteady, but he’d been grinning proudly when he’d gone back into the delivery room.

  I was just glancing up at the clock for the hundredth time when I spotted a familiar face walking toward us. She was holding a box in her hand. Maybe a present for the baby?

  “Rebecca?” I muttered as she walked down the hallway. Sam gave me a confused look.

  “What?”

  “It’s Rebecca,” I said, but by the time I got the words out, Archer’s assistant was already standing in front of us. “Hi, Rebecca. Is everything okay?”

  “Hmm? Oh, yes. It will be,” she said, then shot a smile at Sam that made me uncomfortable even though I wasn’t sure why. “I just came to see how Alice was doing, and to give you a little message, Faye.”

  “We don’t know about Alice yet. The last we heard everything was going well. What’s the message?”

  I looked up at her,
and when I met her gaze, a chill shot through me. Something was wrong with her, seriously wrong. There was no life in her eyes, just a dull glaze shining back at me.

  “That you, Faye, are a whore. A whore who doesn’t deserve to be with anyone.”

  “What?” I barely had time to get the word out before she was leaping toward me, pulling a knife from the box in her hands and aiming it at my heart.

  In that one moment, with Rebecca leaping toward me and my life flickering before my eyes, time seemed to slow. In that one moment of clarity, my only regret was that I wouldn’t get to spend my life with Sam.

  It hit me so hard that it stole my breath away. The thought was enough to break my heart. I wanted him, forever. I wanted to go through life and handle everything that came our way together. I loved him. With all my heart and soul, I loved him.

  And then the moment shattered as the tip of the knife brushed against my skin, drawing blood. I knew I was going to die.

  But suddenly, Sam was moving and the two of them went crashing to the hospital floor with a clatter as the knife fell from Rebecca’s hand. After he wrestled her down, Sam was breathing heavy as he got to his knees, still restraining her.

  “What the fuck?” There was shock in his voice, and after he moved I could see why. There was a wig on the floor next to Rebecca and her thick, obscuring glasses were gone.

  I opened my mouth to say something, but it was Archer who spoke first, pure shock in his voice.

  “Penny?”

  “You?” I asked, my voice filled with the same shock as Archer’s. “It was you who sent all those threats?”

  “You didn’t deserve Archer. He’s mine.” She was still struggling as hospital security came and dragged her away. “He’s mine!”

  Suddenly, Sam’s arms were around me as he pulled me in closer.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, and I realized I was shaking like a leaf in his embrace. “Did she hurt you?”

  I looked up at him, drinking in the love shining in his eyes, and smiled tremulously, holding on even tighter.

  “I will be now. With you, I will be.”

  Epilogue

  Sam

  I looked around the room and marveled at the sense of peace that settled over me. The album was done and we were all gathered for the final listen. It had been a few weeks since everything that had happened at the hospital—Alice going into labor and Rebecca’s attack—but it felt like a lifetime ago.

  All the anger was gone, all the doubts and fears. And I knew it was because of Faye. She had changed something inside me for the better, and now that I could get her to admit that we were in a real relationship, things had been going great between us.

  I glanced across the room and met Casey’s eyes, nodding at him as the music filled the room. Casey nodded back from his stool, drinking from a bottle of champagne.

  Alice and Connor and their newborn son, Gray, were sitting on the couch. I had gotten to hold him a few times but Connor was almost more protective than Alice, barely letting their baby boy out of his sight. Not that I blamed him at all.

  Archer was there as well, looking a little more tense than usual, but I wasn’t surprised by that at all. After that shock at the hospital of finding out Rebecca had actually been Penny, we were all still a little tense.

  She’d even gone through plastic surgery, changing her features, creating an entirely new person just to get close to him, and Faye had gotten caught in the crossfire.

  I could still remember that moment of seeing Rebecca’s eyes change a second before she stabbed a knife toward Faye’s heart. That moment would haunt me for the rest of my life. I was sure of it.

  As the songs played, I was filled with pride. Despite everything that had happened, we had made something truly special in this album, something our fans would love but, even more importantly, something we all had put our hearts and souls into—quite literally when it came to the last song on the album.

  I swallowed nervously as that one started to play. It was me on the guitar and Alice playing the piano and singing harmony. But as the song progressed, it was my voice that took over the lead vocals and my words for Faye that were the lyrics.

  I couldn’t look at her as they started pouring from the speaker.

  This hard road we’re on is rough and shaky but together we’ll make it through anything, baby. The hard times and the good times and everything in between. Because the only place you belong is right here next to me.

  The song played on, and I forced my gaze over to hers and gasped when I saw tears shining in her eyes. Behind the tears was pure, overwhelming love. I knew in that moment that the lyrics were the truth. We could make it through anything together, just as long as we had each other.

  Finally, the last song came to an end and I raised my glass in the air.

  “To the band. To working our asses off. And to family. I love you guys. Cheers!” There was a loud wave of noise as everyone echoed my toast, and then we were all laughing and hugging each other. We had done it. We had finally done it.

  After another round of happy hugs, I found my arms around Faye as she smiled up at me.

  “I don’t date musicians, you know,” she said teasingly, a joking light in her beautiful dark eyes. There was a flush to her cheeks and her lips begged to be kissed.

  “Really? Well, luckily you aren’t dating one,” I teased back. “You’re married to one.”

  “Oh, yeah, I guess I am.” Faye’s smile widened, softening as she looked up at me. “That last song was a beautiful surprise, Sam.”

  “You liked it?”

  “I loved it.”

  “Good,” I said, barely able to keep the grin off my face. “Because there’s one more surprise.”

  “What’s that?” Faye asked. I just shook my head.

  “Do you trust me?”

  Faye paused, her expression growing serious, and I felt myself drowning in the emotion in her gaze.

  “Always.”

  *

  Faye

  I reveled in the feeling of the warm sand squishing between my toes as we walked along the beach. I couldn’t see anything because of the blindfold Sam had insisted on. Him and his blindfolds! But I could hear the sound of the ocean waves to my left and seagulls cawing and crying overhead as they flew through the sweet-scented air.

  Turned out his surprise had been a trip to Hawaii, and the last few days we’d had together on the island had been magical.

  Then this morning I’d woken up to be informed there was another surprise. I just hoped it wasn’t more Spam. Anything but that.

  Sam’s fingers closed tightly around mine as he led me on unsteady feet down the beach.

  “Are we almost there? Where exactly are you taking me, Sam?”

  “You’ll see. You’ll see,” he said, and I could hear the joy and excitement in his voice. “It’s a surprise.”

  “Yeah, I know. That’s all you’ve told me for the last twenty minutes.”

  After what felt like another hour of being led by the hand by him, Sam finally drew me to a stop.

  “Are we here?”

  “Yes, we’re here,” he said through his laughter. “You’re so impatient. Hasn’t anybody ever told you that good things come to people who wait?”

  “No. That’s ridiculous,” I muttered, but I was fighting off a grin of my own. “Does that mean you are going to take this thing off me now?”

  Finally, the fabric slid from my eyes, and I had to blink several times before I could get used to the bright glare of the sun shining overhead.

  “Where are…? What is this…?” I couldn’t even finish my questions as my eyes took in the lovely little cottage in front of us. It was exactly as I remembered it, right down to the palms growing out front and the vines climbing up the trellises and the back porch overlooking the ocean.

  Still in shock, I turned and sent a surprised look to Sam. “It’s my grandparents’ house. How did you find it?
”

  Sam came up to me and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close as he dropped a light kiss against my check.

  “Your mom helped me track it down,” he said softly. “And actually, it’s not your grandparents’ house anymore. It’s ours—if you want it. It’s going to take some work, but I figure we can do it as long as we’re together.”

  I turned in his arms so that I could look up into his eyes as my own filled with tears. “We can do anything together, Sam. You should know that about us by now.”

  I leaned against him, surprised all over again that Sam was in my life and taken aback by how much he had changed me. How much we had changed each other.

  “I love it, Sam,” I whispered, meeting his gaze once more. “It will be the perfect place to raise our baby.”

  “Baby?” Sam said, staring at me in shock. “A…a baby? Are you sure?”

  I smiled through my tears, nodding my head. “You’re not the only one with surprises, you know.”

  “Oh my god. A baby. Our baby,” Sam muttered in shock, but then a huge smile broke across his face. I was as bright as the sun that was setting over the ocean. He pulled me tightly against him. “I love you, Faye.”

  “I know,” I said, and then laughed at his expression. “I love you too, Sam. Always.”

  *** The End***

  Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed Sam and Faye’s story. ☺

  Have you read Alice and Connor’s story too?

  You can get it here!

  And if you are interested in reading about a hot detective trying to catch a billionaire bad boy, and loads of under the sheets action, try getting your copy of Love Undercover. It’s light bdsm, loads of secrets and some explosive chemistry.

  And the best part -