Chapter 4
Declan
The reception is being held in a small ballroom within The Dash hotel.
“Good to see you here, Declan,” Brad says and claps my shoulder. Hard. I flinch. I should be used to it by now since I hang around my brother’s colleagues whenever I’m in LA. They are all burly and huge, not that I’m a wuss myself, but these guys lift weights and exercise multiple times a day.
I ask about his kids and wife. He hugs Marian, and she explains that Jason and his wife Brooke couldn’t make it to the wedding.
Now I know where I know Marian from. She must have attended one of the many gatherings that the firemen and their families have. Probably at my brother’s house or one of the other friends.
We select a table away from everyone else. It seems Marian has the same idea to talk as I do. On the dance floor, Connor and his new wife Jen are dancing to a slow song with their eyes only for each other.
I pull a chair for Marian, and she mutters her thanks. I admire her lush body encased in a gorgeous silver shimmery dress.
“We need to talk. You can’t just wish this away,” I say to Marian.
I don’t know how much of the previous night she remembers, but I remember plenty. We had drunk more than we should have, and before too long, we’d started exchanging confidences. She’d told me how all her friends were married and having babies, but she wasn’t interested in marriage. What she wanted was a baby.
I, in turn, told her my woes with my business. How close I was to bankruptcy. How I’d never failed at anything, and the thought of it petrified me and kept me awake at night.
I’d even told her about the trust fund. My brother and I are what is popularly known as trust fund babies. My grandfather left us a sizeable inheritance.
A glint had come into her eyes, and she had suggested we get married and solve both our problems. It had seemed like a genius idea at the time.
She flashes her gorgeous green eyes at me. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
“I don’t understand,” I say.
“We are going to get an annulment,” she says.
I inhale sharply. The last thing that I want is an annulment. I’ve had a bit of time to think through this marriage. Admittedly, it was a crazy thing that we did last night, but it could work in our favor.
“Let’s not rush into making a decision,” I tell Marian.
Her eyes widen, and she looks at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am, but desperate times call for desperate measures. My business is laden with debt, and I have no chance of expanding. The only way I can save it is with an influx of cash.
I hadn’t thought about my inheritance before now because there was no chance that I would fulfill the conditions required to access it. One of the conditions is that I have to be at least thirty-five years old. That’s five years away from now. The other is that I should be married.
I have no girlfriend or fiancée, so there’s no chance of fulfilling the second condition. Now my circumstances have changed in a single night. I’m married, and I can access my trust fund, and with it, all my financial worries will be gone. I can concentrate on expanding my brand, Did you say Pizza?
All I have to do is to convince Marian to give us a chance.
“There’s no decision to make,” Marian says.
My dreams are disappearing like smoke before my very eyes. “Last night, you told me that the one thing you really want is to have a baby,” I tell her.
“But not with a stranger,” she snaps.
“We’re not strangers,” I tell her. “Your best friend Jason and my brother are good friends.”
“So?” Marian says.
“I’m just trying to establish that we are not strangers,” I tell her.
She takes in a deep breath. “Listen, do me a favor. Let’s get an annulment, go home, and forget this ever happened.”
The deejay invites everybody to the dance floor.
I turn back to Marian. I decide to lay it all on the table for her. It is my last chance to get her to agree to my crazy proposal. “Maybe we can help each other,” I tell her.
My heart pounds as I think of the implications that this marriage will have on my life. I’ve put my heart and soul into Did you say Pizza? and to be honest, my work is everything to me. I tell her about the trust fund.
Even before I finish speaking, she’s already shaking her head. “Oh no. I can see where this is going, and the answer is an emphatic no.”
“My business is almost going bankrupt, and all I need is an injection of cash. We would only need to stay married for a short time, and we can divorce soon after,” I tell her.
“I, I, I,” she says. “It’s all about you, isn’t it?”
I Inhale deeply and realize that I’m using the wrong tactic. In being honest, I’ve concentrated on telling Marian how this marriage will help me but not how it will benefit her.
“I’m thinking it will help you too,” I tell her. “I’m willing to be your sperm donor for your baby. My family genes are good. We’re pretty smart in school, and we don’t have any criminal tendencies.” I sound like an ad for a toilet cleaner. I feel like a fool, but I’m desperate. Now that the solution is so close, I’ll do anything, even donate a baby to Marian to make this marriage work so that I can get funding for my business.
Her jaw drops. “You’re insane.”
“We talked about this last night,” I tell her. “It was you who told me about wanting a baby.”
She grabs her glass and washes down her wine in one gulp. “I don’t handle alcohol very well.”
My skin pulls tightly across my scalp, and I feel a tension headache coming on. “Can you at least think about it?”
Before she can respond, Chad, a fireman, comes to our table and says hello, then turns to Marian. “Would you like to dance?”
Even before he finishes asking, she’s on her feet. “I would love to. “ She doesn’t even look at me.
She takes Chad’s hand, and they head to the dance floor. A slow love song flows from the speakers, and Chad takes her into his arms, holding her close. Something burns my chest, and I tear my gaze away.
I have no right to be jealous. She’s your wife, a voice in my head says. Well, she might be my wife on paper but not in real life.
After the dance, Marian goes to sit at another table with the guys. I need something stronger to drink apart from the white wine that is flowing freely. I leave the ballroom and head to the Lounge bar where Marian and I had a drink the previous day.
Mike, the bartender, is behind the counter, and he looks at me funny as soon as I slide onto a stool.
“Hello there,” he says. “Nice to see that you’re still alive after last night. What can I get you this evening?”
“I’ll have a bourbon on the rocks,” I say.
He turns away to prepare my drink, then slides a coaster and the drink in front of me moments later. He leans on the countertop. “Did you two get married last night?”
The ice clinks as I pick up the glass and shake it. I look up at Mike. “We did.”
He looks away and smiles, and I assume that another customer has come in.
“Congratulations,” he says. “I just heard the good news and was about to congratulate your husband.”
I turn to see Marian sliding into the stool next to mine. “Michael,” she says. “If you want us to continue being friends, don’t ask me about that again.”
He salutes her. “Yes, ma’am. What will you have?”
She looks at my drink. “I’ll have what he’s having.”
She doesn’t speak, and neither do I. When her drink comes, the silence reigns on, and we only start talking when we are in the second round.
“You live in Santa Monica, and I live in LA,” Marian says.
Lightness comes over my chest. I can barely contain my excitement. “I plan to open a second branch of Did you say Pizza? in LA,” I tell her. “We could divide our time between Santa Monica and LA. I
t’s only half an hour away.”
She takes a swig of her drink. She swallows and looks at me and then laughs, but it’s devoid of humor. “I can’t believe I’m even considering something like this.”
“I’m a believer in things happening for a reason,” I start to say and then shut up when she favors me with a dirty look.
“Don’t try to make sense of this madness. We were irresponsible, and that’s it,” she says. “How long do we need to be married for?”
“It will be up to you.”
A pensive look comes over her features. “Until I get pregnant. I don’t want you to be involved in the baby’s life. That’s the condition.”
My heart squeezes as a memory comes to my mind. Four years ago, I had been the first person to see my brother’s daughter Luna after she was born. My brother had been away in Afghanistan and had not even known that he would be a dad.
I had stood in for him, supporting Lexi, now his wife, throughout the pregnancy. I remember the way Luna left her mother’s body with her little eyes wide open, staring around as if the world and everything in it were hers for the taking.
That moment will stay with me for the rest of my life. I turn my mind to Marian’s proposal. I don’t know whether I have it in me to be a sperm donor. I love kids, and Luna, now three, turns me to mush when I see her. I don’t know if I can live with the knowledge that I fathered a baby and not be involved in her life.
Luna has taught me that kids are the only people who can give you unconditional love. Everyone else’s love has a condition attached to it, and if you break it, then the relationship ends.
Marian sees the war waging inside me. “That’s my condition even to consider this madness.”
This is easily the most difficult decision I have ever made. I’ve always wanted kids but never thought that it was part of my future. And now it is, except it’s not.
“I would like to be part of the baby’s life,” I tell Marian.
She shakes her head. “I’m not interested in a relationship.”
“Neither am I, but I would want her or him to grow up knowing who his dad is.”
“I can’t deal with the drama that will follow you being in our lives. Take it or leave it.” She turns to her drink, leaving me to stare at her in disbelief.
What kind of fucked up deal is this that she’s offering?
“So, you guys are going to try and make a go of this?” Mike asks.
I hadn’t even realized that he had been eavesdropping on our conversation.
“Go away,” we both say at the same time.
He smiles good-naturedly and goes to the other end of the bar to serve someone else.
“There’s one more thing,” she says, and by the way her eyes twinkle, I have a suspicion that she’s enjoying this.
“Go on,” I say dully.
“I hope you don’t think we’ll try to get pregnant the old-fashioned way,” she says.
“No?”
“Definitely not,” she says. “I don’t sleep with strangers.”
“So how will we do it?” I ask.
“Have you ever heard of artificial insemination?” she says, straight-faced.
Chapter 5
Marian
“You gave a condition, and I agreed to it,” Declan says to me on the plane. “I have one too. You can’t tell anyone that ours is a marriage of convenience.”
The first thing that Declan did yesterday when I agreed to this scam of a marriage was to change his flight so that we could go home together. A terrible idea if you ask me. I’d have preferred to go home alone to have some time to think and get used to the idea of being married. Not to mention to write down a list of the people I need to update on my new status.
“I can’t lie to Brooke and Jason. They’re my best friends, and besides, I already told them when we got married,” I tell him.
He shrugs. “Tell them we decided to try and make it work. It’s true. We’re trying to make it work, just not how they think.”
I’m not sure I can go through with this. It’s tempting to call off the whole deal, but I want a baby so badly. It’s all I can think about ever since Declan mentioned it. It’s my only chance to have a baby of my own.
Guilt gnaws at me. I haven’t exactly told Declan the truth about myself. I’m a divorcee. Leonard and I were married for five years. Declan hasn’t told me anything about his past either, but I’m thinking he doesn’t have a divorce on his resume.
It wasn’t part of our deal, I tell myself.
This deal has brought all sorts of problems that I had not anticipated. First, there’s Jason and Brooke. I’m sure they’ll see right through it for what it is. Then there are my people at the office. Maggie at the store and Kimberly and Eric in the office upstairs. My employees don’t know this side of me. The impulsive side, aided by alcohol that decides it’s smart to marry a stranger.
And I’m a wedding planner, for goodness sake. How can a wedding planner elope to Vegas? My wedding should have been the biggest and most romantic in all of California.
I groan inwardly and stare moodily out the window.
My stomach heaves as a plane touches the runway in LA. It hits me then just what Declan and I have done.
I look at him at the same time as he turns his head to look at me. My heart skips a beat as I take in his good looks. My gaze is drawn to his lips. Declan has the kind of lips that make you want to kiss him.
That’s another problem. Declan is easily the sexiest man I have ever seen. He looks hot in anything. Like now. He’s wearing a white button-down casual shirt over a pair of chinos, and he looks like he belongs on the cover of a men’s magazine.
I know that sex is not a part of the deal but try telling that to my pussy, which is oozing arousal juices. How will I restrain myself if I have to live in the same house as Declan?
Of course, I’ve considered sleeping together, just to take the edge off my horniness, but that won’t work. There’s too much at stake here to mess it up over lust. One way or the other, I’ll just have to reign in my hormones.
“Jason and Brooke are waiting for me,” I tell Declan when the plane comes to a stop.
He smiles, and my heart skips a beat. He has a dimply smile that makes me think of all kinds of wicked things he could do to me. It has been a long time because any time I’m in Declan’s company, all I can think about is sex.
“I’m glad. The sooner we meet, the better,” Declan says. “Can we drive to Santa Monica tomorrow for dinner with my family? We can drive back, or we can spend the night at my place and come back to LA early in the morning.”
My head is reeling. I feel as if I’ve been dropped on a roller coaster. And I hate roller coasters.
“Hold on,” I say weakly. “You can’t just make ‘we plans’ like that.”
“Do you have another idea?” Declan says. “And we are now a ‘we.’ I like it.”
I stare at him dully and wish that his enthusiasm could rub off on me, but I suppose for him, this marriage is perfect. He’ll get his money and fund his business. I can understand his passion for his business. I feel the same way about my business.
I want to crawl under a bed and stay there until my life goes back to normal.
“Hey,” he says while reaching into his pocket. “There’s something I want to give you.” He takes out a small jewelry box and snaps it open.
Inside are two gold wedding bands. They are simple but gorgeous, and a glance tells me they are not cheap. “They look expensive.”
Declan grins. He looks adorable. “Nothing but the best for my wife. Go on, try it on.”
“It wasn’t necessary for you to spend a lot of money on fake wedding bands,” I protest.
“The marriage may be fake, but that doesn’t mean we have to wear fake rings.” He takes one from the box, takes my hand, and slips it onto my left ring finger.
As soon as we are out of the plane, Declan takes my hand, and no matter how much I tug at it, he doesn’t let go.
I feel fake as people smile at us the way they do when they see a couple in love. He keeps my hand in his throughout and even as we get our baggage.
“I see Jason and Brooke.” My voice changes with the nervousness that I feel.
“Can they see us?” Declan says.
“Yep. They are waving.”
Declan drops his bag and pulls me into his arms. His woodsy scent surrounds me before he slips his hands around my waist and pulls my body against his. His eyes are dark and stormy. A light hits them, and they morph into an even darker shade. His gaze drops to my lips, and I part my lips unconsciously. He angles his mouth over mine and kisses me. Deeply. My hands circle his neck as our tongues do a complicated dance of their own.
Declan breaks the kiss, disorienting me. It takes a few seconds for me to come back to myself. I feel as if I’ve been hit by a truck. I’ve been kissed before, of course, but nothing like this. No kiss has ever transported me to another place or made me forget myself and my surroundings.
“Shall we go meet them and tell them the good news?” Declan says.
I know the kiss was fake, but it felt so real. I sneak a look at him as we stride toward Brooke and Jason. He looks so calm, and I wonder if it affected him as much as it affected me. Of course, it didn’t. Men like Declan have women falling all over their feet. A kiss is nothing to him. I’m such a fool.
Brooke, Jason, and I exchange quick hugs, but all the while, they throw cautious glances at Declan.
The four of us stand there looking at each other before I speak up. “Brooke, Jason …” This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m not an actress. “You know Declan.”
Jason ignores Declan’s outstretched hand.
“What’s going on, Brooke?” Jason says.
I’m not surprised by Jason’s reaction. He and Marvin were the big brothers that I never had.
“It’s a long story, but Declan and I have decided to try and make the marriage work.” I smile foolishly and look from Jason to Brooke.
“What?” Brooke says. “That’s insane.”
Declan drapes an arm around me possessively and pulls me close against his body. It feels nice to be held like that. As if he truly cares.
One Hot Fake: An Accidental Fake Marriage Romance Page 3
