Accidentally My Hero

by Jaymes, Holly

  The ring seemed to fit her. Lovely, graceful, delicate. “Fair enough.” I opted for a basic platinum band. It clashed with my father’s ring and I felt a bit of guilt as I moved his ring to my right-hand pinky. The action felt like he was saying, “What are you doing, Will?” I was certain he’d question what I was doing even if he sympathized with the reason. My mother for sure would be disappointed.

  I pushed that all aside as we left the jewelers and headed to the airport to fly home. I looked over at Adalyn as she stared out the window, watching Las Vegas disappear into the distance. Her hand was pressed to the window, her pretty ring glinting from the lights in the cabin. The ring proved that what happened in Vegas didn’t always stay in Vegas.

  Marriage Day One

  Adalyn — Wednesday

  My father did pretty well as a diplomat, but we didn’t use private chartered planes or have the ability to drop thousands of dollars in a single swoop. Not at least without a loan. So, it was an adventure to be in a chartered jet as we flew back to Virginia. It might have been a thrill if it weren’t for the weight of accidentally getting married hanging over me. That and committing marriage fraud. I appreciated Will’s willingness to do something I knew had to be difficult for him. He was a straight shooter. A by-the-book kind of guy.

  “This doesn’t have to impact you and your life,” I said as I sat in the leather seat enjoying coffee.

  “What do you mean?” He looked up from where he’d been doing something on his laptop. I suspected it was a distraction for him, and that what we were doing weighed heavier on him than it did me, even though it had been his idea.

  “We can go on as normal. It doesn’t have to get in the way of your regular life. I don’t expect anything from you.”

  He frowned. “We have to act like we’re happily married.”

  “Out in the world, yes, but behind closed doors and even at work, we can be like we were before. Just friends. I don’t want to get in the way of your usual life. I can see this situation is hard on you.”

  He shrugged and turned his attention back to his computer. “My usual life is pretty boring, as you can imagine. It seems the fun never ends with you.”

  I flinched, taking the comment as a barb. I wanted to snap back, saying something about his boy scout persona making him a dullard, but I remembered the risk he was taking by continuing this marriage. Still. “I’m happy to get an annulment. This was your idea.”

  “To keep you in the country so you can finish the project.”

  That shouldn’t have hurt me either, and yet it did. He was only doing this for his work, not for me.

  “There are plenty of good programmers out there,” I said. “Your brother is one of them.”

  “None have your experience and clearance. My brother is retired and busy with his own life.” He was back to typing whatever he’d been working on. How quickly I was feeling like the neglected wife.

  I looked out the window. “I’m sorry I messed up your life, Will.”

  He sighed. “I’m sorry I’m being an asshole. I’m just … concerned about how this is going to play out.”

  I turned back. “Let’s not even do it, then. I don’t want you to risk everything for me.”

  “Too late.”

  I turned to him, trying again to make him see reason. “It’s not too late. We can get an annulment or divorce in Virginia, too.”

  “I’m beginning to think you’re the one who feels put out by this marriage.”

  “No. I just don’t want this hurt you or your business.”

  He sighed. “Let’s finish the project first. Then we can figure out what to do after that.”

  “What about my visa?”

  “We move forward as planned. Here is the information about applying for a green card,” he said, showing me his computer. “If we need to, we’ll find a good immigration lawyer.”

  I skimmed the information on the screen. “Aren’t you worried about the lawyer figuring out what we’re doing?”

  “The priority right now is keeping you in the country. This project is too important to have one of its top contributors deported.”

  Again, the job was more important than me. Of course it was. Despite getting married and having some truly spectacular sex, Will’s life was his business. It was a life he chose. Our accidental marriage wasn’t going to change his priorities in life.

  “I’ve researched movers to have you move into my place.”

  I shook my head. “I can simply pack up some clothes. I don’t own a lot of stuff anyway.”

  He closed his laptop. “I feel like I’m talking you into this. If you don’t want this, just say so. I’m trying to help.”

  He was trying to help the project, not me, but I didn’t point that out. “I appreciate it, Will. I really do. But it’s clear you don’t want to do this. Our night of fun went a little too far. I suppose that’s why the slogan of what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas exists. But this isn’t staying in Vegas, and it can.”

  “I thought you wanted to stay in the U.S. to finish the work.”

  “I do —”

  “This is how it can happen.” He held up the hand with his platinum wedding band on it.

  “And what if immigration doesn’t buy it?”

  “We make sure they do,” he said.

  I quirked a brow. “I’m not sure we’re the poster couple of blissful newlyweds.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose, and I could see he was starting to get annoyed. “You’ll have to pretend I’m not such a bore, I guess.”

  “Come on, Will. That’s not fair. I don’t think you’re a bore. I think you’re uptight and stuffy. I like you anyway. I slept with you, didn’t I?”

  Heat flashed in his eyes.

  “You weren’t uptight and stuffy then,” I said, like when I got a rise out of him.

  “I’d had too much to drink,” he said tightly.

  I studied him. “Is that the only way you let yourself have sex? You have to drink until your inhibitions are lowered?”

  “No.” His jaw tightened. “But I shouldn’t have had sex with you.”

  Ouch. “That, you’ve made crystal clear.” My voice pitched up, betraying my attempt to act detached like him.

  “Fuck. I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”

  “I doubt it did.” I turned to look out the window.

  “I had sex with you because I couldn’t resist you.”

  “Yes. Because of the alcohol.”

  “The point is, I don’t normally have to work so hard to resist a woman. With you, it’s nonstop.”

  I couldn’t decide if I was flattered by that statement or not. I turned to look at him again.

  “I’m your boss. Your dad is my friend. You think I’m a dullard. Anyone of those reasons should be good enough to keep my libido intact. But it was fucking hard, Adalyn.”

  I bit my lower lip to keep from smiling, because I decided he was saying he was attracted to me even though he didn’t think he should be.

  “Now we’re married. Maybe you don’t have to try so hard to act like you don’t like me.”

  His face turned pained. “Except that this isn’t a real marriage, is it?”

  Ouch again. I couldn’t figure out why that stung. “I don’t understand you sometimes, Will. We have to act like a happily married couple. You just said you’re attracted to me. It seems like you should use that. I know I will. Despite how prickly you can be, I like you too.”

  “We need to have some boundaries and to keep our wits about us.”

  I studied his face and realized that he was saying he needed to keep tight reins on his emotions, and I guess his libido, to feel in control.

  “Okay. I get it.”

  We didn’t talk much after that. I took a nap and when we landed, his car took us to my apartment to pack a few things. I got in my car and followed up to his place. He was right, it was a better choice of living arrangements. His place was spacious, which meant I got my own room. It had
a lovely view with a terrace. Pretty soon it would be too cold to use it, but for now, it offered another place to find peace and quiet when I needed space.

  The next morning, I went through my morning routine of getting up, doing some yoga, having coffee, and then getting ready for work. Will was at his kitchen table, reading the news on his tablet having his own coffee.

  “I can have a car to take and pick you up from work,” he said as I came back into the kitchen for another cup of coffee after dressing. “Then you don’t have to fight with traffic, since you have a longer commute now.”

  “I can drive.” I sat at the table, pulling my laptop out. “I’m going to start the green card paperwork.”

  He stiffened for a moment and then nodded. He handed me his business card. “My cell and office phone numbers are on there. If you have any issues, let me know. I’ll be by later this afternoon and we can tell people then.”

  “We have to tell people?” I don’t know why I thought we could keep this between us. After all, the immigration people would probably come to question us and maybe the people around me.

  “You have a problem with that?”

  “I don’t.”

  He sighed. “We have to make this look real, Adalyn. Real married people would tell others.”

  “What about your family?” I asked.

  He closed his eyes, and I could see that he didn’t like that at all. “We’ll tell them Sunday at dinner.”

  “Will.” I put my hand on his. “Let’s just scrap this idea. The deception is torturing you.”

  “I don’t like the idea of lying to my family,” he admitted.

  “Then we won’t. Really. Maybe my visa will come through.”

  He inhaled a breath. “No. I said we’d do this, and we will.” He squeezed my hand. “My issues aren’t about you, Adalyn. I need you to know that. This is about me. But I can do this. I need to do this. Our work is too important not too.”

  What a patriot, I thought. “Okay.”

  “I’ve got to get to the office. I’ll see you later today.”

  I nodded as I typed in the government URL to pull up the green card application. “See you then.”

  I filled in the application. Since I didn’t know where Will’s printer was, I closed up my laptop to print it at work, and then mail it in. Then I got in my car and was surprised at how bad traffic was even though I was driving away from Washington, D.C.

  During the ride, I reflected on how surreal my current situation was. Maybe I was still in Vegas and this was all a crazy dream. I looked down at the pretty ring on my finger. I needed to give Will a little more credit for all the work and money he was putting into this scam. It showed how much he cared about his country and valued my work, that he was willing to risk so much to have me stay and finish the project.

  But what would happen when it was done? One of the goals I’d discussed with CTS was staying on in a new project. Or maybe I’d look for other work in the U.S. If that happened now, Will and I would need to stay married. He said it would be three years before I could apply for citizenship. However, a green card was good for ten years. I wondered how long we’d have to be married before we could divorce without it looking suspicious and jeopardizing my immigration status.

  I arrived at work and went straight to my cubicle. I printed out the green card application, and then prepared to send it to the proper authorities along with my payment of over one-thousand dollars. As I wrote the check, I wondered if I should change my name to make this marriage look real. Many women kept their maiden name, especially if they’d made a name for themselves in their field of work like I had. But we couldn’t give the immigration officials any reason to question the marriage. I’d talk to Will about it later.

  For the next few hours, I buried myself in my work, avoiding Stu and Kip, and my other colleagues as much as possible. I figured I’d let Will do all the explaining about our marriage since he was the one risking the most. Not that I couldn’t go to jail too, but I didn’t have a billion-dollar company that I could lose.

  The Announcement

  Will — Thursday

  There was something seriously wrong with me. I was committing a fraud against my country. I was being an asshole to the woman I’d roped into committing the fraud with me. I was risking everything — my reputation, my business, my freedom — to help Adalyn stay in the United States. Why? Yes, this project was important and her work was extremely valuable, but I knew it was more than that. The truth was, I didn’t want her to go.

  She must have thought I was an absolute loon. On the one hand, I convinced her to stay married and that we had to act like married people, and yet, on the other hand, I’d kept her at a distance. I didn’t want her to feel obligated to engage in all married activities, and yet, the reality was that being with her scared the shit out of me.

  The memories of Vegas were clear in my mind despite the fact that a great deal of drinking had gone on. I enjoyed my 24 hours of free time with her. She was fun and adventurous. She was sweet, but not a pushover. She was strong and willing to put me in my place when I needed it. And she was sexy and soft in bed. Good God, I’d never had an experience with a woman in bed like I’d had with her.

  I tried to chalk it off to the booze, but a part of me knew that if it had been that good with the haze of alcohol, it would be fucking mind-blowing without it. All night long I tossed and turned knowing that she was in my guest room. I wanted to join her there, but I didn’t.

  I liked her. And she seemed to like me all right, my dull nature notwithstanding. But this marriage was an accident. Our continued marriage was a fake. I couldn’t let myself get attached to her because this could all blow up on our faces. What if I fell in love and she was deported? Or we went to jail? What if I lost everything and had nothing to offer her?

  No, I needed to make sure that I didn’t let this pull she had on me take me too far. That meant I needed to keep an emotional distance, which would be hard considering I had to act like I loved her. The acting wouldn’t be hard. Not that I loved her, because I didn’t know what that was. But it would be easy to act like I was into her because I was. The trick would be to keep an emotional distance while acting like a man in love.

  “You’re completely fucked, Sloane,” I said as I walked into my office after leaving her at the table this morning. I’d been a complete asshole to her, proving I was doing a shitty job balancing how I was supposed to act and feel, with how I really felt.

  It didn’t help that I was edgy and nervous. I was going to have to go over to CTS today and tell Calvin and the team I married Adalyn. I didn’t like lying. Well, that wasn’t a lie, but acting like we’d been in love and got married, that was a lie. Lust and desire weren’t love. Getting drunk and accidentally getting married didn’t make a marriage.

  The thing that weighed the most on me was having to tell my family. I’d be lying to them, and that didn’t sit well at all. As I sat at my desk, I turned my father’s ring on my finger, noting how different it felt on my right hand now.

  “That’s my life right now,” I said to myself. Awkward. Not quite right. The ring was a reminder that my life was a sham at the moment. My father would be so disappointed. I was sure my mother and brothers would be too. Well, my brothers would probably laugh, but they’d be hurt that I wasn’t honest with them. But I couldn’t tell them the truth, even though I suspected they’d go along with me. I couldn’t make them complicit in the scam.

  I considered not saying anything and leaving her home on Sundays, but depending how in-depth immigration got when they interviewed us, as I was sure they would, it would be strange for me not to bring my wife to family dinners.

  If I was lucky, her application would go through with minimal fuss. We’d have an interview in which we’d say we’d been dating on the down-low, planned to marry when the project was done, but while in Vegas, decided to elope. It wasn’t true, but it could have been. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been attracted to her and keeping
it quiet. I might have considered pursuing something when the project was done. I knew for sure Vegas had a way of making people indulge in their fantasies, so eloping was certainly believable.

  The only other issue was how long this marriage would have to last. If she wanted to become a citizen, we’d have to be married at least three years. Holy fuck, that was a long time to live with a woman that tied me in knots. Of course, if she decided to go home, then we could just end it. It wasn’t like marriages didn’t fail. Even fake ones.

  Tired of having this crazy situation go around and around in my head, I pushed it aside and got to work. I’d been gone longer than I’d planned, and so I had some catching up to do. I buried myself in reports and client follow ups, but after lunch, I had to revisit this crazy scheme I’d gotten myself into. I had to go to CTS and tell the team about me and Adalyn.

  I rose from my desk, put on my coat and headed out of my office.

  “I’m heading to CTS,” I told my secretary. I realized that perhaps I should tell my own staff what was up, but that would wait. I’d have an office meeting and let them know then.

  “Will you be back?” she asked.

  “I should be. I’ll call if I’m not.”

  She nodded, glancing at the ring on my finger. “Will you be explaining that to us soon?”

  “Yes.” Not wanting to get into a discussion about my wife, I hurried out. CTS was in Northern Virginia, only about fifteen miles from my office in Washington, D.C. But traffic turned what might have been a twenty minute drive in any other place, into a forty minute trip. I used the time to practice what I was going to say and prayed that it went well.

  “Mr. Sloane, good to see you,” the woman at the front desk said.

  “You too. Can I see Adalyn Beaumont?”

  She cocked her head as if surprised.

  “I’ll see Cal in a minute,” I added.

  “Sure. I think she’s at her desk.”

  I strode past the gatekeeper and into the large room where most of the coders and programmers worked.