Marrying his Brother: A Fake Fiance Romance

by Tia Siren

  “I’ll go,” I muttered, snapping myself out of the walk down memory lane.

  “Do you want me to go with you?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No. I need you to keep a handle on things here. I’ll take the jet down there tomorrow afternoon. I have a meeting in the morning I can’t miss.”

  “What about the arrangements?” he asked.

  “Avery can handle them. She knew Tracy better than I did and would know what she would want.”

  Drew nodded. “Okay. Let’s get out of here.”

  I shrugged. “Why? We’re here. I could use a couple drinks.”

  Drew didn’t look convinced, but he finally agreed and ordered us another round. After three rounds, I was feeling far more relaxed.

  “Who’s Avery?” Drew asked.

  I grinned. “A hot lay. The kind you never forget.”

  Drew rolled his eyes. “I should have known. Is there a woman you haven’t screwed?”

  “Plenty, but I’m still young.”

  He chuckled. “No rule says you have to sleep with every woman in the country.”

  I laughed. “It isn’t a rule. It’s a goal.” I winked.

  “Is the history between you and this Avery girl going to be weird?”

  I shook my head. “It was one time, a long time ago.”

  I remembered how hot Avery had been. I wondered what she looked like nowadays. She’d be twenty-five now, same age as Tracy. The thought of my little sister never seeing thirty threatened to pull me into a pit of despair. I quickly pushed it out of my mind and focused on the blonde staring at me. I knew the game: she made eyes at me, I made eyes at her and invited her into the VIP section. She’d fawn all over me and pretend she was really interested in me. I’d take her home. We’d fuck like rabbits. I’d call her a car, and she would leave and never return. I could already tell she wasn’t someone I would want to call again. One night. That was all.

  “I’m ready to go. Want Bruce to give you a ride?” I asked.

  “Drew shook his head. No. I’ll call a cab. You sure you’re going to be okay?”

  “Yes. I’m fine. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said while looking at my phone and sending Bruce a quick text.

  Chapter Three

  Avery

  The last two days had been a blur. Ever since that terrible phone call, things had been wrong. Everything had been wrong. But Iris was a good baby. She was beautiful and sweet and reminded me so much of Tracy. I couldn’t have made it through the past two days if I hadn’t needed to stay strong for the baby. She was my sole focus and purpose for getting out of bed. I looked at the black dress hanging on the closet door. I had thought about shucking the traditional black but realized I wanted to wear black. It suited my mood.

  The morning had gone too fast. Now I was sitting in the front row of a church that was packed with people Tracy had known. I had come early to make sure everything was perfect and had been overwhelmed by the number of people who had taken the time to pay their respects. Each of them cooed over how beautiful Iris was.

  When I took my seat in the front row, I could hardly breathe. A shiny black casket was no more than ten feet in front of me. I still couldn’t believe Tracy was in that coffin. It was so wrong. My brain kept telling me it couldn’t be. She was going to show up at any second and sit down beside me.

  Iris squirmed and fussed in my lap. I turned her around and put her head on my shoulder, gently patting her back and bouncing at the same time. She didn’t seem to calm and I wasn’t in any mood to sing sweetly in her ear like I’d done a thousand times before.

  “Shh,” I whispered as Iris started to softly cry.

  I wanted to join in. I wanted to lay on the ground, kick my feet, and slam the floor with my fists. It wasn’t fair. I wanted Tracy sitting beside me. I wanted to laugh and giggle and critique all the women wearing varying shades of black and dark blue with my best friend. My heart felt so empty.

  “I can take her out,” Sally whispered as she leaned over.

  “It’s okay. This is her mommy’s funeral. She gets to cry.”

  Sally smiled. “Yes, she does. You let me know if you need a break.”

  The woman playing the organ looked over at me holding the fussing Iris and smiled. I knew I should probably let Sally take her out, but I couldn’t let her go. The chances of me keeping custody of Iris were slim. Social services would be showing up at any minute to take her and give her to a relative. I wanted to cherish every moment I had with her.

  “Tracey always told me she wanted me to take care of her daughter should anything happen,” I blurted out. “Nothing was supposed to happen.”

  “I know, dear. I know. You’re doing a great job. You’re caring for that little girl, and that’s what matters. Your friend would be happy to know you are honoring her wishes.”

  “But Jake is going to take her,” I whispered. “He could show up at any minute and demand custody. I have no legal right. Tracy and I talked about it, but she didn’t put anything in writing. There’s nothing official. I have no legal leg to stand on.”

  “We’ll worry about that later. There’s always a way. Let’s focus on putting her to rest, and then we will figure out how to help you fulfill your friend’s wishes.”

  I nodded my head as the funeral director stood at the podium. He asked everyone to find a seat. He was about to start the service. The finality of everything was hitting hard. Once he said his bit, Tracy would be taken to the cemetery and buried. She would be gone forever. My heart lurched at the thought of the world without her in it.

  The man began speaking, and hard as I tried, I couldn’t focus on what he was saying. I was holding Iris tightly, as if someone would try to take her from me at any minute. Every second that ticked by marked another second closer to me losing Iris. When the practiced speech stopped, I looked up to see what made the man quit talking.

  There was a bit of a commotion near the back. I turned to see what was happening and gasped. It was him. Jake Colter had finally shown up. Better late than never, I supposed, although never would have worked better for me. The fact he’d shown up at all did not bode well for me.

  He strolled down the aisle in a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. His long, lean frame was perfectly outlined in what had to be an expensive custom suit. The man absolutely got better with age. His gray eyes met mine, then moved to Iris. I protectively grabbed Iris’s head and pushed it closer to my shoulder.

  Someone recognized him and scooted over, making room for him in the front row directly across the aisle from me. I couldn’t look away. I had to look away.

  The pastor delivering the speech began to speak again. I turned my eyes to look at him, trying to hear the words. Nothing was making sense. All I could think about was the cool, gray eyes burning into my very soul. I knew he was looking at me. I didn’t return his stare. Instead, I raised my chin and focused on the woman who had started singing some horribly sad song.

  I casually looked to my left and found his eyes still on me. It was unnerving. I could make it a little longer. I wouldn’t let him see he was getting under my skin. No way would I give him that kind of power. The service was close to wrapping up, and I had managed to keep from staring at him. I could make it a few more minutes.

  “Is that the brother?” Sally whispered.

  I nodded. “Yes. I’m sure he’s here to take Iris. He didn’t go to his parents’ funeral, and he hasn’t seen Tracy in years. The only reason he’s here is to take Iris,” I said, fighting the bubble of panic that was rising in my throat.

  Sally leaned forward and looked around me. “Too bad you think he’s a jerk. He sure is handsome.”

  I shot her a glare. “Sally!” I hissed.

  She smiled. “Well, he is—handsome that is. I mean, my goodness, any straight woman would want a chance to take that man to her bed. I can see why you didn’t want to talk to him. I wouldn’t want to talk to a man that good looking either. It’s dangerous.”

 
I refused to answer. She had no idea how dangerous that blond-haired, steel-gray-eyed man was. He had taken my virginity and my heart and never looked back. I had held on to my virginity like a badge of honor all throughout high school only to lose it at my graduation party to an older guy who didn’t give a shit about me. It had been one of the biggest mistakes of my life. He’d been cocky and arrogant, and for some stupid reason, I had been wildly attracted to him. And he had used that to his advantage.

  “Did you want to speak?” Sally asked.

  I blinked, turned, and looked at her. I had zoned out again. “What?”

  “Would you like to say a few words about Tracy?” she said, gesturing to the microphone being held out to me.

  I leaned away from the microphone as if it were a venomous snake. I looked back at the pastor and then over at Jake. He was looking at me as if I should take it. I realized the whole room was looking at me. I couldn’t possibly talk about Tracy. Not in a public setting. Our memories were sacred. I wasn’t willing to share them. Not yet.

  “No, thank you,” I croaked out.

  “It’s okay, dear,” Sally said, patting my leg. “You don’t have to.”

  A woman who worked with Tracy took the microphone. I wanted to kiss her for taking the pressure off me. After another fifteen minutes of people talking about how wonderful Tracy was, the service was over. I loved hearing the stories about how Tracy’s art had impacted them in so many ways. She was a special person; her loss would leave a huge hole in the community.

  Once everyone had said their peace, the funeral was officially over. I was escorted out of the room and directly to a waiting limo to be taken to the cemetery. Sally came with me, taking Iris from my arms and securing her in the car seat. From my shielded view in the limo, I watched as Jake walked to another waiting limo. It wasn’t one from the funeral home, which meant he had rented it separately. I shouldn’t have been surprised he wouldn’t want to ride in the limo reserved for the family. He was her only family and couldn’t be bothered.

  “Asshole,” I muttered.

  “The baby,” Sally said with a scowl.

  “Sorry.”

  I leaned back in the seat, quietly bracing myself for the next part of the day. It was going to be the hardest hour of my life. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. There was a tap on the window, startling me out of the quiet moment. I looked up and saw Jake’s face peering in the window before he stood, giving me a perfect view of his crotch. His package.

  “I think he wants in,” Sally said.

  “But he can’t,” I said as a wave of irritation washed over me. “He has his own car.”

  “Hon, he is the brother, and there is plenty of room in here.”

  I groaned before leaning forward and opening the door.

  “Can we talk for a minute?” he said in his smooth, deep voice that had grown more mature and far more masculine with age.

  I looked back at Sally. She smiled. “Go ahead. It isn’t like they are going to leave without you. You need to talk to him.”

  I sighed and climbed out of the back of the car, making sure to keep my legs together to avoid flashing everyone. I didn’t need a scandal at my best friend’s funeral because of my carelessness.

  “What?” I said with a huff, not looking him in the eye.

  He reached out and put a hand on my elbow, leading me away from the mourners filing out of the church and into cars. I jerked my arm away. I didn’t want him touching me. He glanced back at the limo.

  “Is she in there?”

  “Who?”

  “The baby.”

  I rolled my eyes. “No. I left her with some lady I met at the funeral.”

  “Avery,” he said with a scowl on his face.

  I glared at him. About a million emotions were running through my head. I couldn’t decipher them all. Everything was crisscrossing and making me feel crazy. There were no words to express what I was feeling, so I did the next best thing. I kicked him in the shin.

  When he yelped and jumped backward, I felt like a maniac. What the hell had I been thinking? I had kicked him? That was mature. He was staring at me as if I had three heads. In that moment, I kind of felt like I did. Part of me was grieving the loss of my best friend, another part of me was furious her brother showed up to take her baby from me, and then there was the part of me that had no business showing up at all. It was the part of me that recognized how fucking hot Jake looked in his suit.

  I couldn’t let myself think like that. Not now, not ever. He was bad news.

  Chapter Four

  Jake

  “Did you seriously just kick me?” I asked in surprise.

  My shin was stinging and would definitely be bruised from the hard, pointed toe of her black pump. I stared down at her, feeling as if I were back in the third grade and some little girl had kicked me on the playground. It was the most juvenile response I had ever seen from a grown woman.

  “I did. You deserved it,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.

  “Why? Why the hell would you kick me? What the hell? Deserved it?” I knew I sounded as juvenile as she was acting, but I couldn’t stop myself.

  She glared at me, not answering the question.

  “You cannot possibly be mad at me still. Hold a grudge much?” I snarked.

  As she glared at me, practically filleting me with her eyes, I realized I was a real ass. Of course she didn’t like me. I had treated her like shit. I knew what I was doing that night, and being the older, wiser, and supposedly more mature one out of the two of us, I should have stopped it. I didn’t. Truth be told, I couldn’t. She was gorgeous, and I had been young and horny. I had found out a moment too late she was a virgin. I wasn’t sure that would have stopped me, though. I felt guilty for taking her virginity, but it wasn’t like I could change the past. What was done was done.

  It seemed like death had a way of making you realize how stupid you had been. How petty the arguments with loved ones really were. Everything shifted. Your perspective shifted. Looking at Avery, I felt a surge of guilt. Ever since I had heard the news about Tracy, I had been doing a lot of self-examination. Mistakes I had made in the past were coming back to haunt me.

  When Avery gave me a thin, tight-lipped smile, I knew I was about to get my ass chewed.

  “I’m not mad at you at all,” she said in a sweet voice. “I’m not mad at you because I don’t think about you.” Her long, dark lashes fluttered against her skin.

  I was captivated by her beauty. I remembered she’d been hot back in the day, but now she was gorgeous. Few women could pull off that short pixie cut. She rocked it. It made her look ultra-feminine and sexy. Avery looked tough and beautiful at the same time. I had been a fool for breaking her heart seven years ago.

  “I want to see the baby,” I demanded, trying to remember what her name was.

  Avery glared at me. “No.”

  “Excuse me. She’s my niece. I want to see her.”

  “What’s her name?” she shot back. “Tell me what her name is or when her birthday is and I’ll consider it.”

  “She’s my niece, Avery. I want to see her,” I demanded, avoiding the question. “I assume you know what happened with Tracy and me. I never disowned her. I reached out many times over the past six months, trying to make things right. She ignored me.”

  Avery cocked her head to the side. “Yes, I do know. I know what you said to her and how badly you hurt her. She loved that baby more than anything in the world. I promised to take care of her should anything happen to her. I’m going to do exactly that.”

  “I’m not the big, bad wolf. I’m her uncle. She’s my blood. I want to see her,” I said in a low voice.

  “You don’t even know her. You can’t just show up and take her from the people she knows. You could have come and visited anytime. You know Tracy wouldn’t have refused you if you’d have shown up. You didn’t. You didn’t even send her congratulations or anything!” Her voice was getting louder as her face
turned red with emotion.

  “Keep your voice down,” I said, looking around to see if anyone was watching us.

  “You can’t take her from the only people she knows. I’m her family. She knows me,” Avery said in a voice that nearly broke my heart. Tears shone in her eyes, and I knew she had to be in a great deal of pain as well.

  I sighed and decided to soften my approach. “She’s what, four months old? She doesn’t know anyone. We can all be her family. It isn’t going to hurt her to have more people in her life to look out for her.”

  She glared at me. “You’re an idiot. Iris is a sweet little girl who just lost her mommy. She needs comforting from people she is familiar with. You are not familiar,” she said, jamming a finger into my chest.

  I saw the second she realized she had told me the baby’s name. It was old-fashioned, but that was Tracy. She loved vintage and antique stuff. Everyone had always called her an old soul. I smiled, thinking of her shopping at thrift stores, looking for old things. She had been a free-spirited girl, and her decision to become an artist hadn’t been a surprise to anyone. Her art was full of vibrant, colorful flowers. I knew her favorite flower had been irises. Hearing the name of her baby struck a chord within me I hadn’t known was there. My little sister would never see her favorite flower again.

  “I want to see her,” I said in a softer tone, pleading with her. “I want to be familiar. It has to start somewhere. Let it be today. I want to be part of her life.”

  I could see her softening. Then, before I knew what she was doing, she sidestepped me and stomped to the waiting limo. I had to watch her walk away. The black dress she was wearing accentuated her waist and the flare of her hips as they swayed with every step. It was wrong. I knew it was wrong to be turned on by the woman at a funeral for my sister, but good god, she was fucking fine.