“What makes you so special?”
Okay, now she was starting to piss me off. “Maybe for starters, because I’m not a raging jealous bitch who goes around insulting other people. You know, Shayla, I kept my mouth shut when you went after Zeke knowing we were seeing each other, but now you’re in my shop still talking smack. How about you get the hell out of here before I deflate those tits you bought after your divorce?” The whole stop fell silent, and I realized that everyone was staring and I hated that.
I had my fill of being the topic of town gossip, enough to last a lifetime, so I turned on my best customer service smile and faced Shayla again. “Did you want to take advantage of our buy one set and get another thirty percent off sale?”
“Not on your life!” She turned on really amazing black stilettos with diamond ankle straps and stomped out of the store harder than she needed to, and harder than those great shoes deserved.
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep quiet. There was a string of curse words I wanted to let loose, but there were still about a dozen customers in the shop. Which meant, no matter what Shayla said about me and Zeke being married, I had to focus on my customers first.
Then I would figure out how in the hell my life had turned into a comedic farce. It took about forty minutes before the shop finally emptied, and as soon as the last customer, a tourist visiting the local B&B, was gone I rushed back to my office and returned to the front with my laptop in hand. I minimized the inventory software and pulled up the hub of gossip in town, the Belle Musique Facebook page.
And there it was for the entire world to see.
Congratulations to hometown girl and High St. Fashions proprietress, Maddie Trenton on her nuptials to Zeke Riley, owner of constantly packed, Zeke’s Joint!!! Be sure to offer up congratulations, discounts, prayers and gifts for the happy couple.
I stared at the screen in shock for what felt like an eternity as keywords like ‘nuptials’ and ‘happy couple’ kept bouncing around in my mind like a bad joke. Or worse, a bad song that every radio DJ in America played until you were singing along to it even though you hated it. That’s how I felt staring at the long headline.
Married. Why on earth would the entire town think that Zeke and I were married? And who in the hell would put it out for public consumption without talking to either of us first?
I sucked in a breath, and a thought occurred to me, but I immediately kicked it to the side. Zeke wanted to be married less than any man I’d ever met in my entire life. Hell he could barely commit to trying to date me seriously. But there was someone else with an agenda, and I locked up the cash register, grabbed my purse and locked the doors behind me. I decided to hit the diner first since that’s where the many of the old timers hung out before the dinner rush.
I pushed the door open and scanned the burgundy booths until I spotted the reddish crop of curls being held back by a zebra print headband.
“There you are!” It didn’t matter if I yelled or not, since all eyes were on me. “You,” I said in accusation, pointing a finger at Aunt Mae. “You did this!”
Mae looked up at me with a far too innocent look on her face. “You’ll have to clarify, dear. I lead a full life, and do many things every day.”
I wanted to growl, but I was raised to respect my elders, so I refrained from shaking some sense into the meddling old woman who’d been as much a mother to me as she’d been to Vivi. The only difference being that my parents simply were uninterested in parenting.
“The Facebook page, Mae.” I kept my voice low and slipped into the booth seat across from her, leaning in to keep the whole town out of my business. Though, at this point, that was a lost cause. “Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, Mae. Each and every one of them talking about me being married. To Zeke! Which is impossible, since there is no blinged-out engagement ring on my finger, much less a wedding band! Impossible, unless you married us.”
I waited, giving her a chance to deny it.
She didn’t. Instead, Mae smiled. “I wish I could say that this was my doing, because I think you’re acting like a scared little girl where that man is concerned, but it wasn’t. My spell did what it was meant to do, but that had nothing to do with the mess you and Zeke have gotten into.” She crossed her arms defensively like she was the injured party, and I had to fight from growling again
“Good afternoon, ladies. Am I late or early?” Judge Walker stood beside the table, handsome for an older man with bush gray hair and thick black brows that gave him a distinguished air. Or maybe it was his kind smile.
“You’re just on time, Henry. Maddie, you’ve made your accusations, but my lunch date has arrived and we’d like some privacy.”
Privacy? “You have to be kidding me! It is inconceivable that this wasn’t your doing considering you did the same thing last year.”
Mae, with more fire than I’d seen since she caught me and Vivi sneaking out to catch a midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, smacked the table.
“It was a simple protection spell, Maddie. Nothing more. Whatever has happened with you and Zeke has nothing to do with me.”
Judge Walker let out an agonized sigh as we switched places. “Mae I’ve told you about working from those old spell books. We had this conversation about the details. When it comes to these spells, the details matter.” His words made sense but still, my stomach dropped to my knees. “The scarf changes the spell to a binding ritual and here in Louisiana, it’s as sacred as a marriage certificate and ceremony.”
“No.” That couldn’t be true. If it was, it meant someone had to have completed the paperwork. “You knew,” I pointed to the judge.
He nodded, not a trace of guilt found on his face. “I thought it was a simple mistake, and shook it off to another of Mae’s delightful eccentricities. Then I happened to be taking Boomer for a walk and I saw you and Zeke neckin’ like teenagers last week and figured maybe I was the one who’d gotten it wrong. As soon as I got back to the office, I corrected my mistake.”
“Why?” The question came out barely above a whisper.
“Because sometimes people get married for, ah, time sensitive issues.” At least the Judge had the grace to flush at his comments.
Me on the other hand, I felt mortified. Looking down at my stomach which wasn’t quite flat but still had no visible rolls or love handles, I turned pale.
“Is that what everyone thinks? Oh. My. God.” I couldn’t stand in this stupid diner for another moment, not while everyone stared at the woman who’d had—no, needed—a shotgun wedding. Because I was someone’s wife now, apparently.
Zeke’s wife. Officially.
“It should have already arrived in the mail,” Judge Walker added nervously.
I nodded at his words, but shook them off as I pointed at both of them and glared. “Stop meddling.”
“Young people these days are so ungrateful,” I heard Mae mutter after I’d already turned and made my way to the door.
Zeke
I knew Maddie would show up. Eventually.
I rolled out of bed just before ten this morning, showered and ambled into the kitchen for my first cup of coffee and to catch up with town news. You’d think I wouldn’t have to considering I ran the most popular bar and restaurant around, but I liked to keep up with the non-gossip related news in town too.
And that’s when I saw it, the gigantic headline proclaiming that Maddie and me had…gotten married. Married. After the drama with Nash and Vivi last summer, I knew exactly who was to blame. What I didn’t know, was if Mae had done it on purpose, or if it was just another crazy mistake on her part.
So I got dressed and came to work. And waited. The news would reach Maddie in good time given the way the grapevine worked here, and considering how many people had stopped in to chat and to have a congratulatory beer with me, I knew it had spread like wildfire. Things were already so complicated between us, I had no idea how this situation could possibly make it worse.
Shit, married. I
was married to Maddie Trenton. Sweet little Maddie with long blond hair and big brown eyes that were just the cherry on top of that curvy little cake. I waited all morning and well into the afternoon for Maddie to stop by and chew me out, for the panic to set in. The familiar tightening in my chest and the blood rushing in my ears that always accompanied a woman saying words like ‘settle down’ and ‘commitment’. But it never came.
I was out of my mind.
Maybe it was maturity, or maybe it was because I was too far gone over Maddie to heed the warning signs, but I felt nothing but calm. Which was good, because one of us would need to be calm, and I had feeling it wouldn’t be her.
By the time she pushed open the door to my office, hair and eyes wild with an emotion I couldn’t name, I was ready for her.
More than ready.
“Have you seen the paper!?”
She held up the offending document between her thumb and forefinger and tossed it to me before I could even answer. She began to pace, looking very distracting in one of those dresses with the tiny little straps that could be untied with a flick of my fingers.
But it was her footwear that had my attention as she paced back and forth beside the sofa, giving me a full length view of her beauty. “What are those shoes?”
Her pacing stopped at my question and she looked down at her shoes and back up at me with confusion. “Huh?”
“Your shoes,” I said, happy to have found a brief distraction, because I knew Maddie wouldn’t be distracted for long. “What are they?” they were yellow and white with huge wedges that looked like straw.
“Espadrilles,” she said and shook her head as she picked up her pacing right where she left off. “Don’t try to distract me, Zeke! Did you see the paper today?”
“I did.” I found in these situations it was best to say as little as possible.
“Did you know about this?”
“Not until ten o’clock this morning when I read the paper. Thanks for the vote of confidence, though.”
She had the grace to look a little sheepish by her implied accusation. “I didn’t mean it like that, but why didn’t you call or text me? The shop was overrun with people, and silly me thought they were there for the clothes. The clothes, Zeke, not the gossip!” And there she went, pacing again.
“So what, Maddie? This is a small town and gossip is their favorite fucking pastime.” I didn’t see what the big deal was but I could tell it was the exact wrong thing to say.
She stopped and stared at me again, this time her eyes were cold and hard. “Yeah well, I’ve had my share of gossip around here. Been the topic of plenty of gossip and I’m not looking to reclaim that throne.” She raked a frustrated hand through her hair, eyes focused off in the distance as she got lost in some terrible memory. “Do you think it was easy to come back to a small town in the south, pregnant and alone, oh and two semesters away from a diploma? Max was three before I could walk into a room without it falling completely silent and I don’t need that shit again!”
Shit. “I’m sorry, Maddie. I didn’t know about any of that, but I had nothing to do with this.” She didn’t look appeased, but I didn’t think anything would make her feel better right now. “I figured if I would’ve called you would have found a way to blame me for this too. Glad to see I was mistaken,” I added sarcastically.
“Then you’re probably the only one within town limits who didn’t know.” She shook her head, releasing several deep breaths in an effort to calm herself.
“I’m sorry, Maddie. That sounds like hell.”
“Don’t be,” she waved off my words of sympathy. “The point is I can’t go through that again, especially now that I have to think about Max. Oh god, Max! He’s going to be so excited and then disappointed.” Her words fell off to little more than a whispered mumble as she thought about her son. “I have to go.”
At those words I was out of my seat like a rocket, reaching her just before she reached the door and pulling her against my chest. “Maddie, relax.” She was like a skittish horse that needed constant reassurance. I was more than happy to give it to her, because it felt so good to have her in my arms and not pulling away from me, but sinking into me. “Just relax.”
Slowly my words began to work and her breathing matched my own. “I am calm.”
I laughed again, holding her close when she tried to squirm away. “You have to calm down before you scare Max, Maddie. Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out so Max isn’t hurt by any of this.”
She shook her head and stepped back. I let her. “This is my problem Zeke and I’ll figure it out, but I do appreciate your help.”
I’d like to meet the bastard who’d fathered Max and beat his face in for making her so mistrustful. So full of doubt and suspicion. For now, I’d use facts to get my way. “Technically it’s our problem, seeing as you’re my wife now.”
“On paper, Zeke. You don’t have to start hyperventilating just yet.”
At the challenge in her words, I arched a brow and pushed her up against the door with a heated smile. “I think you’re the one who’s freaking out.” Her eyes flashed with desire and worry. I chose to focus on the desire right now and leave the rest for later.
“That’s okay, Maddie. Freak out and I’ll take care of you.”
Her breath hitched and her pupils dilated, but when she sucked in that little gasp of air, my mouth was there, eager and demanding from the beginning. She tasted like mint and chocolate and I couldn’t get enough, kissing her harder and more insistent, so hungry to taste as much of her as I could. My body pressed into hers, enjoying her soft feminine curves pressed against my hard body. The kiss went on and on, for how long I had no idea, but my hands slid up her skirt and cupped her lush ass.
She moaned and grabbed handfuls of my hair, holding me close while her tongue tangoed with mine. Maddie could deny her feelings when there was distance between us, but the minute I touched her, all bets were off. Eventually she pulled back, panting.
“I didn’t come here for this.”
“Maybe not, but I can make sure you come.” It was a dark promise, but with my hands still gripping her ass, I wanted nothing more than to let my finger graze the seam between her thighs. “Say yes, Maddie.”
“Yes,” she moaned even as her hands pushed me away. “No, I can’t. I have to find Max.”
That’s right. Max was the priority right now. I dropped another kiss on her sweet mouth and stepped back. “I’ll drive.”
“Why?”
I smiled and grabbed my keys. “Because we’re married now and you don’t have to do this alone.” It was a dirty move, but she smiled and shook her head, righting her clothes and smoothing down her hair.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
“Sure thing, honey.” I kept my eyes on her ass as we both emerged from the office, but when we made it to the dining room, I grabbed her hand and we walked out side by side.
Like a real couple.
Maddie
“You’re crazy,” I told Zeke when he stopped at my shop the next day.
To buy lingerie. For me.
“Why? Husbands should buy their wives lingerie all the time, but if you don’t like that answer, then think of it as me fulfilling my second date promise.” Zeke stood tall, one arm draped over a mannequin wearing nothing but a small scrap of lacy blue negligee.
“You can’t be serious!” Why was he pressing this so much? I knew he didn’t want to be married, and certainly not to me.
“Of course, I am. You heard how thrilled Max was about us being married, and I thought about what you said all night. He shouldn’t have to endure the gossip, which is exactly what’ll happen if we say this was just one big mistake.”
Damn. “You have given this some thought.”
He flashed a gorgeous, panty dropping smile that heated up my whole body like a wildfire was ravaging through me.
“I have, and I admit it does work to my favor because I want us to be together. And,” he leaned for
ward and brushed a kiss against my jaw, “I promise to put no one before you. Not ever. What do you say?”
I had my doubts about this plan, because I could see at least fifty different ways it could totally backfire on both of us. Mostly, me though. It was totally reckless to publicly date a ladies’ man like Zeke, and doubly so to be married to him, however accidentally it happened.
“I don’t know, Zeke.” That was an honest answer. I didn’t know how I would be able to spend time with him without falling for him, because last time we tangled I’d nearly fallen completely.
“What’s wrong? Tell me so we can talk about it. Please, just give me a chance.”
So I did. “People think we’re married, which means we’re going to have to spend a lot of time together.”
“Days, and nights…” he added with a flirtatious wink.
“Exactly, how will it look if you sneak off to your place every night? There are too many details we haven’t anticipated.” I knew I was starting to panic, but I never wanted Max to be the subject of small town gossip. “Maybe we should just forget about it?”
“Maybe you should stop finding reasons why this can’t work. I’ll move in with you while we figure this out. I’ve just been living above the bar for months now anyway.”
I frowned, that was news to me. “You have, why?”
“Because I wanted to cut down on expenses during the expansion, and rent on a big ass house I didn’t really need was the perfect place to cut.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, but for me, it was another alarm bell clanging loudly that this was a bad idea. Zeke seemed like a happy-go-lucky, laidback kind of guy, but he was deeper than he appeared, which appealed to me in a big way. “Now, ring me up wife!”
A shiver slid down my body at his use of that endearment, even though I knew logically that it meant nothing. I couldn’t let it mean anything, it was a title and nothing more.
“This isn’t a game you know.”
His expression turned serious, and he pulled me into his arms, walking us both to the register where he put two sets of lingerie on the counter.
Accidentally On Purpose: An Accidental Marriage Boxset Page 25
