The Relationship Bargain (Willow Hill #2)

1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Sutton

E verything is perfect.

From the floral arrangements dangling in cascading beauty. To the last pin in my hair.

It’s a dream come true.

A dream I painstakingly planned and saved every dime to afford.

Countless hours of stress and tears were poured into the vision. Everything accumulated to this perfect moment.

Only it feels wrong.

Something isn’t right.

I scan the room, trying to find what’s out of place. What minor detail I might have forgotten. Nothing.

Not a single thing.

It’s just nerves. Cold feet. It’s perfectly normal.

“You look stunning.” Vivian wraps me in a hug, carefully lifting her neck high to avoid touching her face on my stark virginal-white gown. “You ready for this?”

A shaky breath puffs past my soft, pink-painted lips. “Yeah, totally.”

Vivian peers at me with unbelieving eyes. As my best friend of twenty-plus years, the woman knows me better than she knows her left tit. She opens her mouth to say something, but right then, my mom walks up, interrupting her.

“Viv, you just missed your cue,” my mom says, pointing at the open doors.

She curses and skips to the door, only to halt and resume walking like a composed woman as she turns into the doorway.

With slow steps, Mom and I make our way just outside the doors.

I’m so glad she is by my side, walking me down the aisle. She’s the only parent I’ve ever had. She had me at such a young age and then struggled for years while she finished school and somehow managed to take care of me without any help from my loser of a father.

So it was an honor to have the woman who took on the role of both mother and father give me away today.

The music is idyllic, romantic, and powerful.

A sweat breaks out across my forehead as I take my first steps into the room.

It’s everything I had imagined.

I smile wide, loving how magical it all feels.

My mom squeezes the hand she’s holding. She looks so proud, with a gleam of tears in her eyes. Everything about her radiates her warmth and love for me.

She is the epitome of beauty. Her hair is swept into a sophisticated chignon, and she’s wearing a lilac silk gown that makes her shine so brightly.

This day is as much for her as it is for me, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted nothing more than to bring her the joy that’s radiating from her eyes.

“I’m so proud of you, Sutton,” she whispers as we stroll down the aisle, smiling at all the people who showed out to celebrate my marriage to Dillon.

“Thank you, Mom.” I smile, even as my stomach drops with every step closer to where Dillon stands with the minister, with Vivian and Jake flanking them on opposite sides.

He’s as attractive as always. Everything about him is polished, with his crisp dark suit and hair slicked back, but somehow, he’s still slightly disheveled. His tattoos peek out of the collar of his suit in a way that usually makes my mouth water. But today I feel nothing.

We stop before the altar, and Mom leans in, wrapping her arms around me for one last hug. “I love you and will always be proud of you.” She pulls back, looking right into my eyes with a seriousness that hadn’t been there moments ago. “No matter what.”

I hesitate, dipping my chin in acknowledgment. “I love you too.”

The music trails off as Dillon grasps my hand, turning me away from my mom to face him. The sound of my heart pounding fills my ears as we walk the last few steps.

Heat fills my body as every inch of the silk-and-lace woven dress scratches my skin like it’s made of itchy wool.

I tug on my straps with my free hand as we turn toward the minister.

“Love is a funny thing. You never know where you’ll find it or how it will happen. It just does. You can’t plan it. Can’t force it. It is a force that we have no control over,” the minister says to the crowd. “That’s what makes it so special. Such a precious gift. It is once in a lifetime. It is an out-of-control force that can lift and destroy. It is beauty in destruction. It is the most important thing we give to others. Because even though we can’t control who we love, we can choose to give that love or take it away. And it’s in that choice that something magical happens. Today, Dillon and Sutton have given their love to each other willingly. Today, the two vow to share their lives and souls until death. Today, we celebrate the uncontrollable force that brought these two together.”

With every word, every syllable, my heart cracks a little more. Because this isn’t the amazing, magical feeling he speaks about. Our relationship, our love, is nothing like what he described.

As I peer into Dillon’s eyes—his bloodshot eyes, for fuck’s sake. He couldn’t go one day without getting high, could he?—I feel it. The pull in my gut.

The something that is wrong.

It isn’t a flower or strand of hair out of place.

It’s the person I agreed to marry.

The line of sweat that had only been on my forehead is now dripping down my face.

Great .

Just great .

I glance back to Viv, only to find a supportive smile on her face. She hates Dillon and hates that I’ve been so insistent on marrying him. When I first told her we were getting married, she laughed and then broke into tears, begging me to reconsider. But once I told her my mind and heart were made up, she did everything in her power to support me. Even now, I know she has her reservations, but she’s kept them to herself instead giving me the gift of her friendship.

Taking a deep, controlled breath, I turn back to Dillon and the minister.

“Dillon, do you take Sutton to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

He looks my body up and down once more with his red eyes, biting and licking his lips, and says, “I do.”

“And you, Sutton, do you take—”

The sound of my blood rushing through my body drowns out the words he’s speaking.

I can’t do this.

I can’t be with him.

Oh, how Vivian is going to have a field day with this recent development.

“I do,” I say, the words tasting wrong. I want to take them back. To rewind to a moment before and undo it.

My hands shake as we’re instructed to exchange rings. Sweat coats my palms, and I almost fumble his ring.

Once again, Dillon doesn’t notice my demeanor is wrong, taking my lack of grace as excitement. He leans in, whispering as he slides my ring on my finger. “Don’t worry, babe, we can have our first fuck in a few.”

It takes everything in me not to cringe away from him. Does he really think I want our first time as a married couple to be here? That I want to mess up the masterpiece that is my hair and makeup for a quick round in a closet, with my friends and family only a few feet away? He knows how hard I worked on this wedding. How I wanted everything to be special and perfect, and a lackluster screw before pictures isn’t a part of it.

It’s like my eyes have been pried open. How in the ever-loving hell had I ever thought this was a good idea? He can’t even read my body language. He doesn’t even try.

“I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Oak.”

Wrong.

Dillon leans forward, wrapping an arm around my waist as his lips land on mine in a claiming kiss.

Wrong.

Every part of this is wrong.

My heart pounds in my chest as we walk back down the aisle.

Hand in hand with Dillon, I force the smile to stay glued to my lips as we pass person after person clapping and cheering for us. The flash of cameras all around us almost pulls me out of my act.

I just have to hold it together until we’re alone.

Once we make it down the aisle, we circle back into a room tucked behind the altar, where we will have a few minutes together before we are supposed to sign the licenses with our witnesses.

The moment the door closes behind us, Dillon’s arms wrap around me in a familiar hug that used to bring me joy and warmth but now only feels heavy, reminding me of what I have to do.

I pull out of his arms. “Dill, we need to talk.”

“Nah, babe. We need to get this dress off you.”

The minister clears his throat to remind us we’re not alone, and that we are in his workplace. A chapel. A no-fornicating zone.

Aiming a sleazy smile at the man, Dillon says, “You know how it is with newlyweds.”

Much to my surprise, the man laughs. “Yes, yes I do.”

“About the marriage license—” I begin, but the minister cuts me off.

“Yes, here it is. I’ll go get your chosen witnesses, and we will get this thing signed and done.”

I put my hand up to stop him. “Here’s the thing. I’m not signing that. I refuse. I think this was a mistake.” A massive weight lifts off me the moment the words leave my mouth.

“A mistake ?” Dillon scoffs.

“Yes.”

“A mistake is buying the wrong fucking brand of toilet paper. A mistake is taking a wrong turn. Saying ‘I do’ in front of everyone isn’t something you accidentally fuck up, Sutton.”

“I’m sorry. I realize this is unexpected. But I can’t do this.”

“You didn’t think so five minutes ago when you said ‘I do.’”

“Actually, I did. I didn’t want to embarrass you in front of everyone.”

“Versus embarrassing me now ?”

“Look, the way I see it, we have some options.”

“From my standpoint, your only option is annulment or divorce.”

“Wrong, Dillon.” I sigh, trying not to get frustrated with him. His anger is warranted. I did just drop a bomb on all our life plans. “I’m not signing the paper.”

He huffs out a laugh. “So what? It’s just a piece of paper. We’re still married.”

“No, no we’re not. The paper is the legally binding part. Everything else is just a show.”

He groans, pulling at the ends of his hair. “Stop being so fucking dramatic , Sutton. I get it, you want the excitement and drama to last, but now isn’t the time.”

“It isn’t about excitement or drama, Dillon. It’s about knowing that us being married is wrong. So, like I was saying before, we have options, and I will do whatever you would like. I’m willing to go to the reception and act like nothing has happened and pretend like it fell apart after. Or we can call it now.”

“You’d be willing?” He laughs.

“Yes.” I nod again.

“Or you can stop being a bitch and sign the paper,” he sneers at me.

The blood drains from my face as I’m frozen in place. “I understand this isn’t what you were expecting today, but treating me like shit isn’t going to make me change my mind.”

“Screw you, Sutton.”

“Okay, to option two, it is.”

“Do whatever you want. I’m out of here.” He tears the ring off his finger and flings it at my feet before striding toward the door.

“Okay.”

Stopping on the threshold, he turns back to glare at me. “Oh, Sutton? I fucked the stripper last weekend,” he sneers before slamming the door behind him.

“Well, that went well,” the minister says from behind me.

I had forgotten we weren’t alone. Whirling around, I mutter, “I’m so sorry you had to witness that, sir.”

He gives me a demur smile. “I’m sorry to tell you, Ms. Hale, that in the eyes of the lord, you are married.”

“But legally, I’m not.” I grin. Well, this is awkward.

He opens his mouth to continue, but I cut him off.

“And thank the lord for that. Because I doubt even God would want me to marry someone who spoke to and treated me the way you witnessed. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a reception to ruin.” I walk away with my head held high and my fingers clenching the sides of my dress.

As I swing open the door, Viv and my mom almost topple right into me, only being saved by Nate, Vivian’s husband and all-around dreamboat of a man, quickly wrapping his arms around them.

“Any chance you guys are going to pretend like you didn’t hear everything and let me have a couple glasses of champagne before you start in on me?”

They straighten, glancing at each other.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” my mom lies, giving me a quick hug before turning to walk away.

Nate and Vivian stand off to the side. Vivian is practically bouncing in her nude heels as she smiles at her husband.

“Who’s ready to get drunk?”

Both of their hands shoot up.