Chapter 9
Proposal – when you ask your sexy neighbor to marry you to save your daughter
Lucas
I wasn’t planning on discussing my idea of faking a marriage with Chloe at the festival but Natalia let the cat out of the bag. Time to man up.
“Shall we go somewhere private to discuss this?”
Chloe bites her lip as she considers my question. I want to be the one biting her lip. I want to taste her mouth. Inhale her scent. Memorize every inch of her.
“Um, most places are closed for the festival but Pirates Pastries is open.” She points across the street to a bakery.
I place a hand on her lower back to guide her through the crowd. She shivers and my cock perks up. It knows what it wants and can’t understand why I’ve resisted Chloe this long. Especially since she’s made it obvious she’s interested.
I nearly lost my battle to resist her the day she cleaned her car. Wet and soapy is a good look on her.
“Hi, Parker!” Chloe greets the woman behind the counter when we enter. “I’m surprised you’re open today.”
Parker frowns. “I thought it would be a good day to earn some extra income but everyone started drinking at nine a.m. Apparently, muffins and moonshine don’t mix.”
“It’s your lucky day. I have a big order. I need a dozen baked peaches and cream whiskey muffins, a dozen pirate’s plunder muffins, and a dozen shipwreck cookies. Oh, and a dozen of Blackbeard’s revenge cookies.”
Holy shit. She ordered enough muffins and cookies for the entire island. What is she going to do with all that food? There’s no way she can eat all of it. She has nowhere to put it.
Parker stares at her. “Are you sure? You’ll clean out my supplies.”
“Awesome. Then, you can go enjoy the festival.” Chloe smiles at her. “Can you wrap everything up for me?”
“I’ll grab a box.” Parker disappears to the kitchen.
“Do you think she bought it?” Chloe whispers to me.
“Bought what?”
“How we came in here to do this big order?”
Now I understand. She’s helping Parker. I squeeze her shoulder. “She’s thankful either way.”
Her nose wrinkles. “I don’t want her to think I pity her. Pity’s the worst.”
Parker returns before I can ask why her smile dimmed. What happened to Chloe? Why does she fear pity?
This woman intrigues me. She presents herself as this happy go lucky woman but there are layers and layers to her. I want to peel each layer away to discover the real Chloe. I don’t think many people know the real Chloe.
“Do you mind if we sit and chat in the corner while you get our order ready?” Chloe asks.
“I’ll make you some coffee.”
I follow Chloe to the table furthest away. We sit down but I wait until Parker has delivered our coffees to speak. She arrives with our coffee and an assortment of cookies.
“I need to get some cookies out of the oven. I’ll be in the back.” She winks at me.
I chuckle. “I guess we’re not being very discrete.”
“Parker’s a sweetheart. She knows I don’t enjoy having my business spread all over town.”
Chloe picks out a cookie. She moans as she eats it. My cock hardens and lengthens as I imagine her moaning while in bed with me. While I explore every inch of her alabaster skin with my hands and mouth. I bet her skin is smooth, but I need to touch her to make sure.
“Don’t make me eat all the cookies.” She motions to the plate. “I mean, I will. Don’t test me.”
I grab a cookie. “You eat cookies?”
Her mouth drops open. “What kind of question is that? Of course, I eat cookies. I’m a woman. It’s my right and privilege to eat cookies. Preferably chocolate.”
Huh. I thought with her slim figure, she starved herself. Holly certainly enjoyed starving herself. It drove me crazy. Whenever we went out to a restaurant, she’d pick at a salad while constantly asking me why I wasn’t finished yet.
Speaking of Holly. I clear my throat. “My wife is suing me for sole custody.”
Chloe gasps causing her to drop her cookie. “Are you kidding me? The woman who abandoned Natalia and didn’t prepare her for her first period wants sole custody? Over my dead body. Is she on the island? I know the police. I bet we can banish her from Smuggler’s Hideaway.”
Warmth spreads through me at her mama bear display. This is what I want for Natalia. Someone to fight for her. Not someone who uses my daughter as a pawn in her game.
“She’s not on the island.”
Chloe scowls. “She sent her lawyers? How rude.”
“Actually, she hasn’t sued me yet.”
She motions me to continue with her hand. “There’s more to the story. Explain.”
“Holly—”
“Was she a cheerleader? Holly sounds like a cheerleader.”
“She was,” I admit.
“We don’t approve of cheerleaders. Nova tried out to be one and the entire cheerleading squad was mean to her. Sure, she accidentally tripped a few of them, but an accident is not an excuse to say she’s banned from cheerleading for life.”
I can’t help smiling. Chloe is a hoot. She’s crazy. But she’s a hoot.
“Holly, the cheerleader, wants to try again.”
“To try what again? To be a decent human being? I think that ship has sailed off the edge of the ocean and sunk in a black hole never to be located again.”
She’s not wrong.
“Try to be with me. To be a family,” I explain.
“Aren’t you divorced?”
“Holly left us two years ago. I filed for divorce immediately.”
“Maybe she’s bluffing. She was probably mad you wouldn’t give her another chance – I know I would be – and she threatened you to try and get what she wants.”
Chloe would be mad if I didn’t give her a chance? Is she mad at me now? I did ignore all of her not so subtle overtures at seducing me. Ignored but definitely noticed.
“I can’t chance it,” I admit. “I can’t chance losing my little girl.”
“I get it. I wouldn’t chance losing Natalia either. She’s precious.”
Warmth fills me at her words. Holly never thought Natalia was precious and she’s the woman who birthed her.
“Which is why I think we should get married.”
She pretends to clean out her ear. “I think I’m hearing things. I might be hallucinating. Probably since the moment Natalia said you wanted to marry me. Maybe her announcement caused me to have a stroke. I’ve heard you can have super realistic dreams while you’re in a coma.”
I clasp her hands and electricity sparks between us. My cock presses against my zipper. It’s hard and heavy and ready to sink into Chloe. I breathe through my nose until the sharp edge of desire softens a bit.
It’s not gone. It’s never gone when I’m around this woman.
“You’re not in a coma.”
“Are you sure? Real life Lucas doesn’t touch real life Chloe. He prefers to reject her.”
The pain in her voice whips at me and slices me open. I never meant to cause her any pain. I don’t want her to hurt. But my attention needs to be on Natalia. I can’t lose her. I can’t let my ex get her greedy hands on her.
“I’m not rejecting you now. I’m asking you to marry me.”
She snorts. “As some sort of marriage of convenience.”
“I know this isn’t ideal. You probably want a man who matches you to marry you.” I swallow a growl at the idea of her marrying any man other than me. “But I need help and you’ve been kind to Natalia. She knows you. She trusts you.”
“Because I’m pretty awesome.”
Her eyes flare and I realize I’m stroking her wrist with my thumbs. I pull my hands away. I don’t want Chloe to get the wrong idea. This marriage will be in name only.
“This wouldn’t be a real marriage. But you would need to move into my house to convince a judge it is real. I can’t think of any other way to keep custody of Natalia.”
Her nose wrinkles. “I prefer to stay in my own house, but I understand why I’d need to live with you.”
“There are plenty of bedrooms. We wouldn’t have to share.”
“I know. I love your house.”
She does? I bet she’d look damn fine cooking in the kitchen while Natalia and I set the table. I force those thoughts away. I wasn’t lying. My marriage to Chloe wouldn’t be real.
I blow out a breath. “What do you say? Will you marry me?”
“For Natalia’s sake?”
I nod. “For Natalia’s sake.”
“Of course, I will. I’d do anything for that little girl.”
“You were going to say yes the whole time?”
She picks up another cookie. “Duh. Your bitch of an ex isn’t getting her hands on Natalia.” She growls as she tears into her cookie.
Chloe is a true mamma bear. I knew she was the correct choice to ask to marry me in this charade. She’ll do what’s necessary to keep Natalia safe.
“Thank you.”
She waves away my gratitude. “I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for Natalia.”
Damn. She’s perfect. Keeping this marriage strictly professional is going to be the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.
Especially since I’m having a hard time remembering why our relationship has to remain professional in the first place.