Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Reid
I’m going to hell.
There was no way around it.
By the time I got Avery to sit down and work out the details of our marriage , I had already convinced myself that this was the perfect solution to get exactly what I wanted. Sure, she’d get what she wanted, too. But if I was being perfectly honest with myself, that didn’t really factor into why I suggested the union.
I needed that shop.
I needed this job.
Therefore, I needed Avery.
A fact that my dick was in one hundred percent in agreement with.
But he’d have to calm the fuck down because that’s not what this marriage was about.
“It’ll have to look real.” Over the last ten minutes, Avery had slowly come around to my idea and was now focused on some of the finer details. “If it doesn’t, I have a cousin who will jump at the chance to blow this up.” She shook her head, concern wrinkling on her brow. “I can’t go through all of this just to lose it in the end.”
“Agreed. It’ll look real.” How hard could it be? Pretending to be married to Avery didn’t seem like it would be a hardship. “I’m sure you have an extra room in that inn that I can move into.”
“Oh.”
“I will have to move in, Avery.”
“Right.” She nodded. “Obviously.”
“It’ll be easier to get the work done that way, too. I can work longer hours and?—”
“Will that be part of the deal?” Avery ran her hands through her hair, pulling it up into a ponytail before letting it fall again around her shoulders.
Such an innocent move, but damn if it didn’t make me want to pull my bride-to-be into my arms and show her exactly what some of the advantages to being married to me—fake or not—could be.
I forced myself to pay attention to what she was saying.
“I don’t want it to get awkward if…well, any more awkward by paying you by the hour. Maybe we should do a flat rate. Like half now and half when it’s all over.”
That made sense to me. I did the rough calculations in my head. The first installment would be more than enough to cover the deposit and the first few payments on the new shop space. Maybe even get me a few new tools. “Deal.”
“We’ll need an actual marriage certificate,” she said. “It has to be legal.”
“No problem. I know Judge Baker. He’ll do the ceremony. I can get the marriage certificate tomorrow.”
She blinked rapidly as that sank in.
We were doing this.
“And your family?”
“Oh.” My brothers could potentially be a problem. Mostly because they were always up in my business. And annoyingly, they always seemed to think they knew me better than I knew myself. “I don’t usually involve my family with my relationships.”
It wasn’t a lie. I’d never brought a woman home to meet my family, but only because I’d never dated anyone seriously. Hookups? Yes. Fuck buddies? Also, yes. Girlfriends? No. And definitely not anything that might resemble a relationship.
At least not since senior year and Isabella Hendricks. I loved that girl, and I would have done anything for her. Correction: I had done everything for her. Including turning down my college acceptance so I could stay in Trickle Creek with her.
Three months after graduation, Isabella hooked up with a rich city kid on vacation with his family, fucked him in my truck that she’d “needed to borrow,” and gotten herself knocked up.
Last I heard, she was divorced with three kids and a huge alimony payment. Good for her. But, yeah, I hadn’t bothered with anything that came close to a relationship since.
Fool me once, and all that.
“They’ll buy it,” I told Avery. “Plus, they’ll be so fucking happy that someone will have my grumpy ass, they’ll be all for it.”
“And your niece?”
Shit.
I hated to lie to Quinn. My brothers were different. And with my mom down in Arizona, I was pretty sure I could handle her questions easily enough. At least for a little while. But Quinn was different.
“She liked you.” It wasn’t a lie, but I didn’t bother telling Avery that earlier that afternoon, I’d made a point to tell my niece that Avery and I were not and would not be dating. I’d have to figure out how to work my way out of that.
“Okay then.” Her pretty smile was back on her face.
I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed it until that moment. Fuck, she was gorgeous.
“It’s settled then.”
“I guess so.” I reached for her, suddenly unsure of how to seal such a deal. Did we kiss on it? Shaking hands seemed a little cold. But ? —
“Reid Lyons!” The sharp and unmistakable voice of Tilley Beckett rang out right as I grabbed Avery’s hand.
“Tilley,” I said. “It’s nice to see you.” That was a lie. Although there was nothing inherently bad about Tilley, the older woman always seemed to appear at the most inopportune time. She knew everything about everyone and loved nothing more than sharing any and all details with everybody she came across.
At the same time, Tilley was probably the most beloved citizen of Trickle Creek. Despite her incessant need to gossip, she truly didn’t have a bad bone in her body. She volunteered for everything, including things you didn’t even know needed doing.
Still. She was the very last person that I wanted to see at the exact moment Avery and I were about to finalize the details for our fake marriage.
“Who is this pretty young thing?” Tilley ignored my attempt at pleasantries and homed in on Avery immediately.
Without missing a beat, Avery stood and offered the old woman her hand. “Avery Walker. My grandparents were?—”
“Sue and Tommy Walker!” Tilley grasped Avery’s hand. “Well, I haven’t seen you since you were a little girl. Such lovely people, your grandparents. I was so sorry to hear about your grandfather’s passing. And the two of you…” She gestured between us. “It’s been a few years since you two knew each other.”
Avery and I exchanged glances, but before either of us could ask what the older woman was talking about, Tilley continued.
“Your grandmother used to take you boys over to play in the gardens with little Avery while she and Sue would sit on that swing, drinking lemonade and catching up.” Tilley’s face grew wistful for a moment before her head snapped up. “Surely you remember the way you’d pick all the daisies and give them to little Avery? Or maybe that was Grayson…”
Something in the very back of my memory flashed. Sure, I remember being at the inn, and there had been a little girl sometimes, but…could that have been Avery?
Next to me, she gripped my arm and when I looked down into her eyes, I could see that she was coming to the same realization. We’d known each other as kids.
“It has been a while,” Avery said. “But things have a funny way of working out.” She looked right at me as she spoke, and I couldn’t help but believe that maybe this whole crazy situation would work out.
“Avery is going to be restoring the inn,” I blurted out. With any luck, Tilley would take the tidbit of info and rush off immediately to spread the news.
“Is that right?” She looked between the two of us. “I did hear a rumor that someone had returned to town to do just that. I didn’t realize it was you. It must be my lucky day, running into the two of you today.”
Tilley flashed me a grin, and I saw something spark in her eyes. “I wasn’t interrupting anything important between the two of you, was I?” She wiggled her wiry, white eyebrows.
There was no help for it, and considering we’d already committed to it, it seemed that there was no time like the present. I slipped my arm around Avery’s waist and pulled her close to me. “Well, since you asked…” I looked at my bride-to-be. She shrugged and offered me a half smile, so I went for it. “I guess you’re going to be the first to know, Tilley.” The whole town would know within the hour. “Seeing Avery again after all those years brought back feelings we didn’t even know we had.” Okay, it was a little white lie. “And just a moment ago, Avery agreed to make me a very happy man, and be my wife.”
I squeezed her a little tighter and dropped a chaste kiss on the top of her head.
Tilley’s face lit up, and she clapped her hands together in glee.
It was done.
For better or worse.