5. Emma
CHAPTER FIVE
emma
When I imagined telling someone about all of my dirty little secrets, I never thought that someone would be Hunter Harlow.
But he listened without interrupting, even as his face turned three shades of pale and then three shades of red.
“When I was twenty, Josh and I got married. He was the guy my dad had approved of, and they expected him to rise up fast in the company. I was supposed to go to college and get a degree and eventually do the same thing, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I was steamrolled by their expectations at the time, so I ended up going through with it and marrying Josh.”
I relaxed into the couch, thinking about those fourteen months. I’d been a completely different girl then. Divorcing him and moving across the country was the best thing I could have ever done for myself, even if it was the hardest decision I’d ever made.
But then I met Haley. The two of us had become fast friends and she’d seen me go through my fair share of bad relationships. She was there with me through ups and downs. Now here I was, living in Citrus Cove with my own house and life.
Josh, my father, the rest of the family—none of them could take this away from me. My stomach twisted at the thought of my father. I did what I did best, and shoved every single emotion down, smothering it just like he’d taught me to do.
The pain radiated through my entire body for a split second and then evaporated as I focused on Hunter. Focused on the way he listened, on his rich brown eyes and the rough stubble along his jaw. I knew he had to be judging me right now for not having a breakdown. He’d never understand why I wasn’t crying, right?
I picked at the hem of my shirt, looking down at a loose thread as I spoke. “It was awful. I used to be such a pushover. It was just how I was raised. And then after my sister died, I blamed myself.”
Hunter cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,” he said gently. He sounded genuine. He sounded the way I’d heard him talk to everyone else in our lives. “I can’t imagine a loss like that.”
My hand smoothed the ache in my chest. I missed Evelyn. Every year around the anniversary of her death, I was emotionally wrecked for a few days. Then it would pass, and I’d go back to living my life as normally as I could. It didn’t matter that many years had gone by, there were moments where the grief felt fresh.
I knew she’d be proud that I’d taken charge of my life.
Now that my dad was dead, though, it was bringing up all the sadness I’d felt over my sister. Death felt so final. When was the last time I’d even seen my dad? It had been years.
“It was a long time ago,” I murmured. “I miss her. She was the only family member I was ever close with. My dad tried really hard to divide us, but it never stuck. When she died, he blamed me, though.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know how she died, but I know it wasn’t your fault. I’m sorry for ever calling you an only child. There’s nothing wrong with being an only child, I was being a jackass.”
“Thank you.” He’d always said it as a way to pick a fight with me, and I’d always taken the bait even though I knew he wasn’t aware of Evelyn. Still, I appreciated the apology. “You didn’t know.”
“I never asked,” he said firmly. He rubbed the back of his neck. “And I should have. I’m sorry, Emma.”
“I forgive you,” I said, nudging him with my foot. I forced a playful smile. “Don’t go getting soft on me. We don’t like each other, remember?”
Something flashed in those deep brown eyes that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It was gone in a blink, and he offered a coy smile. “So how does pretending to date me help this? And why would they send your ex-husband to tell you?”
I wasn’t entirely sure. The fact that he didn’t even know how Michael Madden died worried me. If my dad passed yesterday, then it was entirely possible that Josh had just hopped on a plane, like he’d said. But then again, he’d also said we should get remarried. The timing felt gross to me. “Maybe they assumed I wouldn’t immediately slam the door in his face. They all know I’m not close with my stepmom, so it makes more sense that he’d tell me, I guess.” I shook my head bitterly. “What a bastard. Acting like we should get remarried. And that I’d been allowed my fun.”
His brows drew together and he stiffened. “What the fuck? He said that to you? I’m gonna kill the guy.”
Despite everything, Hunter managed to make me laugh. “No, no killing. We’re better than he is.”
He was amused. “Now it’s we , huh?”
Ugh. I let out a groan and covered my face. This was a nightmare. “Shut up. My god, the fact that it’s you of all people I’m having to pretend with.”
“I’m a good actor,” Hunter said quickly, his lips tugging with the type of confidence I only ever saw on a man who knew what he was doing. “And a good kisser.”
I wrinkled my nose. I didn’t want to think about kissing him.
“What? You think the family will believe us if we don’t kiss?”
Fuck. He had a point.
I didn’t even know what kind of a boyfriend Hunter would be, but he was a Harlow. If I knew anything about the Harlows, it was that all of them were swoony as fuck when they were in love.
Which would be perfect for driving Josh absolutely insane. He deserved it, after the hell of our marriage. And the audacity of showing up on my doorstep to tell me my time was up, in the same breath that he told me my father was dead.
Distract me, distract me, distract me.
Hunter ran his fingers through his hair. Silver glinted at the sides, just a few stray strands that were sexier than I cared to admit. “So… while Josh is here, we’ll pretend to be engaged.”
I nodded. “That’s the idea. But he’s smart. Everyone will really have to believe it.”
“I don’t know, Emma. I don’t know if this is a good idea.”
It was the only idea I had. If Josh was going to stick around, then I wanted it to be clear I was off-limits. Hunter would be a good, buff, and tough shield. It would have been easier if he hadn’t told Josh he was my fiancé, though. “If you don’t want to, no pressure,” I said. “I don’t want to force you into this. And don’t feel like you have to because my father is dead.”
He winced. “I… Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lied. It was an easy lie, too. It was one I’d said so many times in my life, I’d lost count. “We weren’t close. Clearly. This is no different than reading in the news about some random actor or politician dying.”
He pressed his lips together. We both knew it was a lot different, but he let it go anyway. “Okay, then. If you need anything, let me know. But, I suppose I’ll go along with the charade.” He exhaled and readjusted the way he was sitting. “Will Josh talk to anyone else? Shouldn’t we just meet with him soon and send him away?”
It was complicated. Way more complicated than that. Because Hunter said we were engaged, and that meant he was probably on the phone with the lawyers already. Marriage in the Madden family was a huge ordeal. Even if my father was dead, there would be plenty of complications.
None of this was a good thing.
The last thing I wanted was for my stepmom to show up. The best scenario was that Josh left, the lawyers called me to wrap everything up, and I never had to deal with her or Josh again.
I needed to think about the company and what I wanted to do with it. Assuming it was left to me.
“We should be prepared for anything,” I said. “Hopefully he’ll take the hint that I want nothing to do with him and leave.”
“Is Josh dangerous?”
I pressed my lips together. “Not like Thomas Connor-level dangerous.”
Hunter crossed his arms. “But he is dangerous.”
“Our divorce didn’t go well. After the papers were signed, I took off to Baltimore. He stayed in Sacramento and became my dad’s right-hand man. I’m pretty sure everyone still thinks the reason we divorced is because I was being stupid and unreasonable. It wasn’t long after I left him that I met Haley.”
“Would he try to hurt you?” Hunter asked patiently.
“I don’t think so.” The truth was, I wasn’t entirely sure. I didn’t know him anymore. But for the moment, everything seemed to be fine. “He slapped me once, and then I divorced him almost immediately after. That was years ago. And well, he’s an asshole, but I can’t see him delivering the type of news he just did and trying to kill me.”
“Okay.” Hunter clapped his hands on his thighs and stood up.
“Where are you going?” I asked. “We still have festival planning to do.”
“Do we really have festival planning to do?” He asked. “We’re a month out and pretty much everything is on autopilot from here out. There are some loose ends to tie up, but I’m not sure it’ll take both of us. Although your list was good.”
I shook my head, exasperated. “We should at least go over it. Where are you running off to?”
“What do you mean? I’m going to go run the fucker out of town.” He headed toward the kitchen with his coffee cup. “Fuck this guy, Emma. I don’t want him here if he’s caused you that much trouble.”
Oh god. “ Hunter .” I jumped up and followed him, stopping in the doorway as he put his cup in the sink and began to wash it. “Just put it in the dishwasher. Also, you’re not running him out of town. You sound ridiculous.”
“I have my ways,” he said as he put the cup away, his voice strained. “Not my first rodeo.”
“I don’t need you to defend me,” I said. “I just need you to pretend to be my pretty, small-town husband. That’s it. Josh just needs to believe I’m firmly taken and realize I don’t want anything to do with him, then he’ll leave. Once we take care of whatever contract bullshit there is, once it’s over, everything should be fine.”
Hunter closed the distance between us in two long strides. “Should have chosen a different partner then, sparks.”
Sparks. Butterflies erupted in my stomach as he lifted me out of his way and strolled out the front door.
Damn his long legs. I went after him, halting on the porch. “Hunter Harlow, I need you to behave.”
He paused on the second step and sighed, turning around to look at me. “I can make him leave, Emma. I don’t like the idea of you feeling threatened while you’re at home. Not after this news.”
“If you do that, it will make my life harder,” I said. “The lawyers will send someone down here to try to bribe you to break the engagement. I just need you to be my fiancé until I find out what papers Josh is talking about. I’m sure he’ll leave on his own. Once he does, we can call off the engagement and everything can go back to being sunshine and fucking rainbows.”
Hunter blew out a breath, tipping his head back to look at the sky. It smelled like rain outside, even though there weren’t any clouds above us.
He came back up on the step, his hands on his hips. “I have three other conditions for this.”
“You already struck a deal,” I argued.
“We didn’t seal it.”
“We shook hands!” I protested.
He surprised me by cupping my face. I went still, my eyes widening. “One, I need you to promise you will call me if he shows up unannounced. Two, I need you to promise me you will not schedule a meeting with him alone.” He leaned in so close, I thought he was going to kiss me. Is he going to kiss me?! “Three, when we’re not pretending to be engaged, I need you to stay as far away from me as you possibly can. Unless you have an emergency, of course. Otherwise, I want nothing to do with you.”
My mouth fell open and he released me, taking the warmth with him. He turned on the heel of his boots and stormed down the steps, crossing the lawn to his truck.
“Send me the spreadsheet for the festival I saw on your laptop,” he called. “I’ll fill in some things. Otherwise, I think we’re set there. And let me know when we’re gonna start telling people.”
“Are you going to keep my secrets?” I yelled.
“Yes, goddammit.”
“Then where the hell are you going?” I called.
“To buy a fake ring.”
Thunder rumbled in the distance as he got into his truck and drove off, leaving me speechless.
What the fuck? What the hell was I going to do? I was in absolute shock.
And there was no way he’d pick out a good ring. Right?
Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck . Everything was falling apart. Fear rose up like a tidal wave, soaking my muscles in tension. All the things I’d never told the people closest to me, along with the guilt that came along with it, weighed heavily on my shoulders.
I’d worked so hard to become the person I was now. I was independent, smart, driven. I didn’t need a man, contrary to Michael Madden’s belief. I didn’t need anything from anyone.
Haley was going to kill me when she found out the truth.
I could call Josh and tell him I lied to him about Hunter. That would be easier right? My ego would take a hit. He’d hold it over me forever. Hell, he’d probably try to blackmail me.
I mulled it over, but…
The way Hunter had put him in his place was beyond satisfying. I’d been wanting someone to do that for ages. Josh was accustomed to everyone in the room kissing his ass, not throwing him out on it.
So for now, we’d keep the ruse.
Even if Hunter was definitely going to drive me insane. Then again, maybe this was the distraction I needed.
I held my breath and waited for the tears to fall.
But they didn’t.
Maybe I was broken.
I blew out a breath and stepped back inside, closing the door and locking it behind me. I heard a whine upstairs and cursed, rushing into the office to let out Donnie.
“Sorry, sorry,” I said. “I can’t believe you cuddled that man knowing he’s my greatest enemy. How dare you.”
Donnie gave me a slow, unbothered blink.
“Don’t give me that look. Let’s go outside before it rains.”
‘Outside’ was one of the words he knew well. His nails clicked over the hardwoods as he trotted downstairs. I followed him to the backdoor and let him out into the yard I’d fenced in.
All the renovations I'd done to this house had really improved it. On my new back porch was a rocking chair, like a real southern gal, and even some potted plants. Although they were struggling, they were also still alive, so I considered that a win.
Thunder shook the house this time, the air heavy and still.
It was all too much for one day. I mentally replayed the conversation with Joshua. I should have kicked him in the balls. Hell, I should have kicked him in the balls and broken his nose. I should have told him to fuck all the way off.
Instead I’d dragged Hunter into Madden drama, which wasn’t going to be good for anyone.
He’d give my father a stroke if he wasn’t already dead.
“Fuck,” I wheezed, letting out a broken laugh.
I waited for the tears again. But, nope. They weren’t coming.
Mentally I scolded myself and rolled my shoulders, trying to not spiral.
Once Donnie finished his business, he came back inside and I threw myself on the couch with a groan. It went from sprinkling to a downpour within a matter of seconds as I flipped on the TV, grabbed my laptop, and got comfy.
I ended up staring at the screen as my thoughts went haywire.
Was I losing it or had Hunter almost kissed me? I’d definitely sat on his junk. His very hard, very large junk. I’d called him the biggest dick in town and now that had a whole new meaning to it.
Then he’d told me to stay far away.
Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t going to make his life easy.