21. The Deception Begins
21
THE DECEPTION BEGINS
KEATON
A car dropped us off at the airport hangar where the Buchanan’s private jet stood ready and waiting for us to board. Then I noticed another jet nearby as we took our luggage to the plane.
“Hey look at that. It’s the West Games logo on the tail of that jet. Can’t mistake the king and queen chess pieces on it. Do you play chess?” I asked my new wife —a word that was becoming easier to let roll off my tongue—but she’d frozen in place, staring at the aircraft with an odd look on her face. “Soph?”
“Oh, uh, no. No chess for me.”
“I could teach you. Vivian and I grew up on classic West Games like Tower Trouble and Strategy Summit, among others,” I offered.
“I don’t like board games, remember? Whew, it’s so hot. Let’s get inside.” She rushed ahead.
“Oh. Kay.” I’d have to get to the bottom of that soon, but right now it served as a reminder that we were just beginning this situation. There were probably plenty of things we’d yet to discover about each other, what we both liked, tastes we shared, and some we differed on. It’d make for exciting months ahead.
Once we settled in, with the falsified marriage certificate glaring from the table in front of us, we called Richard from the plane before it took off. Sophie insisted on it before he saw the news of our wedding blasted all over TV and social media. Melanie and her team worked fast, already spreading the teasers for tonight’s show—in which it hinted at a surprise bride and groom, while quickly panning over our faces.
As we sat in the luxurious seats inside the Buchanan jet, I looked back on how, just a few days prior, we flew on this thing heading to Las Vegas with only the intention of dating for the weekend.
Now we were leaving bound by fake vows.
Richard answered on the first ring. I put it on speaker.
“What the hell’s going on? I just got a notification that something’s trending with your name and Sophie’s, too. People allover the internet speculate you are the bride and groom on tonight’s show?” He sounded far from pleased.
Sophie and I exchanged glances. We had decided to let Richard in on the deal with the studio since he was just as invested in the success of my business as I was. Because of the NDA, though, he would not know our vows were faked.
She cleared her throat. “Hi, Richard. We wanted to tell you first, before the show airs. We... got married.”
There was a long pause. I could hear the gears turning in his sharp business brain.
“You what?”
“Let’s just say the entire reality show weekend was a mess, and an opportunity arose. Sophie and I leveraged it to our advantage,” I supplied, keeping my tone even and business-like, which I figured would appease the billionaire. “The studio made an offer, and we accepted.”
Sophie continued from there. “There are more interviews coming, showing our life in Holly Creek, and a big payoff too, and of course we’ll feature the brand and brewery, boosting business.”
“Why does this sound like a marketing gimmick and not an actual marriage?”
“Like Keaton said, the opportunity was there, and we took it.”
In my head I picture his eyebrow lifted, the one he used in order to glare directly into someone’s eyes and call bullshit, which probably gained him many favorable negotiations in the past.
“So this is a business arrangement, not love?”
“Well…” Sophie hesitated, eyeing me like she needed some kind of sign.
“Working together like we have, we’ve become really good friends over the summer, then one thing led to another this weekend,” I quickly explained. “Maybe it was the Vegas heat or the excitement of the deal, but we decided to take a chance on love. What better way to find out if we’re suited for each other than to try the real thing? We got married and we’ll see where this thing leads.”
He huffed at that. “Jesus. Being married isn’t a game like craps. You can’t roll the dice and hope it lands on a winner. Not that I don’t think you two can’t make it, but if it’s one thing I’ve realized is marriage takes work and commitment.”
“We’re both ready to take that leap,” I assured him, lacing my fingers with hers.
“Sounds to me like you’ve already jumped ten spaces ahead.” Then he rushed. “Hold on, Vivian and the kids just got home from a play date.”
I could hear the shifting of the phone and kids’ noises in the background. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about what my sister would think.
“Keaton? My phone is blowing up. Did you and Sophie get married in Vegas?” Vivian’s voice strained, high pitched.
“Uh, yeah. We did. Surprise,” I replied with a nervous chuckle.
“Surprise indeed. At least when Richard and I married out of the blue in Denmark, I had the decency to call you first before we said our vows.” She stabbed me with that. Although I liked Richard, the news he was about to marry my sister in a foreign country had hit me hard. I didn’t have a current passport then, so I couldn’t jet off to attend their nuptials in the tiny hamlet in Denmark. But no matter. The two of them made sense. Their kids were the light of my life as their uncle, and it all worked out for them.
But for me and Sophie? We had ninety days to fuck around and find out if this worked.
I covered it up with similar words she told me back then. “What can I say, Viv? When you know, you know. You know? ”
“Vivian? Hi, Sophie here. Keaton and I realized we had something special and one thing led to another. Oh, I cannot wait for you to see our wedding tonight on TV. It was beautiful. I cried when he put this beautiful diamond on my finger. I couldn’t be happier, though. Your brother is really special to me.” Sophie gave it a female spin.
Reality tapped me on the shoulder—reminding me this was only the beginning of the performance—this would be the first of many times we’d have to convince the most important people in our lives how our marriage was real. With any hope, we could manage it… and wouldn’t turn around and disappoint any of them.
“Well, congratulations then. I wish we could have been there, but that means we’ll need to have a little celebration for you two here. I’ll get together with Chelsea and we’ll plan something.” The phone jostled again and suddenly Richard’s voice was back on.
“Great idea, hon. Give me a minute? I’ll join you and the kids in a few.” We heard the fading sound of his family moving further away. Then he came back on, voice changed back to gruff. “Hmph. I hope you two know what you’re doing. You’re both adults, but don’t forget our goal here. I invested in the brewery because I believed we had a shot at growing bigger. Don’t screw up the work with any relationship troubles.”
“Understood,” we said in unison.
“We’ve worked well together so far. I don’t see that changing,” I added for good measure.
We finished up with him, and we both leaned back in our seats with a collective sigh.
“Well, that went better than I expected,” I said.
“It felt weird though, didn’t it? People are going to be shocked. We weren’t even really dating before we left Holly Creek.”
“But a lot can happen over a weekend in Vegas.” I shrugged a shoulder. “There are plenty of people in this world who meet and marry right away. I think people will buy our story. Now, we covered telling my side. How about yours? Is there anyone you need to call?”
“No.” She turned her nose out the window.
“Parents or siblings?” Oddly, I realized how little I knew about her family. “No older brother going to corner me at the bar out of the blue one day and kick my ass for marrying you on the fly?”
She shifted in her seat. “My mother is overseas with her third husband right now. I wouldn’t want to disturb their travels, and honestly, I’ve been pretty independent from her since high school. Besides, the last time I saw them was the day I graduated from Columbia.”
My heart twisted hearing this. “That long ago? Sophie?—”
“As for siblings, I have five stepbrothers, but we haven’t spoken in years. Frankly, I doubt they’d even bat an eye. So, no. Other than Maisy and Chelsea, I really don’t have anyone to call. And I’d rather tell the girls tonight in person. We had planned a watch party for the show tonight.”
She was essentially all alone in this world without family around? This was something to explore with her at a later time. Right now, I needed to give her assurances and wipe that worried look from her face.
Once the plane took off and we were in the air, I took her hand and brought it to my lips. “You got me now, okay? I hope I’ll be the first person you call for anything you need.”
“For the next ninety days at least.” Her smile registered weak and flat. That bothered me.
“Soph, I don’t see us going through this thing and not at least becoming the best of friends or more.”
She shot me a glance and a more worry passing through her eyes before they softened again. “Maisy might be jealous hearing you call us best friends.”
“She can get in line behind me. I’m your husband, and I come first.” I leaned in and nuzzled her neck to the sound of her tiny whimper.
“Fake husband, you mean.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled back. “Look, there’s only four people who know this certificate isn’t legit. I don’t care about Melanie and the officiant, I care about us. And I think, if we’re going to survive this together, we should go about this as if it is very, very real. Not even bring up how fake this is anymore. Just act like it’s the real deal.”
“Is that your idea of method acting?” Her lips twitched.
“Absolutely. It’ll work, too, because it puts us into an authentic frame of mind. Less chance of slipping up that way.” More chance to see if what we have could be something more.
She chewed her cheek and eyed me, as if debating the consequences of it all. I broke out into a sweat waiting for her to agree, mentally coming up with more arguments for my side. Until finally, she nodded. “You’re right. We need this to be authentic, for everyone’s sake.”
“Perfect. Seal it with a kiss.” I leaned in close and waited for her lips to join mine. Slow, soft kisses became the promise between us… then ignited into more. With tongues dancing, I unbuckled her seatbelt and pulled her on top of me, straddling my lap. Her moans drove me crazy, and my cock suddenly needed in on the deal.
No way could this fire between us be manufactured, the connection unreal. Things hit differently with her than it had with any other woman before. With Sophie, this had to be something more, deeper, stronger, than I could even understand.
I kissed down her neck, inhaling her sweet perfume. “Tell me, Mrs. Kingston, how would you like to join me in the bedroom?”
“Here? There’s a bedroom on the plane?”
I unbuckled and slid off the seat with her in my arms, carrying her with me. “The Buchanan’s have the best of everything. And I think it’s time for you and I to take advantage of it. What do you say we join the mile high club?”
To the sound of her laughter, I opened the door at the back of the plane and carried her through it, laying her gently on the bed. I locked the door, then pulled my t-shirt off over my head. The thoughts of what I could do with my new wife at forty thousand feet in the air were far from gentle.