Chapter 22
Camila
Landon’s car is already parked out front when I pull up to Hess’s house.
My fingers tighten over the steering wheel as I shake my head.
I cannot believe I have to tell Selena I married Hess. This is where everything goes sideways—more than it already has. I’ve always been the responsible one between us. I can’t fathom a world where Selena chides me for the choices I’ve made.
When I step out of my car, Hess waits for me on the porch with a charming grin, but I’m still mad at him from that ridiculous counseling session and for inviting Landon and Selena over, so I shoot him a glare.
“I’m guessing you’re not interested in entering the house hand in hand?”
“What gave it away?” I say as I walk toward him.
He laughs in that easy way I’m beginning to begrudgingly adore. “You’re full of quick remarks, aren’t you?”
“It’s a weakness,” I deadpan, stopping in front of him.
“I kind of think it might be your strength.”
I fidget, not knowing how to accept his compliment.
He gestures inside. “I’ll let you lead, but can we get the big reveal over with sooner rather than later? I’ll be nervous the whole time until it’s done.”
Hess will be nervous? I’m not used to this level of honesty from a man. The men I know hate to look weak and hate being vulnerable even more. But then again, Abby said we need to communicate, so maybe he’s just a teacher’s pet.
“Fine.” I throw my curls back behind my shoulder, meaning business. “We’ll get it over with from the start.”
I open the door and march inside with Hess trailing behind. Landon and Selena sit at the kitchen island, gas station Styrofoam drinks in front of them on the counter. Their eyes widen with confusion when they see me.
“Cami, what are you doing here?” Selena stands, making her way to me with arms out like she means to hug.
“I live here.” She stops in her tracks. And as promised, I get right to it.
“Hess and I got married five and a half years ago, so I could get a large inheritance from Glen Lucas.” Selena’s jaw drops to the floor.
“We hadn’t spoken again until the day of your engagement party.
That’s when Shanna found out about us, contacted my dad, and told him the marriage was a fraud.
We were taken to court and in order to convince the judge to rule in our favor, we have to do six months of hard marriage or pay back the money. I’ve been living here for two months.”
“When I said, sooner rather than later, I didn’t mean within two seconds of coming inside,” Hess says under his breath as we both wait for their responses.
“I like to be efficient.”
In true Selena fashion, she squeals and runs and jumps into my arms. No questions asked. No seeking clarity over what I just told her. “You’re married!”
“Whoa!” Her body slam has me stumbling back. “Not married married. This is a temporary arrangement for four more months, and then we’ll divorce.”
She stops hugging me, keeping her hands on my shoulders. “We’ll be like sisters—married to best friends.”
I blink back at her. “We already are sisters, and like I said, this isn’t a real marriage, more like a business agreement.” Selena’s refusal to believe this isn’t a real marriage has me questioning her maturity level even more than I already did.
It’s as if my words don’t register in her brain. “I can’t wait to tell Mamá. She’s going to flip out. The girl who said she’d never marry is married.”
For a second, I almost say Don’t tell her but decide that if Selena breaks the news to my mom, it will be less work for me.
“Wait.” Her glee fades for a moment. “You said you did this to get an inheritance from Glen Lucas?”
This item of the reveal makes me anxious.
Part of keeping Selena in the dark about this marriage was so that I didn’t have to answer financial questions.
I’ve purposely sheltered her from having to deal with that kind of stuff.
It’s bad enough that I couldn’t be a carefree teenager.
I didn’t want to take that away from her too.
I force a smile, trying to make it seem like none of this is a big deal. “Yeah, I needed the inheritance money to pay for law school and diabetes.” I’m careful to leave out details about paying for her and Mamá to live.
Her hand covers her heart. “Cami, I feel awful that you had to do that. I thought your job covered everything.”
Selena was fifteen when I took the first payout from the trust. I don’t blame her for not realizing that kind of money doesn’t grow on trees.
“It’s fine.” I shake my head. “It was the perfect plan until Shanna ratted us out.”
That explanation is enough for my baby sister. Another giant smile covers her face. “Well, this is so exciting, but I can’t believe I didn’t get a chance to be your maid of honor.”
Landon stands and walks to where we are, like he needs more information. “So you two are married? This isn’t a joke?”
“Legally and lawfully,” Hess confirms.
“And what did you get out of it?”
“Two hundred thousand dollars,” he answers flatly and without shame, and I secretly wish I could own my past decisions with that much confidence. “That’s how I started my business.”
“Wow.” His expression is full of shock. “And Shanna?”
Hess’s shoulders lift. “She’s the reason we’re in this mess. She went behind our backs and told Camila’s dad that the marriage was just for the inheritance.”
Landon frowns. “You’re still together, though?”
“What she did felt spiteful and vindictive, plus there were some other red flags that I refused to see until this happened, so I broke up with her.”
“Have you talked to Shanna since?”
I shift my eyes to Hess, wanting to hear the answer too.
“No, we haven’t spoken since the night I ended things.”
Why does knowing that make me happy?
“Wow,” Landon says again, but this time, there’s some laughter with it. “I feel like I’m being punked right now.”
“Don’t we all?” I grumble.
“I didn’t even know marriage of convenience happens outside of green cards or fiction.
” I appreciate that Landon is having a hard time with the news.
It makes me think he’s not half-bad. Someone has to be the logical person in their relationship, because we all know Selena won’t be.
Love her to death, but she’s all whimsical and carefree.
She grabs my hand, pulling me to a kitchen chair. “I guess this means you can’t keep telling me what a mistake I’m making by getting married so young.”
“I can assure you, all my beliefs about the downfalls of marriage are still intact.”
“Yeah, but now I don’t have to listen to you.”
“You already weren’t.”
“Yeah, but now I really don’t have to listen to you.”
Exactly what I was afraid of.
After the initial shock and questions about our surprise marriage, we head out to the back patio.
The sun just set, and the sky is a mixture of orange and navy blue.
Hess lights the fire pit, though it’s hot enough outside that we don’t need it for heat, and brings out chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows for roasting.
Landon casually holds Selena’s hand as we chat around the fire about their wedding plans.
And for the first time, I feel like I’m getting a chance to know him.
He graduated in accounting with the intention of becoming the CFO of his father’s luxury real estate group.
He hated being an only child and wants to have at least three children.
The Lord of the Rings is his favorite book, but he loves the movie version even more.
He’s a self-proclaimed nerd, but not in a demeaning way.
More like he’s proud he’s obsessed with line graphs and waterfall charts.
But the most obvious thing is how much he adores my sister.
Every time Selena talks, his eyes light up. It’s as if his entire world stops when she looks at him, like he’s as surprised as the rest of us that a woman as incredible as Selena would love him.
I’ve always thought—maybe not said out loud, but I’ve thought—that if you’re going to get married, you should choose a soft, innocent guy. They’re the ones that won’t break your heart.
I think Selena has found one in Landon.
That doesn’t mean I think their marriage will automatically work out. It just means she did one thing right when it comes to chasing the elusive fairy tale.
When our stomachs are full from too many s’mores, Landon stands, pulling Selena to her feet, and wraps her in a hug. “We'd better get going. You have a big day of shopping tomorrow.”
“Shopping?” I stand too.
“Yeah!” Selena rests her head on the side of his shoulder. “Landon opened up an account at Heritage Home for me so I could get things for our new house.”
“The furniture store?” I clarify with a little dread.
“Yes, isn’t that exciting?”
“Actually—” I begin my speech about what a red flag furniture accounts are, but Hess stops me.
“That is so exciting.” He drapes his arm over my shoulder, pulling me to his side while squeezing my shoulder with his fingers. Then his eyes drop to mine. “Isn’t it, Camila?”
There’s a war happening inside, intensified by the hammering in my chest. My head demands I say something quippy that gets my point across about the dangers of opening furniture accounts, but my heart wants to sit in the feels of Hess’s arm around me.
In this instant, my heart wins out. I’m sidetracked by his scent, his strength, and the warmth of his body.
Everything about his closeness feels protective and masculine—things I typically don’t like but could easily melt into now.
The hesitation in my reply opens the door for Landon to speak as he leads the way to their car. “I’m just excited Selena can decorate the house how she wants.”
It feels weird to walk with Hess’s arm wrapped around my shoulder, so I wriggle out of his grasp, putting a good four feet between us. He laughs like he knows he affected me and then shoves his hands into his pockets.
Once by their car, Selena turns to face me with a big smile. “This night made me so happy. I’ve always wanted to go on a double date with you, and it was so fun to tell you about the wedding plans.”
I don’t have the heart to tell her this wasn’t a double date, more like a homework assignment from my marriage counselor, but regardless, I’m happy she’s not angry at me for lying to her about the marriage.
If I were in her shoes, it would take years and a lot of therapy sessions to get over it.
But that’s what’s so great about Selena—she only sees the best in people.
“Yeah, it was fun hanging out with you both.” I’m surprised I don’t have to manufacture the smile on my face. I really did have fun with them, getting to know Landon too.
Why does that feel so hard to admit?
Landon opens the car door for Selena before walking around to his side. We both watch and wave as he drives away.
“See?” Hess nudges me with his elbow. “That wasn’t so bad.”
“What’s bad is that he opened a furniture account for her.”
Hess just laughs.
“I bet Landon has a gym membership too.”
“Orangetheory Fitness.” His laughter grows even louder. “Been a member for three years now.”
“This isn’t funny.” I playfully slap his arm, the action accidentally telling him, You’re annoying, but I like it. “And now, I’ve lost all credibility with my sister, so I can’t even warn her about the furniture account and the gym membership.”
“At least she’s not training for a marathon out of the blue.”
“That we know of.”
We get to the front porch, but before I walk inside, Hess grabs my arm, forcing me to turn around and face him. The feel of his fingers on my skin lights a fire over my body.
“In all seriousness, I’m sorry you’re worried about your sister.” This man has perfected the art of conveying genuineness with a single glance. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but Landon is a good guy. He won’t hurt her.”
“I wish I were as confident in their relationship as you are.”
His stare softens even more. I didn’t even know that was possible. “Why didn’t you tell me you needed the inheritance money to pay for your medical bills?”
“What difference would it have made?”
“I don’t know.” There’s a boyish quality to his shrug. “Maybe I would’ve married you for less money.”
“I don’t need anyone’s pity. I’ve managed to take care of myself, my mom, and my sister just fine.”
“Have you ever tried letting somebody take care of you for once?”
I learned pretty early on in my childhood not to expect that—part of growing up with a single mother who worked all the time or who was out looking for the next man to marry.
My chin lifts. “I wouldn’t like being taken care of by someone else. I value my independence too much.”
“Are you sure?” Hess casually leans his shoulder against the side of the door, thumbs hitching over his belt as he smiles back at me. He has no business being that sexy.
“You act like I don’t know myself.”
“I think you know this version of yourself, the version you’ve had to be. But what if there was another way you could be happy?”
“You think I’ll be happier if I put on an apron and submit myself to a husband so that I can depend on him for everything I need?”
“That’s not at all what I’m saying.” He pushes his body off the wall and slowly moves toward me. My pulse races as he gets closer and closer until his face is inches from mine.
Words from earlier today dance across my mind.
I doubt there’d be a man in my shoes who wouldn’t want to kiss you.
I know I said in Abby’s office that I wouldn’t let Hess kiss me, but I was lying.
Lying through my teeth.
His mouth spreads into an unhurried grin. “I’m going to show you what it’s like to have someone take care of you for once. And you can decide for yourself if you like it.”
A scoff tumbles over my lips, causing Hess to snicker.
His gaze holds mine, steady and confident. I watch, ready to react to whatever move he makes. Instead, he twists the door handle and walks inside the house, leaving it open for me to follow.
Feelings whirl and spin inside me as if Hess left my stomach in the eye of a tornado.
I really need to get it together.
“That’s the second time today you broke my personal-space rule,” I call after him. “If I can smell your soap, you’re too close.”
“It’s body wash.”
“Same thing,” I groan.
Same freaking thing.
Before I’m even done washing my face for bed that night, my mom is calling on the phone. The gossip mill works fast in my family. I brace myself and answer.
“Hello, Mamá.”
She spouts off three quick sentences in Spanish, and I know I’m in trouble. Rosa Jiménez means business when she uses her Spanish.
I hold the phone away from my head, protecting my eardrums from her shouts.
It’s going to be a long phone call.