Chapter 17 #2
Her words falter, and now I feel like a piece of shit. I should be supportive and understanding like any good friend, but instead, all I feel is jealousy. She might be married to me, but her heart still belongs to the man who cheated on her.
I swallow down all those emotions and try to focus. “I doubt they’ll hold that against you. Your family loves you and has always supported you.”
She snorts and rolls her eyes. “You’ve been gone a long time, Beck. A lot has changed.”
My brow furrows as I take a sip of my coffee. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’m surrounded by a bunch of overachieving siblings.
Cash is set to take over the entire Creed empire from Dad.
Hendrix is a literal fucking rock star now.
Mercury is like this evil genius when it comes to music production, and then there’s Myles, who I swear is just one role away from being the next Chris Hemsworth. ”
I tilt my head. “Chris Hemsworth? Really? From the pic you showed me, I was thinking he looked more like that guy from that Viking movie.”
“The blond guy?” I nod, and she seems to ponder it before saying, “He would make a pretty excellent Viking.”
I give her an amused grin. “I know all about your siblings, Pres. Between what you’ve told me and the hour-long phone call with your mom during that family dinner, I’m all caught up on the many achievements of the various Creed children. What I don’t know is what that has to do with you.”
She tosses a hand in the air, clearly frustrated.
The other clutches her precious cup of coffee.
“Can’t you see? I’m the family fuckup. I dropped out of community college.
I don’t have any special talents. I’m not good at anything.
I’m an embarrassment.” She lets out a ragged breath.
“And once they find out about what happened with Jace, it will only confirm that.”
“First of all, not true. Have you ever heard yourself sing? Fucking angels, Pres.”
She snorts out a laugh. God, I forgot how good it feels to make her laugh. I used to crack the stupidest jokes during our late-night walks just so I could hear it. “I knew you used to stand outside my door and listen to me. Stalker.”
“Couldn’t help myself,” I say, before turning serious. “You really think your family will judge you for his infidelity?”
“His…what? You think he cheated on me?”
My brow scrunches. “That’s what you told me. I assumed that’s why you broke up.”
Then I feel the blood drain from my face. “You did break up, didn’t you?”
Please tell me I didn’t wake up to find out I’m married to the one woman I’ve been sort of crushing on for years, only to discover she still has a boyfriend.
“Yes,” she says, making me exhale a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “We broke up a month ago.”
I gape. “A month?”
She nods. “The night I called you from my parents’ house.”
“Then why did you say he cheated on you that day by the pool?” I ask, hoping it doesn’t come off accusatory. I’m just trying to make sense of that phone call.
She stares at the floor for a minute, then I hear her mumble the words dirty, rotten cheater under her breath before her face collapses into her palms. “I am such an idiot,” she laments. “I was calling him a cheat. Not a cheater. Because what he did was something so much worse.”
I tense. “What did he do, Pres?” When she looks up at me, her face is a mixture of guilt and embarrassment. She shakes her head, like the truth will cost her. “Tell me.”
“He stole from the bar.”
Anger courses through me, but I manage to keep it in check. “How much?”
Her eyes gleam with unshed tears. “A lot,” she confesses. “I caught him on the security camera lifting cash from the register. I went back several weeks and caught him doing it dozens of times.”
“But that shouldn’t be enough to—”
“There’s more,” she continues. “After I fired him, I figured that was the end of it. I knew he’d stolen a lot, but it wasn’t enough to ruin us. But then he broke into the bar and stole all of our inventory.”
“He what?”
“It’s my fault.” Her bottom lip starts to quiver. “I should have changed the security pin, but I had no idea he even knew it. Since the alarm wasn’t tripped, he was able to waltz right in. I didn’t find out until the next day when I walked in and discovered the entire stockroom empty.”
“How do you know it was him?” I ask, just to play devil’s advocate, because of course it was him.
“We only have a security camera in the hallway, with none in the stockroom. But the few glimpses I caught of his shadowy figure moving through the hallway were enough. It was him.”
“You should go to the cops,” I press. “File a report with your insurance.They’ll cover it.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “Thanks to me, the bar was barely skating by, and after this, I’m worried it could ruin us. I can’t let my family find out how badly I…”
She can’t even finish her sentence, and I can’t stand to see the look of fear in her eyes at the possibility of failing her family. So I say the first thing that comes to mind. “What if we stay married?”
PRESLEY
“I’m sorry.” I blink, my tears forgotten as I try to process what he just said. “I think I just hallucinated. Did you say we should stay married? Didn’t you suggest we get an annulment like ten minutes ago?”
He checks his watch and gives me a lazy smile. “It was about five minutes ago, but yes, I did.”
“Why?”
“Why, what?”
“Why do you suddenly want to stay married?”
He leans forward, the muscles of his biceps straining against the thin fabric of his T-shirt.
I get the briefest flash of a memory—my hand fisting a black button-down as he leans forward in a crowded bar.
I can feel every rock-hard inch of him pressed against me.
My breath comes out in shallow rasps, as he grips my waist, leans over and…
“Pres?”
“Huh?” I say in a rush.
“You asked me why I suddenly wanted to stay married. I never said I didn’t.”
“You didn’t?”
“No,” he replies, taking a slow sip of coffee. “Could be beneficial for both of us.”
“How so? ’Cause I hate to break it to you, but my health insurance is shit.”
He barks out a laugh. “I don’t need health insurance, but we can switch you to mine. It’s awesome. I do need a place to stay, though.”
“You what?”
“In LA,” he explains. My head is spinning trying to keep up with him. “The nightclub I…manage is expanding, and LA is one of the cities they chose. I would need to be here to scout locations, approve the designs, and basically oversee every single detail.”
I eye him suspiciously. “Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? Seems like you would have mentioned a temporary move to LA before now.”
“I wasn’t sure I wanted to take it,” he says evenly. “Now, I don’t seem to have a reason not to.”
So being married to me is a convenience?
“This project sounds way beyond the scope of a manager.”
He shrugs. “They trust me.”
“If they trust you so much, why do you need to stay married to me?”
Another shrug. Why is he being so calm about all of this? We’re talking about a marriage, not a business merger. “I don’t, but having a more permanent attachment to the area can’t hurt when I’m working with contractors and such.”
“Especially when you’re married to a Creed?”
That seems to shake his calm and casual demeanor. “What? No. I’d never use your family or last name like that. I just meant that it’s easier to work with people when you’re not an outsider.”
“Oh.” I nod, with understanding. “And what do I get out of this deal?”
“Like you said, your family will be thrilled,” he explains. “They love me. It will distract them from everything that went down with Jace, and you’ll have the added bonus of me.”
“You?” My stomach does a little flip.
“I manage one of the hottest nightclubs in Nashville. I have the knowledge and experience to help you get Creeds back on its feet.”
“I don’t need your—”
“I promise not to overstep,” he assures me, as if he already knows what I’m about to say. “And you can oversee everything. I know your trust in others is probably at an all-time low. I’ll do whatever you feel comfortable with.”
I swallow down the lump in my throat. Am I really going to agree to this? “Okay,” I find myself saying. “But you’re forgetting one thing.” I raise an eyebrow.
“And that is?”
“A marriage is supposed to last forever. Are we just going to fake this thing until we’re old and gray, Hollis? Have a pretend family and go on fake anniversary trips? Buy a make-believe time-share in the Caymans?”
He shakes his head, amusement shining in his eyes. “Never buy a time-share, Pres. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that?”
I roll my eyes. “You know what I mean, Beck.”
“I do, and you’re right. We should have an exit strategy.”
Exit strategy. It was the sanest idea to come out of this whole ridiculous plan, and yet, I hated it the most. Because it means we will once again be going our separate ways, and I will have to say goodbye to Hollis Beck.
And this time, I fear it might be forever.
“Okay.” I steady my breath and steel my spine as if I’m preparing for war. “Let’s talk details.”