Chapter Eight
“Don’t panic,” I said when I heard the front door close and lock before heels clicked down the hall in my direction.
“Jesus, Layna!” my cousin gasped.
Willa had medium-brown hair that she had highlighted nearly to blonde, tan skin, and brilliant blue eyes. She was dressed as she always was in tapered slacks, a silk blouse, blazer, and heels.
“You should be used to me letting myself in by now.”
“I should be. And yet…” she said, giving me a look. “Why didn’t I get a notification on my security system app?”
“I downloaded the app last time I was here, remember? I disabled it so it didn’t bother you.”
“Why would—” she started. But she trailed off when her gaze dropped to my hand, her blue eyes widening. “Why do you have a wedding ring?”
“Yeah. About that…”
“You got married? When? To whom?”
“Last night, apparently.”
“Apparent—oh,” Willa said, wincing. “Vegas.”
“Yeah, Vegas. Used to be my favorite place. I never thought I could hate it this much. Though not as much as I hate tequila.”
“Oh, God. Tequila? You know how tequila hits you.”
“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say I’m never touching that stuff again.”
“Were you in Vegas with someone? I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”
“I wasn’t. I’m not.”
Willa watched me for a long moment, then turned away and started to make us each a latte.
If there was anyone else in my extended family who reached for caffeine for comfort, it was Willa.
Only when we each had a sweet mocha latte steaming in front of us did she give me a nod and say, “Okay. So. You married a stranger.”
“Sort of. I mean, we played one game of poker together and, well…”
“Oh, well,” she repeated. “Were you sober for that part, at least?”
“Completely.”
“And?”
“It’s probably the only part of the whole night I don’t regret.”
“Okay. So, you hook up with a hot stranger. I’m assuming he’s hot?”
“Incredibly.”
“And then you…”
“I remember having a drink. The rest is just flashes. Though Harrison insists that I didn’t get wasted until after the ceremony.
I hate to admit that the footage from the chapel does seem to back that up.
But I just can’t for the life of me figure out what would make me decide that marrying someone I just met was a good idea. ”
“Oh, don’t be jaded. Maybe you really did catch feelings. It’s not like you haven’t seen it dozens of times with our family.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Willa and I weren’t blood-related. In fact, most of our family wasn’t. But we’d all been raised as one giant extended family. And especially for the past few years, we’d been watching our cousins fall in love and settle down. Even the most anti-love among us.
“I know. The thing is… they remember it. I don’t. And now Harrison won’t sign the annulment papers I had drafted up.”
“I was going to ask if you wanted my lawyer’s number. I guess you have it covered. So, his name is Harrison.”
“Yeah. Harrison Valentine.”
Willa sputtered, mocha latte spreading across her pristine white marble waterfall island.
“What?” she asked, automatically reaching for the surface cleaner and a paper towel. “Did you just say Harrison Valentine?”
“Yeah. You know of him?”
“I know him. I mean, not know-know him. But I’ve done business with him.”
Willa was the daughter of an incredibly successful businesswoman. But being who she was, Willa refused to let her mother’s success define her. She’d been busting her ass to make her own name since she graduated college.
Her gorgeous house was evidence of that success. Sprawling, modern, eye-wateringly expensive.
She rubbed shoulders with all the other upper echelon. Of course she knew Harrison.
“He might be one of the most gorgeous men I’ve ever seen up close,” Willa said as she reached down to undo the clasps on her shoes, then kicked them off.
“Yeah,” I agreed. I know I’d sworn off alcohol, but this was the kind of conversation that could use a drink.
“Wait. Do you have any idea how wealthy he is?”
“Well, if this is real,” I said, shoving my hand out at her, “then I think I have some idea.”
Willa took my hand, turning it around so the ring caught the light.
“I’m sure it’s real. And whatever you are assuming it is worth, double it. That’s a flawless diamond. And, trust me, Harrison Valentine wouldn’t even raise a brow at the cost.”
“He upgraded me from a middle economy to a first-class seat too.”
“I feel like, by your tone, I’m supposed to be saying ‘that bastard,’ but I can’t for the life of me figure out why that is a bad thing.”
“It was actually kind of nice. Especially because I was stuck between two unhappy babies, with a hangover. I’m just mad at him about the whole not signing the paperwork thing.”
“Did he say why?”
“Not really, no. Just that he didn’t want to.”
“Is he worried about his money?”
“That’s what the lawyer figured too. But I made him draft up the paperwork saying I wanted nothing from him. I told him that. He still wouldn’t sign it.”
“Maybe he’s just, you know, embarrassed. A guy like him, he’s probably used to always being in control: of his work, of his personal life. And I can see how it’s embarrassing to realize you accidentally got married in Vegas. He could just need a day or two to process things.”
“I wish it was that simple. But he didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed. If anything, he was just very calm and composed and, I don’t know, certain. Like he fully accepted this marriage.”
“Hmm. Well, did he say anything on the flight?”
“Not really. Just telling me that he ordered me food and a car when we got there. I slept, though.”
Or pretended to sleep.
“Maybe you should just give it a couple of days, then go back to see him when you’re calm and he’s had time to really think about the situation. And maybe get reamed out by his lawyers.”
“It’s an idea,” I agreed.
I was already feeling less crazed about the whole situation, and I hadn’t even fully recovered from the hangover yet.
“Well, I think if I can recover here for a few days, you know, with that adjustable bed, and the soaking tub, and the steam room…”
“Of course you can stay here,” Willa said. She waved an arm out at the sprawling, empty space. “It’s not like I don’t have room.”
“What’s that look for?” I asked when a little smirk toyed with her lips.
“Just an idea to try out if Harrison still says no to the annulment.”
“What is it? I’m open to all ideas at this point.”
“Well, if he doesn’t want an ex-wife, you could… become his wife. His very present, very annoying, very nagging, very messy wife. And we both know the last part won’t be hard.”
Okay.
So I wasn’t a neat freak.
Living out of suitcases often meant my stuff got strewn around hotel rooms. It was a habit I sometimes continued as a house guest at my family’s places.
I tried to keep an eye on the habit.
But if I wanted to really annoy Harrison—who seemed like a tidy kind of guy—I would ramp it up.
“That would require living with him,” I said, zeroing in on the only flaw in the plan.
“In his multi-million-dollar penthouse. You poor, poor thing,” Willa teased.
“Fair,” I agreed. “I think I could be good at making a man’s life a living hell.”
“It’s definitely an option if he doubles down. Also, as his wife who didn’t sign a prenup…”
“You’re evil. I love it.”
“You can only push someone so far until they bend or break. Just make sure you have the paperwork handy when he gets to that point. But I hope he will be reasonable about this and you can just… talk him into signing the papers.”
“It’s good to have a backup plan, though. You’re home late. Did you eat?”
“If by ‘eat’ you mean scarf down a bag of chips at lunch, then yes.”
“Okay, it’s not usually my place in our friend group to act like the mom, but you need to be taking better care of yourself now.” My gaze slipped to her still-flat tummy. But we both knew it wouldn’t be that way for long.
“Don’t worry,” she said when my gaze slid from her stomach to her latte, “this is decaf. All my coffee is decaf now. I hate it. I’m exhausted all the time.”
“You could, and I’m just spitballing here, work less now.”
“I could. But the company is already a little… antsy about me needing maternity leave eventually. I’m trying to keep things calm.”
“We both know you are going to be working remote from the damn hospital bed,” I said. “And you’re allowed to be gentle with yourself. You have a lot going on.”
I couldn’t imagine going through first-time motherhood completely alone. I mean, Willa would never be alone with our giant family. But that was different from having a partner.
“So, what I’m hearing is you will go get food while I take a bath,” she said, reaching to twist up her hair.
“I can do that. Do you have any cravings?”
“Anything bad for me. I’ve been eating super clean since… well… since,” she said, gesturing down at her stomach. “I think we could both go for comfort food.”
That was exactly what the night called for.
Willa took a bath while I ordered several different kinds of junk food. Then we binged it while watching old comedies that did not involve romance of any kind, with both of us being a little sensitive about that, given our current circumstances.
Once Willa dragged herself to bed, I made myself sweat any lingering tequila out in the sauna before taking a bath and dropping into the spare bed.
As exhausted as I felt, though, sleep refused to come.
I got up, checked the doors and windows, unloaded the dishwasher, made Willa a lunch bag full of leftovers for the next day, then finally started to unpack my belongings.
That’s when I found it.
Not just my missing black dress, the one I assumed Harrison meant when talking about me spilling butter all over myself. But that one didn’t seem laundered. The one that did have a fresh laundromat bag around it, though? The wedding gown from the chapel images.
My heart lurched.
And for just a second, I had another flash of a memory.
I didn’t even know exactly where the store was, but I was standing in front of the window, looking in at the wedding gowns. And Harrison had his arms around me, his head pressed to the side of mine.
It was there and gone in a blink, but there was an unmistakable tug of… joy.
I’d been happy there.
With him.
On a sigh, I shoved the dress back into my bag and flopped on the bed, determined to stop thinking about him.
I mostly succeeded in those couple of moments right before sleep.
Then went ahead and dreamed of him.