Emery
Air.
I needed air.
My mind was swirling, and I was struggling to focus as I hurried off the stage.
I completely skipped our table and basically ran through the crowd to the exit.
I wasn’t sure if Noah was following after me, and I didn’t care.
I silently prayed that he’d picked up on my energy and was allowing me space.
Because that was what I needed.
Space.
I pushed on the door release, and the cool New York City air hit me in a gust. I didn’t stop moving until I had rounded the building and could collapse against the cold stone. I closed my eyes and tipped my face up, opening my lungs and taking in deep, cleansing breaths.
I was so angry with Charles that I was seeing red. That had been unprofessional and cruel. Why did I have to kiss Noah to prove anything? Where was HR in all of this? Forcing me to kiss my fiancé…
My thoughts stopped.
My fiancé.
To the world. To the board. To Charles. Noah was my fiancé. And kissing my fiancé wasn’t weird or strange—or an HR violation.
Even though I knew that Charles had ulterior motives, if I marched into Violet’s office on Monday and demanded that Charles be reprimanded for making me kiss Noah, I was going to have a hard time explaining why it was an issue when the man was my fiancé.
The last thing I could tell her was the truth.
That our relationship was nothing but a ruse to fulfill the marriage stipulation.
That would earn me a one-way ticket to either losing my position or forcing myself back into the dating pool.
And for the sake of the kind men who seemed interested in me, returning to that world seemed unnecessarily cruel to them.
My reaction to Noah kissing me was something that I was going to have to work on though. When we were alone, we didn’t need to touch, but it was unrealistic of me to assume that would continue to be true when we were out amongst people.
“Emery?”
Noah’s cautious voice had me straightening before I opened my eyes and turned in his direction.
“Mm-hmm?” I asked as embarrassment coursed through me.
My skin felt on fire as I slowly met his gaze. I could only imagine what he was thinking. My reaction to his kiss had been embarrassing. It was the only way I could have reacted, but I must have looked like a crazed woman, kissing her fiancé and then running from the room like a bat out of hell.
“Your phone is buzzing.” Noah held out my purse.
My purse! I’d been in such a rush to leave that I’d forgotten it. “Thank you,” I said as I took it from him. I could feel the vibration of my phone going off inside. Grateful for the distraction, I hurriedly pulled it out and swiped it on.
“Hello?”
“Why am I the last to know?”
I paused as it took a moment for the caller’s voice to register. “Abigail?”
“Of course, it’s Abigail. Your future sister-in-law, whom you decided not to tell about your engagement and who had to read about it on her feed.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said as I pressed my palm to my forehead. I’d completely forgotten to tell Abigail and Bash. That was such a bonehead move. “It just happened so fast.” The last twenty-four hours had felt like a whirlwind. Add my inability to accept physical touch into the mix, and I was a mess.
Abigail sighed. “It’s okay. I figured.” She paused. “So, Noah, eh?” The tone in her voice mimicked nudging me with a teasing elbow.
My cheeks heated. “Yeah,” I said, the word coming out slow and soft.
“So, I was right? I was right.” She answered her own question before I had the chance to respond. “He makes the most sense.”
“Yeah.”
I could feel Noah’s gaze on me, and I prayed that he couldn’t hear what Abigail was saying. I’d already embarrassed myself enough in front of this man tonight. I wasn’t sure I could survive another round.
“So what’s the plan?” Any hurt in Abigail’s voice had dissipated and been replaced with excitement. “When’s the wedding? I’m assuming we are invited.”
I laughed. “Well—”
“Emery.” Abigail’s tone was sharp.
“We’re getting married at the City Clerk’s office on Monday. Think you and Bash can fly in for that?”
Abigail went silent. I feared that we’d gotten disconnected, so I pulled my phone from my cheek and saw that the time was still ticking up.
“Abigail?”
“Sorry, I think I blacked out there for a second. For some reason I heard you say you’re getting married at the City Clerk’s office?” She said the title like it tasted bad in her mouth.
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. “Yes. We want just a small ceremony, nothing too ostentatious.”
“Emery.” Abigail’s voice turned serious.
And for the first time, I felt like I was truly her sister and she was about to lay a truth bomb on me.
“I would never force you into a big wedding. I know that’s not your style.
But you have an image to uphold. The board is watching your every move.
If you want this marriage to hold up under a microscope, you need to make it appear real. ”
I swallowed as I glanced over at Noah. His hands were in his front pockets, his shoulders rounded, and his gaze fixed to the ground in front of him. If he could hear our conversation, he had no intention of letting me know.
Wanting a bit of privacy, I turned away from him and took a few steps to the right.
“That’s not what I want,” I said. My voice was soft. I’d already done the wedding thing. My ceremony with Carson had been beautiful. The last thing I wanted to do was overwrite those memories with new ones. Especially when those new memories were fake and, in three years, wouldn’t mean anything.
It felt…wrong.
“Listen, I know you’re nervous, but you’re doing this for a reason. You deserve to run Torres Investments. Charles needs to…”—I smiled at her attempt to police her words— “Bash is glaring at me right now, so I’m not going to say it, but you know what I wanted to say.”
I laughed and nodded. “I get it.”
“It can be small and simple, but you should make it into an event. That way, there will be no questions as to its validity.”
I took in a deep breath and slowly released it.
It helped dispel some of the anxiety that had been building up inside of me.
There was some truth to what Abigail was saying.
It was probably best for me to just accept that if I was going to fake a marriage with Noah, I was going to have to go all in.
And that required a wedding.
“Okay,” I said softly before I chickened out.
“Okay?” Abigail asked, her voice slightly louder than before. I could literally feel her excitement start to build through the phone.
I squared my shoulders and blew out my breath. “Okay,” I said again.
A bunch of squeaking sounds came from Abigail. I could imagine her pumping her fists in the air. I chuckled at the thought. I loved that she was excited for me. Right now, that’s what I needed.
We nailed down my travel plans—I was going to fly in tomorrow—before we said our goodbyes and hung up. Once I slipped my phone into my purse, I looked up to see that Noah was studying me with a curious expression. But as soon as my gaze met his, he dropped it back to the ground in front of him.
“Abigail,” I said, like that was explanation enough.
Noah let out a soft laugh as he glanced back up. “She was surprised?” His eyebrows were knitted together as he studied me.
“To say the least.”
He paused. “Is she upset?”
I shook my head. “No. She’s excited.”
His lips tipped up into a smile. My stomach instantly lightened. I shook my head, confused at my reaction. It must have just been a release of endorphins from the stress of this evening. My body was trying to regulate itself after being in flight-or-fight mode.
“We’re going to do a small wedding in Harmony next week.” I said it in a tone that sort of asked, but mostly told him what was happening. I feared if I fully asked for his opinion, I was going to lose my courage and call the whole thing off.
“We are?” His eyebrows went up. “Is that what you want?”
I sighed. Truth was, I was so lost that I’d couldn’t tell him what I wanted if I tried. I was in survival mode. I needed people around me telling me what to do instead of asking me to make the decisions.
“Abigail said it would be good for believability.” I offered him a weak smile. “I agree.”
He studied me for a moment before he nodded. “Okay. Let’s go to Harmony.”
I was too tired to go back into the gala. All I could think about was crawling into my bed and falling asleep. My brain, my body, and my soul were exhausted. I needed to rest and recharge before I made any more decisions.
“Let’s get the car,” I said as I tucked my purse under my arm and started walking toward the entrance.
Just as I passed by him, I paused. Noah had asked me if going to Harmony was what I wanted, and I’d been unable to give him a straight answer. But there was something that I could decide on with quite a bit of certainty.
“Do you think I can go to Harmony first, and then you can join me on Monday?” I hesitated before I met his gaze.
I needed time to process what happened between us up on the stage. I needed space from this man if I was going to spend the next three years with him. I just needed to breathe.
Thankfully, Noah didn’t look upset. He looked surprised but not hurt like I was worried he would be.
“Is that what you want?”
It wasn’t lost on me that this was the second time in this conversation he’d asked me that. It reminded me of The Princess Bride and Wesley telling Buttercup, “As you wish.” There was an intimacy to Noah’s question that invoked a confusing emotion inside of me.
Was that all Noah worried about? What I wanted?
That concept was strange to me. I’d spent so much of my life worried about what other people needed. Timothy. The company. The board. There was no one in my life who wanted to know what I needed, what I wanted. Carson was the last person who’d cared to ask.
“Yes,” I finally whispered.
Noah nodded. “Okay.”