Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jamieson
I spent the rest of my night in my room, where I tossed and turned all night. The next day, when it was time to head to the airport, I texted Grace to see if she was ready to leave.
“Hey. We need to head to the airport. Are you ready?”
“I flew out last night. I’m already home.”
I sat there on the bed, staring at her message in disbelief. I couldn’t believe she flew out early without even telling me.
“You couldn’t shoot me a text message and tell me that? I was waiting on you.”
“I’m sorry, but why would I? You made it very clear that we are no longer friends.”
I sighed as I shook my head and threw my phone on the bed. That response didn’t even warrant a reply. Shit. I placed my hands on my head. Fuck it. I didn’t care. I grabbed my bag and headed to the airport.
It felt good to be home. As I stood on the rooftop with a drink in my hand, staring out into the ocean and listening to the waves crash against the shore, my doorbell rang. When I looked at the monitor, I saw Logan standing there. I pushed the intercom button and told him to come in.
“Come on in. I’m up on the rooftop.”
“What are you doing up here?” he asked.
“Thinking. How did you know I was back?”
“I was driving by, and I saw your car in the driveway. How was Vegas?”
“Eventful,” I spoke as I threw back my drink.
“What’s going on? You seem like you’re in a bad mood.”
“Damn it. What I’m about to tell you, cannot leave this rooftop. Do you understand me?”
“Of course, Jamieson. You know you can trust me. What the hell is going on?”
I swallowed hard and threw back the rest of my drink before answering him.
“I—I.” I stopped.
“Jamieson. What the hell happened? You’re freaking me out right now.”
“I did something so stupid. So incredibly stupid that I still can’t believe it,” I spoke in a panicked tone.
“Okay.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Calm down and talk to me.”
“Friday after the conference, Grace and I drank all day long. We were so wasted, and when we woke up the next morning, we discovered that we had got married.”
“What?” He started to laugh. “You’re such a jokester. Stop it!”
“I’m not joking, Logan. It happened, and it’s real. Apparently, we got married at the Little Vegas Chapel.”
His face turned pale as he removed his hand from my shoulder.
“You’re not kidding, are you?” The seriousness of his voice frightened me.
“No. I wish I was.”
“For fuck’s sake, Jamieson. Now what?”
“My lawyer is preparing the paperwork for an annulment. I told him to put a rush on it. The faster we get this done, the faster I can put this behind me.”
“What about Grace? Is she in agreement?”
“Of course, she is. She doesn’t want this either.”
“And you have no clue how it happened?” he asked.
“No, and neither does she. Like I said, we were both so intoxicated.”
“Look on the bright side. This will be over within a matter of days and you can go on as if it never happened. At least you didn’t get her pregnant. Alcohol is the devil, bro. Shit. I can’t believe this.”
“Remember what I told you. Not a word of this to anyone.”
“Scouts honor. I swear I won’t tell a soul. But what about Grace? How do you know she’ll keep her mouth shut?”
“She will. She doesn’t want anyone knowing about this either.”
“So, what’s happening with the two of you now?”
“I told her that our relationship is strictly on a professional level, and we won’t be having sex again. I also told her I didn’t think we could even be friends anymore.”
“Damn, Jamieson. It’s almost as if you’re blaming her for this whole thing.”
“I’m not blaming her. Things have been off since she got here, and I think it’s best that we stay out of each other’s life and way.”
“That’s a little harsh. Grace is a great woman. You both made a drunken mistake. I don’t think that’s a reason just to cut her out of your life.” He narrowed his eye at me for a moment. “Unless you’ve developed feelings for her and can’t handle it.”
“Don’t be an idiot. I have no feelings for Grace whatsoever. She’s just like all the rest of the women I sleep with.”
“Are you trying to convince yourself or me?”
“I’m not trying to convince anyone. It’s a straight-up fact. Now, if we’re done here, I’m heading to the hospital to work on my research.”
“Yeah. Okay. Call me later, and maybe we can grab a couple of drinks. Or not. I would hate to wake up tomorrow morning, and we’re married.” He laughed.
“Get the hell out of here!”
Grace
“Aunt Cora, what are you doing here?” My eyes widened as I opened the door to my apartment.
“I came to see how you were feeling.” Her brow arched at me.
“You flew all the way from New York to see how I was feeling? You could have called.”
“I know I could have, but I had to see for myself. You can’t hide anything from me, Grace. You never could. What happened in Las Vegas that you aren’t telling me?” She demanded to know as she pushed her way past me and into my apartment. “Wow, this is nice.” She smiled as she looked around.
“Can I make you some tea?” I asked as I walked into the kitchen.
“Only if you’re having some. I was up all night worried about you.”
“Well, that was dumb. You shouldn’t be worried about me. I’m fine,” I spoke as I filled the tea kettle with water.
“I can’t help it, darling. You’re my daughter.” She smiled. “Does it have something to do with your birthday?”
I placed my hands over my face as I stood behind the island.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” She walked over and wrapped her arms around me. “Whatever happened, it can’t be that bad.”
“Oh, but it is, and I’m scared to tell you.”
She broke our embrace and firmly gripped my shoulders.
“Take in a long deep breath. Come on. Do it.”
I did as she asked.
“Another one,” she spoke.
I took in another deep breath and let it out.
“One more. Good girl. Now, tell me what happened.”
The water was ready for our tea, so I poured it into two cups that housed green teabags and took them over to the couch.
“After the conference on Friday, Jamieson and I hung out all day. We drank a lot. It was my idea because I just wanted to forget about that day. I needed to forget. We both drank an obscene amount of alcohol, and the next morning when we woke up, we found out that we were married.”
“WHAT?!” she shouted, placing her hand over her heart.
“I told you I was scared to tell you. Don’t make it any worse than it already is.” Tears filled my eyes.
“Grace Elizabeth Harper. How the hell did that happen?”
“I don’t know. Neither one of us remembers,” I cried. “Aunt Cora, my life is so fucked up. What is wrong with me?”
“Nothing is wrong with you, darling,” she spoke as she took hold of my hands. “You’re just going through a difficult time, and you did something stupid.”
All of a sudden, she began to laugh. It was like a hysterical laugh, and I couldn’t believe she did that.
“Aunt Cora?”
“I’m sorry, Grace. But if you really stop to think about it, you’re Mrs. Jamieson Finn.” She laughed harder. “Of all people. Oh, my goodness, I can imagine him now.”
“This isn’t funny!”
“No, of course, it isn’t. I’m sorry. So now what?”
“Jamieson called his lawyer, and we’re getting the marriage annulled as soon as possible. You can’t tell anyone about this. Please. I promised Jamieson I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“Don’t you worry. By the way, where is Jamieson?”
“I don’t know. He told me that we can’t be friends anymore and our relationship from now on is strictly professional.”
“And how did you feel when he told you that?”
“A little hurt and confused. I told him that it was my birthday and the day my parents died. He said nothing but that we needed to stay out of each other’s way. How could he be so heartless? Do you know anything about his family?” I asked.
“No. I can’t say that I do. I only know that his father has his own urology practice in Beverly Hills. I do know that he is an only child.”
“We ran into his father and stepmother in Las Vegas, and the tension between Jamieson and him was unreal. I said something about his mother, and he yelled at me. He told me to shut my mouth and never to mention her again.”
“He has his own demons he’s battling, sweetheart, and walking away from any emotion has become normal for him. It’s probably all he knows.”
“I don’t care. He’s rude and insensitive. I don’t talk about what happened. I never even told Sam. But I told Jamieson.”
“Don’t you think it’s weird that you never told Sam what happened to your parents? I mean, this was the man you were so in love with. When you’re in love with someone, you want them to know everything about you, especially a big part of your past.”
“What are you saying?” I narrowed my eye at her. “Are you insinuating that I’m in love with Jamieson? I only told him because I was in shock, and marriage was the last thing I needed on that day.”
“Okay.” She slowly nodded.
“Okay? God, Aunt Cora, I hate when you do that. You can’t just say ‘okay’.”
“Darling, you don’t want to hear what I have to say.” She kissed my forehead. “Go get yourself ready for dinner. I’m taking you out.”