Chapter Nine
Jilly: When are you free? I need to update you.
Jack: Define “update.”
Jilly: Life event level.
Jack: Am I emotionally prepared?
Jilly: Emotionally? Who are you and what did you do to my Jack?
"SO, LET'S SEE..."
Some people liked to do yoga. Other people liked to drink. Jilly, though...
She liked to pray...while making origami as she brainstormed with herself, herself, and Jilly No. 3.
"Statistically speaking, the odds of a whirlwind celebrity marriage lasting more than five years are approximately twelve percent, but that's accounting for typical Hollywood relationships where both parties have a history of serial monogamy and commitment issues..."
Guy could not remember feeling this fascinated as he watched Jilly create magic from a sheet of paper...while turning marriage proposals into mathematical equations.
"But if we factor in the unprecedented variable of the celebrity in question having specifically orchestrated an entire professional audit just to see me again..."
Jilly paused in her folding to scribble numbers on a legal pad that Guy had supplied at her request, albeit with an odd look.
"Plus the documented evidence of his possessive territorial behavior regarding other potential suitors, the statistical probability shifts dramatically..."
That he was watching her through surveillance cameras, Guy had zero guilt about. Given his line of work, and all the crazy attempts to invade his privacy, this was non-negotiable. And now, an unforeseen benefit.
Guy watched Jilly reach into her purse and pop a mint into her mouth.
Shit.
The mere sight of her tongue darting out to catch the small white candy had his entire body tightening to the point of pain. He had never wanted a woman this much. Never felt this mesmerized about any other woman either. And it was why...Jillian had to marry him.
She was his.
And she was deluded if she thought there was a slightest chance in hell he would let her walk out of his ranch without her promise to be his wife.
"ACCORDING TO THIS ARTICLE from Psychology Today, the top five things celebrity fangirls believe they need to win the heart of their crush include: unprecedented access to the celebrity's private life..."
Guy watched her reach for the red marker and make a check mark next to the words Unprecedented Access.
Over half an hour had passed since Jilly had asked him for space, and he had given it to her, along with all the office supplies she had rather sheepishly requested, and with a smile that made his chest do strange things.
"Demonstrable proof that they understand the celebrity better than anyone else, check; becoming indispensable to the celebrity's daily routine, check; being the celebrity's every sexual fantasy come true...effortlessly."
Jilly pressed cool fingers to her cheek. "This is ridiculous," she muttered out loud.
Wrong, sweetheart, Guy thought broodingly. It was not ridiculous at all, with how she was already turning him on in ways that he couldn't fucking explain.
Jilly picked up her phone with a determined expression that immediately had him stiffening in his seat, his jaw clenching as a familiar surge of possessive jealousy coursed through him. Was she going to call Jack? Was she having second thoughts about his proposal and reaching out to the man who—
"I'm so sorry for calling you guys out of the blue, " Guy heard Jilly apologize in a rush as she set her phone on a stand, and relief washed over him when he saw two familiar faces appear on her screen in split view.
Of course she was going to call her friends, and of course he hadn't been worried at all earlier. Or jealous.
"What's wrong?" Star asked immediately. "You look like you've seen a ghost."*
"More like a marriage proposal," Jilly said weakly.
"WHAT?"
Jilly did her best to tell her friends everything as succinctly as possible, but the knowing looks on their faces told her they had a pretty good idea of the parts that she had skipped due to, um, time constraints.
"I'm just so happy for you!"
Poppy's heartfelt words had Jilly groaning. "You're supposed to tell me I'm crazy for even thinking of saying yes." Jilly then looked at Star hopefully, asking, "What do you think?"
Guy tensed. Thanks to Valerian, he was fairly confident he could count on Poppy to root for a whirlwind marriage between him and Jilly.
But the other woman, though...
If he recalled correctly, Star had recently married Wynd Sullivan, whom he had done business with from time to time, and while Guy respected Wynd's business acumen, he didn't know Star well enough to predict whether she would support or sabotage his chances with Jilly.
"Marry him, of course, duh," Star said with a laugh.
Guy relaxed. Jillian Kitt had exceptionally good taste in friends. They were all nice and smart, and he would definitely make sure to host a dinner for them once he had Jillian taking on her rightful role as his wife and mistress of his home.
"Don't you think it's too fast?" Jilly asked desperately.
"What I think is that you're hoping to hear something specific from us," Poppy said gently.
"What about God?" Star asked softly. "What did He tell you?"
Guy tensed in his seat. When Jilly had told him about her faith, he had not really taken her seriously, dismissing it as one of those casual spiritual beliefs that people claimed but didn't really live by, but Jilly and her friends obviously took it much more seriously than he'd realized, with how the question was asked with a sense of reverence and quietness that he had trouble defining.
"I keep thinking..."
Guy reached forward, and without fully understanding why, he switched his monitor off.
It just felt as if it was no longer right to listen in, as if some invisible line had been crossed between curiosity and invasion of privacy, even though technically everything she was doing was happening in his house with his equipment.
What the hell was happening to him?
This was not like him at all.
He had never—
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Jilly opened the door to his office as soon as she knocked, unable to wait any longer for permission to enter, and was confused to see Guy straightening to his feet as if he had somehow fallen out of his chair in shock, though that was obviously impossible because this was Guy, the most sophisticated, graceful, and elegant man on the planet, who would never do something as undignified as falling out of his seat like some clumsy teenager.
Guy rubbed his jaw in a gesture of pensiveness, but it was really to give him time to regain his composure and figure out how the hell he had ended up sprawled on the floor behind his desk like an idiot, with the sound of her knocking startling him so badly that he'd forgotten basic motor functions.
"Um, Guy?"
Ice-blue eyes swung to her with an intensity that made her breath catch in her throat, mesmerizing and irresistible and focused on her with the kind of single-minded attention that made her feel like the only woman in the world. "Have you made up your mind?"
"I have three teensy weensy non-negotiable conditions."
"Teensy weensy," he echoed mockingly, "but non-negotiable? That's quite the paradox."
She could only smile sheepishly, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture that he was beginning to recognize as uniquely hers. "It is."
"But since I have no choice..."
"You do have a choice," she protested quickly.
"You just said it was non-negotiable." His eyes bored through hers with an intensity that made her knees go weak. "And I've already told you that I can't bear to share you."
"I'm not the unfaithful type," she said chidingly, as if the very suggestion was offensive to her character.
But if your God tells you to leave me, Guy couldn't help thinking with dark possessiveness that bordered on obsession, then what? What if your God tells you to choose Jack over me? What if divine intervention decides that I'm not worthy of you after all? Where would that leave him?
Jilly couldn't understand why Guy was looking at her like she was both the answer to every prayer he'd never prayed and the greatest threat to his peace of mind that had ever existed. "Guy...is something wrong? Truly?"
"I'm just thinking what my contingencies should be...in case I don't meet your conditions."
"Oh, but you would," she hurriedly assured him, stepping closer without seeming to realize she was doing it. "They're not really that hard or anything—"
"Such as?"
"We have a prenup—"
"Pass." He had actually considered this earlier. Had even spoke to his lawyer about it while she was in the other room, calculating the value of his proposal. But at the end of the day, it seemed pointless.
"Shouldn't you take the time—"
"We both know you're no gold-digger, so we'll just forget that one was ever mentioned."
Jilly tried but failed to bite back her smile. "That has to be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."
"So many other things about you are just as sweet," Guy purred, "Like the taste of your—"
" Ahem!" Jilly was seriously bothered by the intense heat that was causing her cheeks to burn. Were there no good technicians in the whole of San Antonio, and it was why everyone's A/C wasn't working?
"Your face looks red, sweetheart."
Jilly pretended not to hear this. "So, um, my second condition has to do with my babies. They should—"
"I agree."
He did?
"If we get married you owe it to me to share your babies as well. I'll have my lawyer arrange their adoption papers so that they're legally ours. Both of ours."
"That's not actually—" Jilly broke off when she saw how he was actually glaring at her.
Oh my goodness.
Was he genuinely upset about the possibility that he wouldn't have equal access and claim to her their babies?
"You're absolutely right," Jilly said instead. "We need to make it legal, so that they're both ours."
Satisfaction blazed in his ice-blue gaze and she was this close to laughing, crying, and swooning all at the same time.
Oh, Heavenly Father, is this for real, truly?
"What's the last one?"
"We marry in secret."
It was the last thing Guy had expected her to ask, especially her, of all people, and he immediately grew suspicious, possessive, and on edge. "That's not exactly something a typical fan would ask, don't you think?"
"It's just..."
Was Jillian ashamed of him for some reason? Because of Jack? Or was this to avoid hurting Jack with the truth of their marriage? Was this some misguided attempt to protect another man's feelings at the expense of their relationship?
"I mean, you already know why..."
"I don't."
"You just want me to put it in words to torture me."
So admitting to wanting him more than she wanted Jack was torture?
Damn right he wanted to torture her then if so.
"Tell me," he commanded, his voice dropping to that silky tone that brooked no argument. "Why do you want to keep our marriage a secret?"
Jillian squirmed under his intense stare, shifting her weight from foot to foot like a child being interrogated about stolen cookies. "You already know..."
"Say it," he gritted out.
"It's because your fans could..."
"What?"
"The distractions..."
"Jillian... "
"I just really want you to take my virginity as soon as possible, too!"