Aurelie scoffed.All thatwas everything she wantednow, not years from then, when she finally became a citizen and her dad could no longer touch her.
“And until then?Won’t you want, you know, to be with someone?How will they feel when they find out you’re married?”
Several expressions flitted across his face.He clearly hadn’t considered this aspect before he had flipped her fake idea of a sham marriage back on her.
Too bad she had; it was part of the reason she hadn’t just accepted this ridiculous plan.She wanted this man, physically at least.How could she be expected to keep that under wraps if he didn’t want the same thing?The boundary between them was already lace-thin.
“Well,” he said, a broad grin erupting where a moment ago his lips had been drawn and serious, “there’s no reason we can’t make that part of our marriage legit.I think we established earlier that attraction between us isn’t a problem.”
He winked, and Aurelie blushed.
“So, we’ll be fuck buddies who are married, but love won’t get in the way,” she said.
“Yeah, that about sums it up.”
As much as Aurelie wanted to tell him that his idea—hers, actually—was the most asinine thing she’d ever heard, she couldn’t.
Because it kept her here, in Banberry, in the life she’d built.More importantly, it kept her out of her father’s grasp.And she’d voiced her concerns about trapping Jace, which he’d combated with logic.
Before she could step back from the razor-thin precipice she stood in front of, she leaped.“Okay,” she said, her voice as confident as she could muster.
“Are you agreeing?”he asked.The hope that lined his voice buoyed her resolve.
She shocked herself by nodding.
“I am.I mean, I do.”She laughed at the attempted humor.
“All right then,” Jace said, springing from the couch like he’d been ejected.He bent down and kissed her firmly on the lips and then headed for the door.
“Wait!”Aurelie asked.“Where are you going?”
“I’ve got to make some calls.Can I pick you up in an hour?”
Anhour?Her limbs went numb, her fingers and toes tingling.What had she talked herself into?
“You want to do thistonight?”she asked, another lump forming in her throat, making it impossible to breathe, to think.
He jogged back to her, tilted her chin up to meet his lips again.Gazing into her eyes as he tenderly kissed her on the lips, then the tip of her nose, then her forehead, he nodded.
“Aurelie, I’m making you my wife tonight.You’d best get yourself dolled up, hon.We’re gonna need some pictures to show off to a judge.And my agent.”He winked and headed back to the door, where he stopped short again and wheeled back to look at her.
“It’s nine o’clock in the country, Jace.Nothing’s open.”
“Fine.We’ll do it first thing tomorrow.By the way, what’s your last name?”
Aurelie laughed, a high-pitched giggle that felt more like rising panic than joy.
“Gardinier.Aurelie Gardinier.”
“Yours?”
“Michaels.”
“Oh yeah.Duh.”The famous movie star… How could I forget, even for a moment?
“Nice to meet you,” he said, throwing her another award-winning smile and disappearing.Aurelie sat there stunned for two full minutes before the baby shifted in her arms.
“Oh my God,” she whispered to the infant, “what the hell have I done?”
