“I also was reacquainted with a group of friends who felt more like home than any other place I’ve ever been.So, I got wrapped up in this whole ordeal with the Puckman guy, with Aurelie’s dad, with my dad’s ranch before that.Trust me, no one is more surprised by the last ten days than me.But it was the right thing to do, marrying Aurelie to keep her here.I wouldn’t have done it if there were any other way.Don’t you see that?She needs to be here for you, for Jackie.So, you can think I’m a monster, that we moved too quickly, but that was our only damn choice.She barely haddaysbefore she was going to be deported.”
Paige’s forehead wrinkled in consternation.Her hands clenched and unclenched, but she didn’t say a word.
“And now?”Sophie asked.“You can stay?”
“It seems that way.I have a hearing next week, and an interview before that, but it seems pretty straightforward.”
“Damn,” Owen said, shaking his head, and breaking the crippling quiet.
“Like I said,” Sophie chirped, wrapping Aurelie in a hug, “horribly romantic.”
“Fine.I see the why, but couldn’t you have involved us?We’re herfamily.”The way Paige said that last word made it sound like a curse.
“We wanted to, but there wasn’t time.Aurelie has to be out of the hospital by the end of the month.It needed to happen as soon as possible to get her paperwork situated.”
“I get it, man.But, whoa.I mean, this is heavy.You’remarried,” Brad chimed in.Still, a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
Jace smiled.“We are.And hopefully it’s enough to keep her dad off our tails, get her back to work.Now it seems even more important Aurelie gets to stay, with Jackie and all that.I’m not saying I agree with it, not by a long shot, but I see y’all’s point.Aury needs to stay here at any cost.”
Aurelie stood beside her friends, her hands on her hips, her head rocking back and forth as it followed whoever was speaking about her, about the problems she faced, about her life.
Her life.It was hers to live, and yet, they spoke about it as if she weren’t there to explainherreasons for why she’d done everything she’d done in the past few days.Or worse yet, like she wasn’t capable of doing so.Because all thebig, bad menin her life made her weak and inferior, of course.Anger rolled around in her stomach, acidic and all-consuming.
The only thing that tempered it was the anguish that came from replaying Jace’s words over in her head.They’d married because it was her only choice.She was stuck between the monster in the islands or the one she’d just legally shackled herself to becauseit was the right thing to do.
Which meant she’d played the fool yet again.
He told you that.Yes, but then he’d also made love to her.Had he just fucked her senseless, that would be one thing, but he’d gazed into her eyes and kissed her within a fraction of her life.
Oooh, she wanted to slap theright thingacross his face.
Tears flooded her bottom lids, and though the anger dissipated, hurt and betrayal burned behind her eyes.
“Excuse me,” she tried, her voice as soft as a whisper.“Hey!”she finally shouted when no one heard her.
All conversation ceased, and silence again fell over the group like a wet blanket.Five pairs of eyes fell on Aurelie, all of them wide with surprise.
“You all seem to have a very clear idea of what would be best for me, but not one of you”—and at this she locked eyes with each person, spending more than a full beat staring resolutely at Paige and Jace each—“has asked me what I think.”
“Aurelie,” Jace and Paige both said at the same time.Her heart raced.They didn’t get it, did they?They both saw themselves as heroes, knights in armor meant to shield Aurelie from any pain, real or perceived.It would be honorable, beautiful, even, if they weren’t competing for the role right in front of her, if they weren’t silencing her voice to assuage whatever guilt compelled them to act like such overbearing asses.
She’d never stood for that before, and she wouldn’t today.
“No.You’re supposed to bemy person, Paige.I know why you haven’t been lately, and I don’t blame you.But there’s a gap, you can’t deny that.It was big enough for this guy to walk in and make me think he held all the answers.I know you’re only acting this way because you can’t reconfigure my role in your life now that you’re a mom and a wife, and I’m neither.”Jace inhaled sharply.Aurelie had neither the time nor the patience to apply salve to his wounds as well.“Not really, anyway.But that’s not the point.”
“Then what is?”Paige asked.
“I know.Thank you, Jace, for agreeing to help me in my time of need.If I were stronger, if I’d had the guts to face the situation I put myself in head-on, I would never have accepted your kind offer.But I’ve got it from here.I think we should stick to our original agreement.”
When he shot her a look of confusion, complete with a half-open mouth, she continued.“You married me to help me steer clear of my father.Afterward, you made some grand promises we both know you can’t, and shouldn’t, keep.You’ve got a career in Hollywood, and you need to go back to that.Even if you don’t, I think you and I need to go our separate ways after the hearing.Until then, I’ll stay with Jackie in her hospital room while I’m able to help under my current license.”
Aurelie was exposed, vulnerable, with all eyes on her.It didn’t help that she was still in her night clothes and felt as if the bags under her eyes were growing with each passing minute.If given the chance, she could sleep the week away.If only she had the luxury of guaranteeing she’d wake up in Banberry on the other side of it.
“Aurelie, what are you saying?”Jace asked.The panic emanating from those five words sliced through Aurelie’s resolve like a warm knife through bread.Almost.It was unearned hope, pure and simple.And it wasn’t enough.
Nothing could paint over him telling her friends he’d married her because he felt it wasthe right thing to do.No other possibility could exist for Aurelie, not if she expected to walk away from him with no more than a broken heart and bruised ego.
“Um, I think we should give these guys their space,” Owen said.It was the first time he’d spoken since corralling them into the living room, and his booming voice roused everyone from the drama-induced waking coma they were in.Sophie and Brad muttered their agreement, moving toward the door.
