He takes a deep breath, leveling me with a piercing look,before he finally says, “I was thinking that maybeyoucould marry Sarah.”
I freeze.
“You what?”
“Just hear me out,” he quickly says. “You get married, but only on paper. We fake a few photos, create an online history of the two of you as a couple, keep up the facade publicly. But privately, you won’t actually be in a relationship. As soon as she’s licensed to teach, you can quietly get a divorce, and that’s that. The whole thing would be over in nine months, a year, tops.”
I shake my head, still struggling to process what he’s asking. He wants me tomarryhis sister? Like,marrymarry her?
“Miles,” I say, not even trying to hide my shock. “If I married your sister just so she could stay in the country, we’d both be committing fraud. Is that honestly what you’re asking me to do here?”
His jaw tightens. “I’m not necessarily asking, just…suggesting. I’ve done a lot of research—allthe research—and I’ve got a solid plan mapped out. How long the marriage will have to last. How we’ll convince everyone it’s real. Convince Immigration it’s real. It’s completely airtight. It’s not going to look like fraud.”
“We just met for the first time,” I say, “and multiple people were there when it happened.”
Miles waves this away like it’s no concern at all. “Trust me, it didn’t look like it. The way you two were talking at dinner, you seemed like you were close. Close enough that I think people would buy you having some sort of secret relationship.”
I lean back into my seat, suddenly uncomfortable withthe fact that Milesdidnotice my interest in Sarah. Is that why he’s asking me?
Either way, it doesn’t change anything. “Look, man. I like you, but this is?—”
“I’m all she’s got,” he repeats. “Our mother is dead, and our father was a complete deadbeat we’ve fortunately been able to avoid since we live down here and he’s still in Winnipeg. We don’t have any other family up there.” He pauses and takes a deep breath, his jaw tightening. “If she goes back to Canada, she won’t know a soul. What’s more, if she does go back, I’m not sure our father won’t try to make contact. And that’s the last thing she needs.”
The thought of anything happening to Sarah forms a knot low in my gut. Even though I just met her, I would still hate for her to be at risk. I’ve heard bits and pieces of Miles’s history, and a time or two, he’s said something that’s made me wonder about his dad.
But fraud is still fraud. Miles is asking me to putmyselfat a guaranteed risk—and her, too—just to avoid the potential of a different one. I’m just not sure the end justifies the means.
Miles leans forward in his chair, and his eyes turn pleading. “Just let me walk you through the plan, all right? Ten minutes of your time. And if you still believe it’s something you can’t do, you can walk. No questions asked.”
I have seen a lot of expressions on my captain’s face over the years. I’ve seen him determined, annoyed, angry. I’ve seen him relaxed and happy after a rewarding win and discouraged after a disappointing loss.
But I’ve never seen him like this.
I’ve never seen him look desperate.
Something tightens in the deepest corner of my heart, and I breathe out a sigh. “Fine. Ten minutes.”
It’s more like twenty minutes. But when Miles finishes outlining his admittedly thorough plan, I have to hand it to him.
He really did think of everything.
He has a social media plan for how we would soft launch the relationship, then a plan to appear in public together over the next couple of weeks. He has a place for us to live—or at least appear to be living—so it looks like our marriage is the real deal. He has a list of sample questions we’d have to answer in an immigration interview, with practical tips about how to prepare. Most importantly, he has a precise timeline regarding the steps Sarah would take to establish her own legal status. If everything goes as planned, it really shouldn’t take more than nine months.
“I realize the one piece we haven’t discussed is what’s in this for you,” Miles says, once he’s talked me through everything. “But I don’t want you to worry about that part. You won’t spend a dime of your own money. And you’ll be compensated for however much time all of this takes.”
I raise an eyebrow. Neither one of us is hurting for money, but I know as well as he does that my contract is double what his is. He took less so he could stay in Atlanta, play out his career with the same team. Anna is from Atlanta. A higher contract wouldn’t be worth uprooting his family, especially now that they have kids.
Not that it matters either way. Even if I felt like I could say yes, I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting Miles pay me to do it.
I sigh and lean back in my chair. The one thing Mileshasn’tsaid is that he noticed my interest and thought I mightbe a good match for Sarah, that maybe we would hit it off and find out we actually like each other.
He seems to think this will be all business, no real feelings involved. And that might be the biggest reason for me to say no. It feels like playing with fire to fake a relationship with someone I could see myself actually starting to like.
I suddenly wonder if this is why she seemed so interested in talking to me. Had she and Miles already hatched a plan, and she was just trying to soften me up?
“What does Sarah think?” I ask, suddenly desperate to know how she feels. If she had any clue this would happen when we met.
His jaw twitches. “She doesn’t know yet.”
