“I’m sure it wouldn’t change as much as you think.”
Wilby sighs. “It absolutely would. Have you ever Googled Montclair Holdings?”
Cal pauses. “I know who they are, Wilby.”
“The paparazzi would dig into your life,” I murmur, already hating what that would look like for him. “They’d look for dirt. And pressure you. They’d try to pay you off.”
Cal shrugs. “I’m not for sale.”
“I know. We’d be in the spotlight, though,” I say, voice slightly rising. “There would be constant press, gossip, and assumptions.”
The marriage would be the easy part. It’s everything that comes with the Montclair name that makes life so utterly difficult.
“I can handle that,” he says confidently.
“And when it ends,” I say quietly. “That’s when it’ll be the hardest. Awkward even.”
Wilby rolls his eyes. “This isn’t a romcom.”
“No one said it was,” I say dryly.
Wilby straightens. “Okay,” he says. “If we’re entertaining this further, I have some more questions.”
I glare at him. “We arenotentertaining this.”
But it’s a lie. I’ve already begun moving chess pieces in my head. Cal wears a determined glint in his eyes.
“Humor me,” Wilby says, already turning to Cal. “Do you have debt?”
“Nope.”
“A criminal record?”
“Nope.”
“A temper? Because I would kill you if you acted sideways to Silverlyn. And I can promise you her father would do a million times worse than anything you could ever imagine.”
I bite back a smile. I hope he’s making Tyler’s life a living hell.
Cal smiles faintly. “No temper.”
Wilby nods like that tracks. “Children?”
Cal hesitates. “Maybe someday. With the right person.”
My heart stutters.
Wilby laughs. “No. I mean, do you currently have any?”
Cal shakes his head.
Wilby exhales slowly and grins. “This makes sense.”
“It doesn’t,” I insist, though there’s not much fight in my tone.
Wilby sits up straighter. “It does on paper. Which, unfortunately, is where your future is being decided right now.”
I shake my head. “I feel like I’m trapping someone into this.”
