CALLA
Beck knows something is off with me.
He’s a smart man. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since my brother dropped by, and Beck knows enough to figure out that my brother said something to upset me. I may have been able to distract him with sex last night, but I can’t do it every time I see his gorgeous face and think about how the moment the words are out of my mouth, that smile I’ve grown to love will vanish. I’m going to hurt him, and I don’t want to do it.
But I have to. The sooner the better.
Which is why I need to tell him before he brings it up to Simon and causes a fight that doesn’t need to happen.
He’ll be home in an hour, and I’m going to tell him.
So basically, in an hour, I’ll know where we stand.
I head into Beck’s office to pass the time organizing it. I bump his desk, and his computer screen lights up. In any office I’ve ever been in, it’s common practice to lock a computer before you walk away from it, but seeing as how this is Beck’s home office, it must not be something he does. Definitely not considering the document on the screen before me.
Marrying My Enemyby Beck Robertson.
Normally, I’d just look away, but the cover of an obviously new book is staring back at me. In small letters above his name it reads,an enemies-to-lovers roommates romance.
“Huh.”
I sit, still looking at the screen.
That’s not… that’s not us. He wouldn’t… he wouldn’t do that.
I pull my eyes away and stand before my mind can get carried away, but then I see it. On the corner of his desk, a printout of the exact same story. It’s not in a book form, just a giant stack of your typical letter-sized paper.
Curiosity gets the best of me. I move everything on the desk out of the way so that the book is the only thing in front of me.
Just one page. I’ll know by one page if this is based on us. Then I’ll put it back and move on with my day, feeling guilty as hell that I’m even thinking about doing this. I’ll even tell Beck and we will laugh together over it.
Just one page. Maybe even just the blurb. Yes, the blurb. Perfect.
I married the woman who hates me most in this world.
I know, I know, you’re wondering how that happened. Trust me, I’m just as shocked as you are, but the moral of the story is this: it happened, and there is no coming back from it. There is no annulment or divorce—the only option we have is to make it work.
As soon as she moved in, I knew it was a bad idea. I knew that nothing good would come from this, but marriage is important to me, and I am not a person who gives up. I’ll do whatever I have to do, even if that means making her fall in love with me.
I jump out of his chair like the desk had caught fire and my body was just a casualty of the blast.
He wrote about us. About me. Our… our story. He… he used me. To write a book.
My hand covers my chest, but I move it just as quickly. It feels as if there is pressure pushing against my lungs, making it hard to breathe.
“Calla, you down here?” Beck calls out, and from the sounds of it, he’s jogging down the steps. “I was thinking that now that your brother knows we’re dating, we should just tell him we’re married and get it all out in the—whoa, whoa.” He steadies me as I stumble from his office. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
All the emotions I’ve experienced since we got married hit me at once. Falling for Beck. Being happy that my brother isn’t mad about it. Thinking we can have this life together. That I finally found the one. Worrying that my not having children could be it for us, when that’s the last thing I want, then finding this book, this... this…
He pulls me to him and holds me tight, kissing the side of my head. “Whatever it is, we can work it out. Tell me what’s wrong so I help fix it.”
“I can’t have kids,” I blurt out. “You want kids, and I can’t have kids.”
His brows dip but smooth out quickly as he laces his hand with mine.
I start to cry harder when he hugs me once more.
“Hey, baby, it’s okay.” He kisses my forehead. “I’m not going anywhere. As long as—”
