AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She peeled her tongue from the roof of her instantly dry mouth like ripping it from a frozen metal pole. “Me?”
“I know I’m asking a lot.”
Her vision narrowed, all a blur, but for a single button on his white dress shirt. She pulled her hand away and gripped the arm of the chair. “What about Carlie?”
“The way I see it, nothing would change between Carlie and me. The public won’t ever find out you and I got married.” His voice rang in her ears with a weird hollow sound. “In fact, it might be better for Carlie and me. We could date without any pressure. We might have a better chance of making the relationship work if we don’t have a fake marriage hanging over our heads.”
“You’ll date Carlie while you’re married to me?” Pure nausea swirled in her abdomen. “Won’t that be weird?”
“It’s not like you and I will have a real marriage. Matthew’s in the middle of a deposition, and he didn’t have time to talk about all the details. But I assume we can get a divorce as soon as we get back. Maybe we could even get the marriage annulled.” Big puppy-dog brown eyes regarded her with hope. “We wouldn’t be doing anything illegal. What do you think?”
She already knew what her answer was going to be. God had provided a legal and ethical way for her to help him adopt Gabriel so the boy could get lifesaving treatment. How could she say no? She ignored the pain radiating through her chest. He wouldn’t have asked her if there were any other way. With every word he confirmed his lack of affection toward her. She was a fool to love him, but her stupid heart wouldn’t listen to reason.
“Okay,” she whispered, as the room tipped on its side. “I’ll marry you.”
Chapter 6
“I’m officially Gabe’s guardian. In fact, he’s on the plane with me now.” Jarrett kept his voice low, though he doubted his phone call would wake Rylie or the frail boy who clung to her in his sleep. “And I’m married, at least for the time being.”
“Congratulations,” said Finn. “I’m glad Gabe’s going to get his treatment. And I’m really happy you and Carlie are finally together. You’ve been in love with her for a long time.”
“About that… I didn’t marry Carlie. I married Rylie.”
“Cripes, Jarrett! Let me put you on speaker phone so Laurie can hear. This is bound to be good.” His voice came back with an echoey sound. “Okay, tell us how you ended up married to Carlie’s twin sister.”
“He married the sister?” Laurie asked, in a shocked tone. “I thought he was in love with Carlie.”
Jarrett did his best to explain the crazy story.
“So you just married Rylie instead?” Finn’s cackle rang in Jarrett’s ear. “This sounds like an episode of that Dr. Kyle TV show. You do realize, being identical twins doesn’t exactly make them interchangeable, right?”
“It’s only temporary,” Jarrett defended, eyeing the sleeping pair with a smile. Despite her lack of ability to communicate in Spanish, Rylie and Gabriel appeared to have bonded. She’d been a real trouper to step in and take her sister’s place. He’d made the right decision, hiring her to work at Phantom Enterprises. That kind of selflessness and dedication made a valuable team member. “We’re going to get the marriage annulled next week, if we can. If not, we’ll file for divorce.”
“And Carlie was okay with all this?” Laurie’s voice rose over the sound of a crying baby, and she followed up with some comforting coos.
“I talked to her last night,” Jarrett said. “She was feeling too rotten to care about anything else. But it’s not like Rylie and I will be living together or even spending time together. The next thirty days or so, I’ll be with Gabe every spare second. He’ll have at least a week in the hospital. By the time he’s done with the induction part of the chemo, the marriage will be over, and Carlie and I can date like a normal couple, with no timetable.”
“What do you mean by ‘no timetable?’” Laurie asked.
“I’m saying we can date without any pressure and decide whether or not we want to stay together.”
“I think someone may have thrown a little wrench in your plans.” Finn’s voice was edged in humor, as usual. “There’s a rumor on social media that you and Carlie are getting married in December. It’s all over the gossip columns. You’re getting as much attention as Cole used to.”
“Crud!” Jarrett felt steam building in his head, but he had no one to blame but himself. “I forgot all about that. I told Carlie last week she could go ahead and announce the ceremony, but that was when I thought we would already be married for the adoption. It was my way of helping her out, since she was helping me. Her agent said the publicity would boost her popularity with her fans.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Laurie said. “That gives you six months to date each other like a normal couple. That’s more than enough time for you to work things out. At least you won’t be in some weird pretend-marriage the whole time.”
“You’re right. Six months is plenty of time,” Jarrett said. “Besides, right now, I have to concentrate on Gabe. Nothing else matters.”
“And just so you know,” Laurie added, “Finn’s coming to stay with you next week. You can’t sleep at the hospital every night, or you’ll be exhausted.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Jarrett said, even as a lump formed in his throat. “You have your own family to take care of.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Finn said. “We’re all family. Besides… it’ll be a great chance to practice my Spanish.”
“You guys are the best.” Jarrett swallowed hard. “You’ll never know how much it means to me. All I can think about is taking care of Gabe. I wish I could avoid all this publicity.”
“Look on the bright side.” Finn chuckled. “Thanks to your name plastered all over the media, our stock prices went up yesterday.”
