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“So I ducked behind a tree and witnessed in awe as a man knelt on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. I can still see her expression, the way her eyes lit up. She wasn’t looking at the ring either. Her eyes were all on him. The light hit the ocean just right to cast the same illusion of magic over them. But at the time I thought it was real magic. That day, that moment, that’s when I knew. I knew love was magical or was supposed to be. And perfect and I wanted that for me. Then I went to law school, but that’s another story for another day.”
“Hence your list?” he said softly.
She nodded. “Truth be told, and don’t you ever repeat this to anyone, I wished I never created that thing. I don’t know why I keep it now.”
He sealed his lips and threw away the invisible key. “I promise to never tell a soul.”
She laughed and leaned in a little. “Good. You know I’ll do bad things to you if you do.”
“Now that’s just tempting me.”
He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “So you had your perfect wedding all planned out and then I came along. I admit I’m happy you have your list.”
Her brows rose in surprise. “Oh, really? Do tell why?”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear that slipped from the ponytail she had it tamed with.
“It saved you for me.” He hadn’t expected to let that particular truth slip, but he didn’t want to lie either.
And the reaction on her face hadn’t been what he expected either.
“Marshall, what are we doing? The lie…” Juniper stared out over the lake and the families that were packing up for the evening after a beach day.
So much for hoping she would believe him. The more he thought about it the more he had a gut sinking feeling the emotions she lured from him would never stand a chance.
He sighed. He didn’t like where this was going. He didn’t need to hear what she had to say next. His gut already knew. She hated lying as much as he did and tonight proved that.
“Juniper, I’m sorry. We can’t tell them. It’s too complicated. Dangerous, even.”
“I know, but the falsehoods around our supposed love, the hope I saw in my mother’s and gran’s eyes nearly killed me.” She turned to him and he could see the warring conflicts in the depths of her eyes.
“I know. I experienced the same thing with my mother. It’s hard and probably something we shouldn’t do, but it’s too late to change now.” Not that he would but he could tell it was something she needed to hear.
Fear had him pulling her into him. The day he slipped his ring on her finger, he never wanted to see it come back off. He’d do anything under the sun to make damn sure it stayed there.
That realization hit him in the face like a bucket of freezing water.
When had he fallen in love? Would she believe him if he told her? Probably not. Could he risk her pulling away from him? Definitely not.
His family and the company depended on him and he gambled every day, but not like this. To gamble meant there were odds to calculate. With Juniper, there were no odds. If she felt used or humiliated, she would walk.
She stepped back a bit. “Why me, Marshall? I’m just a girl from California with a penchant for pretty things and a knack for planning. You’re…well, you.”
He let out a harsh breath and leaned against the gazebo’s railing. “Why not you?” he countered.
“You know what I mean. Why are you even in this predicament to begin with? You have the pick of the town, heck the state and maybe even the country at your fingertips. I’m half a country away. How are we going to run our business while we play this charade?”
Worry marred her pretty features and he hated to see even the slightest bit of stress ink into her expression. “A few years back, five to be exact, Sam nearly died in a car accident while driving drunk. He didn’t hit anyone, thank God, but the what-if of that scenario still haunts me. Him too, I imagine.”
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked about this but once the words came, he let them if it would help her see and understand.
“That night I was out with a girl at the time and didn’t want to break away yet again. He had a habit of always calling me to bail him out of something. This time I thought I would teach him a lesson. Teach him to grow up and handle his own problems. I hadn’t known he’d been drinking.” Marshall paused. “He’d been invited to a party our father had not given permission for and wanted me to cover for him. At the time it seemed harmless so I did and that lie nearly killed him.”
“This was during your bad boy days, as you put it?”
He nodded. Just thinking about that night made a physical pain clamp around his chest.
“It was the night before my birthday. My brother had needed me, and I shrugged him off for a girl I knew wouldn’t last into something substantial. She liked the idea of a Blackwood to show off. I knew it and so did my entire family, but I didn’t care. Not then.”
