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“Good idea.”
I waited a beat, until her expression was serious again.
“After that we’ll head down Main Street and get some simple bands. This has to look real.”
Her face fell when I said that and I hurried to explain.
“I mean…you know, we have to make this real for Daniela.”
She nodded slowly. It looked like she was having a hard time processing the twist I’d thrown at her, but if anyone was up to a challenge it was her.
We swung by my place again to pick up a few more things and she smiled when Lucy squeaked and tried to climb the leg of my pants.
“Can we bring her?” she asked, scooping up the little ball of fluff, cuddling her close, and I loved that Madelyn loved my cat. I hadn’t been much of a cat person when I took Lucy in, but the devious little sneak had wormed her way into my affections with her funny personality. Bailey had taken to her too, during the time he’d been with me, and it was obvious the little shit ran the joint.
I threw some clothes and more toiletries into a bag–I’d forgotten soap, I noticed–then grabbed Lucy’s dishes and food container. It was possible this meant Madelyn wanted me to stay, at least until our farce proved effective, and I’d be lying if I tried to tell anyone I wasn’t looking forward to the days and nights we might spend together. The picture of domestic bliss was a pretty one in my head.
She helped me hang up clothes in the closet and since she didn’t have a lot of clothing herself, I was able to claim a set of dresser drawers. I’d only brought a duffel bag, and the meager five pairs of underwear I’d shoved into the top drawer didn’t look very convincing, so I announced I’d bring more that evening.
“You’ll have to actually sleep in here for a couple days,” she said and I thought her voice sounded nervous. That was weird, because she hadn’t been at all nervous the night before. “They’ll know if you’ve been staying in one of the other rooms.”
I didn’t ask how or why someone would know, mostly because I didn’t want to stay in one of the other rooms, and I nodded my head quickly in agreement. I was going to suffer through this. Being so close to Madelyn all the time was going to be a problem, especially in light of the stupid promise I’d made to her and myself. It made no sense that I’d promise not to touch her and then tell the nuns we were getting married, but I was in it now. There was no going back.
“I suppose we have no choice but to tell our families,” she said slowly, hauling her phone out of her back pocket, her fingers flying over the tiny keyboard. Then pausing. “Let’s do it together, all at once. Dinner tonight. I mean, at least Steve and Kenny and your parents. I’m going to have to call mine, since they moved to the other side of the continent.” She rolled her eyes.
“Maggie’s?” I asked hopefully, and she grinned.
“Duh. Beer and tacos for my new fiancé,” she teased. “The perfect ending to one of the craziest days of my life–and that’s saying something, Beckman.”
“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, sweetheart.” I grinned at her, something genuine that filled up my chest with sunshine. I hadn’t felt so hopeful, so excited about something that was probablyso wrong,in a very long time. Who cared how we’d gotten here, as long as this thing happened.
Unsurprisingly, Bailey was delighted to see Lucy again. He threw himself down on the floor in front of her and let her rub her little face all over his. Then she completed a circuit of his body, leaning up against him and purring, stopping to mark him by rubbing her face against him in intervals.
“Ok, so here’s the problem…” Madelyn chewed on her bottom lip for a second. “I have exactly zero doubts that someone’s going to contact our family members as a part of this process. Everyone–Steve and Kenny, your parents, my parents–everyone needs to think we’re so wildly in love that we just can’t wait another minute. This can’t look like we’re being underhanded.”
I nodded, but inside my head the words were frantically swirling in an effort to get out.That won’t be a problem for me. I won’t have to work at all to make this believable.
Madelyn blew out a shaky breath. “Kenny’s going to be the toughest sell. She’s not going to believe this for a second–it’s too rushed. I don’t know how we’re going to pull this off.”
“Breathe, VanBuren.” I stepped forward and smashed her into my chest because I couldn’t stand tonottouch her a second longer. “We’ve got this, cupcake.”
I felt her lips curve up against my shoulder when I said it and she chuckled. “As far as nicknames go, I don’t hate it–but don’t let anyone hear it.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I let her step back, though it was the last thing I wanted to do.
She made a face but she didn’t say anything, just shook her head likeWhat am I going to do with you?
Her phone dinged suddenly and she blew out a big breath. “Kennedy says yes to Maggie’s. She’s told Steve to take off work early to meet us there at four. Apparently I have a big announcement.” Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the screen. “How the hell would she know I have a big announcement?”
I chuckled, stepping forward to hug her again, because holding her was like taking a hit of heroin: it fucking lit me up every time.
“Better go get cleaned up, cupcake. Suppose we should look the part if we’re springing such a big announcement on our nearest and dearest.”
“You realize we’re doing a penance run at dawn, right?” she teased as she turned to walk out of the room. “Because tonight I’m totally celebrating our fake marriage and eating my weight in tacos.”
Then she disappeared, presumably to shower, and there were only two words that kept ringing in my ears.
Fake marriage.
