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But for me and Sophie? We had ninety days to fuck around and find out if this worked.
I covered it up with similar words she told me back then. “What can I say, Viv? When you know, you know.You know?”
“Vivian? Hi, Sophie here. Keaton and I realized we had something special and one thing led to another. Oh, I cannot wait for you to see our wedding tonight on TV. It was beautiful. I cried when he put this beautiful diamond on my finger. I couldn’t be happier, though. Your brother is really special to me.” Sophie gave it a female spin.
Reality tapped me on the shoulder—reminding me this was only the beginning of the performance—this would be the first of many times we’d have to convince the most important people in our lives how our marriage was real. With any hope, we could manage it… and wouldn’t turn around and disappoint any of them.
“Well, congratulations then. I wish we could have been there, but that means we’ll need to have a little celebration for you two here. I’ll get together with Chelsea and we’ll plan something.” The phone jostled again and suddenly Richard’s voice was back on.
“Great idea, hon. Give me a minute? I’ll join you and the kids in a few.” We heard the fading sound of his family moving further away. Then he came back on, voice changed back to gruff. “Hmph. I hope you two know what you’re doing. You’re both adults, but don’t forget our goal here. I invested in the brewery because I believed we had a shot at growing bigger. Don’t screw up the work with any relationship troubles.”
“Understood,” we said in unison.
“We’ve worked well together so far. I don’t see that changing,” I added for good measure.
We finished up with him, and we both leaned back in our seats with a collective sigh.
“Well, that went better than I expected,” I said.
“It felt weird though, didn’t it? People are going to be shocked. We weren’t even really dating before we left Holly Creek.”
“But a lot can happen over a weekend in Vegas.” I shrugged a shoulder. “There are plenty of people in this world who meet and marry right away. I think people will buy our story. Now, we covered telling my side. How about yours? Is there anyone you need to call?”
“No.” She turned her nose out the window.
“Parents or siblings?” Oddly, I realized how little I knew about her family. “No older brother going to corner me at the bar out of the blue one day and kick my ass for marrying you on the fly?”
She shifted in her seat. “My mother is overseas with her third husband right now. I wouldn’t want to disturb their travels, and honestly, I’ve been pretty independent from her since high school. Besides, the last time I saw them was the day I graduated from Columbia.”
My heart twisted hearing this. “That long ago? Sophie?—”
“As for siblings, I have five stepbrothers, but we haven’t spoken in years. Frankly, I doubt they’d even bat an eye. So, no. Other than Maisy and Chelsea, I really don’t have anyone to call. And I’d rather tell the girls tonight in person. We had planned a watch party for the show tonight.”
She was essentially all alone in this world without family around? This was something to explore with her at a later time. Right now, I needed to give her assurances and wipe that worried look from her face.
Once the plane took off and we were in the air, I took her hand and brought it to my lips. “You got me now, okay? I hope I’ll be the first person you call for anything you need.”
“For the next ninety days at least.” Her smile registered weak and flat. That bothered me.
“Soph, I don’t see us going through this thing and not at least becoming the best of friends or more.”
She shot me a glance and a more worry passing through her eyes before they softened again. “Maisy might be jealous hearing you call us best friends.”
“She can get in line behind me. I’m your husband, and I come first.” I leaned in and nuzzled her neck to the sound of her tiny whimper.
“Fake husband, you mean.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled back. “Look, there’s only four people who know this certificate isn’t legit. I don’t care about Melanie and the officiant, I care about us. And I think, if we’re going to survive this together, we should go about this as if it is very, very real. Not even bring up how fake this is anymore. Just act like it’s the real deal.”
“Is that your idea of method acting?” Her lips twitched.
“Absolutely. It’ll work, too, because it puts us into an authentic frame of mind. Less chance of slipping up that way.” More chance to see if what we have could be something more.
She chewed her cheek and eyed me, as if debating the consequences of it all. I broke out into a sweat waiting for her to agree, mentally coming up with more arguments for my side. Until finally, she nodded. “You’re right. We need this to be authentic, for everyone’s sake.”
“Perfect. Seal it with a kiss.” I leaned in close and waited for her lips to join mine. Slow, soft kisses became the promise between us… then ignited into more. With tongues dancing, I unbuckled her seatbelt and pulled her on top of me, straddling my lap. Her moans drove me crazy, and my cock suddenly needed in on the deal.
No way could this fire between us be manufactured, the connection unreal. Things hit differently with her than it had with any other woman before. With Sophie, this had to be something more, deeper, stronger, than I could even understand.