Page 12 of Accidentally Hitched (Unintentionally Yours #1)

Callum

I have lost my fucking mind.

One night out with Noah in Vegas and I have officially gone batshit.

I march down the hall with my head high, so nobody knows the wiser.

Meanwhile I tug at my suit, adjusting it to make up for the fact that I feel disheveled as hell from that entire conversation.

Not only that, but my slacks are so tight I’m surprised my cock hasn’t burst through the seams, destroying what is probably a fifty-dollar zipper.

Fuck me.

Just, fuck me.

As I make my way to my office, I can’t stop replaying the conversation in my head.

Obviously, it sounds insane. But is it? I mean, what are the odds that our little charade in Vegas would turn out to be legal?

And right before my lunatic father drops the bomb that whoever inherits Hardin has to be married?

Talk about prehistoric stipulations. In my head, a woman would only get in the way.

But I suppose the whole heir thing does make sense.

Either way, I find myself hoping she will say yes.

I love when she says yes.

I love when she says my name.

The way she moans my name…

I shake my head and close the door behind me before taking in a sharp breath and wiping my hand down my face. What have I gotten myself into? Better question: what did Noah get me into? I should never have gone out with him that night. Never even entertained the idea of it.

And yet…

I’m not lying when I say I don’t regret it.

I don’t regret her. How could I? Not only was her presence a distraction from the constant face I have to put on in my everyday life, it was a relief from it.

The mask came off, at least partially. I have dinners with women all the time.

Beautiful, classy, wealthy women. But something about Amanda, the way I could tell she doesn’t usually wear dresses like that, yet she owned it in every sense of the word.

The way she nervously chewed on her lip one minute and seductively ran her tongue across it the next.

The way she really laughed, and really enjoyed her food, and really knew how to have a conversation not just about life but about music.

Goddamn.

I’ve never met anyone like her.

I clear my throat and straighten up. I can’t let my head go there.

Even if we are married, even if she says yes and we play this thing out, we are not together.

Not in the sense of what the word means.

I hardly know her. That, and women leave.

Women leave their sons, women leave their husbands and women don’t look back.

This industry steals souls. I’m not about to let it take my heart.

“Yo!” Noah comes barging through the door and I jerk my head in his direction hard enough to give myself whiplash.

“Don’t you know how to knock?!”

He closes the door and ignores me, a grin on his always amused face as he makes his way over to my desk.

“Can you believe this? Any of it?”

I don’t say anything. The guy plops down in the chair in front of me.

“She’s the girl from Vegas. I knew it the second I saw her! But don’t worry, I didn’t say anything. I wanted you two to make that connection.”

“How generous of you. What do you want?”

“I want to know what really went down that night! Clearly you two didn’t just fuck. There’s too much irony involved.”

I debate keeping it from him. But I decide against it. One, he’s a sneaky bastard and he’s bound to figure it out somehow and it would be better if it wasn’t some Joey Tribiani ah-ha moment. I don’t have the energy to drag him out of a room, eyes wide with a gag in his mouth.

“Did you know?” he asks.

“No. I had no idea she was the new hire.”

“Damn. You really don’t look at the profiles, do you?”

“The profiles? No. I look at the credentials and their music sense. That’s all that matters anyways.”

Noah chuckles, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. “This is wild.”

“That’s not all though.”

He looks up. “Oh? There’s more?”

As usual, I want to pop him in the teeth. But I don’t. I tell him about the marriage. About how we thought it was fake and it’s not. His mouth pops open. Then, I tell him about the morning meeting and with that, his jaw hits the floor.

“How…is any of this possible? Damn, bro. I mean, on one hand, you are one unlucky son of a bitch. And on the other? You are a very lucky son of a bitch. So now what?”

“I offered her a deal,” I explain.

“Jesus, Callum. You…and don’t take this the wrong way…are insane. Do you know what the odds are of this actually working?”

“Trust me, I’ve done nothing but run odds through my head for the last twenty-four hours.”

“So, you know this is crazy right? Like certified.”

“What’s the alternative?” I bark out, shoving out of my chair and looking out the window for a moment. “Avery is ready to pop the question to that Chloe chick.”

“You mean Zoe? The wannabe model? Fuck. You’d think Ave would know a gold digger when he sees them. But I guess not everyone can sniff them out like bloodhounds.”

“If I get my marriage annulled and Avery pops the question, he takes over Hardin Records. And that man cannot run this empire.”

“Well, he could. But he’d run it into the ground.” Noah kicks back, lacing his fingers behind his head. I’m glad one of us can relax in the midst of the hurricane.

“Exactly. And I can’t let that happen. He’s reckless, greedy, and acts like this is all a game. He doesn’t care about our dignity, only his name. And he sure as fuck doesn’t care about–”

“The music.” Noah finishes my sentence for me, and I let a breath out.

“Yeah.”

“But you know who does care?” he leans back in, and I look down at my best friend.

I know whatever is about to come out of his mouth is the reason he is my best friend.

He gets it. “Amanda. Auction and irony and Vegas induced sloppy choices, I’ve seen her profile.

That girl knows what the fuck she’s doing.

If you want to run this place in a new direction, you made the right move hiring her. ”

He’s right. I knew as soon as I saw the way she eyed that Martin and sound board that she was the one for the job. Not to mention the way we talked about music at High Ball. Fuck, I just about wanted to offer her a job there. But I was too busy wanting to get her in bed.

Is it possible I can have my cake and eat it too?

“You think she’ll say yes?” Noah asks.

I sit back down and let out a heavy sigh. “That’s where my money’s at. Literally.”

He nods. “Well. I think you’re a lunatic. But whatever happens, I’m behind you.”

“Thanks,” I nod, and I mean it. Impulsive and cocky or not, Noah’s always got my back.

“There is one little thing though,” he says and my shoulders slump.

I should have known there would be “a little thing”.

Because while I focus on the bigger picture and make sacrifices where they’re needed, Noah digs through the fine print, looking for even the tiniest hairline fractures he can find.

It’s one of the many things he does that drives me crazy.

It’s also the reason we do well together.

In the end, we meet each other in the middle and get shit done.

“Spit it out,” I snap.

“Is it going to be convincing?”

“Is what going to be convincing?”

“You and Amanda.”

I snort but don’t smile. “You’re kidding right?”

“Not in the least. Do you have a plan?”

“Sure, I have a plan. I’m going to tell my father that I met someone and it’s serious.”

“And you actually think he is going to just hand you the keys to the city of gold the day after you walk in his office with a girl on your arm? No offence, Callum but I think he’s going to call your bluff. Avery’s too. The man is probably expecting the two of you to pull some shotgun shit.”

I hate to say it, but he might be right. I also hate to admit what I am about to admit. But the doors are closed and it’s Noah.

“We had…chemistry,” I spit the word out like it’s sour in my mouth, “On the date. And…after.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that. She’s a looker for sure.”

My eyes snap up to him and my jaw locks. Noah is stupid enough to go on.

“And that dress? Superb. Even today in that pleather skirt, the girl’s got an ass that won’t quit.”

“Watch it!” I growl but Noah just smiles.

“There it is. Keep that. But also, you can’t just be possessive of her. You need to be in love.”

“In love?”

“Listen,” he goes on. “You are one of the most hardheaded, business oriented, in it to win it man I know. The other man at that rank? At least as far as leverage goes? Hiram. You want to convince him that you should be CEO of the company and not your wack job brother? You need to convince him you are in love with Amanda.”

Noah’s phone beeps and he heads out of my office.

He’s given me a lot to think about…which has given me a headache.

It’s suddenly hitting me that this is going to be a lot more complicated than I’d anticipated.

But he’s not wrong. If both Avery and I are suddenly sprinting towards the finish line, random women in tow, he’s going to call our bluff.

My relationship has to look natural. Uncalculated.

Real. And while I have been a negotiator in the world of business and music and money making for years, relationships are the one area I have yet to conquer.

But I am not a losing man.

I can convince Noah and Avery and Hiram Hardin and the rest of the ever-creeping world that Amanda and I are in love.

But first, she has to say yes.