Page 7 of Clear Shot (Lauderdale Knights #9)

Hana

The conversation with Aiden left me both relieved and unsettled, and I can’t figure out why. A therapist somewhere might suggest that there’s some stress and emotional trauma indicated with this kind of marriage of convenience, especially when I already have strong feelings for my new husband.

But I don’t know what to do about any of it.

So he made room for my clothes in the closet and gave me a couple of drawers in his dresser.

Then he helped me unpack and we got ready to go to Johan and Sloane’s house.

Sloane and Claudia are going out of their way to host a sweet, thoughtful celebration with a carefully curated guest list, but I’m struggling with it.

I don’t know what we’re celebrating because the marriage is a fallacy.

I understand that we have to put on a show to make sure the team thinks our marriage is legit and so the gossip mill doesn’t go crazy, but it feels dishonest.

Everything about this feels dishonest.

Well, everything except my actual feelings for Aiden.

He’s everything I thought he was—and more.

The parts of him that gave me pause in the past seem to have merged with a side I’ve never seen before, so I’m more confused than ever. He’s being so nice, and patient. Understanding. Sweet.

All the things I adore in a man. Things I assumed I’d never find.

Now I’ve not only found them, I’m married to the man who possesses them.

Except it’s not real.

I have to remind myself of that because I find myself wanting to get lost in him.

“This is beautiful,” I say when we get to Johan and Sloane’s house and I see what they’ve done.

They’ve decorated the great room with balloons and flowers. There’s even a small table set up with gifts. I can’t imagine who found the time to buy us anything—or what they would have gotten us—but I appreciate the sentiment.

“You look overwhelmed,” my brother says to me as we wait for guests to arrive.

“That’s been a theme the last few days.”

“Why? This is what you wanted, no?”

“It Is. It would just be easier…” I switch to Slovak. “It would be easier if I’d married Jordan or Felix… Someone I don’t like as much as I like Aiden.”

“Ah.” He smiles, as if that explains everything.”

“ Ah? Ah what?”

He chuckles. “You’re in denial. You care about him and now you’re going to be forced to confront those feelings you’ve been trying so hard to hide. It may not be obvious to others, but I’m your brother—I know you. You’ve always had a thing for him.”

I sigh. “Yes, but he’s made it clear he wants nothing to do with love or marriage.”

“And yet, he married you without hesitation.”

“He’s doing me a favor so I can stay in the country while I look for another job. We decided we would give it a year.”

He nods. “Plenty of time.”

“For what?”

“To fall in love.”

“Stop it. That’s not what’s going to happen.”

“If you say so.” He shrugs. “I’ve always known you have feelings for him, and I saw the way he looked at you today. The gentle way he caressed your cheek before he kissed you. That’s not a guy who’s just doing his buddy’s sister a favor.”

I scowl. “I think marriage and a kid has made you a romantic fool. He didn’t look at me any particular way.”

“Okay.” He says the word but the smirk on his face tells me he doesn’t agree with me.

“Slava and Zoe and Decker and Eden just pulled up,” Sloane calls out. “Time to get this party started.”

I nod and look around for Aiden, anxious to get away from my brother’s intense stare. It’s like he knows something I don’t.

“You ready?” Aiden asks me, coming over and sliding an arm around my waist.

“As I’ll ever be.” I take a deep, steadying breath and paste on a smile.

I can do this.

I have to do this.

“Everyone coming is a friend,” he says softly, searching my face. “They’re going to be happy for us.”

“They’re going to be happy for us and celebrating a lie,” I whisper. “And I hate that because they are our friends.”

“So we tell them an exaggerated version of the truth,” he says. “We explain that while it was a little soon for us to get married, we knew it would be impossible for us to continue the relationship if you had to go back to Bratislava.”

“And we took a leap of faith?”

He nods. “Exactly. But people aren’t going to ask questions like that.”

I snort. “Obviously, you’re not a woman. My female friends will absolutely ask those kinds of questions.”

“Now you have the perfect answer.”

“You guys!” Zoe comes running in and gives me a big hug. “You’ve been holding out on us! How did we not know things were serious between you?”

“It’s complicated,” I say, trying to keep my voice light.

“Well, congratulations! I’m so happy for you guys!”

And for the next hour, that’s how it goes. Guys from the team and their significant others arrive with gifts and congratulations and hugs. For a while I’m even able to forget that the marriage isn’t real, that this is all about a visa.

Aiden barely leaves my side, an arm around my waist as we talk and laugh.

There’s champagne flowing—Johan seems to have bought out a liquor store because I’m never without a full glass—and music playing.

One of Johan’s teammates is married to Juliet Cicero, who’s part owner of Cicero’s Pizzeria, and she catered the event. Italian is one of my favorite foods so I appreciate my brother’s thoughtfulness.

I feel a twinge of guilt as we sit down to open gifts—I hadn’t expected that at all.

“I hope you like it,” Zoe says as I tear into the pretty silver paper. “I don’t know what your taste is but I do know Aiden’s walls are pretty barren and I thought this would be meaningful for you.”

It’s a framed picture of an illustrated map. It shows a line from Boston to Bratislava, and then another with an arrow pointing to Fort Lauderdale. At the top it says “Our Journey of Love” with today’s date.

Tears prick my eyes at her thoughtfulness.

“How did you get this done so quickly?” I whisper.

She grins. “There’s an art shop on Las Olas and I know the owner so she did it for me.”

“Thank you! This is beautiful.”

“It really is,” Aiden agrees, and I can see a flicker of emotion in his eyes as well.

This is why I hate duping our friends.

Luckily, the rest of the gifts are less poignant, including some lingerie and gift cards for spas and restaurants.

Why is everyone so nice?

“Let’s dance,” Aiden says when the music slows down.

“No one else is,” I protest.

“But this is our night and I don’t think we’ve ever danced together.”

I gaze up at him, trying to read the emotions lurking behind those golden-brown eyes, but my ability to read minds just isn’t up to par. Not with Aiden anyway.

So I nod and move into his arms.

“I’m a little taken aback by the gifts,” he admits as we sway to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect.”

“And how happy they are for us.”

“And all the invitations to do couple stuff,” he murmurs.

“This is going to be our life for the next year,” I say. “Are you sure this is what you signed up for?”

“Like I told you earlier—no one made me do this. I wanted to help.”

“You just want us to have an excuse to sleep together,” I tease, hoping levity will ease the plethora of emotions we both seem to be battling.

Instead of laughter, his eyes darken a little.

“One thing you should know about me,” he says in a deep, sexy baritone I’ve never heard from him before. “I never joke about sex. And assuming there’s consent, I’ll never need an excuse to make love to my wife.”

That does something crazy to the spot between my legs.

Jesus, he’s hot.

My husband might be one of the hottest men I’ve ever met.

“If you use that tone when we’re together, I may never let you out of bed,” I say, all trace of levity gone.

He dips his head and gently presses his lips to mine.

It’s oddly familiar, even though we’ve only kissed twice before.

“I love weddings,” I hear someone whisper loudly.

“And I love seeing people I care about falling in love,” someone else says.

I can’t be bothered to open my eyes because I’m too busy enjoying my husband’s mouth on mine.

I’m in incredibly dangerous territory but there’s no turning back and no stopping the freight train we’re on.

All I can do now is hold on tight—both to my husband and my heart.