Page 21 of Down & Dirty (Holden Cove #1)

CHAPTER 21

CORY

Billy: Dude, do we need to talk?

Cory: About what?

Billy: These pics.

Cory: Use more words man. What are you talking about?

Billy: Have you checked your phone this morning?

S ure, I’d checked it. Sky had just texted me the best single word text in the history of mankind. Or womankind. But I’d skipped over the rest of my notifications in favor of a shower and a coffee. Unlocking my phone, my heart started to race as my breath stalled out entirely.

What the fuck?

Those were photos of Sky and me. In my truck. How the hell had they seen us?

Without knowing it, I’d started pacing my living room, my mind racing. The first thing that came to mind sent my stomach into a violent knot. I pulled up Sky’s text thread.

Cory: I didn’t do this.

Sky: Ummm, you definitely did.

Cory: Sky, I promise you. I would never have set that up and not told you about it.

Sky: Oh, that.

Cory: You saw them?

Had she already seen the photos before she’d answered me? I wasn’t sure what that meant, but my immediate, overwhelming reaction was relief. Trust was not easily earned from Skylar, and putting her in the position to be covertly photographed would have burned up any currency I had. Plus, it would have been a dick move. I was trying to be better than that.

Sky: Yes. Tommy let me know he didn’t like my dress.

That was a fucking lie. No man could have disliked that thing. Black and sparkly and tight all over. Whatever he’d said to her about the pictures, it wasn’t about the dress.

Cory: I’m sorry. I didn’t know they were there.

Sky: I know. It’s ok.

Cory: Yeah?

Sky: It’s what we were going to do anyway.

She was right. But there’s a big difference between a staged kiss w e’d agreed to and orchestrated and what I was seeing on this blog post.

God, she was beautiful.

Flushed cheeks and crimson lips. Blue eyes that could start a war. And that smile. She was embarrassed by her blushing, but not even that could hide the glimmer in her eye.

As much as I wanted to fuck up whoever it was that had intruded on this moment, I had to admit that the photos were likely better than anything we could have put together. This was no show. This was just us. And it looked real.

It looked so real, in fact, that I couldn’t pull my eyes away. Billy, Sky, even my father, all had texts coming in, making my phone dance in my hand. But I didn’t want to stop staring. We looked happy. And there weren’t many photographs in my life that had the power to bring back that sensation so completely as these did now.

Billy: Ellis? You breathing?

Cory: Barely.

Billy: Cause Sky is choking you out for making her tabloid fodder?

Cory: Something like that.

Billy: For real. That’s some messed up shit. She okay?

Cory: I don’t think she’s happy. But we’d talked about the chances of this happening.

Lying to my friend never felt right. But at this point I was too far into this to change course now. And last night I’d gone and made things even more complicated. I didn’t regret it—asking Sky to marry me. Not for a second. I just thought my days of acting on impulse and the high of the free-fall were behind me.

Instead, I’d found a new cliff to drop from.

Sky: Are you okay?

Cory: Honestly, I’m pretty pissed.

Sky: Really? I would have thought you’d be pleased. Mission accomplished.

It was a quick stab between the ribs, but the twinge of pain was impossible to miss. I didn’t like the reference to this still being about my reputation. Even if that’s exactly what it was. There was more to this now, more to her. Holding her in the hospital last night, putting Micah to bed. I might not understand what the hell was happening, but I was past the point of denying that something was. But was it for her too?

Cory: We didn’t deserve to have that moment stolen. I wanted to do this on our terms.

The bubbles popped up and went away several times and I waited, swallowing down the apprehension that grew with every second.

Sky: It was a good moment. Next time we’ll be more careful.

Relief ripped through me; next time . She was already thinking ahead. I sighed, scraping my hand down my face.

Cory: Next time we will. No one gets us, unless we say so.

Sky: We say who. We say when. We say how much! (And if you don’t get that movie reference, the wedding is off)

I let out a laugh. This woman thought she could out movie-quote me? She had so much to learn.

Cory: That’s like a $200 Jeopardy question at best.

Sky: say it

Cory: you’re not going to make me, are you?

Sky: SAY IT

Cory: Pretty Woman.

Sky: You Googled it

Cory: Whatever you say. Next dinner and a movie we’re watching it and you can’t tell me to stop when I recite it line by line

Sky: Gross

I blamed it on all the nights spent on the road. One shitty hotel after another in the early days and nothing to do to kill the time between races but watch movies. The selection was rarely very expansive and I’d learned to appreciate the art of rewatching the classics. I considered it an education in film theory. I was probably ready to be the next great film critic and just didn’t know it.

Dad: You see Harvey Stinson at that premiere?

It figured that my father would see me in the press and ask about one of my old cronies first chance he got. No mention of the stunner on my arm. Typical. Harvey had been an alpine sports nut from the next town over in Maine. He’d taught half the hot shots making waves these days which way was up. But it had been years since he’d attended an event like the premier last night.

Cory: Nah. He’s still hiding in his cabin in Tahoe.

Dad: Can’t blame him. Doesn’t sound too shabby.

Cory: Not at all. How’s the homestead?

Dad: Your brother is making me put in a new furnace.

Cory: Because Mack understands math dad. It’s thirty years old.

Dad: Still works.

I shook my head with a laugh. My father would have fought Mack on replacing that, even if it had died in the middle of February and the temps were barely hitting the single digits. He’d say that was what the wood stove was for, ignoring the fact that he was nearly seventy years old and didn’t need to be hauling wood.

Dad: You coming home for football and bird?

That’s what he’d always called it. Football and bird. The rest of the fanfare clearly irrelevant in the face of his two favorite elements.

Cory: Yeah. Fly in Tuesday night.

Dad: Portland or Logan?

Cory: Logan.

Dad: Want me to come get you?

Cory: Nah, it’s late I’ll get a car.

Dad: Right.

Three thousand miles away and I could hear that one word as if he was standing next to me. I could see his face too. He knew me well enough to know I’d turn down his offer. And I knew him well e nough to know he’d be irritated when I did. It was both a comfort and a shame how things never seemed to change.

Cory: See you in a week.

Dad: We’ll be here.

I hadn’t asked if Beau would be around. The times when he wasn’t were harder on my father than he’d admit. Beau’s deployments were one of the things I got to avoid thinking about out here on the road. Mack and Dad saw him off every time, while I barely kept track of when he was gone. It wasn’t something I was proud of. But it felt too late now to change.

Billy: So, does this mean she didn’t dump your ass?

Cory: Not yet

Billy: clock’s ticking

Cory: Shut up asshole. We’re good

Billy: Looked like it

Cory: Don’t

Billy: Too soon?

Cory: Too soon

Billy: Pansy

Cory: See you later

Before I headed for the garage, I had a stop to make. Considering that all of this was fake—and was going to cost me a pretty penny—I probably shouldn’t have felt so elated when my lawyer’s assistant handed me the fat envelope with the new contracts inside .

Prenups.

I’d left him a voicemail on my way home last night, just in case Sky changed her mind. The man had no problem putting in the time to bang out the agreements on short notice; he’d just charged me double. The price didn’t matter to me, though. It wasn’t often I got to experience new things, and this was one I never saw coming.

I was getting married .

Another deranged chuckle burst out of me as I pulled up to a stop light, and the woman in the car next to me smiled when she saw it. She had no way of knowing that was the spontaneous eruption of someone who might have just lost their damn mind.

It wasn’t the marriage part, that was just more paperwork in my life. I was used to that. And it wasn’t the language I’d made sure to include that covered Sky financially if she needed to break the agreement early for any reason.

It was that I was doing this with Skylar Stone. A woman who had literally hated me a couple of months ago, and now would be my wife.

Wife .

Even if it was fake as hell, that term had a weight to it that stole my humor. It wasn’t as if Sky was going to act like it—not that I even knew what it was—but taking this step fed some part of me that wanted to take care of her. Protect her. And Micah, too, I guessed. I’d never considered myself the selfish jerk she seemed to take me for, but I’d never stopped to consider what anyone thought of me at all. So maybe that proved her point.

She was the opposite. She put Micah first, and then Ronnie and his career. She clearly loved and admired her parents, and she’d lie on railroad tracks for Elle. But with all that, I’d come to wonder who the hell did that for her? Maybe it was about time someone filled that role for a while.

When I got to the office, Sky was leaning on her car. Her hair was wavy and blowing in her face, but she spotted me as soon as I pulled in. The sight of her biting her bottom lip, like she was trying to hide a bashful smile, hit me like a bolt of lightning. Fake or not, that woman was going to be mine for a year. How the hell had I gotten so lucky?

As soon as I pulled into a spot, she was walking my way, and I slid from my seat to meet her. “Eager this morning, huh?”

“No. I just wanted to catch you before that big head of yours did something we couldn’t change.”

I dropped the smile. “What’s up?” Was she changing her mind?

Sky sighed, her gaze drifting up over my head. “I said yes, and I meant it.”

Her pause was torture, like heat churning in my gut as I waited for her to finish.

She looked back at me, caution in her eyes. “But can we keep it a secret? At least for now?”

A crack formed down the middle of the picture I’d been building. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly, taking a step closer with wide eyes that clearly saw my concern. “I just need to give my folks time to adjust to all this.”

Ah. The scoop from last night had spread far and fast. I could see it on her face, the remnants of what I could imagine was an unpleasant conversation.

“How bad did they take it?”

“Not bad,” she said, shaking her head with a lopsided smile. “It was just a step up from the other photos and they don’t know you, that’s all.”

“Sure. Makes sense.” I nodded stiffly, trying to hide the disappointment that needled me. No parent would want their daughter with a guy like me. Too old, too broken, and too shallow. If they were anything like Sky, there’s no way they’d have thought of me as anything else.

“Just a little while.”

I tapped my leg with the envelope in my hand. “Not a problem.”

Sky’s eyes landed on it. “What’s that? ”

“The contracts,” I replied, feeling foolish now for having rushed to get them.

She looked behind her, making sure no one was within ear shot, before she whispered, “Marriage contracts?”

I laughed under my breath at her wariness. “Prenups.”

“Oh, right. Of course.”

I shook my head at the resignation on her face. “I think you should wait to read it before you go thinking you know what it says. But if you need more time to decide on this, that’s fine.”

Sky sucked in a shaky breath, licking her lips. “Are you still sure?”

My spine stiffened. “Hell, yes.”

“Even if we can’t talk about it at first? If the press doesn’t know?”

I couldn’t tell if she was testing me or not. But if she was, I had no problem proving to her that this wasn’t all about me. The benefits of us getting hitched ran both ways. If her portion was delivered first in the form of more financial ease, then so be it.

“We said a year, right? Do you think you’re going to want to wait that long?”

“No,” she said, her brow scrunching so fast it was almost comical.

I liked that. That the idea of waiting that long was distasteful to her. And that settled the rattle in my chest.

“Then we’re good.” I held up the envelope. “You should read this and then get them back to me when you’re ready.”

Her eyebrow quirked up, as if I’d challenged her somehow.

“I’m ready now.”

“Still, read them.”

“Is there anything in there that could hurt me?”

My head jerked back. “No, of course not.”

“Then hand them over.” Her mouth was in a hard line, defiance written all over her face.

“I think you should think about this.”

“Cory, hand me the contracts. I’m a big girl. I know what I’m doing. ” She paused, huffing out a puff of air, and shaking her head as her lips curled into a warm smile. “And I trust you.”

It was a shot to the heart. Straight on. I almost stepped backwards, like I’d been knocked off balance by four little words.

Without further argument, I held up the envelope and she flipped through the pages, leaning on my truck, signing and initialing in all the right places. Then she did it again on the second copy. Behind the prenups were the forms for the marriage license and a copy of my birth certificate. Her eyes lingered on that page for a long minute.

“I’ll need one of those from you too,” I said, my voice rough with the emotion she’d kicked up.

“Not a problem. I have it back at the hotel.”

She finished going through everything and stacked the pages back into a neat pile, tapping them against the hood. Then she slid them back into the folder and waved it in front of me.

“Start your engines.”

Her eyes were sparkling, a hint of mischief in them I was endlessly drawn to. I wanted to touch her, kiss her. But I held back, appreciating her like you watch fireworks on a black night; slightly awestruck and grateful.

Seeing her so lit up must have triggered something in me, because the next thing I knew words came tumbling out of my mouth. “Do you want to come to Maine with me for Thanksgiving?” I sucked in a breath, startled at the hit of longing I felt as soon as the words left me. “Micah, too. It would be fun. And it would help sell the whole thing for my family.”

That part was probably only half-true. My father and brothers wouldn’t have cared one way or another if this thing with Sky and I was real, but for some reason I wanted them to.

“Micah’s going with Tommy and Geena,” she said, her eyes wide with shock.

She wasn’t expecting my offer either. I was about to take it back, make some excuse about her needing to see her family, but she cut me off .

“I think I’d like that.”

“Really?”

She laughed at the way my voice pitched up. “Yeah. If you meant it.”

“I did. One hundred percent.” One million percent.

“Then okay. Take me home. Show me your stash of medical-grade duct tape.”

My face started to hurt from the smile that stretched across it. And I laughed with her as we headed for the building, snagging her hand in mine just so I could touch her and tug her close.

I hadn’t brought a girl home since I was a teenager. And, as everyone loved to point out, that was a hell of a long time ago.