Page 9 of Pretend Wife (Angels of the Secret Order #4)

SEVEN

Hayden

Danielle was staring at me, her whisky eyes drinking in every inch of my body.

Everything about her was painfully innocent, from her unbound hair to the ugly knit sweater that covered her palms to the modest floor-length skirt that looked more like it belonged in some small-town church or a library than a club.

Even the little white shirt that showed the outline of her bra somehow added to her generally wholesome look.

She was so far from my usual type they might as well be different species, but my dick didn’t seem to get the memo as it twitched inside my slacks.

It didn’t matter what she wore—Danielle outshone every other woman in the world.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I said when a solid minute had passed without her leaving the alcove that usually served as either an area for groups to sit together or a make-out room for couples. “Are you lost? ”

“No.”

My brows lifted in surprise. “So you meant to barge in when the curtain was closed? What were you hoping to find?”

“I was looking for Kylie,” she said, ignoring my implication that she’d been exploring voyeurism.

“Is she your make-out partner?” I asked.

I’d meant the question to fluster her, but Danielle didn’t look at all fazed as she tilted her head to the side, challenge sparking in her eyes.

“So what if she is?”

“Aren’t you dating my brother?” The words tasted bitter on my tongue. Miles claimed they weren’t dating, but they got together all the time. They’d practically been attached at the damn hip since I’d gotten out of the hospital.

She closed the space between us, and I watched her every movement—the way her skirt swished around her ankles, the slide of her sweater as it slipped off one shoulder to expose a strip of her tawny skin below the cap sleeve of her shirt.

“Miles and I are friends,” she said, glaring down at me.

“So you haven’t kissed him?” I demanded, standing so we were nearly chest to chest. I only had a few inches on her, and Danielle barely had to tilt her head to meet my eyes.

She was tall and willowy enough to be a runway model, though I doubted her face could make that severe expression fashion models all seemed to have.

Her eyes narrowed. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no.”

I didn’t know what to make of the relief that flooded my chest. I didn’t care who she kissed. It was none of my business, just like she said. But the thought of her kissing Miles pissed me off. I didn’t want him knowing what her lips tasted like .

Heavy tension lingered in the air between us in the wake of her admission.

All my senses were filled with her. I could feel the heat radiating off her body, smell the scent of wildflowers off her skin with every breath I took.

We were both breathing a little too hard, and it sounded loud in the secluded alcove.

The logical part of my brain knew I should put some distance between us, that being alone with her was a bad idea, but I couldn’t make my body respond.

Danielle had short-circuited the part of my brain that controlled my body. It was the only explanation.

Her teeth sank into her full lower lip, and all my focus zeroed in on the action. Her lips were perfect. They were plump and inviting and not covered with the crap most of the women I knew smeared all over them.

“Sunday School?”

“Yes?”

“You need to leave right now.” Before I could do something incredibly stupid.

She blinked up at me. “What?”

“Run. Get far away from me, or I’ll make you regret not listening.”

Her posture straightened. “You might be some big shot in your world, but you don’t get to order me around.”

I couldn’t help the way the corner of my lips hitched up… or the way my dick thickened at the boldness in her eyes.

“Fuck it,” I said right before my lips crashed down on hers.

My hands tangled in her long waves, holding her in place while my mouth moved against hers with a desperation I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt.

Adrenaline pounded through my veins as tingles erupted all over my body and my blood traveled south in a rush that left me lightheaded.

I swept my tongue along her soft lips, seeking access to deepen the kiss.

Because apparently I hadn’t crossed enough lines already.

There was a good chance I was going to Hell for the thoughts running through my head.

Danielle opened for me, her tongue meeting mine in soft, tentative strokes, and I groaned. She tasted so sweet, like pure sugar.

Her hands were braced on my chest, their heat burning through the fabric of my shirt, and it took every bit of my self-control to keep from yanking her against me and letting her feel exactly what she was doing to me.

I did have some sense of self-preservation left.

Danielle Towler was the forbidden fruit, and I didn’t really want her brothers to speed up my arrival at the fiery gates.

When I pulled back, her cheeks were flushed and her chest rose and fell rapidly with heaving breaths. She looked so fucking beautiful even with her librarian fashion sense.

And I was an asshole for kissing her.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered as reality and guilt came crashing down on me.

I was far from a saint, but I had a line, and kissing Danielle crossed it.

I didn’t believe in leading girls on to get what I wanted.

I was up-front, honest. They all knew exactly what they were getting from me and what they weren’t.

Danielle wasn’t hookup material—she was too sweet, too good . And I didn’t know how to offer someone more than that. Not again.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, and then I was pushing past her, desperate to get out of that alcove.

I didn’t stop until I was outside, breathing fresh air… or as fresh as the air got in Downtown Boston .

I generally prided myself on my control—over my actions, my feelings, my environment. But I’d just blown all that to hell in a matter of seconds. Nothing about that kiss had been controlled. It had been pure, base desire.

The buzzing of my phone pulled me out of the memory.

One I was better off forgetting entirely.

That kiss had been my damnation. Or maybe it had just been one tiny step of many on my path to Hell.

I’d never meant for it to happen. Danielle and I were never even officially together. It just sort of… happened.

One kiss led to two and three, and before I knew it, it was normal.

I couldn’t see her without tasting her lips or putting my hands on her.

She was the one I called when I wanted to talk to someone.

She was the only person I wanted on my arm at events and luncheons and whatever other social crap Sierra couldn’t get me out of.

I found myself worrying about her living alone in an apartment that had no security.

It got to the point where the idea of losing her was starting to scare me.

But keeping her had always been out of the question. I wasn’t ever going to get married. I couldn’t offer her a future. And she deserved a future.

I stared down at my phone, and my heart nearly stopped when I saw the name on my screen.

Danielle

I’ll do it.

She’d unblocked me. Not only that, she was agreeing to my crazy marriage plan. I grabbed my coat and left my penthouse without even thinking about it.

Me

I’m on my way.

Danielle

What time will you be here?

20 minutes.

What if I’m not at home?

I assume you would have told me that when I first told you I was coming.

Has anyone ever told you that you kind of suck at asking questions?

You didn’t ask if I was single before asking me to fake marry you.

You didn’t ask where I was before inviting yourself over.

If it’s that important to you, we can add it to our rules for this arrangement.

Add what rule exactly? “Hayden is required to ask Danielle where she is and who she’s with before making demands?”

I didn’t demand you marry me.

That’s not really an answer to the question.

We’ll talk about it when I get there.

She’d agreed. I wasn’t really surprised. Danielle was that type of person, the one who made sacrifices for others just because it was the nice thing to do. She wouldn’t let my brother get hurt any more than I would.

And I was going to keep aggressively ignoring the sting I’d felt at knowing she wouldn’t do it for me. It wasn’t until I brought Miles into things that she said she’d consider it.

I leaned my head against the headrest in the back seat of my Audi and closed my eyes. There was a sick feeling expanding in my gut as I tried to imagine what a marriage to Danielle would look like.

For the year we’d been… whatever the hell we’d been, I’d always hidden her away from my family as much as possible.

Maggie didn’t know she existed. My parents had never formally met her.

The media never really found anything interesting to say about her, and they forgot she existed the second I showed up to a gala with a more high-profile woman.

This time it would be different. We were marrying for show. The whole point of the arrangement was that my father had to see it. And if he did, the rest of the world would too.

I hated the idea of Danielle being in the spotlight, her face plastered on magazines and gossip pages. But I didn’t have a fucking choice. This was for Mom and Miles.

Caleb, my favorite driver, pulled to a stop outside Danielle’s apartment, where I’d sat just yesterday.

I’d always hated the idea of her staying here, especially by herself, but Danielle refused any of my attempts to find her a safer place to live.

I glared at the front door of the building that looked like it belonged on a house in the suburbs with its large oval window of ornate glass in the middle. It would be so easy to break into the building. There was no alarm system, no cameras, and half the front door was made of fucking glass.

“Sir?” Caleb asked when I made no move to get out of the car. “Do you need something?”

“No.” I sent Danielle a text telling her I was there and then climbed out of the car.

It took her only seconds to come down to open the door for me. Her apartment didn’t have a system to buzz people in, never mind a doorman.

She stood in the doorway of her building in a light blue wrap skirt with sunflowers on it and a white peasant top.

I’d been lost in memories since I left her yesterday, but remembering the time we spent together wasn’t the same as having her standing before me in another one of her ridiculously innocent outfits.

I drank in every inch of her tawny skin, dotted with what might have been hundreds of freckles. Her hair was pulled back from her face with a clip and fell down her back in copper-brown waves.

“Are you coming in?”

I cleared my throat as if that would clear my head. “Yeah.”

She didn’t say anything as I followed her up to her apartment for the second time in as many days. Despite going eight months without being here, it still felt natural, comfortable .

“What are you doing here, Hayden?” Danielle asked, shattering that comfort in an instant.

“We need to go over the prenup.” I settled on her couch and pulled a stack of papers out of my briefcase.

“You’ll be entitled to two million in the case of divorce, assuming you remain married to me for nine months or I am the one to file before then.

You will also keep anything I gift to you over the duration of our relationship, and I’ll put money into an account for you every month for your personal use while we’re married. Does seven thousand work for you?”

“Seven thousand a month?”

“Obviously I’ll cover dresses and other expenses for things I ask you to accompany me to in addition to that.”

“I don’t want your money.”

“I’m not going to make you pay for clothes I wanted you to have.”

“You’re not listening to me.” She snatched the contract out of my hands. “I. Don’t. Want. Your. Money.”

“You’re going to be my wife, and that means I’m going to take care of you.”

She scoffed as if I’d said something particularly stupid. Danielle always was one of the few people I’d met who wasn’t the least bit worried about offending me. “There are more ways to take care of someone than giving them money.”

“What do you suggest then?”

“I want your respect. While we’re in this marriage, I don’t want you to be with other women. I won’t have people believe you’re cheating on me.”

I glared at her. “That was never on the table,” I said through gritted teeth. “I promise you, I won’t so much as look at another woman while we’re together.”

“Okay then.”

“Anything else?”

“What?”

“Do you have any other rules you want to lay out for our marriage?”

“I don’t want you giving me a monthly allowance.”

“Fine.”

“And you’re not allowed to buy my clothes. I like being in control of what I wear.”

“So you won’t let me give you money and you don’t want me to buy you dresses. That’s not going to work, Sunday School. I’m not going to leave you financially responsible for coming up with dresses for the functions we’ll have to go to.”

“Because you think I’ll make you look bad?” She raised her brows, daring me to answer.

“Because I want to be able to provide for my wife.”

She blinked. “Okay. We can talk about it on a case-by-case basis.”

“Fine,” I snarled.

“Good. And I want a church wedding.”

I groaned. Of course she did. Personally, I’d prefer to sign the paperwork at the courthouse and keep God out of it.

“It doesn’t have to be big. I’m honestly fine with it just being the two of us, but I want the chance to wear a pretty dress.”

I couldn’t wait to see what kind of dress Danielle would choose to wear to her wedding.

I wouldn’t put it past her to go full Cinderella with puffy sleeves and the kind of skirt that looked like it should be impossible to sit down in.

“I’m looking forward to it. But this wedding has to take place in the next couple of weeks. ”

“Two weeks will be fine.”

I nodded. “I’ll get us a place and send you the details.”

“It’s settled then.” She sounded so calm and put together, like nothing about this situation was affecting her in the slightest.

I hated it.

I wanted her to be affected. I wanted to see the fire that burned in her eyes when she was passionate about something.

“Is there anything else you want me to do or not do as your husband?”

“Just act like you like me when we’re in public or when you talk about me. I don’t want to spend nine months as the bride no one believes you love.”

A strange ache pulsed in my chest. She shouldn’t have to spell that out. I wasn’t going to let her look like the fool in our marriage. I’d find some way to make sure she came out on top when things ended between us.

She might not be my biggest fan at the moment, but I was going to change her mind somehow. I wanted to be a good thing in Danielle’s life.

“Sunday School.” I gripped her chin between my fingers, forcing her to meet my eyes. “I’m going to convince the whole damn world that my sun rises and sets with you.”