Playing Pretend by Cassie-Ann L. Miller
Twenty-Two
Eliza
“You okay there, girl?”Nadia lays a hand on my shoulder. I need to blink a few times before her concerned face comes into focus.
I force a smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m great.”
But the truth is there’s one memory replaying on loop in my mind. The one where my new husband just slid a million bucks on my finger and kissed the shit out of me.
I’m struggling to regain my equilibrium.
I can’t let myself forget that none of this is real. Because the moment Nadia got her perfect shot and the camera shutter stopped clicking, Liam snapped out of the passionate embrace, completely unaffected. He stalked off, leaving me at the altar dazed and turned on.
This marriage is all a ruse. Liam doesn’t love me. He probably doesn’t even like me. Our marriage is pretend.
I follow Nadia across the room where my fake husband and I sign whatever it is we’re supposed to sign. Then he and his lawyers huddle in the corner for a brief, hushed discussion.
I stand by awkwardly, trying to wrap my head around the fact that, this morning I woke up for a double-shift at the Quickie Inn, and twelve hours later, I’m back in my role at Kline-Simmons. Only now, I’m married to the boss.
My poor heart has whiplash.
When he’s finished speaking with his lawyers, Liam turns toward me, his expression impassive. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah.”
He lays a hand at the small of my back and guides me outside. A car is waiting for us when we exit the chapel and walk down the stairs to the curb.
The driver immediately steps out to open my door but Liam subtly shakes his head, indicating that he’ll handle the task himself.
“I think I’m going to walk,” I say to him as he tugs the door open for me. “A lot has happened today. I need a minute to clear my head.”
For a moment, Liam stares at me from beneath his strong brow. His eyes sweep along my body, up and down. He’s hesitating, like there’s something he wants to say. But then he snaps out, “Fine.”
When he sinks into the luxurious interior of his car without even a glance back, my heart falls. I realize that I’d been hoping he’d insist on giving me a ride home. I mean, he is my groom and it is our wedding day.
Burying my disappointment, I take off down the Strip with a heavy heart and my sad-looking bouquet clenched in my fist. I remind myself that it’s best to keep my walls up. Especially with this growly billionaire. Who knows which one of my skeletons will come tumbling out of the closet if I allow myself to get close to him? The less he knows about me, the better.
But this sure is an anticlimactic ending to my wedding day.
Well, at least I have my big bag of cash to go home to. Maybe I’ll snuggle up with a pile of hundred dollar bills and test the theory that money can’t keep you warm at night.
I barely make it down half the block when I hear someone bark out my name behind me. “Eliza!”
I turn back to find Liam jogging to catch up with me. He’s a sexy vision with his long legs beating the pavement and his suit jacket flapping around him in the wind.
“What is it, Liam?” I ask.
“I just, um, I…” The blush he’s wearing looks foreign on his chiseled face and it makes my chest pound. “It doesn’t feel right that I haven’t told you…you look lovely. Beautiful, really. I can hardly take my eyes off you.”
I think we’re both shocked he just said that.
Feeling anxious and girlish, I drop my eyes and accept the compliment. “Thank you.” I dare to peek up at his face. “You look handsome. Very handsome.”
“Thank you.” He takes a step closer. “How are you…holding up?” he spits out.
“What…?” My forehead creases.
He explains himself. “I just mean, with the wedding and stuff. We’re married now. I know that must be ‘weird’ for you.” He makes air-quotes around the word.
Laughing a little, I nod. “Yeah, it’s weird. When I used to fantasize about my wedding day as a kid, I never imagined I’d be getting paid to marry my billionaire boss at the Kissy Kissy Bang Bang Chapel in a small town called Sin Valley. I can tell you that.”
“That is weird.” He chuffs. “I guess you can say it’s been ‘weird’ for me, too.”
I soften a bit, finding it difficult to be angry at him since it obviously took two of us to screw shit up.
If I hadn’t lost my keys…
If I hadn’t showed up at Liam’s hotel room, drenched from head to toe…
If I hadn’t spent the night…
The town moves around us as we’re paused in the middle of the sidewalk.
Liam thoughtfully bites on his bottom lip, instantly accentuating all his best features.
Holy shit. This fine-ass human being is my husband.
My fake husband. But still my husband.
A group of rowdy men carrying Paragons paraphernalia lumber past us, loud and obnoxious as hell.
Liam’s face lights up with an idea. “Hey, there’s a football game on tonight and I’m in the mood for a good hamburger. What do you say we order takeout from that pub and watch the game at my—”
“I’d like that.” I don’t even let the man finish his sentence. I’m eager as fuck.
Liam seems taken aback by how easy it is to get me to hang out with him. Like he had a whole bunch of arguments lined up to convince me to come over to his place and he’d been expecting to have to use them. But the truth is, the idea of being alone tonight holds zero appeal to me.
I’d rather be with him.
Even if it’s just eating takeout and watching the game.
With a genuinely happy grin on his face, he sets a hand on the small of my back again and guides me down the sidewalk. “Let’s go.”