Pretend Love Romance by Penny Wylder
Rachel
“In order to save Rocking R Ranch, you and Mr. Burgess need to marry.”
The words that come out of the lawyer’s mouth make me go cold. And then the laugh comes flying out of my mouth. They can’t be serious, can they?
I know that she just said she wouldn’t have flown me out here for a joke, but if they flew me out here to have me get married to a complete stranger than it sure seems like a joke to me because holy shit. No.
No. No. No.
I can’t seem to stop laughing even though I’m trying. “You can’t be serious.”
The man beside the lawyer glares at me, and a thrill runs down my spine. Because he’s gorgeous. In a rugged way that pulls on my gut. The second I walked into the room I was aware of his presence. Viscerally aware.
Immediately I remembered the night before when I had thought about how Solomon wasn’t my type. Well this Mr. Burgess, he is exactly my type. Tall and broad and blond with blue eyes that pierce me from across the table. I swear I jumped when our hands touched, and every time I look at him, it’s clear that the suit that he’s wearing doesn’t hide the powerful physique he has. Obviously if you work on ranch you don’t need to keep your gym membership current.
I own a ranch. I guess I can cancel my gym membership now.
The thought sends a fresh burst of laughter from my mouth. Focus, Rachel. Not only do you own a ranch, but they want you to marry this devastatingly sexy man who is glaring daggers at you. I can’t exactly blame him. I probably shouldn’t have laughed; this seems pretty important to him. But come on, this is so absurd.
“You’re laughing about this?” he asks. “This is serious. People’s livelihoods are at stake here.”
I take a breath. “I’m sorry. I do understand that. You have to see it from my point of view, though. I walked into this room ten minutes ago to find out that a grandmother I’d never heard of died, and now I own a ranch. Oh! And I’m meant to marry you, a stranger.” I laugh loudly again at the absurdity of it all. Nobody else is laughing. They’re dead serious. So of course I add sarcastically, “Forgive me. What other small favors can I do for you before I fly home?”
Obviously he’s not a fan of sarcasm. His jaw tightens, and I try to ignore how that motion makes my gut tighten as well. “I understand that this is unexpected. But this is a business transaction. I promise. Just business. You’ve already said that you don’t care about the ranch. Think of this as nothing but a contract. You’ll get a monthly income while doing absolutely nothing. We just need your signature.” Then he snorts. “I don’t even care what you do with the rest of your life. Date whoever you want, live with whoever you want, as long as we’re legally married.”
Something about the way he’s speaking makes me hesitate. He’s pushing it really hard. This means more to him that he’s letting on. Probably he’s trying not to scare me, but it’s clear this is deeply personal to him. I’m not even sure how I know that, but I do.
I also can’t explain the twinge in my stomach when he says he doesn’t care who I date or what I do with my life. This man is a total stranger to me. Why should I have any reaction to what he says?
Even if he is the most attractive man I’ve ever seen in real life, I shouldn’t care what he thinks about me. I especially shouldn’t care about what he thinks of my dating life. Afterall, this is a man whose idea of romance is a business transaction.
The lawyer slides a folder across to me. “These are the current financials for the ranch, and the amount of money that you’ll receive every month as a stipend for your cooperation.”
I try not to snort. Cooperation, as if it’s something as simple as a handshake and not marriage. But I take the folder and skim the contents, including the offer and…holy shit.
It’s a healthy four figures. I’m too embarrassed to admit it, but that amount of money would change my life. I’ve been scraping by for so long, having that extra money materialize magically in my bank account every month is instantly appealing. I need to think about this. I’ve never been someone who’s motivated by money rather than ethics and happiness, and I chastise myself for being so easily manipulated by a few grand. Money isn’t reason enough to do something, is it?
But…it’s not just money. It’s people. Right?
“How many people live on the ranch?” I ask quietly.
Burgess’s face softens slightly. “Year-round? About fifty. In the tourist season our staff expands with temporary hires to between seventy-five and one-hundred.”
That is a lot of people. I know enough about business and local economies to know that Katie is right. If the government comes in and takes over, they would lose everything. I might get a bigger check, but I don’t know if I could live with the guilt that my selfishness destroyed that many lives.
Sure, I’ve always wanted to get married someday, for real, but truth be told, I’ve been more focused on my career than my love life. Who knows if I’ll ever find anyone? And if I do find that perfect someone one day, surely changes can be made in this arrangement. It seems like a small sacrifice compared to the livelihood of fifty people. Or more, if the local economy relies that much on the ranch. Which they probably do. If the ranch is a tourist destination, local attractions probably benefit as well.
I’m a city girl from Denver, but I’m still from Colorado. I’ve traveled around the state, and I’ve seen lots of small rural towns like I imagine this one is. Could I really just throw all of that away for a faraway dream of romance that might never happen?
No. Just the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach. Plus, if I say yes, the stipend would be a welcome relief to my financial stress. With that kind of money, I could do an apprenticeship somewhere or even one day open my own restaurant. Those are my real goals, where I’ve put my energy in adulthood. I’ve hardly spent any time dreaming of the perfect wedding and Prince Charming. It’s obvious what the right decision is.
“Okay,” I say. “I’ll do it.”
They both look shocked. “Really?” Mr. Burgess asks.
“Yes.”
He sits there, just staring at me, stunned. Clearly he thought I’d need more convincing. The lawyer, however, is already putting papers back in her briefcase and looking at her watch. She is all business.
“Excellent news,” Katie says. “Let’s go.” She starts heading toward the door.
“Where?”
“The Justice of the Peace,” she says. “He’s waiting in my office.” She waves at us from the doorway, but I don’t move.
I swallow. “You want this to happen now?”
With a heavy sigh, she walks back to the table. She’s smiling, and it isn’t unsympathetic. “Time is of the essence. Does it really make a difference whether we do this today or tomorrow?”
“No,” I shake my head. “It’s just…fast. It’s a lot.”
“I understand. Why don’t you two wait here, and I’ll go get the justice. You can get to know each other a little better.”
She disappears out the door, and I’m left sitting across from the devastatingly handsome man who’s about to be my husband. “This definitely wasn’t on my to-do list when I woke up this morning.”
“Thank you,” he says. The words are low and fervent. He’s more grateful than he actually wants me to know.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“What?”
“We’re about to get married,” I say, trying to smile. “I think I should at least know your first name.”
He blinks, surprised. I guess he was so focused on securing my agreement that he didn’t even realize we weren’t officially introduced. “Clayton.”
“Nice to meet you, Clayton.” I hold out my hand and we shake again, the same spark of electricity setting off as our skin brushes. For a beat, we hold eye contact, before Katie’s voice booms in the room.
“All right, lovebirds, let’s get this show on the road.” A tall man in a navy suit walks into the room behind Katie. He has a huge smile on his face, as if he’s about to participate in the marriage of two actual lovebirds. For a moment I consider what Clayton and I look like. How must the justice see us? If I’d known when I got dressed this morning that my day would include my own wedding, I would have reconsidered wearing all black. It seems like a bad omen.
But that doesn’t matter. It’s not a real marriage, I remind myself. It’s only a contract. It means nothing.
Clayton and I both stand, as if synchronized, and walk around the table to the justice of the peace. He’s looking at us with a giddy expression in his eyes. I watch Clayton’s confident strides. He’s taller than I realized, and when we meet in front of the justice, I have to look up to meet his eyes. Up close, I see there’s a dangerous hunger in his eyes, and I’m not sure if it’s because of me, or the fact that I’m about to give him what he so desperately wants.
“You guys want the simple route? Katie here tells me that you guys are eager to get this done.”
“Yes,” Clayton says, finally dragging his eyes away from mine. “Simpler is better.”
I’m not sure what story Katie concocted for this man, but as we stand in front of him, I feel dizzy. I’m getting married. Married. Doesn’t it take time to get marriage licenses?
As if I conjured the answer from my own thoughts, I see Katie laying out documents on the table beside us, one of them a marriage license.
“Perfect,” the justice says with a grin. And he begins to marry us. This all has to be a dream. It’s all moving so quickly. I know it’s happening, and that I’ve agreed, but at the same time it feels like the entire world is moving in fast forward and I have no idea where the pause button is. I feel like I’m an actress in a movie. The words I’m repeating, I’ve heard dozens of times before. “Do you, Rachel. . .” “Do you, Clayton. . .” But from my lips, right now, they sound like a foreign language. And the man in front of me, the groom, he’s actually like a soap opera actor come to life. I stare at his face, so new to me and strange, and try to reconcile the fact that in just minutes, he will be my legal husband!
We continue through the traditional vows, and it might be my imagination, but it sounds like Clayton’s voice trips a bit over ‘to have and hold.’ I search his face, trying to gauge how he feels, wondering if despite his attachment to the ranch, maybe he realizes we are going too far, and he won’t go through with this. But then that hint of emotion is gone.
“Do you have rings?” the justice asks.
I start to say no, but I’m immediately cut off.
“Yes, right here,” Katie says, producing a small black box with two silver rings nestled inside. Both are simple bands, one more feminine and delicate with a pattern engraved, and one thicker, more masculine.
She really thought of everything. I wonder if the ring will fit, though knowing what little I do of Katie, I suspect she found a way to learn my ring size.
Katie hands me the larger ring and passes the smaller one to Clayton. It’s my turn first. “Repeat after me,” the justice says. “With this ring.”
“With this ring,” I murmur.
“I thee wed.”
“I thee wed.” I slide the ring onto Clayton’s finger, and it feels like a weight drops in my stomach. This is heavier than I thought it would be, even though I know that I am making the right decision.
Clayton takes my hand and traps my gaze with his. I couldn’t look away even if I wanted to.
I don’t.
There is no other voice but his. “With this ring, I thee wed.”
When he slides the ring onto my finger, it fits perfectly. A blush warms my skin, and I find that I still can’t look away from him. There is a kind of curiosity and wonder in his eyes, and I want to know if he’s feeling as strange as I am.
“There it is,” the justice says. “All that’s left are the signatures. But first, your first kiss.”
“That’s not necessary,” Clayton says. His voice is rough, but he’s still looking at me.
“Of course it is. Your wedding might need to be fast, and that’s none of my business, but I’ve never married a couple without seeing their first kiss as a married couple, and I’m certainly not going to stop now.”
I swallow, and give Clayton a tiny nod. For the first time, I see him smile. Just a ghost of one, barely there as the corner of his mouth tips up. But it feels like a victory all the same.
“Here goes nothing,” he says softly enough so that only I can here. His hand curves around the back of my neck, and his lips brush across mine.
I’m not prepared for the fire. I have to hold myself back from wrapping my arms around his neck and leaning into him. The kiss is gentle, but it is pure heat. Unfathomable desire wakes in my gut and blooms through me. Overwhelming, unfiltered lust. He smells like mountain pine and the open sky. Like fresh air and aged cedar. I love it.
Clayton’s hand tightens on the back of my neck, and I know he feels the same pull, the same desperation. But to our two witnesses, nothing has changed.
The kiss goes on longer than it should. Longer than would be normal for two people who are only marrying each other for a contract and nothing more. But if Katie notices, she doesn’t say anything.
When we pull apart, my legs are shaking like I’ve run a mile. And Clayton…Clayton takes my breath away. The look in his eyes—raw hunger, stark and visible. He inhales, and I get the feeling he’s breathing me in. His fingers, lingering on my skin, make me shiver, goosebumps spreading across my shoulders and down my spine.
And then he’s not touching me at all. He turns and walks back to the table, signing the license with barely a glance at me. He moves so quickly I can barely blink, and when he’s finished, he walks straight out the door. Away from me.
I’ve barely caught my breath from the kiss, and I’m left wondering how the hell the man I just met—my husband—managed to leave me so breathless. And why my stomach feels hollow as I watch his retreating back down the hallway to the elevator bank.
The clear, fresh scent of him lingers in the air, and I don’t think that I’ll be able to forget it.
