It Started with a Bang by Piper James

Chapter Ten

Ryder

“Ahelicopter?”

I stared in awe as the wind from the spinning blades ruffled my hair and clothes. I’d wondered why we were heading toward the Parker Industries building instead of heading south toward the ocean, but I assumed Anabelle had some business to take care of before we left.

The silence between us had been thick and tense after she picked me up at the motel, so I hadn’t asked. Now, after parking in the underground garage and taking a service elevator to the roof, I stood frozen in my tracks as I stared. I wasn’t afraid—I’d taken a helicopter tour in Hawaii once—but I was a bit stunned. This seemed…over the top.

“What’s wrong?” Anabelle asked after speaking with the pilot and running back toward me.

“We’re taking this?” I shouted over the sound of the engine.

Her eyes darted toward the helicopter before landing back on me. Her eyebrows drew down as she nodded.

“It’s a four-hour drive with no traffic, which we’d undoubtedly hit in Houston. This way, we get there in an hour,” she said. “It’s more convenient.”

I nodded, and she returned the gesture. We made our way to the helicopter and climbed inside. Annabelle showed me where to stow my bag, and once I was seated and buckled in, she handed me a set of headphones with a microphone attached.

“How much does it cost to fly this thing to the coast and back?” I asked once we were safely in the air.

Her voice echoed through my headphones as she responded with a sly smile. “This is the company helicopter. So it doesn’t cost me anything. Technically, my dad is paying for it.”

I felt my own lips tug up at the satisfaction in her voice. Her father forced her into this position, and now he was paying for it. Literally. This whole trip was about preparing ourselves to pull the wool over his eyes, and his company was footing the bill for the travel expenses.

It was kind of a poetic justice, one that was giving the woman beside me no small amount of pleasure.

“So, will he get a copy of the manifest?” I asked, tilting my head.

“Not likely,” she said. “We have a department head for transportation that manages the fleet of company cars, the helicopter, and the private plane. Dad would only be involved if there was some sort of unsanctioned use. He knows I’m headed to the beach, so he won’t even question it. Why?”

“Just wondering,” I replied. “If he found out you brought a man with you, would he have me investigated? Or show up demanding answers?”

She shrugged. “He will have you investigated once he finds out we’re married. Are there any skeletons in your closet I should know about?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head before turning to stare out the window.

But my pulse quickened at the thought of Jaxson Parker delving into my life. I’d kept my nose clean, so there were no “skeletons” in the way Anabelle meant. There was nothing in my past that would embarrass her family name or make her father condemn me as a suitable mate for his daughter.

Just the opposite, actually.

Annabelle offered me a million dollars to play her husband like she was certain I’d have no choice but to take it. Because, in her eyes, I was a blue collar worker, a middle class laborer who owned a small construction business with his brothers. I needed the money, so I’d agreed.

But that wasn’t really the case. Sure, a million bucks was nothing to sneeze at, but thanks to Ethan’s brilliant investing skills and our reputation among Los Angeles’s wealthiest citizens, the four of us had wealth of our own. We didn’t have to work another day in our lives if we didn’t want to. But we enjoyed the business and working together, so we kept going even though we were all set for life.

But Anabelle didn’t know that. And if she did, she’d start to question why I ever agreed to this deal to begin with. Hell, I was questioning it, myself.

Sure, she’d goaded me into saying yes with her superior attitude. I thought I’d have some fun with it—and I still intended to—but once she explained why she was setting up this whole charade, I started to feel bad for her.

I’d had such amazing parents, I couldn’t even fathom living my life with a douchebag like Jaxson Parker as a father. And while his influence could have made Anabelle bitter and scathing, she seemed to have a good heart.

Once you got past the haughty princess façade.

“Once we land, a car will be waiting to take us to the house,” she said, pulling me from my thoughts.

I nodded. “Sounds good.”

“If you need to stop for anything, let me know. I’m having some food delivered, and I have a car at the house you can use if you need to head into town later.”

“I think I’m set,” I said, and she gave me one firm nod before turning to gaze out her window.

My eyes lingered on her profile, my gaze tracing the angle of her jaw before trailing down the column of her throat. She was wearing a white tank top and a pair of floral-printed shorts, and I found the casual attire…appealing. The tank top hugged her curves and the shorts showed off a pair of sun-kissed thighs.

I jerked my eyes away, looking back out my own window as I silently cursed myself. I would not let my attraction to her muddle my perspective. This whole thing was important to her, but it was nothing more than a fun distraction to me. Letting my body call the shots would be a mistake. I needed to keep a clear head.

“We’re landing in three minutes.”

The pilot’s voice rang in my ears, and I breathed a sigh of relief as the helicopter began to lower into a small airfield. Once we were at the house, I could put a little distance between Anabelle and me for a few minutes. I needed time to re-solidify our arrangement in my mind.

Of course, if sitting next to her for one hour in a pair of shorts got me flustered, what would living in her home as her husband do to me?

Shit. I was so fucked.