Page 30 of Marrying Mr. Majestic

Foster hesitated. “Yeah, but not for the reason you think.”

“What reason do I think?”

“You think you’re doing it to keep the drama down. It’s not. Sure, instead of having drunk Vegas marriage drama, you have surprised gay marriage drama. Still drama. Still going to be what everyone is talking about in town for a while. The difference is when you two finally do get divorced, the drama will get a nice big second wave, and you’ll be at the center of it again. Will the timing be better next time around?” He shrugged. “Maybe. But with you, there’s always something. Right now, you’re postponing it until after AdventureSmash because you’re so busy. But when you land the GrandSmash deal for next year, you’re going to be busy working on that.”

He wasn’t wrong. But it wasn’t like I could change it now. “And what’s the real reason you think I’m doing the right thing?”

He studied me for a moment before pulling in a deep breath. “Way… you were due for a little excitement. No… that’s not quite right. A shake-up. You’ve always tried to keep everything just so, like the way you used to store your Matchbox cars in that plastic box with the little dividers. You had a system. Sports cars on this row, antique ones on that row, trucks at the bottom, that kind of thing. You’ve always been like that. And you try to run the ranch and the town exactly the same way.”

Foster’s big hands came up in front of him to keep me from explaining that my way was clearly the right way to run things. Nobody could argue with that.

“Yeah, I get it,” he continued. “We want an organized mayor. Absolutely. You’re responsible, and that’s a good thing. Hell, it’s a great thing. But you’re so busy keeping your cars in little divided sections that you never take the time to drive them.” He lifted an eyebrow as if that was supposed to make his point clear.

I waited for him to elaborate or at least finish his lecture.

He pursed his lips, lifted and settled his hat back on his head, and then grinned. “Go back to your dollhouse and fuck that city boy, Mayor Fletcher. Take his goddamned car out and drive it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Really? You’re telling me to get laid? You coulda just said that, you know.”

He turned to leave, but before he reached the open doorway, he turned back around. “You know… if you plan on pulling this charade off, you two are going to need to get to know each other a little. JoJo Reynolds already stopped me in town and started asking questions about your new husband. It occurs to me that they’re going to be asking you those same questions. And you’re going to have to have some answers.”

As I watched him walk out of the shadows and into the late-afternoon sun, my stomach dropped.

Foster was right. I didn’t know a damned thing about the man I’d married.

And if we were going to pull off pretending to be a real couple, we were going to have to get to know each other for real.

And make it convincing.

I finished my chores as quickly as I could and raced back to the house. The more time I’d had to think about it, the more I’d convinced myself that someone in town—likely even someone from my family—would see right through us unless we spent a good amount of time tonight learning about each other.

And maybe it would be fun. We could turn it into a game or something. I actually looked forward to learning more about him. Silas was different from me. And different wasn’t something we saw around here often.

I parked next to his little rental just as my phone buzzed with a call from my little sister.

“I’m sorry,” I said as soon as the call connected. Out of habit, I headed to the river to make sure the call didn’t drop.

ZuZu’s voice held a fond exasperation that reminded me of my mom back in the early days, back before my father had worn her down and rubbed all the easy off her. “Sorry for marrying a hottie—by the way, that was Aunt Blake’s take, not mine—or sorry you somehow forgot to notify your actual family about it?”

I opened my mouth to say, “Both,” but for some reason, I couldn’t. Because part of me wondered if I was truly sorry for either one. Obviously, I shouldn’t have married a stranger, but… well… I was happy I’d had an excuse to see him again. And if we hadn’t gotten married…

“I should have told you before you found out from someone else,” I said. “It all kind of happened fast, and I?—”

“When can I meet him? You gonna bring him to town tomorrow? Maybe you two can stop by the studio. I assume you don’t exactly want visitors tonight at your place.” Her laugh was carefree, which seemed impossible considering my situation.

“What do you mean?” I asked stupidly.

“Uh… newlyweds? I expected you two would be… busy?”

I glanced back at the house, as if Silas could somehow overhear my sister’s sexual implication from so far away. As I opened my mouth to stammer out a reply, however, I caught sight of someone through the large glass walls of my shower.

Someone completely naked and very, very wet.

“Uh.”

“Way?”

The early evening sun slanted over the mountains in the distance, laying out a warm golden stripe across the land between the river and my house, lighting up the glorious bare body of my new husband like he was the center of the goddamned universe, a gift from the gods themselves.

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