Page 131 of Snared

“Yeah! What were you doing with Alana Anderson?” one of the reporters called out.

“My realtor.” Josh looked only at me.

“We should go inside.” I didn’t want to give the paps any more of a show.

“Yes, let’s do that,” Cassie said.

“No,” Josh answered, his eyes pleading with mine.

What was he doing?

JOSH

This was either going to get me everything I wanted or blow up in my face. And fuck, my face stung from that asshat landing more than one punch.

“You deserve a grand gesture.” I grazed my thumb across the back of her palm.

Her eyes widened. “What?”

She needed to know how important she was to me. How all in I was.

“I’m giving all of you the scoop, and then we are done,” I said to the reporters, but my eyes never left Charlie’s. “Feel free to quote me.

“I fell for Charlie Jones the moment she walked into the studio the first time. She wanted nothing to do with me, and I fought my feelings because woman drummer and band manager—yeah, I knew exactly how that would look.” I tried to keep my sneer internal. “And she was phenomenal, and melded so smoothly with the guys, that I would’ve been an idiot to possibly wreck that.”

“Josh,” she whispered.

“Not done.” I smiled at her and continued. “But eventually, I convinced her to go out with me, and we kept it quiet as we fell for each other. I mean, what’s not to love about this amazing woman? Kick-ass drummer, witty banter, hot as fuck.”

Her cheeks blazed, but her smile kept me going.

“And that smile. Every smirk. Every laugh. Yeah, I fell hard and she finally fell for me. So we got engaged right before the tour.”

Her lips parted. Yeah, I wasn’t telling the entire truth. How our marriage started was no one’s business—especially not the media’s.

“Then we had a bit to drink and had an excellent idea to get married in Vegas. And I couldn’t have been happier than when she said ‘I do.’”

I broke her gaze to look toward the reporters, all listening with rapt attention, along with the guys and Cassie.

Jax could not look more smug if he tried.

Punk.

“As for Alana. She’s my realtor. You see, living in LA while my wife is in New York won’t work, so I’m moving to New York and selling my condo in LA. Hopefully, I can convince Charlie to house-hunt with me because her place is kind of small for all of my suits.”

A few of the reporters chuckled.

Charlie’s indrawn breath was faintly audible. “Josh,” she whispered.

“I mean, I guess we can stay here, but LA isn’t my home anymore. Charlie is.”

“I’m going to melt,” Cassie whispered.

“He got swoony lessons from me and don’t you forget it,” Bash said, tugging Cassie into his arms and shooting me a wink.

“Now, we’re done here and I have a few things to discuss with my wife.” I drew her into my arms.

Her cheeks were pink. Her lips were parted. And I couldn’t resist.

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