Page 22 of Cold as (N)ice

The weight of his words settled over her, a mix of shock, dread, and something close to admiration swirling through her. Barrett had a way of making even the most chaotic situations seem manageable. Maybe this crazy, impossible idea wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Maybe, just maybe, she could take the leap.

Swallowing, she nodded and followed him out of the room, taking a deep breath to tell her son that she was uprooting both of them – to Canada – as a family.

Whoa boy…

7

COUER

Today’s events:

Marriage at 8 a.m.

Practice at noon.

Self-implosion was at approximately 12:05 p.m.

Barrett’s mindkept racing with all the things that could go wrong – in fact – he didn’t bother to hide his anxiety as he called his agent from the car one more time before heading into the courthouse with Irene. Yeah, what a mess. He never imagined he would be getting married this fast, this soon, or to Batiste’s former maid.

Which made him stepdad, too… twice.

What-in-the-actual-heck happened to his nice orderly world? Grab a stick, hit the ice. Talk some smack, pump some iron. Eat a bunch of junk food, play video games like a fiend… yeah – that was all over.

He was getting married, and the last thing he wanted to do was think about Irene likethat. She wasn’t interested in him – and frankly, it would be a whole lot less drama if they could just be friends.

“Are you ready?” Barrett asked stoically, chancing a glance at Irene. “I’m texting Mike now, so when we come out – it’s going to be all over the news. The press will be taking photos of us together as an adoring couple.”

Irene’s pale face turned to his as her huge eyes stared at him fearfully.

“What?” he asked bluntly, not holding back. “I already signed the contract. Are you backing out?”

“No,” she whispered. “I’m scared.”

“I’m freakin’ terrified.”

“I mean, I’m scared I’m going to disappoint you in the media,” she whispered openly in the silence of his SUV, looking at him and smoothing her dress over her knees. “Do I look all right? I don’t want you to be embarrassed or…”

That is what she was scared of?

Barrett cursed under his breath, rolled his eyes, and took her clammy hand in his, trying to lay on the charm. He hadn’t slept a wink last night with all the drama he was going to be facing today – and his ‘bride’ was scared to embarrass him? That just made something curl deep in his gut, realizing that she was actually going to try to hold up her end of the bargain.

“Irene,” he began with all the patience of a saint… and hesitated as he stared at her in sudden clarity and awareness. Her hair was swept back into a ponytail with a few red tendrils curling around her face to soften it. Her dark eyes were outlined with eyeliner, giving it almost an exotic appearance where her lip gloss made her lips pinkish. Yeah – she was gorgeous. “You look perfect.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Now, let’s head in and get this over with,” he said, opening the door, and for a moment, he was pretty sure she muttered something that sounded distinctly like‘Be still my beating heart’behind him as she got out of the SUV as well.As he walked forward, he moved to clasp her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as they made their way up the steps of the massive red courthouse in downtown Dallas. He saw a few curious glances and kept moving steadily, before disappearing inside.

Yeah, this was going to be everywhere within the hour. He was pretty sure his marriage would be the subject of the locker room, leading to a lot of questions, and then boom… he’d give his notice.

Moving inside the building, it was barely ten minutes before they were suddenly before the magistrate, repeating the words that would bind him to this woman. He sort of felt bad for Irene because he wasn’t the most wonderful guy in the world. No, in fact, he could be kind of a dunce at times – which is why he focused on acting up and cutting jokes, but there was nothing funny about this. He was marrying this woman, changing jobs, changing homes, and taking on providing for her kid, and she was pregnant.

Irene’s hands were trembling, and her lips were bloodless in her stoic face as she promised to love, honor, and cherish him – and he almost snorted, but instead, the lump in his throat prevented that tactical error. They weren’t in love… lust maybe… but it was one-sided. No, this woman had to be almost as desperate as he was – and he knew it. Technically, he was taking advantage of it, too.

Dang, I’m such a loser…

“I do,” Barrett repeated a few moments later, barely choking out the words as he realized it wasn’t just her hands shaking – but his too.Was this over with yet?He thought wildly, freaking out. Mike was going to be here soon with a news crew.

“You may kiss your bride, Mr. Coeur.” The officiant's words rang out like a command, pulling him out of his thoughts.

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