Page 15 of The Accidental Wife

I nod. “If you say so,” Cole takes my hand in his and brushes a gentle kiss over my knuckles. My stomach tightens.

“Thank you, Shayla. You have no idea how much this means to me. Honestly.” I nod and pull my hand back.

“Well, nobody should be forced to marry someone they don’t love. Even entitled rich boys like yourself ought to have a happily ever after.” I tease, and he scoffs and pokes my side.

“I am not an entitled rich boy.” He defends, feigning annoyance, but I see the corner of his lips curl. “I work really hard, okay.” He says and chuckles when I give him a pointed look. “Ok fine, I work hard.”

“Whatever you say champ. Can we please discuss what we are going to tell your parents because I’m kind of terrified here?” I question, and he nods.

“We just need to get our stories straight. My parents know me very well, especially my mother, so if we are going to convince them that we are in love, we have to act the part.” I shake my head and hold my hand up.

“Hold up. Define ‘in love’ because, if by that you mean you’re going to be shoving your tongue down my throat, you can think again. That is not going to happen,” I inform him matter-of-factly, and he smirks at me in return.

“Why? Are you afraid you might enjoy it too much like last time?” I punch him in the ribs, and he groans.

“Ow! Fucking hell.” He guffaws, rubbing his side. “You punch like a dude!”

It was my turn to smirk, “Perks of having a crazy protective older brother. Touch me without my consent, and I will make those sunglasses a permanent fixture on your pretty face.” I threaten him, and he chuckles, amused.

“You think my face is pretty?” He asks, raising his brow, clearly intrigued. I lift my hand to hit him again, and he flinches. “Whoa, hey! I’m kidding. I’m kidding.” He laughs, “Put your fist away, Balboa, before you hurt yourself.”

“I’m going to wind up in jail before this is over, I swear to God. You’re going to make me kill you.”

Cole chuckles and we continue to bicker back and forth until we got to the office.

* * *

“We haveto make sure we go through everything step by step before we get in that room. Kyle Turner is very fussy, and if we miss something, he will walk with this project.” He explains as we walk through the open-plan office. I look around and notice people staring at us as we walk by toward Cole’s office.

“Hey, is it me, or is everyone staring at us?” I whisper, and Cole doesn’t even look up from his phone.

“It’s you.” He mutters distantly and walks into his office with me in tow. I look back and see the team on the floor, watching us and whispering to one another. I frown and tap Cole's shoulder, and he mumbles a ‘hmm’ while typing away on his phone.

“Cole, I’m serious. People are staring at us. You don’t think your father told anyone we’re married?”

“Hmm.” I look over at Cole and notice he’s not even listening to me. I roll my eyes and resist the urge to smack him upside the head. Maybe I was paranoid. I force it out of my mind and focus on the presentation with Cole.

“Mr Hoult?” Heather knocks on the door and enters when Cole waves her in. “You need to see this.” She hands Cole the tablet in her hand and gives me a startled look before dropping her gaze. Weird.

“Oh shit.” Cole curses and shoots up from his seat, looking at the tablet, his green eyes wide.

“What is it?” I ask, looking from him to Heather, who shakes her head and averts her gaze from mine. “Cole?”

He lifts his gaze and meets mine. The usual soft green eyes I’m used to now stormy and dark. He’s angry— scratch that, he’s livid. “Get Lucy here now!” He barks. Heather starts at his tone and nods before scampering off.

I watch as he paces the office, stroking his jaw, evidently irritated by whatever was on that tablet. He swipes his hand over the lamp on his desk, which goes flying and smashes on the floor. “Cole, what’s going on?” I ask again, and he closes his eyes for a second and holds the tablet out to me. When I take it, he continues pacing back and forth.

I look down at the tablet, and my blood runs cold in my veins. There, in a big block of letters, were the words...

'HEARTTHROB BILLIONAIRE, TRISTAN HOULT ELOPES WITH MYSTERIOUS BRUNETTE IN PASSIONATE LAS VEGAS WEDDING! SORRY LADIES, THIS BACHELOR IS OFF THE MARKET!'

There isa picture of me in his arms bridal style, both of us laughing. There are other images of us kissing as he carries me toward the hotel that we spent the night, “Oh my God,” I whisper, staring at the article. This can’t be happening. I look up from the tablet and notice all eyes in the office watching us. The sheer panic that was creeping up inside of me left me breathless. “No, no, no. My God. This can’t— this can’t be happening.” My fingers were trembling, and the tablet slips and falls smashing on the marble tiles.

“Shayla,” Cole comes over to me and lifts my gaze to his. “Hey, look at me. It’s going to be okay.”

I blink up at him, “How?” I whisper. “How is this going to be okay? Everyone knows, that’s why they were all staring at us, cause they…” I cover my hand with my mouth. “Oh my God, how am I going to face these people again.”

Cole walks over to his desk, pushes a button and the windows looking into his office frosts to give us some privacy. He reaches out to take my hands and I pull away, shaking my head. “Don’t.” I step a couple of paces away from him, and Cole watches me as I retreat.

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