Finding Hayes: A Small Town, Marriage of Convenience Romance (Magnolia Falls Series Book 5)

Renovations on the farmhouse were well underway, as was my fake relationship. It was not lost on me that out of the three relationships I’d had in my adult life, this one was by far the easiest.

Maybe it was because we knew it wasn’t real and that it would have an expiration date.

I was having a great time with this. Even the big grump didn’t seem to mind it. And today was the day.

He’d been at the firehouse the last three days, and we’d come up with our plan. I had six days left to tie the knot, and we figured today was as good a day as any for a fake wedding. Nash and Kingston had started the renovations at the farmhouse, and I’d be moving into the guest room at Hayes’s house today.

I’d refused to move in with him until we were officially married, which we’d joked about over the last few days, because the irony was not lost on either of us.

The marriage wasn’t real, so why was I holding out?

He thought I should just move in while he was at the firehouse so I could at least take a hot bath at the end of the day. But I didn’t want it to look any more suspicious than it already did.

“You sure you’re okay not telling your parents?” Hayes asked as we drove to the courthouse. We’d filed for a marriage license this morning, and now we were off to make it official.

“Yes. We’re eloping. People do it all the time,” I said, as he parked in the lot behind the building. “Harry’s going to be pissed because I told him he could be ring bearer someday.”

“I’m glad you two have a relationship. I know the way everything went down was hard, but you got a brother out of it.”

“Touché, hubs. That was a very glass-half-full response for you.” I chuckled. “Anyway, I’ll just tell him that we eloped.”

He turned to look at me. “Eloping is usually two people running off to some luxury beach to tie the knot before rolling naked in the sand.”

“That’s one thing I’ve never wanted to do.” I shrugged as I turned to face him, because he wasn’t in any hurry to get out of the truck.

“What? Elope?”

“No. Roll naked in the sand. I feel like it’s one of those things that sounds really good in theory, but imagine the shower you’d need after.” I chuckled.

He sighed. “This isn’t really an elopement. So I just want to make sure you’re okay with everything.”

“Well, it’s not really a wedding either, so I’m fine.”

His brows pinched together. “What will you tell your parents?”

“I’ll tell my dad that we just couldn’t live another day without being husband and wife. He always loved you, and it’ll make him happy. Cancer has softened him in that way—you know, emotionally. He’s always all up in his feels now. He’ll be an easy sell.”

“And your mother?”

“My mother has become much less judgy now that she married my high school theater teacher and got knocked up.” I gave him a knowing look before continuing. “A torrid affair will do that to you.”

“All right. So, we’re doing this.”

“As long as you’re okay with it?” I asked, because he seemed a little off today. “Are you having second thoughts?”

“Not at all. I said I’d do it, and I have no intentions of breaking my word.”

“That’s very honorable, though not very romantic,” I said over my laughter. “So, why are you acting weird and hesitant?”

“I’m just thinking about the elephant in the room.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, as I tried to hide my smile. “The communication in our marriage is already deteriorating, and we haven’t even said I do yet.”

“Savannah, stop fucking around. We’re about to get married. This isn’t a fucking joke.”

I startled at his words. “You aren’t even the marrying type. And you know that this is all fake. So why are you making it complicated? What’s the problem?”

He ran a hand down his face. “What do you want me to do when they say I should kiss the bride?”

My chest squeezed. He’d agreed to all of this for me, and we both knew it. Hayes didn’t give a shit if he got that promotion or not. That’s why I was determined to impress everyone at the firehouse, because I wanted this to benefit him, too.

“Are you disgusted at the thought of having to kiss me?” I asked.

His eyes widened. “Of course not. I just didn’t think our first kiss should be at a courthouse in front of a few random people.”

“Well, it’s a little late to court me now, don’t you think?” I chuckled, but he wasn’t smiling at all, so I pulled myself together.

“Come here,” he said, voice hard and commanding.

I glanced around before unbuckling my seat belt and scooting closer along the bench seat of his truck. Before I could process what was happening, he reached for me and pulled me onto his lap. One leg fell on each side of his thick thighs, and his hands found my hips.

This was unexpected, but I certainly wasn’t in a hurry to move away.

“What are you doing?” I cleared my throat and glanced out the window. “No one is here. No one is watching. You don’t need to put on a show.”

His moss-green eyes locked with mine. “I’d like to kiss my wife before I agree to spend my life with her.”

I quirked a brow. “You’re being dramatic. It’s only three months, Lover. And I’ll move out in two and a half months and say that I need space.”

“It’s the principle, Shortcake. I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I’m not a complete asshole. I don’t want your wedding day to be awkward as fuck for you.”

I nodded as my teeth sank into my bottom lip, making every attempt to remain calm. I could feel his erection growing beneath my ass, where I was settled on his lap. My heart hammered against my chest. “Wow. My man is a real romantic.”

I tried to be funny, but my voice was void of all humor.

He didn’t laugh. Didn’t smile. His eyes zeroed in on my mouth, and the way he was looking at me had the air catching in my lungs.

His large hands found each side of my face as he pulled me forward without hesitation. His calloused fingers skimmed along my jaw as his tongue swiped out and traced a line along my bottom lip.

“I’m going to kiss my wife now.” It wasn’t a question, but he was giving me a moment to pull back if I didn’t want it.

But I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to.

His mouth covered mine. Powerful and determined. My lips parted without hesitation, and his tongue slipped inside. Slowly at first, as he explored my mouth.

And his hands, they were everywhere. One tangled in my hair as he tilted my head to the side, granting him better access.

His other hand was on my neck and jaw, like he wanted to touch as much of me as he could in this moment.

His lips were plump and soft, yet firm at the same time. The man could kiss. His mouth devoured mine, his tongue tangling with mine, as he took the kiss deeper, and I moaned.

My hips were moving of their own volition, and I desperately wanted to stop grinding against him, because this was just supposed to be a pre-wedding first kiss.

A fake pre-wedding first kiss.

Yet this felt different.

And I hated that I couldn’t get enough. I moved up and down along his thick erection, and I could feel everything even through my jeans.

He was long and thick and hard.

It had been a while for me since I’d even kissed a man, so my body was reacting in the most embarrassing way, and I didn’t even care.

We’d been hanging out so much and spending all this time together, and of course, Hayes was a beautiful man. Who wouldn’t react?

It was normal to feel things. But obviously, we had a history, and I knew how this story would end.

Red flags were going off in my head, but my body was on fire.

Desire and want and need—they took over.

My fingers scratched along his hair, and our breaths were the only audible sound.

I ground against him, up and down. Faster and faster.

Desperate for release.

Desperate to feel something because it had been so long.

What am I doing?

My thoughts were spinning, and I knew I needed to get myself under control, and just as my body started to tingle, I abruptly stopped moving.

I pulled my mouth from his, and his eyes locked with mine once again. His lips were so freaking plump and perfect, and it infuriated me that I wanted to kiss him again.

This. Wasn’t. Real.

He was my fake husband.

A man who’d agreed to marry me so that I could inherit millions of dollars.

I would not blur the lines. I would not be made a fool for a second time.

I wiped my hand over my mouth and calmed my breathing. “Well, we got that out of the way. Now, let’s go get hitched.”

He didn’t say a word as I slid off his lap and back onto the passenger seat. He got out of the truck and came around to my side just as I stepped out and shut the door. I tried to move past him, but his big body blocked me, my back pressing up against the passenger door.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Of course. It was fine.”

“It was fine?” He frowned. “You didn’t act like it was fine when you were dry humping me like it was your day job.”

I gaped at the bastard. “Well, you can’t control your erection around me, so what’s a girl to do when you pull her onto your lap with that gigantic thing between her legs?”

He smirked. “He does seem to like you.”

“It was a kiss. A one and done. I know that’s your specialty. Now, let’s go seal the deal, Lover.”

“Such a bossy little wife,” he said, taking my hand in his and leading me toward the door of the courthouse.

The next hour was fairly uneventful. One other couple got married before us. Jonathan and Loraine. It was the second time they were marrying one another. They told us their whole love story on our way out of the courthouse. We learned about their own children, their children from the marriages they’d had after they’d divorced, and their grandchildren. It took them a while to find their way back to one another, but here they were.

I loved a good happily ever after.

I could tell that Hayes couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that they would get married for a second time.

“What made you come to Magnolia Falls to get married?” I asked, because they’d told us that they weren’t from here.

“We used to come here in the summers when our kids were young. And then life got busy, and we stopped coming. So, when we decided to get married again, we knew this was the place we wanted to do it,” Loraine said.

“How about you two? I’m guessing it’s your first marriage? Have you dated long?” Jonathan asked.

I thought about how to answer the question, because we were married, after all. We should have a story.

“We were childhood best friends, and then we lost touch for a long time,” I said, my fingers intertwined with my husband’s.

My husband.

Our wedding was pretty uneventful, and we’d bought a cheap ring online to use for the ceremony. Our first kiss as husband and wife was nothing like the kiss in the truck before the wedding. It was a quick peck, and we were done.

“Yep. She just up and left me with no goodbye,” Hayes said, catching me completely off guard.

“That’s not quite how I remember it, Lover.” I chuckled, but it was forced. “He was not sitting at home crying over me leaving. He had a girlfriend at the time. We were just friends back then. Nothing more.”

“Oh, but you know how friendship can turn into so much more. Obviously, there were feelings there if you ended up here today,” Loraine said as we all walked outside to the parking lot.

The sun was shining, and most of the snow had melted. But winter wasn’t over in Magnolia Falls, and spring was still a ways away.

“I guess you’re right.”

“So, you just left the poor guy without telling him where you were going?” Jonathan asked, and even though his voice was laced with humor, I didn’t like the way Hayes had painted this picture.

“No,” I said, as we paused at their car. I tried to keep my tone light and humorous, but I was fuming on the inside. “It wasn’t quite like that. My husband knows why I left and why I didn’t keep in touch.”

Hayes glanced down at me, and there was a question in his gaze.

Is he for real?

He was not the victim.

It reminded me of all the reasons I’d despised him over the last decade.

This was why I should never have agreed to fake marry this man.

“My wife loves to think everyone can read minds,” he said. “I don’t have a clue why she left.”

The bastard.

“Listen, this is what I’ve learned the older I get,” Loraine said, clearly noticing that our fingers were no longer intertwined. He’d dropped my hand after I’d dug my nails into his palm when he started playing the victim. “The past is the past. The happiest marriages are the ones that focus on the present.”

“Wise words from a wise lady,” Jonathan said, but Hayes and I were too busy glaring at one another. “Now you two have a wonderful night. I’m taking my bride to a lovely dinner to celebrate.”

We said our goodbyes, and my husband opened the passenger door for me. I climbed in, and when he attempted to pull my seat belt out for me, because apparently, he thought I needed his help with that all the time now, I smacked his hand away.

He glared at me and slammed the door before stalking over to the driver’s side.

And we drove back to his house in silence.

Happy first day as a married couple.