Forever With The CEO: A marriage of convenience romance (The Whitley Brothers)

I daydreamed about my evening with Nick for the entire next week. It didn’t even matter where I was: at home with the twins, at work, or commuting. Images kept flashing in my mind, and I smiled like a lunatic every time. It had been a weak moment and generally a bad idea, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy reminiscing about it. Even though I absolutely and firmly did not intend to go down that road again.

We were doing this for the kids. The fake marriage was just that. If we confused it with a relationship and it didn’t work out, how would that help the children? Though I guessed it would be no different than when we fake divorced later on.

Ugh. This whole thing was making me crazy.

Did I think it was going to be problematic that we’d be living under one roof? Yes. Did I also think it was unfortunate that I didn’t have an extra bedroom? Hell yes. I mean, what if Nick liked to be comfortable when he slept and only wore boxers? I sometimes went downstairs to grab a glass of water in the night. What if in my sleepy haze, I couldn’t resist those abs and just jumped him?

Those kinds of thoughts percolated in my mind a lot.

So when Nick texted me to say that his assistant had secured a date at city hall two Saturdays from now, an avalanche of feelings overwhelmed me. However, for the first time, I was certain this wasn’t a mistake.

Allison: Great. Are we still supposed to go to city hall and choose a room?

Nick: Frances is taking care of everything.

Allison: I’m going to go all out for a dress. Not a traditional dress, but something very fancy. I know it’s not real, but I still feel like celebrating.

Nick: You’ll look stunning.

Allison: So will you. Suits look amazing on you.

Nick: By amazing, you mean sexy?

Allison: Nick!!!

Nick: Just trying to get the facts.

Allison: No, you’re trying to get a rise out of me.

Nick: Is it working?

Oh, it definitely was. The impulse to flirt almost took over, but I fought it bravely and decided to switch topics.

Allison: I’ll tell Bob & Sophie.

Though I planned to do it literally at the last minute on Friday so they wouldn’t be tempted to come.

I spent a lot of time looking at bridal websites for my fake ceremony attire before deciding on a gorgeous dress from a local designer. He made what he described as “nontraditional” wedding dresses because they were colorful.

Mine was light pink with flowers of black lace sewn on the top. I splurged a bit on it, but I could afford it. I was so short on time that I didn’t even go to pick it up myself and instead had it delivered to the house. It arrived three days before the big event. When I came home with the twins from daycare, a huge box was sitting on the doorstep.

“What’s inside?” Annie asked.

“My dress for Saturday. Want to see it?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands.

Jack didn’t seem to understand what the excitement was about, but he dutifully followed his sister, and they both sat on the couch, watching me as I opened the box.

“It’s a princess dress,” Annie said, “like mine.”

“Yours is more beautiful,” I told her.

I’d splurged on their outfits too. They were so damn cute. Jack had a little tuxedo, and Annie had a gorgeous gold dress because that was her favorite color right now. I loved spoiling her. Both of them, really.

“Do you want me to put it on?” I asked them.

“Yes!” Annie clapped her hands again.

Jack looked confused, but he clapped as well.

Oh, my darlings. I loved them so much.

“I’ll be right back.”

I changed in the bathroom with the door ajar so I could still hear what they were up to. I’d sent in my measurements, and the designer promised me that the dress would fit perfectly. I was usually skeptical about these things, but I figured, why the hell not? Thankfully, it fit like a glove.

I hurried back to the couch, and Annie giggled as I approached, but then her smile fell.

“You look like Mommy, Auntie Allison.”

My heart gave a mighty sigh.

“Thank you, Annie. Your mommy was very beautiful.”

I sat between them. They both instantly put their heads on my lap, and I caressed their hair. It was part of our everyday cuddle routine. Suddenly, I wondered what it would look like with Nick here, considering this was going to be his bed. But I had too much to think about to worry about logistics right now. It would all work out one way or another, as Nick insisted.

“All right, it’s time for dinner.”

“Can you wear your dress the whole night, please?” Annie asked.

Huh. That had the potential to turn into a disaster. But I didn’t have to cook. We still had plenty of leftovers from yesterday. I just had to reheat it.

“Only if you help me put on an apron,” I told Annie.

She was obviously feeling very clappy today, because she jumped down from the couch and ran toward the kitchen, clapping loudly. I followed her quickly and took the apron out of the drawer where I stored towels and such. I quickly threw it over me and then lowered myself onto my knees so Annie could tie it at the back.

“I’m happy Uncle Nick is coming to live with us.”

“I’m happy, too, Annie.”

“He always brings pizza.”

I laughed. Nick knew his way to these kids’ hearts.

I wondered how Annie would respond to him being here every evening during our routine and so on. An image flashed in my mind of the four of us cuddled on the couch. I melted at the mere thought.

Don’t get used to it, Allison. This is just to help you out with custody. Then it’ll be you and the twins again, and Nick will go back to his life.

Of course he would. If I had a penthouse, you’d have to drag me out of it for me to leave. I’d never do that voluntarily.

We had garbanzo beans and rice for dinner. It had been one of Nora’s favorites. I felt much closer to her when we had this meal, and I knew the same was true for the twins. I asked them a bit about their daycare, and suddenly Jack was very chatty. He was becoming so much more confident. I loved it. He seemed to be coming out of his shell more and more. Jack loved the new girl the daycare had hired from the morning he first saw her, and I was sure she’d made all the difference in the world to him.

After I put the twins to bed, I finally managed to take off the dress and laid it out on my comforter to admire it. It was truly gorgeous and worthy of a wedding day, fake or not.

I couldn’t believe I was getting married in two days. And yet, I didn’t have any wedding jitters.

***

On Friday evening, I was eating my words because I couldn’t go to sleep at all. I tossed and turned in bed and couldn’t separate one thought from another.

At about one o’clock in the morning, I realized I wasn’t going to sleep at all, so I grabbed my phone. I was debating if I should spend time on social media or watch YouTube tutorials on how to wear my hair. It would have been far too complicated to ask Doreen to come tomorrow morning to watch the twins while I went to a salon, so I’d decided to do it myself. To my surprise, I had a message from Nick.

Nick: Hey, are you sleeping?

He’d sent it an hour ago, so he probably wasn’t awake anymore, but I decided to reply anyway.

Allison: Wide awake.

He called me right away. Swallowing hard, I put the phone to my ear.

“Hi,” I said.

“Why are you whispering? Are the twins with you?”

“Oh, no, sorry. I don’t know.” I sat up on the bed with my back against the headrest.

“I can’t sleep,” Nick said.

I laughed. “Neither can I. We’re both going to be zombies tomorrow.”

“I think adrenaline will kick in as soon as we arrive at city hall.”

“Yeah, that is a distinct possibility.”

I hadn’t spoken much to him since our night together. I knew he was deliberately trying to minimize our contact—which was a good thing, considering that right now, my entire body was full of energy just because I was hearing his voice.

“Ready for tomorrow?”

“Absolutely not, but I’m going to trust a certain sexy CEO that things will work out.”

“I see. So, you trust that sexy CEO a lot?”

I paused. “Yes. Shouldn’t I?”

“Right now, I don’t even know what to tell you.”

Holy shit. Did he mean that he didn’t want to do this, or was he talking about our sexy night together?

“Nick, if you don’t want to get marrie—”

“I would never pull out at the last minute on something like this.”

“It’s not like you would jilt me at the altar or anything.” I felt sad at the idea. But I knew the deal, so I shouldn’t be upset.

“Allison, we’re going through with it. It’s just hitting me how insane this all is, that’s all.”

“Only now?” My voice squeaked like Annie’s sometimes did.

“It started some time ago, but now it’s even more real.” He sighed. “So listen, I know I’ve been dragging my feet with moving my stuff, but I figured there’s no reason to hurry. My brother Leo will drop by the house tomorrow morning with my suitcases, and you can tell him where to leave them.”

“Of course. You’ve decided to sleep on my couch after all?”

“Yeah. And if that’s too uncomfortable, we’ll switch it with mine. We’ll figure it out.”

“Of course.”

“By the way, Leo had an interesting idea. He offered to drive you.”

“Really? How come?”

“I don’t know. Sort of a ‘giving the bride away’ tradition, I guess.”

I smiled in the darkness. “I love that idea. Even though this is all unconventional, why not?”

“Then Leo will be picking you up.”

Silence followed his words, and then I heard him swallow audibly. What was he thinking about? My pulse quickened for no reason.

“I forgot to tell you that Bob emailed back. They’re coming.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Nick exclaimed. “I can’t believe them.”

“Yeah, I can’t either. He had the gall to lecture me about telling them last minute too. How about taking a hint, Bob?” I asked no one in particular.

“That’s frustrating, but we’ll manage.”

It was more than that. The Whitleys knew what was going on, and so did the two friends I’d invited. Which meant we didn’t have to pretend in front of them. But with Bob and Sophie, it was another matter altogether. Nick assured me that his family knew not to give us away, as did my friends. But still, it was all unnerving. I was afraid that Bob and Sophie suspected this was a sham marriage and were trying to obtain proof. Why else would they drop so much money on tickets?

I yawned, to my surprise.

Nick clearly heard it, as he said, “You’re starting to get sleepy. Good. I’ll let you get back to bed.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. I have to be up in five hours. I might be even more tired than if I don’t sleep at all.” Then I yawned again. “Nah, changed my mind. I’d better get to sleep before it goes away.”

“Good night, Allison.”

“Good night, Nick.”

After we hung up, it dawned on me that this was the last time we’d say good night on the phone. Tomorrow, it would be in my living room.

I immediately dropped into a deep sleep and started to dream about going to get water downstairs and running into a very naked Nick. It was one of the best dreams I’d had in a very long time.