The Bluff (Calamity Montana)

“SORRY.” I shuffled to the side so Everly could pass me in the hallway. My back was plastered against the wall as she slid by, keeping her eyes trained on the floor.

Goddamn, this was awkward.

Everly darted down the stairs and I blew out a long breath, taking the box I was carrying to the office.

We hadn’t spoken much in the last five days. Too stunned that I’d actually gone to her place and we’d agreed to get married, I’d bolted as soon as we’d exchanged phone numbers.

Everly had agreed to become my wife and she hadn’t even known my number.

How fucked up was that?

It had started as a kiss in my office, a marathon fuck in my bed, and now she was my fiancée.

I’d inhaled too many paint fumes. They’d warped my mind.

Yet as I acknowledged this was crazy, I couldn’t seem to turn this train wreck around.

After the past five days, I’d thought a lot about what Aiden had said. I’d hashed and rehashed his concerns and my ex-wife.

April was a master at tainting my reputation around town. She had the crying, pitiful, poor-me act honed to perfection. And most people bought it.

To Aiden’s point, I hadn’t done anything to dispute it.

There was no point. She was April Tosh, loving wife of Julian Tosh, a respected and admired attorney. Maybe some folks suspected that Julian liked to hit April—and that April liked it when Julian hit her—but there was no proof and April would never turn on him.

She was a master manipulator and liar. She wanted to cast me as the evil, criminal ex-husband, and that’s just what she’d done. She refused to let people forget why I’d gone to prison. She’d convinced many around town that I was the one who’d shunned Savannah. She had too many believing I’d disowned my own child and that Saint Julian had stepped in to rescue her.

People didn’t want to see the truth. They didn’t want to admit I was fighting for my child. They didn’t want to think about why I’d always, always refused to let Julian adopt her.

It was easier to believe her lies, buy into the crocodile tears and pathetic stories.

Fucking Calamity.

This town was too small for its own good.

If not for Savannah, I would have left long ago. But I refused to leave here until she was eighteen. Only two years to go.

I was thirty-five, and starting over before I hit forty sounded damn nice. The plan was to move to whatever area she decided on for work or college. Thankfully, my baby girl wanted to get the hell out of Calamity too.

Katie could run the gallery here or we could close it down. I didn’t care.

But that was for later. There were still two years left. Two important years. So I’d keep fighting, and it was time to step up my strategy.

I’d been in the studio painting when I’d realized this marriage idea might be a good one. It had stunned me so fast, the brush in my hand had dropped onto my jeans, streaking them with green.

Before I knew it, I was driving to Everly’s apartment and knocking on her door.

What was it about that woman who made me act on impulse? That first night in the bar. The second night at her place. And now . . . marriage.

We were getting married.

In two days.

Today, she was moving into my home. She’d texted a few days ago and said we should probably live under the same roof.

It was strange to have her in my space. The box in my arms was full of chargers and electronics and a few books. She’d spent the past few days packing up her apartment, though there wasn’t much. She’d decided to leave the furniture until her lease was up with Kerrigan. Then she’d sell it, either online or to Kerrigan, who could then rent the space as furnished.

Everly’s footsteps echoed on the stairs. I braced for another awkward exchange.

We probably should have stuck with the sex.

Eventually, this would fade, right? I sure as hell hoped so. Because there’d be no avoiding one another.

I had three bedrooms, one of which I’d turned into an office. The guest room was for Savannah. So Everly and I would be sharing a room, a bed and a bathroom, like an actual married couple.

The ruse had to work here too. If Savannah came over, she needed to think I’d married Everly for real.

We couldn’t risk anyone knowing this was all a bluff.

“Um . . .” Everly appeared in the doorway behind me with another box, setting it on the floor.

“I’ll clear some space.” The desk in my home office was as cluttered as the desk at the gallery. Buried beneath the papers was a smooth, hickory surface. I just hadn’t seen it for a few years.

“Okay.” She glanced around the room, taking in the crowded bookshelves. Her gaze darted over the tall-backed chair and the stacks of blank canvases in one corner.

I was always tripping over canvases but when the time came and I needed a certain size, I never could find the right one. I collected a large armful to take to the studio.

“I don’t need much,” she said. “You can leave them.”

“No, I should have moved these months ago. Just didn’t get to it.”

She shifted so I could pass, five under one arm and three under the other. Then I bolted down the stairs, through the living room and out the back door, where I disappeared to my studio.

I breathed a long sigh when I was inside. “Fuck.”

Savannah. This is for Savannah.

Everly had her unknown reasons for agreeing and I had mine.

This was my Hail Mary so I might as well go all in. And somehow, if there was any person who could convince the entire town this was a real marriage, it was Everly.

She was magnetic. She drew people in with her warm smile and magical eyes. Maybe she’d be good for Savannah too. Any female influence besides April’s would be a good thing.

I stacked the canvases with the others, then lingered for a few minutes. My studio time was about to go up. I’d spend more time out here painting. I’d spend time at the gallery and give Everly her space.

Anything to avoid the house until the dust settled.

It had to get easier, right? This was just the first day. I hadn’t lived with anyone since April, unless my cellmates counted. If I could survive nearly two years in prison, I could survive a couple married to a beautiful woman.

Not wanting to make her unpack alone, I headed inside, meeting Everly as she came in from the garage, both hands loaded with clothes on hangers.

“There’s only one more load.”

“I’ll get the rest.” With the rest of her clothes on one arm and the truck empty, I kicked the door shut and met Everly in the bedroom by the closet.

It wasn’t a small room, but with the two of us in here, it felt half the usual size. She’d slept in the king-sized bed. That hadn’t been strange. Why was this?

She cast me a glance over her shoulder and shoved the line of hangers and clothes down the rod so I could hang up the rest. Then we stood there, cloaked in uncomfortable silence.

“Make yourself at—”

“This is awk—”

We ground to a halt in unison.

Everly scrunched up her nose. “This is awkward.”

“Pretty much.” I nodded. “Did you tell Lucy?”

“No.” She walked to the bed, plopping down on the edge.

That one move and the tension eased. Probably because Everly in bed was something I could compartmentalize. The bed was familiar. The bed was easy. If we had one thing going for us headed into this shitshow, it was the sex.

“I’ll tell her after we’re married,” Everly said.

“Think she’ll talk you out of it?”

She shrugged. “She’ll try. If our roles were reversed and she was sitting in my position, I’d try.”

“No one can know it’s fake. Lucy’s married to the sheriff. If the judge asks Duke to testify, then—”

“I know.” She held up her hand. “The real reason is between you and me. I’m good with vague. People can think what they want. Most will probably assume I’m pregnant or something.”

Hearing those words made my stomach drop. We’d taken precautions with the condoms and if she wanted to keep up the physical stuff, those precautions would continue.

Everly was my future ex-wife. There was no way I’d risk adding another kid to the mix.

“Two years. Maybe less. If I can get custody, then we can get a divorce once things smooth out.”

“We’ll get her.”

There was something about the we in her sentence that gave me hope. Dangerous hope.

“Can I ask you a question?” She shifted on the bed, dropping back on her elbows.

I leaned against the wall. “Shoot.”

“What made you change your mind about all this? You were so adamantly against it.”

I sighed. “I came home after dropping you off and went to work in the studio. Sat there and couldn’t paint. I kept thinking about what Aiden said, about what you said. Nothing has changed since the last time I tried to get Savannah. Yeah, it was years ago, but I’m still the same guy. Same house. No judge is going to give me my kid.”

There was a hopelessness in my voice. She sat up straighter, then gave me a sad smile. “We’ll get her.”

There was that we again. “Hope so.”

“Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.”

I chuckled and pushed off the wall, jerking my chin toward the hallway. “I’m going to go order some dinner. You good with pizza?”

“As long as it comes with a cold beer.”

“Christ, we might actually survive this thing. Toppings?”

“Ham and pineapple?”

“Spoke too soon.” Fruit didn’t belong on pizza.

She giggled. “I like Hawaiian best, but I’m not picky. Whatever you’d like is fine.”

I turned to leave but stopped short of the door. I’d been dreading this part since dawn. Get it over with.

“I, uh . . . got you something.” Before I’d gone to pick up Everly from the apartment this morning, I’d taken the hour-long trip to Prescott. Their jewelry store was better than the one in Calamity. Not because they had better jewels, but because the staff wasn’t from Calamity. If any gossip traveled across the county line, it wouldn’t hit town until after Everly and I had already exchanged vows.

“Here.” I tossed the ring to the bed. The diamond glittered against the dark comforter.

Everly’s eyes went wide as she picked it up. “Hux. This is . . .”

I didn’t wait for her to gather the words. I didn’t want a thanks or anything else. It was an engagement ring because we were engaged. She needed a ring, so I’d bought her one.

Leaving her in the bedroom, I hurried downstairs to order pizza. Then I took out a beer from the fridge, drinking that first gulp when the doorbell rang.

Ugh. Today was not the day for visitors. I crossed the living room for the door, flinging it open. Son of a bitch. Should have checked who it was first.

“What do you want, April?”

My ex-wife crossed her arms over her chest, shooting me her favorite glare. She’d had that look since we’d been kids. Why the fuck I hadn’t seen it for pure evil then I blamed on youth and sex. Like most teenage boys, I’d thought more with my cock than my brain so I’d missed the viper behind the blond hair and pretty face.

“You need to stop texting Savannah,” she ordered.

“No, I don’t.” There was nothing in the past judgments that prevented me from contacting Savannah. Aiden had dug into the technicalities to be sure. There was nothing April could do to prevent me from calling, emailing or messaging my daughter. I had no visitation, but communication was allowed.

“Stop texting her or Julian will be forced to mention your little movie date to the judge.”

April did love her threats.

For a lot of years, I’d feared them because I’d thought she’d actually act on them. When Savannah was little, April had threatened over and over to leave Calamity. She’d promise she’d take Savannah and disappear to the other side of the country. I would have followed, but it would have meant uprooting Savannah’s life. At the time, I hadn’t had a lot of money to afford a cross-country chase either.

But I’d caught on to April’s game eventually. She was more bark than bite. Julian, on the other hand, was a fucking pit bull.

That son of a bitch loved to sink his teeth in. Given past history, my movie date with Savannah would have sent him straight to his friend at the district court. Maybe April hadn’t told him yet. Or maybe that friend of hers thought she’d seen me there with Savannah but hadn’t been sure. I wouldn’t put it past April to have tricked Savannah into a confession.

“Why did you come here?” I asked. “You’re supposed to communicate through my attorney.”

“I was in the neighborhood.”

Bullshit. April and Julian lived on the other side of town and from what I knew, she wasn’t friends with anyone on my block.

Either she was here looking for Savannah because she couldn’t find our daughter.

Or she’d heard about Everly.

April had her spies everywhere and one might have noticed my truck outside Everly’s this morning loading up.

“Goodbye, April.” I moved to close the door in her face but stopped when a hand dragged across my back and Everly appeared at my side. Lemon and lavender filled my nose.

“Hi.” She smiled brightly at April.

There was a flash of jealousy in April’s gaze that made my chest swell with pride. Everly was gorgeous. No way around it. She was fucking gorgeous and with one look, April knew I’d traded up. Way up.

“I’m Everly.” She held out her right hand. “And you’re April?”

There was no shock on April’s face. Just that infuriating glare. Yeah, she was here because she’d already heard about Everly. Goddamn it. There’d be no backing out now. Not that I’d planned to, but this was the first test to prove we were real.

April shook Everly’s hand, her grip flapping loose like a dead fish. “Yes.”

There was a lot of venom in that word but Everly brushed it off. When she let her left arm slide free of my waist, my heart skipped. She was about to drop the bomb.

Everly’s hand snaked up my spine to drape over my shoulder. She looked like she was leaning on me. Really, she was flashing April her ring.

The four-carat, emerald-cut solitaire diamond on a platinum band.

April sure as fuck hadn’t gotten that kind of ring out of me.

The minute April saw it, her mouth flapped open.

And a Cheshire cat grin spread across Everly’s face. “Did you order pizza, honey?” she purred, standing on her toes to nibble my ear.

“Yeah. Your favorite.” I turned and brushed my nose against hers. The plan had been to slam the door in April’s face. Instead, I let it go so I could haul Everly against my body with both arms.

Everly held my gaze, flashing me a cunning smirk, then she turned to April. “You’re still here?”

Fuck, but I liked that. There were no fake subtleties. No pretending. April was public enemy number one and Everly wasn’t going to play nice.

April’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t speak. She just spun around and marched to the Audi sedan she’d left running in the driveway.

I slammed the door before April was out of sight.

“She’s lovely,” Everly deadpanned.

“Word will be all over town now.” Shit. “Better tell Lucy.”

“It will wait.” She shook her head and moved to stand in the living room. “We’re getting married on Friday. I’ll just avoid her for a couple of days. With any luck, she and Duke won’t hear about it through the gossip mill.”

“They don’t exactly run in April’s circles but he is the sheriff.”

“Let’s just let it play out. If she finds out, she’s going to have a lot of questions that we don’t exactly have the answers to yet.”

“Like what the fuck are we thinking?”

“Exactly.” Everly’s gaze moved to the door. “She’s pretty.”

“On the outside.”

“I thought Savannah looked like you, but she takes after April too.”

I nodded. “She does.”

Something crossed her expression—jealousy?—but Everly blinked it away and held up her left hand, wiggling her ring finger. “This is an expensive ring for a temporary wife.”

“I don’t plan to have any other wife, so you might as well capitalize.”

“On your commitment phobia.”

“Yep.”

She glanced at the ring. “Another woman, a better woman, would probably insist you downsize this, but it’s really beautiful and it looks really sparkly on my hand and I kind of already fell in love with it so I’m keeping it.”

“Good. I don’t have time to take another trip to the jewelry store.” And it was just a ring. I didn’t care if she kept it and hocked it when this was over. Whatever money it had cost would be well worth it if this charade worked.

“Hmm.” She tapped her chin. “Do you want a ring?”

“Bought one.”

“That’s sort of my job.”

I shrugged and walked into the living room, taking a seat on the couch.

“Well . . .” She sighed. “A visit from the ex wasn’t planned but at least it’s not awkward as hell in this house anymore.”

I chuckled. “True.”

Everly walked to the couch, but instead of taking the seat beside me, she pushed my shoulders back and straddled my lap. “I was thinking.”

As long as her thinking involved her naked body, I was for it. “Thinking what?”

She dropped a light kiss to my neck, her hair draping between us. “Instead of thinking of this as a marriage, what if we think of this as hot, exclusive sex for a couple of years?”

I shoved my hands into her hair, pushing her face away from my neck to see her eyes. “Sex.”

“A lot of sex.” A slow smile spread across her face. “I’ll win best wife award for sure.”

I chuckled and couldn’t help my own smile.

She brushed her fingertips over the shell of my ear. “You have a great smile.”

The compliment made it fall flat.

We shouldn’t be complimenting one another.

There’d be no kind words. No cuddling or pillow talk. Better to establish those limits now.

“Don’t say shit like that to me.”

Everly flinched, her expression hardening as she dropped her hand. But instead of smacking me for the asshole remark, she ground her hips harder on my groin. “Then how about you have a great cock? Can I say that?”

I flipped us, pinning her beneath me in a flash to press my arousal into her core. “Yeah.”

“Good.” She leaned up and caught my lower lip between her teeth. “Then use it.”

She stripped me as I stripped her. When I had my dick covered with a condom, I buried myself in her tight heat and fucked her hard. My mouth latched on to a nipple. I tossed one of her legs over the back of the couch so I could strum her clit. And I pounded into her with a punishing rhythm until we both exploded together.

I reminded us both that this was about the sex. That she was just a fuck and nothing more.

Other than my soon-to-be wife.