My Unexpected Vow: California Billionaires Book 2 by Harlow James (children's ebooks free online TXT) 📗

air of irritation, popping a fry in his mouth. “They sat me down a few weeks ago and asked me why I’m not dating anyone or trying to settle down, given my age.” A blurry recollection of this information comes to the forefront of my mind.

“You are getting up there, but given what I know of your lifestyle, I’d say you’re living your life to the fullest most days.” I smirk at him as he rolls his eyes.

“My dad wants to retire, but he doesn’t think I’m ready for the responsibility, that I haven’t considered my personal future first. And until then, he won’t hand over the reins.”

Growing up around Hayes lent me a first-hand experience with Hayes and his relationship with his parents, and from what I can remember Mr. and Mrs. Weston are good people. They love their son something fierce too, which may feed into Hayes’s ego a bit. But you didn’t hear that from me.

“So staying married to me will help them see that?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t think they’ll be suspicious given how recent your conversation was?”

He teeters his head from side to side. “Possibly, but I’m sure we can spin this in a way to satisfy their curiosity.”

“But what about when this ends? We can’t stay married forever, Hayes,” I reply, suddenly realizing that although the ruse may make sense at the moment, this can’t last forever. I am not going to marry Hayes and that be it for my life. I’ll be damned if I’m married to a man that coined the nickname Beaverly for me.

He ponders that thought as he chews on a bite of his burger. “We can put a time frame on it. Something long enough to make it seem like we’re serious, but not so long that we’re wasting too much of each other’s time.”

I stare across the table at him, mouth slightly agape. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

He nods before taking a sip of his strawberry shake. The man ordered a strawberry shake. That is definitely a surprising fact I learned about him today. Everyone knows chocolate is the only way to go, but knowing Hayes favors strawberry only confuses me more about the man sitting in front of me—the man I’ve convinced myself I’ve known well over the years, but apparently don’t know that much about. And now that I’m thinking about milkshakes, perhaps I’ll need one of those for the rest of the drive home.

“I am. Look, Waverly… you and I both know that a drunken Vegas wedding is like kindling to the press. One word and the tabloids will be bursting into flames. That’s the last thing I need right now. And something tells me it wouldn’t bode so well for you either.”

I stare down at my food. “No one likes gossip news, Hayes.”

“Exactly. Plus, I can’t be the only one with something to lose here.”

I nod, deciding it’s best that I’m honest too. “Well, to be frank, I’m kind of agreeing with you. I’m about to start my career, and a public display of irresponsibility is the last thing I need to be attached to my name.”

“Interior design, right?”

“Yes. And I’m putting in applications to different firms this week, hoping for interviews.”

“See? Then this might just make sense.”

I feel my phone buzz in my pocket, so I reach back to retrieve it. After swiping across the screen, a new text message from Brett pops up, which makes the nausea from earlier reappear.

But then another notion comes to light. Maybe Hayes is on to something in more ways than one. Perhaps not only would this marriage help him out and keep me from looking like a reckless twenty-four-year-old not ready for a grown-up job, but it could finally get Brett off of my back as well. He can’t honestly continue to pursue me if I’m married to someone, right?

I ignore the text and shove my phone back in my pocket.

“Who was that?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me as if I owe him an explanation of who I talk to.

“None of your business. Let’s get back on topic, alright? So let’s say I agree to this charade then. We would need to come up with an end date and then figure out our arrangements.”

“Arrangements?” he asks, crumpling up his paper from his burger. Damn, the man eats fast. And I know for sure that consuming that meal does nothing to the physique he’s hiding under his clothes. I’ve seen Hayes in his underwear now, so there’s no shock to the fact the man’s body is top-notch. Not that I noticed or anything.

“Yes. We can’t be married and not living together, Hayes. If this is going to look real, it needs to appear real as well, or paparazzi will smell something fishy from a mile away. Plus, don’t you want your parents to believe you? It would look irresponsible to marry a woman, but not live with her.”

Hayes brushes a hand through his dark hair, dragging it down to the matching scruff on his face, the lines around his eyes crinkling slightly in a magnetic way. Jesus, now I’m noticing his endearing eye wrinkles?

“Christ. Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“And I have a roommate, so I can’t very well ask you to move in.”

“No, that won’t work.”

“So as much as it pains me to say this, your house it is then?”

He stares so intensely at me that I can see the twitch in his jaw. With a hard swallow, he nods. “I guess so.”

“Holy shit,” I breathe out in shock, slinking back in my chair. “We’re really doing this, aren’t we?”

Hayes takes a deep breath and sighs. “I guess so.”

“What about Wes?” I ask as I stare down at the ring on my finger, twirling it around. At least in all of our haste to rush to the alter, Hayes had enough sense to buy me a ring, and a beautiful one at that. It’s much simpler than I would have wanted for an engagement ring later in