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

“Maybe if you’re lucky, your brother will kill me when he finds out and this will all be over like that,” he says with a snap of his fingers, laughing at his own demise.

I chuckle. “Honestly, I’m not sure if he’s going to be more furious with you or me.”

“The man is my best friend, and even I’m wary about what he’s going to say.”

I take another bite of my burger. “Maybe we should tell him together? Make it look like we’re a team, or couple, in this?”

Hayes laughs. “Do you think he’d believe that? Not to burst your bubble, Beaverly, but you and I don’t exactly scream the type to get married by choice.”

I drag my teeth across each other. If this keeps up, I’m going to need a mouth guard to survive the length of this marriage. “By the way, you need to stop calling me Beaverly now. Happy wife, happy life… that’s the saying, isn’t it?”

“I may have heard that a time or two before, but I feel like continuing to call you Beaverly only adds to our newfound affection for each other.” His grin ignites a rush of fury in my chest, reminding me that less than twenty-four hours ago, I’d never dream of calling Hayes Weston, my husband.

“There will be no affection between us, Hayes—verbal or physical.”

“Yes, you confirmed that this morning. Although, won’t your beaver get lonely without a little log action?” He lifts a brow and then drops his eyes to my lap and then his.

“That was the most pathetic excuse for a pun I’ve ever heard.”

He tilts his head back and forth. “It wasn’t my best, sure, but I am hungover. Give me a break.”

“I feel like we’re having a Ross and Rachel moment from Friends. Remember when they got drunk and married in Vegas?”

He nods with a perplexed look on his face. “Of course. Who doesn’t know the entire franchise and have it memorized?”

Knowing that Hayes is a Friends fan shouldn’t make my stomach flip, but it does. However, I fight hard not to remind myself that I generally loathe this man. “Well, then you’ll probably agree with me that this thing between us—” I wave my hand back and forth between our chests. “This is not a marriage. This is the world’s worst hangover.”

Chapter 3

Hayes

“How was Vegas?”

My mom draws her fork to her mouth, taking a bite of her rice and chewing as she eyes me from across the table.

It’s dinner with the parents night, also known as the first time that I’m seeing my parents since our last conversation where apparently my drunken mind took their advice to heart and I married someone on a whim after downing almost an entire bottle of tequila.

“Uh, it was good. Crazy. You know, Vegas on New Year’s is an experience in itself.”

“And the clubs? Dynasty in particular?” My father eyes me from his chair as he shifts food around his plate with his fork.

“The crowd was impeccable. One of the best nights of business since I came in.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he says, nodding and then reaching for his glass of wine. “We’ve done the Vegas thing a few times at New Year’s though. Always resulted in a hangover.” He chuckles.

Ha. You don’t know the half of it, Dad.

“Yeah. Definitely drank too much, got wrapped up in the excitement. Ran into Waverly actually,” I casually slip in, attempting to steer this conversation to where I need it to go.

“Oh, how is Waverly?” My mother beams as she waits for my answer. My mom has always loved Wes and Waverly, offering them a place to be kids as we grew up since their parents weren’t really around and we lived close by. Wes and I met at school when we were quite young and have been inseparable ever since.

“Uh, she’s good. Just graduated from USC. Looking for jobs in interior design.”

“Wow. Seems she’s grown up quite a bit. Gosh, I can’t remember the last time we saw her. It doesn’t seem plausible that she’s a mature, young woman now.”

“Why doesn’t Wes just hire her?” My dad interjects. “I’m sure he could use another hand with his hotels.”

I clear my throat. “Well, I’m not sure that he won’t. But listen, there’s something I need to actually talk to you about. It involves Waverly.”

The puzzled look on my mother’s face makes me hesitate. But there’s no going back now. Waverly and I agreed that we would do our best not to kill each other and try to make this work to both of our advantages, so it doesn’t turn out to just be a colossal mistake and ruin what we’ve both worked so hard for.

“Oh, no. What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

“Did something happen with her parents? Is she and the family having financial trouble?” My dad adds.

“No. Nothing like that. Jeez.” I run my hand through my hair, mustering up the courage to just get the words out.

Rip off the band-aid, Hayes. Quick and painless.

“Waverly got married.”

My mom’s face lights up instantly. “Oh, that’s wonderful! Did she tell you this when you ran into each other?”

I swear, my mom thinks we’re best friends because I’m best friends with her brother. If she only knew…

“Uh, sort of. Actually,” I pause, preparing to utter the words, “she and I got married,” I mutter, lifting my eyes only momentarily to take in the reaction on my parent’s faces. However, total shock was not what I was counting on, but I can’t blame them for being stunned.

“You… you what?” My mom whispers.

My dad lays his fork on the table. “Please tell me this is a joke, son.”

“Nope. Not a joke. Surprise! I got married!” I put on my best enthusiastic performance, but seeing their looks of confusion laced with an air of disappointment has me re-thinking this plan.

My mother’s head twists around the room. “Why isn’t she here then? Shouldn’t your wife