One Hot Fake: An Accidental Fake Marriage Romance by Sarah Brooks (free novel reading sites .TXT) 📗

to work, except that today it feels different. I search for the word, and after a few seconds of discarding words popping into my head, I find it. Happy. I feel happy.

After parking my car, my first stop is, of course, the shop. I find Maggie in her usual spot behind her desk, in the back office.

“Hello there,” she says and looks at me as if she’s seeing me for the first time.

“Hi yourself,” I tell her and sit down. I know what is coming, so I’d rather get it over and done with.

“So,” she says looking me over. “You’re married?”

I grin. “I am.”

“I suppose it makes sense that a wedding planner would want as little fuss on her wedding day,” Maggie says.

Relief flows through me. “Yes, that’s exactly right.”

“There’s only one piece of the puzzle that doesn’t make sense,” she continues as she narrows her eyes. “None of us have seen or met him the five years that we’ve worked for you.”

I’m taken aback by her forthrightness, though why that should surprise me, I have no idea. Maggie has always been to the point. One of the many reasons why I love her.

I inhale deeply. “Okay. This is what happened.” The whole story tumbles out except for the last part. I feed her the same story I’ve given to everyone else. I tell her that Declan and I want to try and make it work.

I’ve said it so much that I’m beginning to believe it. We chat for a few more minutes before I leave for upstairs. It’s too early for anyone to be in the office yet, and I brew my coffee and enjoy the minutes of solitude before voices fill the office and phones start ringing.

I answer emails and schedule appointments as I sip my coffee. This used to be my favorite time of the day. Not anymore. A smile tugs at my lips as memories of how I woke up wash over me. It’s not a bad way to get ready to face the day.

My body heats up, and I almost groaned aloud with fresh need. Declan is a walking temptation. Even thinking about him is enough to get my body aching for him.

Chapter 16

Marian

“We have a new project that I want you to work on, Eric,” I say. “It’s out of town. Sorry.”

Eric poises his fingers over his iPad. “It’s okay,” he says with a smile. That’s one of the things I love about my employees. They have the greatest attitudes, and nothing is too much work.

“Whose wedding is it?” he says.

I force a smile. “My mother’s.”

Kimberly looks up from her iPad screen, as does Eric.

“A shocker, I know. It came as a surprise to me too,” I say and wonder how much to tell them. Then I realize that even if I don’t, within minutes of Eric meeting my mother, she’ll have told him her whole life story.

“She and my father divorced several years ago, and she’s met someone else. She’s determined to have the biggest wedding the town has ever seen,” I say.

“I think it’s cool that she’s found someone else. Happiness should be grabbed with both hands,” Eric says.

“You don’t know how lucky you are,” Kimberly says. “My parents got divorced too, but they still fight like cats in an alley.”

We laugh. It wasn’t awkward at all, but there’s still the big elephant to address in the room.

“So, you met my husband,” I tell them as we wind up the meeting. “I’m sure that was a surprise.”

Eric grins. “You can say that again. I didn’t think you had it in you to do something so crazy. Did you even know him before?”

It’s excruciating to tell that story again, but I comfort myself that there’s no one else I owe an explanation to.

After the meeting, I check my to-do list for the day and start making calls to clients and vendors. An hour into it, my cell phone rings. I’m not surprised to see a call from my mom.

She tears into me as soon as I pick up the call. “How can you do that to me, Marian? This wedding is special to me, and I want it to be a family affair.”

“What is it, Mom?” I ask her even though I know the answer to that question.

“You know what the matter is as well as I do,” she says and sniffs. I’m alarmed. As dramatic as she is, Mom is not an emotional person, so hearing her sounding like she had been crying shocks me into rethinking my decision.

“Josh is here, and he wants to speak to you too,” Mom says.

Josh comes on the phone. “Marian, I know it’s uncomfortable for you, but please do this one thing for your mother. She’s talked about it for months. How special her wedding day will be because her daughter, the gifted wedding planner, will arrange it.”

My defenses are falling one at a time. Mom comes back on the phone.

I let out a sigh. I’ve lost that battle. “Okay, Mom, I’ll do it. You don’t have to bring anyone else to the phone.”

“Thank you,” she says. “Shall we get started now?”

Goodness no. I can’t handle it now. I need some time to settle into the idea. “I’ll drive down sometime during the week.” As much as I hate the idea of going back to Arlen, I’ll have to at some point. Besides, I’ll want to meet with different vendors. My brain is abuzz with things that I’ll need to do. We say goodbye after agreeing that I’ll drive down on Thursday.

My office phone rings as if it was waiting for the call with my mom to end. I pick it up.

“Marian, this is Owen.” His voice has a tinge of panic.

“Hi, Owen, what’s up?” I say.

Owen and his bride are getting married in two months, and theirs is one of those weddings that I’ve marked off as difficult. The bride and the groom are lovely, but the groom’s parents are a nightmare. They