Momentary Marriage (10 page)

Kelsey took a deep breath.

“Yes. For my sister’s sake, I think we should get married.
”

CHAPTER SIX

Jared sat back as the limo pulled away from the curb. His rapid decision to propose to Kelsey a half hour before sat comfortably on his shoulders. It would work, this alliance between them. If his mind hadn’t been completely made up before, the kiss had settled it.

The memory of it returned instantly to him, tightening his gut. How perfectly she fit against him, her slender body soft and erotic as she melted in his arms. The apple blossom scent of her hair.

Shifting in his seat, he turned his mind away from their kiss. No point in arriving at his office too hard to walk straight.

She pushed all the right buttons, that dark-haired witch. Seduced his mind and body with her intelligence and the smokey invitation in her eyes. The fact that she continually surprised him only added spice to the mix. Who’d have thought the trouble he’d stirred up with Amy and Doug would lead to this?

Looking out the limousine’s dark windows as the city streets passed by, he thought about how much his family would love her. In truth, they would be eager to meet any woman who’d captured his heart. But Kelsey’s friendly demeanor and charming smile couldn’t help but win them over. Only his mother might be concerned at the swiftness of his engagement, he supposed. Mothers were inclined to worry.

Still, she’d mentioned more than once in the years after his divorce that he needed to put his failure behind him and find a woman who would love him and help him make a home for a family.

“We are headed back to the office, aren’t we, sir?” Clarence glanced at him in the rear view mirror.

“Yes,” Jared confirmed. He had a meeting with several of his top executives from all over the country and had decided to use the limo to make their day even more luxurious.

“Do you have the gate number?” he asked his driver. “You’ll need to go on to JFK as soon as you drop me off.”

“Yes,” Clarence confirmed.

Jared ran through the day’s schedule in his mind. He really hadn’t had the time to stop off and see Kelsey, but how fortunate for them both that he’d made time.

She was going to marry him. If she didn’t bolt before the big day.

A grim smile eased onto his face. No doubt about it, he’d chosen a skittish bride. Her sister’s love for Doug might get Kelsey to the altar, but he’d be the one conniving a way to make her stay married to him. What would win her heart? Convince her that they could make a good life together?

Drawing his cell phone out of his pocket, he punched in her office number and wait while the receptionist connected him to Kelsey’s extension?

“Hello?” Her voice sounded frazzled, as if she were in the middle of something.

“I’ll pick you up at five,” he said. “We need to tell Doug we’re getting married.”

“Jared,” she said with an uncertain laugh. “Are you sure this isn’t really crazy?”

“Yes,” he said in complete confidence. “
Five o’clock
?”

He heard her hesitation.

“Better to do the thing all at once,” Jared advised. “Commit to the plan. You have to do this.”

“You’re right,” she agreed, her tone stronger. “Okay,
five o’clock
it is.”

“Good. I’ll pick you up.”

“Okay.” The light disconnected.

Jared returned his phone to his pocket with satisfaction, in no way upset by her irresolution. He was the only man for Kelsey Layton, but he wasn’t foolish enough to expect her to realize the fact. Not yet. She fully anticipated them to divorce a year after marrying. He, of course, had other plans.

Maybe if he got her pregnant.

Jared smiled to himself again, imagining a rounded belly on her slender body. His baby in her arms. Yes, a pregnancy would definitely please him.

He’d have to work really hard to make that a possibility.

*
**

This had to be one of the crazier things she’d done in her life, Kelsey decided as Jared walked with her up the stairs to Doug’s apartment. She was actually getting married to convince her best friend to get over his infatuation with her so he could fall in love with her sister.

Hardly more than six hours had passed since she’d accepted Jared’s unexpected proposal and here they were taking the irrevocable step of informing Doug. Jared was right to do so immediately. She only had a week, he had reminded her when he picked her up, before Amy took the
London
offer.

Jared glanced at her, reaching out to take her hand in his. “You okay?”

“Yes. Just a little nervous. Maybe we should have called instead of stopping by.”

He shook his head. “Always more impact with a face-to-face meeting.”

“I suppose so.” They climbed the last few stairs, Jared still cradling her hand in his.

“You know you have to be the one to tell him,” Jared said, meeting her eyes steadily. “You have to be the one to make him believe it.”

“I know.” She let her gaze fall away from his. Acting like she was in love wouldn’t be that difficult. Anyone who’d had seven stepfathers learned how to feign emotion.

Jared led her down the hall, stopping in front of Doug’s apartment door. He knocked.

Kelsey couldn’t shake the sensation of unrealness about this whole thing. Part of her mind still clung to denial. Surely Amy was blowing Doug’s feelings for her out of proportion. She was an ordinary woman, not some femme fatale who snared men’s hearts.

But the memory of Doug’s behavior at the banquet kept reasserting itself, along with the suddenly-significant moments through the last few years. Doug was too available to her, too ready to adjust his life to hers.

Maybe this was his dysfunctional way of avoiding commitment himself. Certainly people found ingenious ways to deal with their fears. But none of that addressed the thoughtlessness of her own behavior, her insensitivity to both Doug and her sister. That was why she stood here next to Jared, waiting to tell Doug of her impending marriage.

She’d used him, unawares. Doug had been a source of security, a sweet, adoring rock amid the sometimes turbulent waters of her life. Still, that didn’t excuse her.

Doug opened his door, just then, his face registering surprise at their presence on his doorstep, followed swiftly by a flash of consternation on his features.

“Good evening,” Jared said, smiling. “I hope this isn’t a bad time, but Kelsey and I have some news we couldn’t wait to tell you.”

“Of course it’s not a bad time. Come in.” Doug stepped back to allow them in, looking a little flustered.

Kelsey smiled at him, meeting his puzzled glance with a strong urge to reassure him things would be all right. Things
would
be all right, that’s why she was here. Why she was marrying a man who prickled her with his teasing and sizzled the soles of her feet with his kiss. A man who she’d normally skirt with all the caution of an intelligent girl determined not to get hurt.

But she was doing this for her sister. No way could she find another, less-risky stand-in groom in less than a week. Whatever else, the marriage thing had to be convincing and for some reason, she knew Doug would believe she’d fall for Jared more than some of the guys she’d gone out with.

As they stepped into the room, Kelsey caught sight of Amy, sitting on the couch, her body tense, her face pale.

“Amy!” She reached out to hug her sister. What was she doing here, Kelsey wondered in a sudden panic. She’d been prepared to tell Doug about her engagement, but she’d envisioned a more private way to give the news to her sister.

She hadn’t actually decided whether to tell Amy the truth about the engagement. Kelsey didn’t know which was better, trying to convince Amy they’d been having an affair all along or burdening her sister with the knowledge of her marriage’s falsity. But now that Amy was here with Doug, the decision seemed to have made itself.

“Uh, Jared, you remember Amy,” Doug said awkwardly, gesturing toward her as if he had no idea how she’d ended up in his living room.

“Of course.” Jared smiled, offering his hand.

“Are you…feeling better?” Kelsey murmured, noting her sister’s sardonic glance.

“A little,” Amy said shortly.

They’d definitely interrupted an argument.

Kelsey stared at her sister and best friend bleakly, a wave of self-recrimination breaking over her again. God, she’d been a twit all these years.

Jared slid his arm around her shoulder, jolting her back to the task at hand. She was here to fix things, if possible.

She glanced up at Jared, approximating a tender, intimate smile, praying her sister’s shock at this announcement wouldn’t blow the whole game. “We just stopped by to tell you some exciting news.”

“Oh, really?” Doug's face was tight and worried.

“Yes,” Kelsey said softly. “Jared asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

“Kelsey!” her sister yelped. “Oh, my God! How wonderful! And you said you wouldn’t date Jared because he’d be too demanding! You sneak!”

Avoiding Jared’s eyes, Kelsey submitted to her sister’s enthusiastic embrace. Damn. She’d forgotten Amy teasing her about her attraction to him.

In the midst of Amy’s stunned, excited babble of reaction and Doug’s stunned silence, Kelsey felt Jared’s arm slip reassuringly around her. She leaned back into him, letting Doug’s shocked incomplete sentences wash over her as Amy continued to exclaim over their news.

“Congratulations!” her sister said enthusiastically. “You never said a word! I
knew
y
ou were attracted to him, Kels, but how could you keep everything so quiet? This is wonderful! Isn’t it wonderful, Doug?”

“O-of course,” he stammered, his face suffused with red. “I’m just, I’m…surprised. I didn’t realize…you never said.”

Jared bent and kissed her softly, his lips clinging briefly to hers.

For just a moment, Kelsey forgot where she was, his touch leaving her lips tingling. God, his mouth felt good.

He straightened, his gaze tangling with hers for a long moment.

“We kept our relationship quiet,” Kelsey acknowledged, her body registering the strength and warmth of the masculine arm around her despite the gravity of the moment.

Jared brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, his fingers warm against her skin for a fleeting instant. “We didn’t want things to get complicated for Kelsey at work, but now that we’ve fallen in love, we decided what the hell.”

“How romantic,” Amy sighed, hugging them both. “But you could have told me! I wouldn’t have blabbed.”

Amy’s face was radiant with happiness, bringing another twinge of guilt to Kelsey’s heart. She hated to lie to the people she loved. Still, this was the kind of lie Amy loved, the happy ending she’d always predicted for Kelsey.

Her sister beamed at her, laughing. “I should have known Jared would be the one to capture your heart. He’s smart enough to see what a prize you are and tough enough to win you over! We need to make a toast. You keep some champagne in the refrigerator for special occasions, don’t you, Doug?”

“Of course,” he said, still staring at Kelsey, his face pale now.

Bouncing with joy, Amy disappeared into the kitchen alcove, rummaging noises emitting from the refrigerator.

“I’ll help her.” Jared's arm slid from Kelsey’s shoulders.

She brushed aside a second of panic, watching his broad back disappear around the corner. He was giving her time alone with Doug, she knew. This was the moment of truth. She had to lie to her old friend for all she was worth.

“You never even told me you were dating him,” Doug said, disbelief and shock in his eyes. “You showed up with him at the banquet, two days ago, and now this?”

“I know,” she said, shrugging helplessly. “It didn’t seem like a big deal at first, but then—“

“How long? How long have you been seeing him?” Doug interrupted, his voice odd and distant as if he were speaking through a tunnel.

Vague dates wouldn’t do here, she knew. If this thing were to work, she had to make it believable. “We started dating right after New Year’s.”

“That’s impossible,” Doug declared. “You were going out with that guy, Tom Urhouse, in January. I remember distinctly.”

Kelsey looked down, keeping her voice low and soft. “Doug, Jared and I didn’t start out dating exclusively.”

“But what about that other guy in March, the one you were so excited about for a week or two? Hell, James Buchanan last week!”

She resisted the urge to wince. Was she such a lightweight as to be excited about men for only a week or two? “Caleb Witherspoon, the model. I dated him in January. I guess, I was trying to resist my feelings for Jared. Falling in love is scary.”

Doug stared at her for a long moment, his eyes dark with so much distress that she wanted to cry. “You’ve ‘fallen in love’ before. It didn’t last. Ever. Why are you getting engaged this time?”

Kelsey heard Amy and Jared’s voices approaching, heard the clink of the glasses against the bottle of champagne. “I’ve never really been in love before, Doug. Jared…makes me feel things I’ve never felt before.”