From This Day Foward: Switched at Marriage Part 4 Read online

  He laughed. "Whatever prank you pulled, it's epic. Just don't hurt my cousin. Or I'll have to ruin you." Which sounded like your average idle threat. But Dex was dead serious. And he could probably do it if he wanted to. He already had a bunch of damning facts in his possession.

  "Wouldn't dream of it." I tried to sound amused. "As you say, I'm in love with her."

  "Isn't that sweet!" He eyed me cautiously. "That's not the end of my story, however."

  "There's more?"

  "I'm just getting to the interesting part. Suddenly, your digital fingerprint is all over the Internet. You're using our code. Face Find, the facial-recognition software we wrote together in college. The one we used to find the hot chicks we saw on campus and were too afraid to talk to." Again with the dramatic pause. "You're looking for something. More accurately, someone. Who is it? What's going on, Green? What have you gotten yourself into? Let me in on it, too. I can help."

  I shrugged. His offer was tempting. "I'm always looking for something. Watching my competitors. There's nothing out of the ordinary in that."

  He laughed. "I don't believe you." He glanced across the room to where Kay was talking with her friends and casting surreptitious glances our way when they thought we weren't looking.

  What were they saying about me? Were they as suspicious as Dex?

  "Look, if I can find this much out this easily, others can, too," Dex said, reasonably. "Whatever you're up to, watch yourself, man. And remember, me and my superior coding skills are here for you whenever you need my help."

  "Good to know." My gaze lingered on Kay. That stupid smile was still on my face, the one I couldn't suppress.

  Dex gave me a pitying look and shook his head. "I wouldn't do this for just anybody. But I'm going to help you out with my cousin—since you conned her into marriage somehow you have my grudging respect. And the moms—hers and mine—are going to be hellcats if this marriage breaks up. Family harmony means so much to me!" His eyes danced.

  "I don't know much about love. But I'd suggest scouring the Internet and finding something doused in pheromones to induce at least a little lust. She's always fondly said you were sweet. You may be able to use that to your advantage. That's something new to her in a man.

  "Your real advantage will be to treat her like she has a brain. She inherited the Harrington smarts from our moms. But people rarely get past her looks. And her interest in style and fashion. They don't see her creative side for the intelligence it is, and wrongly peg her as a superficial dumb blond. Appreciate that and she might fall for it. You have the perfect business for her. Use Flash to your advantage. Get her involved in it."

  His eyes were sharp as he continued to stare at me. He sighed. "You can con a girl into a date. Into bed. And, shit, evidently into marriage. But how the hell do you prank them into falling in love with you? If you find out, dude, you have to share."

  He sighed. "Let me give you another piece of advice about Lala. If you don't want to lose her, integrate her into your life in every way possible. Intricately weave her in. Get her involved in Flashionista. Hire her. Give her a job. She loves that fashion shit and she's good at it. Keep her busy.

  "A little-known fact about Lala—she doesn't like change. Weave her in, make her comfortable in your life, and she'll have a hard time extracting herself from it. Crap, who would want to leave the billionaire lifestyle anyway, right?"

  I shook my head, acting like he was talking crazy. "You're bizarre."

  "And highly analytical. Like you. Have you already calculated your odds of success with her?" He laughed. "You must have, or you wouldn't have tried this stunt." He paused. "One last thing, the logical extension of all this—she likes kids. She's always wanted them. The way she used to cart around her baby doll—" He got an evil look in his eye.

  I felt for that baby doll. I was pretty sure he'd used it to prank Kayla somehow.

  "Get her pregnant," he said. "Give her a baby. She'll fall in love with her baby. And maybe, by extension, you. She won't easily want to leave her baby daddy. Especially not when he can give the kid every advantage."

  I stared at him like he was crazy. And felt myself flush.

  Dex's eyes went big and round. He swore beneath his breath. "Dude! You haven't slept with her? She's your wife. Exercise those marital rights." He shook his head in apparent disbelief. "This gets more and more interesting by the minute. Why should I be surprised? Something about this whole wedding business has been off since the beginning."

  "You're really full of BS," I said.

  "I wish I were. But I'm not. I've been studying micro expressions. You know how it is when I study something." He laughed. "I master it! Sexual frustration. Longing. Shock. Embarrassment. They all crossed your face in the space of a second. Micro expressions don't lie. They're involuntary."

  "You're way off." He was right. Micro expressions didn't lie. "I'm not ready for kids. That's what you saw. We haven't even talked about them yet."

  "Liar." He shook his head, laughing softly to himself. "You are so full of shit you're turning brown. I don't know how you tricked her into marrying you. Or what crazy deal you struck. I hope you aren't still using your old method of acting indifferent so the girls come to you. If that's your plan, you're screwed. Though not literally." He laughed again. He was thoroughly enjoying himself.

  "Get over yourself and tell her how you feel. Often and with feeling. Girls eat that shit up. Tell her you want to sleep with her." He sighed, shaking his head. "I never thought I'd say this—bed my cousin. The sooner, the better. Take her home tonight and make love to her."

  He downed the rest of his beer and looked around the party. "Lala has some hot friends. This isn't a wedding, but close enough. Girls will be in a romantic mood." He winked at me. "Grooms make the best wingmen. Come on, junior birdman." He nodded to me. "Help me separate one from the herd."

  Chapter Three

  Kayla

  "I never thought I'd say this," Britt said, "but there's something magnetic about Justin. He's not classically handsome. But he does have a nice body."

  Her tone reminded me of the silly question we used to ask each other as girls—if you could only have one of these combinations in a guy, a great body and a hideously ugly face or a classically handsome face and a soft, squishy body, which would you choose?

  "And he's…what's the word I'm looking for?" She frowned and looked around the group of my friends for help. Like this was a game of wedding Scrabble or something.

  I shrugged and held my hands up, not particularly in the mood to help her denigrate my groom. Or was she complimenting him? It was hard to tell.

  "It doesn't matter. I'll think of it later. He definitely turns heads." The surprise in her voice was a bit unsettling. She bit her lip, studying him while he sat at a table talking with Dex.

  I was happy Jus and Dex were occupied with each other. It kept them out of trouble. Dex was animatedly expounding on some point or other, gesturing for emphasis like he did when he was excited. Probably regaling Jus with some latest theory on coding or something technical that would have bored everyone else here.

  "That beard," Britt said with an unnerving awe in her voice. "That lovely, luscious beard. I think it's the beard. It's hot. Just looking at it makes me want to run my fingers through it. Though God knows, there could be a hideous, weak chin beneath it."

  "Are you crazy?" I gave her my "you're insane" look. I realized my mistake too late. "No weak chin, by the way. And keep your hands off my husband's face."

  She laughed. "I'm disappointed in you, Kayla. Beards are totally in style now. The absolute latest, hottest trend. You should know that, Mrs. Flashionista. Justin gets points on this one for being more up on men's grooming trends than you are."

  Even my best friend couldn't get away with insulting my sense of style. "Jus? Stylish?" I made a sound of disbelief. "You should have seen that thing before I got hold of it."

  Morgan and Alexis were standing with us. Their gazes had turned to Jus
. They wore that critical look women have when they're evaluating men, particularly other girls' guys.

  "She's right." Morgan nodded. "That is a particularly nice, healthy, and soft-looking specimen of male virility." She winked at me.

  I tried not to roll my eyes. That would only encourage them.

  "He's almost hipster. Very Seattle." Morgan took a deep breath. "He's certainly grown into his looks. He used to be all sharp angles and bones. Awkward. Now he looks like he's totally hard planes and muscle." She paused. "I wish I could get Dak to grow a nice, full beard. But his style is frat-boy preppie and, now, clean-shaven corporate."

  I looked to Alexis for help.

  "Sorry!" She flashed an apologetic grin. "I agree with the girls. Seattle girls like beards. And I'm a Seattle girl through and through. Zach never gets farther than a few days' growth before he shaves. I'm going to convince him a beard is the way to go." She winked at Morgan.

  "When I heard about your marriage, I was as shocked as anyone." Morgan swirled her glass of champagne. "But look at the way he looks at you!"

  They all turned to stare at him. He glanced at us and looked quickly away, like we'd caught him looking and scared him off.

  "He's head over heels. That, in itself, is priceless. Eric always treated you with such indifference. As if he could take you or leave you. As if he expected you to adore him and it was his right to take you for granted." Morgan wiped the condensation from the bottom of her glass with a napkin she held.

  Morgan was a recovering alcoholic. She was drinking sparkling cider. So I couldn't even claim she was impaired.

  "I wouldn't have set you two up. But I would have been wrong. I'm big enough to admit it. Now you can invite me to your fiftieth, where I'll toast your good sense for ignoring what the rest of us used to think." Morgan laughed.

  We all laughed. Me nervously. Fifty years of marriage? Twice our current lifetimes yoked to the same person? It seemed unimaginable. But she had no idea.

  "I approve, too," Alexis said. "Not that you need my approval. But I think you've found something special."

  She nodded ever so slightly in Justin's direction. "Look at the way he looks at you when he thinks you're not looking. He's a man who's desperately in love. I hope you'll forgive me for the times I made fun of him in college. He was such a sweet, awkward, young thing." She laughed. "He's really grown into a striking guy."

  "Striking! That's it. That's the word I was looking for." Britt smiled, smug in the confirmation of her thinking. "Or maybe arresting. Something about him draws the eye."

  Lord have mercy! As my grandma used to say. I downed my entire glass of champagne and poured myself another. My friends loved Jus. I felt like I'd gone through the looking glass into an alternate world.

  "I think it's time to cut the cake." Britt took my arm and shepherded me toward it, waving at Jus to join us.

  Jus and I had the patter, our routine, of cutting the cake down like two comedians who played the same gig night after night.

  When we finished, Britt handed us a bottle of champagne. Jus popped the cork, neatly avoiding my dress with the spray as Britt and the girls served the guests.

  Dex stepped forward to make the first toast to us, the ostensibly happy couple.

  "Justin didn't have a best man. As the sole representative of his friends, and also as a relative of the bride, it's my duty to stand in and make a toast." He cleared his throat and raised his glass. "Green, you got the best girl in the family. No matter that she's the only girl. Take good care of her. Or else. You know I can out-prank you."

  The crowd laughed. There was a catch in Dex's voice that made me teary. He usually teased me mercilessly. But here he was, being sweet and emotional.

  Even though I knew this marriage was a lie, a convenience, a job, even, in the comfort of my friends, it was easy to forget all that. To feel what they felt—happiness for Jus and me. Happiness and belief in new and surprising love. Joy. There was so much bad crap in the world all the time. It was fun to celebrate something. Like us.

  I was immensely pleased that my friends, who I'd feared wouldn't approve of my marriage to Justin or would lecture and tease me about marrying him for his money, were one hundred percent supportive. They loved him, were awed by him, were swept away by this illusion of love and happiness we'd pulled off. They, the people who knew me best, could see me being swept off my feet by him. Not his money. Him. Not one person implied otherwise. They were as surprised as I was. I loved them all for it more than I could say.

  I should have felt guilty about fooling my best friends in the world. I did feel guilty. To a degree. But all the champagne I'd had had gone to my head. And made me feel floaty and flirty, like alcohol always did. Elated.

  "Kayla."

  At the sound of my name on Dex's lips, I startled out of my thoughts. He was staring directly at me with that sappy, almost brotherly, teasing look on his face.

  "Justin is one of my good friends. Treat him with love and respect. And please, take the familial pressure off me, and make many beautiful, brainy babies with him to keep our moms happy and off my back about grandchildren! To Justin and Kayla and many, many happy years together!"

  As glasses clinked around us, I smiled up at Jus. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me. Everyone expected it. And maybe it was the bubbles or the buzz of the alcohol, but I felt a spark. A tiny spark of something as his beard brushed my lips. I almost didn't want the illusion to end.

  It was just a week off the summer solstice. Nearly the shortest night of the year. By the time the party ended, dawn was just a few short hours away. I offered to help Britt clean up, but she shooed me away.

  "I can handle this. Go make some beautiful babies with that brainiac of yours!" She winked and laughed. And handed me a white paper bag with twine handles filled with leftover appetizers, a large piece of wedding reception cake, and the cake topper.

  There was enough innuendo in her tone to let me know what she meant. Her advice hadn't changed since Thursday: Get pregnant now. I wished we hadn't run into Lazer at lunch. I wished she hadn't seen me flirt with him. If she hadn't caught the way I'd looked at Lazer, she would have completely believed my charade with Jus.

  The evening had been too good to let anything spoil it, even Britt's outrageous advice. I was high on success. Light. Buzzed to almost drunk on champagne.

  I hung on Justin's arm, gazing at him adoringly in case any of my friends were still in sight.

  Outside, Jus pulled the keys from his pocket. They nearly fell through his fingers. He lunged and caught them. We broke out laughing, though it wasn't that funny.

  "I hope no cops saw that!" I smiled into his eyes. "Think you could pass a sobriety test?"

  "We should have thought ahead and taken the service. I didn't think there would be so much booze at this thing." He whipped out his phone. "I'll call the car service."

  "No!" The night was too good to be ruined waiting for a car. "My apartment is just a few blocks away. Let's spend the night there. We can walk to our little love nest." Had I just said "love nest"? I was being way too flirty.

  "Too bad Carl, my building manager, doesn't work on Sundays. It would help our cause if he saw us together." I looked up at Jus with bedroom eyes. I wasn't sure what I was promising.

  But he swallowed hard and took the white bag from me. "I'll text Magda and ask her to look in on Data first thing in the morning."

  I nodded and waited for him to send his text. "Isn't the night beautiful!" I couldn't contain my happiness and relief as we walked hand in hand, staggering slightly, and tripping on cracks and dips in the rough concrete sidewalks.

  I let us into my apartment and collapsed onto the sofa, kicking my shoes off and sighing with pleasure. "We did it! The evening was a roaring success. I was so nervous about it. My friends know me better than anyone, even my mom.

  "I hadn't realized how worried I was that they would think badly of me, like everyone else, and accuse me of marrying you just for your money. W
hich is true. In a way. But they loved you!"

  Jus set the white bag on my miniscule kitchen counter. It was just plain laminate. My apartment had very little gingerbread, as Dad called it. But it was nice. Jus stripped off his jacket, tossed it over a barstool at the kitchen counter, plopped onto the sofa next to me, and kicked off his shoes, too.

  I tucked my legs beneath me. "They loved us! Better, everyone believed in us. We even won Britt over. You charmed them." I sighed, trying not to sound as surprised as I felt. "Even Dex behaved himself—"

  I frowned at Justin. "You're being very quiet. What's wrong?" I stroked his arm. "I'm talking too much. I'm sending you confusing signals. When you captivated my family, I was upset. Now I'm ecstatic. Which will it be, girl?" I laughed. "I know! I'm terrible. Women can be so confusing!

  "This time, though, you weren't trying to impress them. You were just being you. I can't fault you for that."

  A quick look of something—happiness or eagerness or maybe hopefulness—crossed his face. He was quiet a moment.

  When I didn't keep rambling on, his expression clouded. "Dex suspects." Jus sprawled and leaned his head back against the sofa cushion.

  "What?" I couldn't have heard right. "Suspects what?"

  "That our marriage isn't real."

  "Dex? Dex of all people? He gave that beautiful toast—"

  "That was just bullshit. Dex giving me a bad time and yanking my chain." He sighed. "It's my fault." Jus stared at the ceiling. "My virginity gave us away."

  "A virgin!" I couldn't help laughing, delighted with the admission and the ludicrousness of it. "But you were a married man before I took this job as your wife. That stupid ID thief showing up with a baby she claims is yours is one of my darkest fears."

  He slid me a sideways look. "Mine, too."

  He hesitated. "I don't think I had sex with her." He shook his head. "The evidence is against it. If we did, I don't remember it. So I'm the same as." His Adam's apple bobbed. "As far as I know, I am a virgin. That's what Dex saw." He sighed again, heavily, embarrassed. "With my vast seduction skills, was there ever any doubt I was?"