She glanced at her own phone, her expression defeated. “Probably not. We look pretty cognizant in these photos. But the people in our lives will believe us.”
“That’s not enough for me. Is that enough to save your job?”
Her finger stilled over a particularly incriminating photo of us kissing in the chapel. “That promotion had my name on it. Corner office. Manhattan apartment. I can smell the dank subway even now. I’ve worked day and night, with hardly any time off. I’ve forsaken so many vacations and family get-togethers. And for what? For it all to disappear because some creep slipped something in our drinks, and we can’t immediately prove it?”
“This isn’t going to blow over, Olivia. But I have a possible solution to see us through the next few months.”
“Does it involve magically turning back time and avoiding the Tropical Paradise?”
“Afraid not.” I couldn’t believe I was going to utter my next words, but desperation was the source of many an invention. “I have a proposal for you.”
She gave an indelicate snort. “I’m pretty sure I’ve already fallen for that once this weekend.”
I held my mug of coffee, idly wondering what these hands had touched last night. “What I’m about to say to you is unorthodox and outrageous. It’s not what I want to do, but it is a solution that benefits us both.”
Olivia chewed on her bottom lip, her gaze wary but intrigued. “Go on.”
“I propose we stay married.”
ChapterTen
LACHLAN
“Stay married?”Olivia choked on a sip of coffee, then coughed in a spectacular fit as her crazed eyes sought mine. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Maybe.” Doubts dug tunnels beneath my thoughts, but I trod on. “I’m also desperate. I’m just asking for six months.” That would be enough time for my business launches to be firmly settled.
“Absolutely not,” Olivia said.
“I’m a man with no other options. You live with me for three months in Sugar Creek as my wife. Your last public appearance would be the movie premiere in November. Then, after that big, swanky event, we quietly separate but continue the ruse.” I could tell she was at least listening. “Six months in, we file for divorce.”
Olivia’s laugh was harsh and raw. “Great, within a matter of months I’d have my first marriage and first divorce checked off my life to-do list.”
“It’s very efficient.” My new wife did not find that amusing. “If we don’t play this off as intentional, then it looks as if we married on a drunken spree. It’s incredibly bad business for me and, as you said, you’ll lose your job. But if we stay married and act like we, you know…”
One dark brow arched. “Love each other?”
“I was going forlikeeach other, but I appreciate your vision.”
“Lachlan—”
“If we show the world our marriage is a choice we made, then I get to prove to investors and production companies that I deserve to be taken seriously. I’m not just some overnight, accidental success who can’t be trusted to run a company in the long term.”
Shrewd, swollen eyes narrowed. “There’s something more you’re not telling me.”
I’d shared enough, and it would have to suffice. “Six months, Olivia. That’s all I’m asking.”
“That’sall? You’re asking me to give up my life and bring shame and deceit to my family—and for what? What do I get?”
“Name your price.” I’d write her a check for any amount.
She gathered her hair in her hands and adjusted the elastic, binding the wild strands into submission. If only our problems were so easy to subdue. “You know what I want.”
I sighed gustily and patted the bicep that hadn’t seen a gym in a while. “If it’s my body you’re after, I’m gonna have to ask you to wait until I’ve had a full meal and a complete night’s sleep. But I get the allure. I do.”
I heard her curse beneath her breath. All these years later, and Olivia was still fun to goad.
Her pink painted toes pushed into the carpet as she closed the distance between us, coming to a stop right before me. “You sign with Flair.”
