Page 99 of Unexpected Shot
“This is the best case scenario, Shelby. The easiest path to what we both need. Plus, like everyone said, this could lead to some potential avenues neither of us thought could happen.”
This gets me a sharp eyebrow raise. “You know I don’t care about that kind of stuff.”
“Oh, I know,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. “But I do. And maybe once you see how it works, you might not be absolutely turned off by the idea of participating in an endorsement campaign.”
“I hate all of this,” she says with a deep sigh. “But you’re right. They’re right. Everyone’s right. Except me.”
Once I figured out what Kat and Grayson’s end game was, I knew this was how it was going to be. I was going to see the vision first. Shelby was going to fight it. Ethan wasn’t going to give us a chance to say no. Shelby was going to try and figure out a way to get out of it, but, at the end of the day, she wasgoing to realize she needed to get on board. She might not like it, but she’s not dumb. She knows everything I said is true.
Now she just has to come to terms with it.
“Can I ask a few questions?”
“Of course, wife,” I say with a smile. As expected, the only thing that gets me is her pulling her hand back and a short eye roll.
“First, we’re going to stop that nonsense.”
“What?”
“That whole ‘wife’ crap. I’m not your wife.”
“The state of Nevada begs to differ.”
“Fine. Legally we might be married, but you know this isn’t real. So when it’s just us, you don’t need to pretend to be the dutiful husband.”
“Then explain this?”
I take my cell phone out of my pocket and bring up her contact information. “If you’re not my wife, then why is that your name in my cell phone?”
Shelby snatches it from my hand and looks at it before looking back to me. “Do you think this is a joke?”
“Absolutely not,” I say. “This is your life and your reputation on the line just as much as it is mine, maybe even more so. Plus, I hadn’t changed your name in a while. It was due for a refresh.”
“And wife is what you came up with?”
“I mean, that’s what you are, so why not?”
“Beau, I need you to be serious,” she says as she hands me back my phone. “We’re not going to be a real husband and wife, and that’s what we need to figure out. If we’re doing this, we need ground rules and logistics.”
“You’re right,” I concede. “If we’re going to pull this off, make everyone think this marriage is for real and not some big PR scam, we have to be believable. Which probably starts with where we’re living.”
“We have to live together? I thought we’d just pretend in public.”
Now it’s my turn to look at her like she’s lost the plot. “Shelby. You can’t believe that would work. You don’t think Michael’s going to be paying people at the country club to watch us? Hell, I wouldn’t put it past tabloids to circle drones. People will notice if we’re going to our separate homes every night.”
The groan she lets out echoes off her walls. “Fine, then you need to move here.”
I have to blink a few times, because…what did she say? I’m all about happy wife, happy life and all that, but she has to know that my house is clearly the choice here.
“Can I ask why we’re moving into your house and not mine?”
“Because I don’t want to do this, so you moving here is the least you can do.”
Okay, point Shelby. “While I will give you that, have you thought about what you would have at my house versus yours?”
“I have. And I prefer beds with headboards.”
“If you want to see the inside of my bedroom, Belle, you just have to ask.”
