“There will be no one else. We can’t take the chance of the paparazzi finding out or someone selling their story to the press. One year with each other only,” Catherine declared.
“I doubt he can do it.” Abbi glared at me.
It might be hard, but I knew how to use my hand, and I was sure I could use my persuasion skills to get Abbi into bed with me if I was desperate enough.
“He will if he knows what’s good for him. Now here are my conditions.”
Conditions? This wasn’t going to be good.
“First, you’ll be moving into Jenner’s home. Today.”
“What?” I squawked. I liked living alone.
“Please, Jenner, you have more room than you know what to do with, and it won’t look like a real marriage if you’re not living together. Let her pick one of the bedrooms and you’ll barely see her.”
“Fine,” I grunted and then glared at Abbi, who was glaring right back at me.
“Second, you will be seen out in public at least once a week, where you’ll hold hands, and you’ll look like a couple in love because no one who is not in this room will ever know that this marriage is a sham. Do you get me?”
“Yes,” Abbi and I both agreed. Catherine always got what she wanted.
“Third, you will stay faithful. We can’t have any scandals, so keep it in your pants. If you don’t . . . you’ll have to pay a million dollars.”
“I don’t have that kind of money,” Abbi huffed.
Catherine looked at her with kind eyes. “I know I don’t have anything to worry about with you.”
I didn’t appreciate Catherine’s lack of faith in me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it, but I would not let them win. And I sure as hell wasn’t paying a million dollars. No fuck was worth that much.
I couldn’t believe my life had come to this because of one stupid night. Sitting up straight, I focused on my publicist. “I thought you were on my side.”
Sitting down beside me, Catherine rested her hand on my arm. “I am, Jenner. I’m trying to help you keep your job and to hopefully get you to read for that movie you want to be in so badly.”
“It doesn’t feel like it. Why do you think Abbi will stay faithful?”
“I know what it feels like to be cheated on, and I would never do that to someone.”
She did seem like she meant it and was wholesome-looking except for her dress and sex hair. I wanted to believe her, but she was getting more out of this than I was.
Catherine picked up my hand and looked at my tattoo with the corners of her lips turned into a frown. “You’ll need to wear wedding rings. I’ll pick them up and bring them over later tonight.”
“What you don’t like my ink?” I joked. Never did I think my first tattoo would be of some girl’s name on my finger.
She looked at me like it hurt to look at my finger. “It’s kind of trashy. What made you get tattoos?”
“Again, we don’t remember. The night must have been so bad we blocked the entire thing out,” I slumped down in my seat.
Catherine looked back and forth between us. “It does seem strange that neither of you can remember. I hate to say it, but there’s a possibility you both were drugged.”
“Who would drug me so I’d marry her?” It made no sense, but neither did two people having no recollection of the same night.
“That remains to be seen, but let’s not put ourselves in a position for it to happen again. I’ll have Jackson see if he can get any of the security footage and find out if anything nefarious happened.”
“Thanks, Catherine. For everything. I know I’ve been a shit client, but I’ll try to do better.”
“I know things haven’t been easy for you, but you can’t let your ex win. She’s the one who’s missing out. You’re a great guy.”
She had no idea how much her words meant to me. It felt like everyone had lost faith in me.
“Thanks.” I clapped my hands and looked down at the floor. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Luckily, you’ll never have to find out.” She patted my back and stood. “We’ll be leaving in an hour, so make yourselves presentable for the paps.”
“An hour?” Abbi jumped up to head for the door. “I need to hurry. Should we meet back here?” She tried to comb her fingers through her messy hair, only to get them caught in the tangled strands.
“That should be fine.” I didn’t need long to get ready, and I could use the time to try and wrap my head around my new life.
I left them to get myself cleaned up and let the hot water release the tension of the morning. I wanted to wash the night off me, thinking it was too bad I couldn’t turn back time. Even when I was doing coke, I’d never lost an entire night before. It made more sense than ever that Abbi had drugged me to marry her. She probably thought she’d get half my fortune and be out of my hair in a day. Ha! No such luck. I was going to make the next year of her life a living hell for making me keep my dick in my pants.
Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around my waist as I inspected the damage from last night. The bedroom was a disaster. Champagne bottles littered the floor, and the lamps dangled off the dresser. Our sex must have been wild.
I stayed in the bedroom trying to remember anything from last night, but nothing came except me feeling more and more frustrated by my situation. When I finally walked out of the bedroom, the whole gang was standing around waiting for me. I was momentarily left stupefied as I caught Abbi staring out the window with a sad look on her face in a turquoise sundress that screamed wholesome. She’d showered, and her hair was now slightly wavy and hung halfway down her back with such light makeup on, it looked like she wasn’t wearing any. She was beautiful.
I cleared my throat and regretted it immediately. Abbi glared at me before she turned and walked away. That was fine with me. If she wanted to be a bitch, I could hate her just fine for the next three hundred and sixty-five days.
Catherine already had our bags taken downstairs with Levi since he was catching our flight back. Catherine, Abbi, and I were going in the limo she’d arranged for us, and Abbi’s friend, Sophie, was driving back by herself. I wanted to fly, but Catherine said we needed to come up with our story on the way back before we were thrust into the public. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen from the elevator to the limo, but I’d let her take the lead.
Catherine stood between us in the elevator with a smile on her face. “Now remember, you two are a happy couple who are in love and want to be together.”
“I remember,” I muttered.
Abbi side-stepped over to me before lacing her fingers through mine. “Let’s do this, husband.” I’d never heard the word sound like a curse before, but Abbi certainly made it sound like one.
With a smile on my face, I put on the show of a lifetime as I stepped out of the elevator with my new wife.
Chapter Five
Abbi
I wasn’t a professional actor. How was I going to fool everyone that I was happily married and in love with the asshole next to me? I was ready to hurl again at the thought of what we would find on the other side of the elevator doors. When they slid open, I gulped loudly. Reeves held my hand tightly as he pushed through the throng of people. I was discombobulated by the camera flashes and all of the questions being yelled at us. If this is what Reeves had to deal with every time he stepped out of the house, I felt sorry for him. This was no way to live your life, and I wasn’t sure I could handle it for an entire year.