“Now honey, she was being nice,” I said. I wasn’t sure that just liking him would change opinions. If he wanted acceptance, he needed to change how he behaved.
He looked chagrined. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry.” He kissed my head. “Thank goodness I have you to help me.”
“Say hello to the mayor, Brooke and Trina for me,” I said as I looped my arm through Simon’s and guided him to the door.
We made a similar stop at a jeweler. He told me I could pick anything I wanted, but it didn’t seem right to have a fancy ring for a fake wedding. Even if the antique platinum ring with filigree and two carat square diamond did catch my eye. At nearly thirty grand, it was too much even if we were having a real wedding. I was sure he could afford it, but really, people shouldn’t walk around with thirty-grand on their finger.
“I think just a band would do, don’t you?”
He didn’t fight me on that one, which made me think he felt similar to me in that an engagement ring felt too disingenuous.
He paid for the ring, and then we were on our way to city hall. As we walked to the judge’s chamber, we had to pass the mayor’s office. Trina and Brooke both stood in the open door to the mayor’s office. Trina had a baffled expression. Brooke’s was concerned.
I looped my arm through Simon’s and looked up at him. “Showtime.”
He glanced toward the Mayor’s office. He smiled and nodded to them. “I forgot what a good actress you were.”
There was a hint of anger under his comment. He had some nerve. He still thought I’d lied about the baby and was just putting on a show the whole time we were together. Which told me his comment about regretting letting me go was a bunch of Nebraskan bull.
Ten minutes later, we were married. It occurred to me that five years ago, this moment would have filled me with ultimate bliss. Now it was bittersweet.
He escorted me out of the courthouse and to a waiting car.
“Where are we going now?” I asked, looking down at the ring he’d put on my finger when pledged to love and respect me forever.
“Honeymoon.”
I looked over at him next to me. “Honeymoon?”
“Realism, remember. We have to have this look real. I’m the type of man that would whisk his bride away.”
“Where are we going?” I tried to hide my panic. I couldn’t leave. I had to get back by tomorrow to discharge Mason from the hospital and take him home. Thankfully, because Simon handed me my first hundred-thousand-dollar check, I didn’t have to worry about the hospital bill.
“I have an island in the Caribbean.”
I gaped at him. “I can’t go to the Caribbean.”
“Why not? You don’t need a passport where we’re going.”
“That’s not it. I just…I have to be home tomorrow.”
“Why? Why can’t you spend a few days with your new husband?”
“Work.” I lied.
I could see he didn’t believe me. “I’ve never lied to you, Erica. And I won’t. I ask that even if you hate me, you don’t lie to me. What is so important that you can’t take a short trip with me.”
I swallowed hard. “My son.”
9
Simon
I did a double take at her response. Erica had a son? I don’t know why I was surprised except I’d thought the whole pregnancy thing was a lie. For a nanosecond I had a horrible thought that perhaps she’d been telling the truth about my being her baby’s father, but then I remembered that it was impossible. I’d made sure I’d never be a father before I met her.
So the only three possibilities were that she was pregnant before meeting me, she got pregnant by someone else when she was with me, or she’d been with someone since me.
I might have been a bastard, but I wasn’t about to drag her to the Caribbean when she didn’t want to go. This fake marriage was going to be hard enough without forcing her to go on a honeymoon. I needed her to make this work which meant cooperation and compromise.