Not Husband Material (Billionaire's Contract Duet 1)

“Yeah, congratulations. We were all drooling over him when he was at the restaurant,” giggled the older girl. “I guess we shouldn’t talk about him like that anymore, though, since he’s your husband now. Swoon.”

“Mmhmm. Yep. My new husband,” I agreed. I nodded and forced myself to smile even though I was starting to feel awfully guilty. These poor girls were romanticizing the hell out of a situation they knew nothing about, but I couldn’t tell them the truth and risk shattering the illusion. It was better for everyone if they believed the cover story about Chase and I just being so head over heels in love that we needed to get married right away. Never mind the exchange regarding the Peppertree and an heir to the Hawthorne legacy.

“So now that the cat’s out of the bag, can we talk about it with everyone else?” asked Kendra. Her eyes were gleaming with excitement. I decided to throw her a bone.

“Sure. Go for it. Just make sure it doesn’t distract from work, okay?” I told her.

Now that I had listened to all my work voicemails, I figured it was high time to turn my personal cell phone back on. I had turned it off when we were en route to Vegas and kept it off because, to be quite

honest, I was not looking forward to all the concerned phone calls I would inevitably be receiving. And sure enough, as soon as I plugged in my phone and turned it on, the screen flashed and the whole thing vibrated for about six solid minutes with text messages and missed calls.

“Wonderful,” I mumbled to myself. I grabbed a little bottle of over-the-counter pain medication and popped a few pills. My headache was already raging, and I knew turning on my cell phone and opening myself up to the ridicule, curiosity, and possible anger of those close to me was absolutely going to make it worse. There were about twenty text messages from my mother and ten from my best friend, Beverly. I read through them and my heart nearly stopped when I saw that she had sent me a link.

I clicked it and a story on an online news site pulled up. “Oh my God,” I breathed, staring at the headline.

DAUGHTER OF LATE PEPPERTREE OWNER GEOFFREY SIMMONS WEDS REAL ESTATE MOGUL CHASE HAWTHORNE IN RUSHED VEGAS CEREMONY.

“I am so screwed,” I muttered, scanning through the article.

The news story focused mainly on Chase, since he was much more famous than my family was. I was grateful for that. Chase was accustomed to his name in the papers. I was not. At least, not these days. When my father was still alive, we were fairly well-known in our region of Colorado, but nowadays I was more or less a nobody, and I rather liked it that way. Of course, now that my name was associated with Chase’s, things were sure to change.

I was no longer just the unfortunate daughter of Geoffrey Simmons, I was the mysterious new wife of America’s most eligible bachelor, Chase Hawthorne. I gulped, realizing that I would have to brace for the inevitable jealousy and cruelty people can hurl at the girlfriends and wives of attractive, wealthy, well-known men. It was going to be a lifestyle change, for certain. I only hoped I could learn how to handle it.

My cell phone started ringing at top volume and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Geez,” I mumbled. “Why am I so damn jumpy?”

I reached to answer it, almost afraid to look at the caller ID.

It was my mother. Of course. With some hesitation, I answered the call.

“Haley Marie Simmons,” she greeted me grimly. She enunciated every syllable of my full name, which was never a good sign. “Where in the world have you been?”

“I’m sorry, Mom. Things have been really crazy lately and I had to turn off my cell phone for a while, but I promise I wasn’t avoiding you,” I rambled quickly.

“Then why would you turn off your phone?” she asked, the coldness in her voice replaced by what she was really feeling: worry. “I was worried sick, sweetheart! I was thinking something horrible must have happened to you because why else would you ignore my calls that way? You scared the life out of me. You know I worry about you all the time, especially after what happened to your father. Accidents happen all the time, honey, and I just thought maybe something awful happened to you.”

“No, no. I’m fine,” I assured her.

“Oh, I know that now. Beverly sent me a link to this news article on the Internet all about how you got married to some guy,” she told me. My heart sank. Uh oh.

“Well, about that.”

“At first I thought it was just some dumb practical joke,” she interrupted. “But then I started reading the article and it dawned on me that I recognized the name Chase Hawthorne. He was your boyfriend back in college, wasn’t he? The one who broke your heart? You used to call me crying when he dumped you, talking about how sad you were. Remember that?”

“Yes, Mom. Of course I remember that,” I sighed.

“And now suddenly, out of the blue, you’re married to him?” my mother exclaimed. “Pardon me, Haley, but that sounds like a load of crap to me!”

“It’s not that bad. I promise. We’re both different people now. The past is in the past. It’s all just fine. I’m fine. I-I’m happy,” I tried to convince her. She scoffed.

“Right. Well, however it happened, I’m glad you’re happy. But how could you?” she said accusingly. I waited, thinking she would continue.

“How could I, what?” I asked, confused.

“Get married,” she burst out. “In Vegas. In some shabby little chapel. How come you didn’t tell me you were dating Chase again? How come you didn’t invite me to your wedding? I know we haven’t been quite as close as we were when you were younger, but you’re my daughter and I love you, Haley. It breaks my heart that you got married in secret.”

I could hear the tears in her voice, and it made me feel horrible. “Oh, Mom. I’m so sorry. It was just a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, you know? I never meant to hurt you or anyone else. I promise. It wasn’t a secret, it was just… well, it happened so fast.”

“Well, when do I get to meet him?” she asked suddenly. I felt nauseous.