Not-So Temporarily Married

“Ahem,” Spencer cleared his throat, drawing our attention to where he stood about ten feet away from us. “As I said, unexpected visits come in handy when I’m investigating a petition like yours. You learn a lot about a couple when you can see how they react under stress. It makes it easier to see who’s in love and who’s pretending.”

In love? Was he saying Landon and I looked like a couple in love with each other?

“There are still some additional steps in the process, but from what I’ve seen so far, I feel comfortable in telling you not to plan a move to Canada anytime soon.”

Yeah, that was exactly what he was saying. And the happiness filling me up inside made me wonder—was he right? Had I fallen in love with my husband as quickly and easily as I’d fallen into his bed?

Chapter 10

Landon

After Spencer left, Zoe was oddly quiet for the rest of the morning. I would have thought she’d be overjoyed that we were almost done with the immigration stuff. Was she second guessing it all now? Wanting out of the relationship as soon as her status was final?

If so, she had another thing coming. I’d been as clear as possible when I’d told her our marriage was permanent. What Spencer had seen between us, it was genuine. I loved Zoe more than anything and I’d been certain she felt the same. She had to. There was no fucking way I was letting her go.

The impromptu visit kept us from being able to have a lazy breakfast, forcing us to grab something quick and get ready before leaving for the office. This conversation wasn’t one I wanted to rush, so I put it on the back burner for later.

I had a staff meeting first thing, but then I had a short break before I went off site to meet with a client. The talk with my dad had reminded me of a buddy who was a former CIA operative and now worked in operations.

Grabbing my cell phone from my desk, I scrolled through the contacts until I found Weston’s number. Then hit send.

It picked up after the third ring and a woman’s voice came across the line. “Landon! It’s been forever, handsome!”

“Aspen,” I greeted his wife warmly. “Still beautiful?”

She laughed. “Beautiful? More like sleep deprived and frazzled.” I grinned when I suddenly heard some shuffling and muffled words before the feminine tone was replaced with the gravelly voice of my friend. “Are you flirting with my wife, Heath? Because I have no problem flying to Wisconsin just to kick your ass.”

A noise at my door caused me to look up and see Zoe standing in my doorway, looking confused and hurt. I motioned her in and when she took a step back, I scowled at her. “Weston, hold on a sec,” I told him, and put the phone on mute. “Baby, get your ass in here.” She gave me a mutinous look and didn’t come forward, but she didn’t retreat either. I sighed, “I’ve got a friend who can help us look into Penderson. I called him and his wife, Aspen, answered. Now he’s threatening my life for giving her a compliment.” She looked relieved and took a step inside.

“Come over here and reassure him that I’m insanely obsessed with my wife, would you?” Her face lit up a little more and she sashayed over to me, allowing me to pull her down into my lap. I unmuted the phone and put it on speaker.

“Weston, I think my wife would manage to do your job first if she thought I was flirting with Aspen.”

“No need for your assistance, Weston,” Zoe chimed in. “My foot knows how to find its way up his ass. Nice to meet you, by the way, I’m Zoe.”

His laughter boomed through the phone. “You got married? It’s about damn time, man,” he finally replied. “I was afraid your virginity was growing back.” Zoe looked at me curiously but didn’t comment. “It’s nice to know he found someone to keep him in line, Zoe. I hope you two will come to Atlanta to visit one of these days.”

“Of course,” she murmured sweetly. “We’d love to.”

“I’ll put you in touch with my wife before we hang up,” he promised. “Now, I’m assuming you didn’t call just to shoot the shit, Landon?”

“I was hoping you could help us out with something.”

“Sure.”

I explained the circumstances surrounding Zoe’s visa and the theory we had that Steve Penderson might have been behind the tip to USCIS.

“Would it be possible for you to reach out to someone in Homeland and have them dig into Immigration Services? Maybe they could get the name of the tipster, or at least confirm the links in the chain?”

Weston blew out a breath, “I’ll do what I can. I do have a couple of contacts over there. But, Homeland Security oversees a lot of other departments, so I don’t know if either of them work with USCIS.”

“Anything you can do would be helpful,” I urged.

There was a beat of silence before Weston asked, “You got married so that Zoe could stay in the country?”

“Fuck no,” I growled. “It only sped up the wedding date.”

Zoe’s mouth dropped open and I gently closed it with a finger under her chin.

“She was mine the minute she stepped into my office,” I stated in an overly possessive tone.

Weston snorted in amusement. “I get it. You know how I was about Aspen. But,” he drawled, “I vaguely remember you telling me to chill and stop acting like a fucking caveman so I didn’t scare her away...How did that work out for you?”

Zoe covered her mouth, trying to stifle her giggle. I shrugged unashamedly, even though he couldn’t see it. “Yeah, yeah, shut it, asshole.”

Weston gave Zoe Aspen’s number, then we said our goodbyes and I ended the call before setting my phone down. I wrapped my arms around Zoe, peeking at my watch as they surrounded her. Her head turned and I rested my forehead on hers. “You’re mine, right?” I tried to hide it, but a hint of the vulnerability I was feeling escaped in my tone.

“Yes.”

“Forever.”

“Yes.”

“Say it, Zoe,” I snarled.

She sighed and cupped my cheeks, leaning back to stare into my eyes. “I’m yours forever, Landon.”

Satisfied, I kissed her deeply, wishing I had the time to fuck her before my appointment. I needed to leave so I had a chance to talk down my erection.

“I’ve got to go, baby,” I grumbled. “When I get back, we’ll head home and order dinner. Then I’ll have you for dessert.”

Zoe shook her head as she hopped off my lap. “We have dinner with your parents tonight.”

Fuck. I’d forgotten about that. I considered cancelling, impatient to have a talk with Zoe and get answers about her mood that morning. But, that would only further piss off my mom and facing her wrath tonight was already a frightening thought.

“Right,” I grumped. With another lingering kiss, I left her in a daze. I retrieved my cell and keys, then headed out. But before I reached the door, Zoe called my name. I halted and did an about face.

“Why did Weston joke about your—um”—her cheeks turned adorably pink—“virginity growing back?”

I laughed but to my surprise, I also felt my face heat. Shit, I was totally blushing. “He was referring to my dry spell,” I admitted. “It had been a long time since I was with anyone, hell since I’d even gone out on a date, before you.”

Zoe’s face was maddeningly blank, leaving me with no clue what she thought about this information. “How long?”

I cleared my throat and shifted my weight from one foot to another, thinking. Honestly, I hadn’t been keeping track so I had to think about my last date and do the math. Twenty-nine years old and she was the first woman I’d been with in... “Three years? I think?”

“Okay,” she answered simply, her face still void. Then I saw it. One corner of her mouth ghosted up and a smug satisfaction blazed in her eyes.

Chuckling, I shook my head and resumed exiting.

***