Page 9 of Marring an Athlete

“Yeah. We’re faking a marriage? Might as well start now. So we’re used to it. I’m not sure what kind of detectives they have at the resort, or what they’d do if they found out we weren’t married. I figured we should start pretending now.”

Anna slammed her lips shut and nodded. Of course. They were faking that they were married. She needed to get used to that. It would save her major embarrassment later. Michael started walking again, so she followed behind him.

“About that. What exactly are we going to have to do? Maybe we should set some boundaries.” She moved to pull out a pad of paper and a pen.

Michael groaned. “Boundaries? You know I can’t work under those.” He stopped, and suddenly he wrapped his arm around her waist.

Anna’s heart picked up speed as he pulled her closer to him. He swept her to the side and dipped her back. Anna squeaked as she clung to his shoulders. “What are you doing?” she asked.

When she glanced up at him, his blue eyes sparkled. Suddenly, all the feelings that she’d had for so long came rushing to the surface. This was Michael she was looking at. The guy who had stayed up late with her when McKenna had already fallen asleep, giving her advice on all her crushes. The guy who took a black eye from Jordan in ninth grade when he’d made advances toward her.

His playful smile twitched on his lips as he brought her closer to him. He made things so easy. When she was with him, her stressful past didn’t matter. Everything would be okay. And caring about him felt like something she was born to do.

When his gaze met hers, his flirtatious expression grew serious. Suddenly, she was righted, and he was clearing his throat.

“Sorry. See? Even talking about boundaries makes me want to break them.” He shot her an uneasy smile.

Anna swallowed as she nodded—maybe a bit too vigorously. “I totally get it.”

“Excuse me? Is this guy bothering you, ma’am?”

Anna turned to see a beefy security guard studying her. He swept his gaze over to Michael, narrowing his eyes.

“Um. . .” She turned and raised her eyebrows at Michael who shot her an expectant look. She contemplated playing this up. But, getting Michael put in airport jail probably wasn’t the best way to start out Operation Fix McKenna and Sam’s Marriage. She laughed and shook her head. “No, officer. He’s not.”

The guard moved his hand to his baton. “Are you sure?”

Anna nodded. “He’s just goofing around. I’m okay. I know him. He’s. . . my husband.” Those words felt strange and right at the same time.

The guard’s gaze slipped to her left hand that was wrapped around the shoulder of her purse. Realizing that she had no ring there, she laughed it off. “Silly me. I accidentally flushed it. . . down the toilet?” Why was she still talking? She should stop. Right now.

Michael matched her laugh as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her next to him. Anna tried to ignore just how good she fit against his body. Or how amazing he smelled.

“Silly, Mrs. Jones. She’s such a klutz sometimes.”

They both fake laughed until they were out of earshot of the guard. When she glanced back to see him making his way through the crowd, she wiggled from Michael’s grasp. Being this close to him was heightening her senses. She needed to keep as emotionally distant from him as she could. There was no way she would allow herself to have deep feelings for Michael Jones. Not after McKenna’s wedding.

“You’re welcome,” she said as she adjusted her purse and glanced up at him.

Michael’s half-smile was still lingering on his lips. “For what?”

“Saving you from airport jail.”

Michael laughed as he motioned toward the airline attendant who was just finishing up with a couple who were both wearing Hawaiian shirts and straw hats.

“They would never have put me in jail,” he said.

Anna dropped her jaw. He was that sure of himself that he thought he could talk his way out of any situation? Well, she could feel a challenge coming on. “You, mister, are much more suspicious looking than I am,” she said as she followed him.

Michael laughed. This time, it was his deep and whole-hearted laugh. “Remember when someone TP’d the stadium right before homecoming?”

Anna nodded. The whole school had been on activity lockdown until someone confessed. She stopped as she reached out and grabbed Michael’s arm. “That was you?”

“Yep,” he said, emphasizing the p. “And when they found out, I used the Jones’ charm and got out of it.” He winked at her as he shrugged.

Anna wanted to protest, but she couldn’t deny that Michael had that sort of charisma. The kind that seemed to convince you to do things. Like kiss him. She cleared her throat and turned her attention toward the agent who was waving them up.

Thankful for the distraction, Anna followed Michael as he stepped up to the agent and gave her one of his signature smiles.

“Good morning,” she said, glancing up at him through her eyelashes.

Anna wanted to roll her eyes. Everywhere Michael went, girls fawned over him. So instead of listening to their conversation, Anna turned and focused on the cardboard cutout behind her. She didn’t want to admit to herself just how much it hurt her to hear him laughing and flirting with the agent. It just reminded her of how much of an idiot she was.

Michael didn’t care about her. She was just his kid sister’s best friend that he palled around with. And she certainly wasn’t his wife. This was fake. It all was.

If only she could convince her pounding heart that it wasn’t real, then she’d be set. And perhaps, have a chance at surviving this week.

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