Page 56 of Chance of Romance
She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, shit. I said we were actually married.”
“No problem. I’ll fix it.” He texted rapidly. “I’ll tell them we decided to go through with it today in Vegas. There, now everyone’s on the same page.”
They looked at each other.
She suddenly wanted to take it all back. She was just starting things with Logan, and this was going to add a huge complication to their fledgling relationship. What had she done? This had been a terrible idea with terrible consequences. If people found out it was fake, she’d be ruined even worse than she was now with half her clients gone. She’d look like adesperaterelationship counselor, who was left at the altar and then faked a new marriage. The only thing worse would be her nutty family jumping into the spotlight to comment on their long history of noncommitted relationships. Free love and all that hippy stuff before it was even cool. Her stomach rolled.
She swallowed hard. “Maybe I should call off Claire.”
“Leave it. That psycho counselor is still out to get you. At least this’ll take the heat off. I don’t mind helping you out.”
“But I’m supposed to be committed to commitment. What if people find out it’s fake?” She winced. “Sometimes my vengeful side gets the better of me.”
He cradled her cheek, his thumb stroking it. “Let’s just enjoy a little weekend honeymoon. Later we’ll have our fake divorce when everything’s back to normal.”
Her stomach rolled and churned and threatened to revolt. Someone was going to get hurt, and she had a terrible feeling it was her. “Maybe we need an exit strategy for after the fake marriage. You know, so there’s no hard feelings.”
He dropped his hand and stared at her. “Hard feelings from a fake divorce?”
She tried to keep the worry from her voice. “An exit strategy would make clear boundaries for both of us. It’s a big leap from where we were to where we’re at now. Honestly, I need it for peace of mind.”
He looked thoughtful. “How’s this for an exit strategy? You can say I was secretly a commitment-phobe and you told me goodbye.”
“But we’re supposed to be married. Commitment-phobes don’t get that far.”
He rubbed his beard. “Okay, say I was a jerk with a wandering eye.”
She pursed her lips. “It reflects badly on me if I chose a jerk.”
“Then what?”
She looked at a point over his shoulder, deep in thought, before meeting his eyes, saying brightly, “We’ll say you’re already married, but I didn’t know it.”
“No.”
“We’ll say you’re gay, but you didn’t know it.”
“No!”
“Well, what, then?”
His brown eyes danced with amusement. “How about we say you secretly fell in love with a woman and I asked to watch you get it on?”
“Logan!”
He gave her a sexy half-smile. “It wouldn’t be the worst thing for me to watch.”
She worried her bottom lip. They needed to think of something good.
Logan got out of bed, stood, and held his arms out to her. “Okay, counselor, I see where this needs to go. Close your eyes, fall backward, and I’ll catch you.”
Her eyes widened. “Like a trust exercise?”
“Yup. It’ll calm you right down.” He wasn’t grinning, but something about his tone bordered on playful. Maybe because he was playing at psychology for her when his real expertise was tech.
She hesitated for a moment, but then she thought she probably would feel better, knowing he’d catch her. It was one of those things where the body gets the message and then the brain gets on board. It couldn’t hurt, especially as wobbly as she felt right now.
She slowly got out of bed, naked, and his gaze immediately dropped to her breasts and then took a tour down her body. She jabbed a finger at him. “Focus. You drop me and it completely negates the whole point of a trust exercise.”
