AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Casual. That’d work. Made perfect sense.
Not.
I sighed as the taxi pulled up outside the studio. By the time I was in the dressing room with my gear set up, the band was arriving. Maddox winked at me and I blushed, but other than that I think I succeeded in staying relatively professional.
Veronica snapped some candid photos of the band. As Garrett was getting up off the makeup chair and Carter was sitting down, she showed me one of the photos.
“These are great, Vee,” I said. I glanced at the guys. “You’re lucky that Veronica is so talented. I’m not sure anyone else could make you look this good.”
Maddox grinned and my knees went weak. His smile was blindingly sexy.
When the band went out for their first interview, Veronica let out a deep breath. She glanced at me.
“You never checked in to our hotel yesterday,” she said. There was a strange look on her face, but I couldn’t place it. I made a mental note to ask her if anything had happened. But right now, she was asking questions about something I wasn’t quite ready to talk about.
“No,” I replied slowly, putting my makeup brushes away and clipping my case closed.
“Stop avoiding my eyes,” she laughed. “What’s going on with you?”
“I’m engaged.”
I looked up to see Vee’s eyes widening. “What?”
“I said I’m engaged.”
“I know what you said,” she laughed. “What I mean is, what?! How? To who?! Are you engaged to Maddox Freaking Knight?!”
“Sort of,” I said. “I don’t know. I think so?”
She put up her hands, shaking her head as she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she put her hands on her hips and looked at me.
“Lacie, babe, I love you. You’re my best friend. But will you please tell me what the fuck you’re talking about right now?”
Her eyes were bright as she stared at me, and I couldn’t help it. I started laughing. It bubbled up inside me, and all the tension in my body started to evaporate. She frowned as the laughter started to spread to her too, her confusion battling with her desire to laugh with me. Finally, she gave in, and we dissolved into a fit of giggles.
“I’m sorry,” I said, wiping my eyes. “I know it’s crazy.”
“You’re fucking right, it’s crazy. What is going on?”
“I guess he needs a wife to get his inheritance or something. I don’t know, I don’t really get it. He said he’d pay for my mom’s medical bills if I married him.”
Veronica frowned. “Lacie, that’s fucking weird. That’s like… coercive. I’m not okay with that.”
“No!” I said, shaking my head. “It’s not like that. He said he’d give me the money either way.” I opened my mouth but I didn’t know what to say.
The thing was, Vee was right. It was weird, and a bit coercive. But the way Maddox and I had talked about it hadn’t felt that way at all. It had felt right. I hadn’t felt forced into it at all. I’d felt…
…happy.
She leaned against the counter, folding her arms and staring at the ground. She glanced at me, studying my face as I shifted from foot to foot.
“And you’re okay with this?”
I took a deep breath, willing my voice to stay steady. “I have to do this for my mom, Vee.”
“There are other options.”
“What options?” I exploded. “I’ve been denied loans, we can’t remortgage the house a third time, and I barely make enough money to pay for the house and food. I have no family to ask for money and I’m not going to like, start stripping to pay for it or anything. Remember that pole dancing class we took? I looked like a baby deer pretending to be a firefighter.”
