Page 16 of Marry Me Tomorrow
I cross my arms and give him a pointed look. “I feel like I know you and your mom just fine, thank you. My grandparents raised me to do the right thing, and my gut is telling me to do this.”
Trent leans back, crossing one leg over the other, and studies me for a moment. “Okay, well, if we’re doing this, there are some things we would need to agree on first. Ground rules.”
“Such as?” I ask, sinking back into the wingback chair.
“Well, living situation, physical affection, how long we would stay married—things like that.”
I nod, already running through possible scenarios in my head. “Okay. What are you thinking?”
“I have a house walking distance from the marina,” Trent says, his tone practical. “After we’re married, you could live there with me.”
“Logical,” I agree. “We’d need to keep up appearances anyway.”
“Exactly. And I figure we’d only need to live together for a year,” Trent continues.
“Why a year?”
“Well, my thought was that if we’re living together for at least that long, people will believe that we genuinely gave this marriage a go. So when we separate, no one will suspect that this marriage was all pretend. Plus, once I officially become the owner, I can change the contract to remove the marriage clause. After that, we wouldn’t need to keep up the charade anymore.”
“That makes sense,” I say, nodding “And we wouldn’t actually get divorced until I am ready to leave the marina, so I don’t have to worry about a job or place to live after the year is up.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
“And for the last part?” I ask, hesitantly.
Trent takes off his baseball cap and runs a hand through his hair. “And . . . for the physical aspect, I think we should keep things simple. People will expect at least one kiss on the wedding day. But other than that, we keep everything else friendly, like holding hands and small gestures and stuff like that.”
My brain stalls at the word kiss. My cheeks heat as I picture kissing Trent. Is Trent attractive? Absolutely. Have I wondered what kissing him might be like? Yep, and definitely more than once. But hearing him say it out loud sends my thoughts spiraling.
“So,” Trent says, his voice pulling me back to reality. “Are you still in?”
I take a deep breath, steadying myself. “You won’t get rid of me that easily,” I reply with a small smile. “But I have one question.”
“Hit me with it,” Trent says, leaning forward, curiosity flickering in his eyes.
“When’s the wedding? And how big or small is it going to be?”
Trent bursts into laughter, the sound filling the room and making me smile despite myself. His laugh is warm and contagious, a glimpse of the carefree side he so rarely gets to show lately.
And in that moment, I know the hardest part of this arrangement isn’t going to be pretending to be married. It’s going to be trying not to fall for him.
“Well,” Trent says, “if my mom has anything to do with it, it’ll be the event of the season. But since you are doing me such a big favor, we can do it any way you want.”
“Remember, it’s not a favor. We’re both getting something out of this.”
He chuckles. “Fair enough.”
“I’m more worried about the financial aspect of it,” I say, then look at the ground. “At the moment, I barely have enough money to get by, let alone put any toward a wedding.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Trent says. “My parents will cover it. My mom is more than ready for me to be married. She’s practically been preparing for my wedding since I was born.”
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“I’m sure,” Trent says. “And seriously, thank you for doing this.”
For a moment, neither of us speaks, the significance of our agreement hanging heavy between us. Somehow, this crazy plan feels a little less overwhelming than it should—and a little more like the right decision.
Chapter 7
