Picture Perfect Marriage Read online

  “On that we can agree.” I hold out the manila folder I’ve had a death grip on since I left the parking lot. “If you’ll sign—”

  A grim smile covers Tate’s handsome as sin face. “No.”

  “No? Are you kidding me?”

  He shakes his head. “I don’t want a divorce, Quinn. That hasn’t changed.”

  With a groan, I slap the folder down on the bed. “We can get an annulment. It’s only been four months since we... since we married.”

  “The state of North Carolina doesn’t allow annulments except in very special circumstances, so unless we’re related or one of us didn’t share the fact we couldn’t have kids before the wedding, you’re stuck with me.”

  “Stupid laws,” I mutter. “Is it because we don’t have a prenup? I’ll sign whatever you want so you can keep your millions.”

  “I don’t give a damn about the money,” he says flatly. “This was never about the money. It’s about you running away from our relationship.”

  My eyes narrow, jaw firming. “I didn’t run from anything,” I lie. A huge lie if there ever was one. I’d run so hard from Tate that I nearly crashed into the Atlantic. Worse, it was over how lovingly he treated me in the wake of Laird’s disappearance. How kind and considerate he was... until he suddenly had to leave ...

  I blow out a breath. None of that matters now. “As I recall, you were the one on the first plane back to LA, not me.”

  “You can believe what you want, sweetheart, but I’m not going to change my mind.”

  I take a step closer to him. “You can’t force me to stay married to you.”

  His brown eyes narrow, then turn sad. “Do you really think I’m a monster?”

  I open my mouth to reply, but he interrupts with, “Don’t answer that. Here’s the thing—I want the chance to make our marriage work, and I want you to willingly join me in this endeavor.”

  “Endeavor?” I scoff. “You’re such a nerd.” Tate always was nerdy. A super-hot nerd with a huge... vocabulary he used to his advantage. Sue me. I’m a sucker for big brains. “Why is this so important? Why can’t you let me go?”

  He strokes his jaw, the sexy stubble distracting me from my anger. “I could give you the answers to your questions, but I know you. You’ll run again. Hell, you’re so afraid of us that you’ll sell your fucking salon and disappear.”

  “First of all, I’m not selling my salon, and second, I’m not afraid of anything.” Except I am. Tate had always been so calm and intentional that I’d never had to worry if he meant what he said... until he walked out on me.

  “You’re so damn afraid, baby. The fear is eating you alive.” He crosses the small distance between us, his hand coming to rest on my cheek. I lean into his touch, savoring the feel of his palm against my skin. The scent of his cologne and the assurance of his presence give me peace while inflaming my senses. “Be bold. Be that woman who said yes and married me because she wanted the world to know how in love we were.”

  It’s the perfect day, warmer than usual in winter, and the sun is shining. I swear my heart is so full it’s about to burst as Tate gets down on one knee.

  I gasp in happy shock. Yes, we’ve been dating for three years now, undercover and exclusive, but I never... “What are you doing?” I ask. Silly of me, I know, but I can’t help myself.

  He grins, his dark eyes brimming with love. “Tying my shoe.”

  “You...” Narrowing my eyes, I swat at his shoulder. “That was mean.”

  Like magic, he pulls a ring out of thin air. “Before I ask you the most important question of your life, I want to remind you of the reason I’m doing this.”

  I tap my chin. “Is it because of that time I ratted you and Barron out to your aunts with an anonymous call right before you came home late from curfew?”

  “You were responsible for that? My first official late night out as a senior in high school... and it ended in yard work the next day.”

  “Sorry. I did come help to make up for it. Rode my bike the entire way and everything.” I wince, not really looking him in the face. “It was totally Barron’s fault because he’d sworn to take me out in the boat that day and didn’t.”

  “I should be mad, but I remember the size of those blisters you got.” Taking my hand in his, he lightly traces a pattern over the love lines with the diamond. “Are you sure you weren’t in love with me then?”

  “Puh-lease, Prescott,” I huff. “I had much better taste in men.”

  “At fourteen?”

  With a snort, I nod. “Maybe I was waiting on us both to grow up.” No, I wasn’t in love with him, then, but I did have a soft spot for Tate. He grew up all alone without any parents, just two eccentric aunts who loved him to pieces. To me—with my huge, loud family—that seemed like the loneliest way ever to live.

  “Anything else you want to confess?” he asks, a playful smile on his sexy face.

  “Just that I love you with everything inside of me.”

  “I’m so lucky to have you.” He clears his throat, tipping up his chin a little. “The reason why I’m doing this is because I can’t imagine not having you in my life. I can’t keep living a lie, pretending I’m available, when your arms are the only ones I want around me. Your kiss is the only one I crave. Your love is the only thing that makes me whole, wild child.”

  I bite my lip. “Tate... are you sure?”

  “Never been so sure of anything in my life.” He slips the ring on my fingers. “There’s no going back from this, not once you say yes.” I thrill at the possessiveness of his words. He’s usually so easy-going. “Once you become my wife, that’s it for me. And I’m not telling you this to scare you off, but rather because I’ve been able to keep you safe from public scrutiny, for the most part, for a long time. You marry me, wild child, and all bets are off. I want to tell the fucking world who my heart belongs to.”

  “I’ll take such good care of your heart, Tate, and I trust you to take care of mine, too. So my answer is yes, even though you haven’t asked.” I take a deep breath. “I knew you were the one for the me the moment you gave up one of the biggest nights of your life to help your aunts out when their kitchen flooded. I know it’s silly, but it’s true. Family matters to you as much as it does to me,” I say. “Now ask me to marry you, proper like, so we can tell everyone.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He smiles widely. “Will you, Quinn Esther King, marry me?”

  “Absolutely I will.”

  He jumps to his feet, pulling me into his embrace, and we kiss like we’re the only people in the world. Like we’ve just discovered what true love is and never want to let it go.

  “Quinn. Damn it. Don’t shut me out,” Tate orders, pulling me out of my memories.

  “I’m not that woman anymore,” I whisper as hot tears slide down my cheeks. “She was foolish. She let her brother take—take—her—place—” I choke back a sob, the one that’s been living in my throat since the memorial service.

  “Dammit, Quinn.” He exhales, then takes me in his arms. I don’t fight him. I can’t. I won’t. I need his strength too much right now. “It’s not your fault.”

  “Yes, it is,” I insist, my heart pinching painfully as guilt permeates my body with pain and twists me up inside. “We shouldn’t have—I shouldn’t have—sneaked off.”

  “Hush,” he whispers against my temple. “It’s not your fault. You’re not psychic, and you couldn’t have known what was going to happen. No one could have.”

  I grab his biceps, digging my nails in so I don’t collapse under the weight of my secret guilt. A guilt that only Tate knows. “But I could have done something. I could have called one of my brothers to take my place. I could have—”

  “I could have been at a memorial service for you today,” he says, and I sag against him. “Your mother could have lost two children instead of one.”

  I whimper in response, then tip up my chin to look at him.

  “I realize today isn’t the best day to push y
ou, but I’m done waiting for you to come to your senses. I’m done having shit written about me on social media that makes you question my fidelity.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you do with other women,” I say, the words like acid on my tongue. Actually, it matters so much it hurts. “It’s not like I’ve been keeping my legs crossed.”

  “Liar,” he chides. “On both accounts.”

  I hate how well he knows me. Yet, I love it just the same. “Listen, we made a mistake. It was the heat of the moment, a one-night stand turned into a honeymoon.”

  His dark brows rise to his hairline as his hand falls away. “Really? That’s what you want to call what we’ve been doing for years?”

  I blink at him. “Maybe?”

  With a dark laugh, he leans forward, kissing my forehead. “Quinn King, my one and only wife, you are duly warned that I plan to return very soon, fully prepared to win you back by any means necessary.”

  “I’m not a prize.”

  He strides to the door, tossing four words over one of his wide shoulders as he opens it. “To me you are.”

  It doesn’t occur to me until I’m driving home later that not only did I not get him to sign the damn divorce papers, but I didn’t tell him that I couldn’t be won back.

  Chapter 2

  Tate

  It didn’t set well with me to leave Quinn alone in my hotel room, and not just because I wanted to take her in my arms again. I don’t put it past her to do something to my things in retaliation for not signing the fucking divorce papers she’s so eager to finalize. Hell, the woman lied to the judge on how long we’ve been separated just so she could get it fast tracked.

  Only a King in Royal County could have that sort of power.

  I run a hand through my hair, then clear my head before walking inside of Ten Blue. It’s one of the swankiest, if not the swankiest, restaurants in town.

  I’m fifteen minutes earlier than when I agreed to meet Barron, intent on being fully prepared and at ease before he is seated at our table. While some men like to keep others waiting in order to show how big their dick is, I prefer a more subtle approach... and I think being late on purpose is incredibly rude.

  Hey, we all have our little quirks.

  As I greet the hostess, she informs me that Barron is already here.

  “Of course he is,” I mumble as I follow her to the table.

  Did I mention Barron has the same quirk?

  Barron rises when he sees me walking his way, a genuine smile on his face, and I grin back. I can’t help it; the guy’s been my best friend since we were in kindergarten.

  “It’s been too damn long, man,” he says, grabbing my arm and pulling me in for a hug. He beat on my back with one fist, but since it’s not hard enough to leave a bruise, I’ll stay cautiously optimistic that he’s okay with me being in Castle Beach again after all this time. “How the hell are you?”

  “Great. You?” A stupid question considering we attended the same memorial service for his brother only hours earlier today. “Shit. Sorry. Habit. Don’t answer that.”

  His smile turns sad. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “I take it you’re holding up, then?”

  “No other choice. Have a seat,” he says. Barron signals the server, and he rushes over to take our drink orders. Once we’ve placed them, my best friend looks me right in the eye. “What are your intentions with my sister? I saw her car parked at your hotel.”

  I lean back in my chair, studying him. “Honorable as always.”

  He grunts. “I disagree. You weren’t honorable until four months ago.”

  “You can see where that got me.”

  “Quinn is a grown woman who runs a highly successful salon. I respect her decisions,” he says evenly. “She’s also my only sister.”

  “I’m pretty sure wife trumps sister.”

  “Duly noted.” The drinks are placed in front of us, and he lifts his in toast. “To family.”

  I lift mine in return. “To new beginnings.”

  Narrowing his eyes, he sets his drink down. “I’m not going to put in a good word for you with Quinn.”

  “Don’t recall asking you to do so.” See, I can play the Southern gentleman game, too. The thing is, Barron isn’t an asshole. He’s not even a douche or a good ol’ boy.

  He’s simply the type of guy who rarely lives in the grey areas of life. What he says is exactly what he means, he takes others into consideration when he has a decision to make, and he’s fiercely loyal to his family. I can’t fault him for that. When we were younger, that was one of the reasons I counted him as a friend.

  A brother, even.

  Until I broke bro code and started seeing Quinn not long after my aunts’ deaths... and never stopped. That was three years ago, yet it feels like a lifetime has passed since then.

  “Just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page.”

  “Might want to make sure we’re in the same book,” I suggest. “Look, full disclosure, I’m coming back to convince Quinn not to get a divorce.”

  He grunts. “Good luck with that.”

  “Has she finally confessed we got married?”

  “She’s never even said the two of you dated.” He frowns. “If she’s hell-bent on a divorce, I don’t know how you’ll change her mind.”

  “I’m hell-bent on the opposite, and I don’t lose.”

  “You need to give her time.”

  That’s what he’d told me before when I’d come clean about my relationship with Quinn, and look where that got me. “She’s had plenty.”

  “What happens if she says no?”

  I swallow, unable to entertain the possibility. “Plan B.”

  “Uh-huh.” Obviously skeptical, he asks, “What makes you think you can get Quinn to go along with the plan in the first place?”

  “Pretty sure if I promise to sign the papers in return for thirty days to convince her to stay married, she’ll be amenable to my plan.”

  “Then what? You move back to Castle Beach permanently and live happily ever after?”

  I lean back in my chair. “Something like that. I could move my production company here.”

  “Atlanta is the East Coast version of Hollywood now. Why bother?” Barron asks, astute as ever. The man is a shark when he wants to be—a shark that always stays in the lines.

  “Castle Beach fits my needs for a future location, and the tax incentives promised by the Board of Commissioners should I film a movie here helped. The state is interested and making preliminary offers as well. Looks like Royal County is finally courting us again. Guess they haven’t filled in the new mayor yet.” I get in that last jab because Barron won’t be mayor until the last day of Blackbeard Days in July.

  Barron frowns. “The last time the county courted Hollywood, we went into the red with all the requirements and it took decades to recover.”

  “How would you know how long it took? You were in elementary school with me the last time a movie was filmed in in this area,” I point out.

  His frown gives way to a grin. “Research for our meeting.”

  “You always were a nerd.” So was I, but I have to give him a hard time. I’m fairly sure it’s part of the requirements on how to keep a bromance alive. Or, in our case, revitalize it a little.

  He tweaks his bow tie. “Proud of it, too.”

  “What’s going on with you these days, besides convincing voters to elect the youngest mayor in the history of Castle Beach?” I ask, purposefully switching topics. I really do want to strengthen my relationship with Barron and not just because of Quinn or moving my production company here. True friends are hard to find in my business because we all get paid millions to lie.

  “Engaged. Working with Duke at King Global. Trying to get Quinn to be kinder to my fiancée. The usual.”

  It doesn’t escape my notice that he doesn’t mention who his fiancée is. Either I don’t know her, or I used to date her. However, I don’t give a damn on bo
th accounts. It’s been years since I dated anyone from around here—besides Quinn, that is.

  “Ouch.” I suck in air through my teeth. “Quinn usually likes everyone. Present company of me excluded.”

  “Liking Eden would be a bonus, but right now I’d settle for acknowledging her presence.”

  Laughter bursts from my throat. “Good luck with that.”

  He starts to laugh, too, and just like that the tension dissipates. “I sure as hell miss having you around. Castle Beach hasn’t been the same since you made it big, then stopped coming around as much as you used to.”

  “Looks exactly the same to me, and I’ve always made a point to never stay away but for so long.” Especially once Quinn and I started dating. Secretly dating, that is. There was no way in hell I could subject her to the scrutiny of the media or the fans who followed me on social media. I loved her too much for that.

  Still do.

  The server comes by our table again, then takes our orders before moving on the next guests.

  “You know, regardless of what’s going on between you and Quinn, if your future plans are on the up and up, I’ll vocally support you when you have to come before the planning board and the like, but the town council has final say.”

  I shake my head, staring at him in awe. From my research, I know the mayor of Castle Beach not only holds a lot of sway with the council, but also can override their decisions if he or she feels it is necessary.

  Yet, here is he, giving me his word. Basically, that he won’t go against me.

  “There aren’t many politicians like you left, Barron.”

  “I don’t know about that,” he says. “Besides, in Castle Beach, we’re not allowed to run on party lines. Makes us loyal to the town instead of whatever letter happens to be beside our name. People don’t want to do away with that section of our town charter, so it stands.”

  “I think it’s pretty fucking progressive.”

  “Hard not to be when the town was founded by the descendants of a pirate who believed in deeds and hard work over talk and money,” Barron says wryly.