Page 8 of Married at Midnight

Connor forced back his own response to her story and looked at his watch. “I already called the airlines. Our flight leaves in two hours. We have just enough time to get back to the hotel for our things and then return my rental car before our flight.”

She frowned. “You were that sure I’d agree to your plan?”

He shrugged. “I hoped.”

She tipped her chin. Defiance radiated from her every pore. “Yeah, keep making assumptions about me, Grayson, and this arrangement won’t last very long,” she said, walking away from him, down the aisle toward the door.

After a few seconds he caught up with her. “It won’t happen again.” He tossed the apology out there like it meant something; then he realized that it really did. He needed her help. There was really nothing for her to gain from this arrangement except his cooperation with a quick divorce.

Connor took her hand.

She started to pull away.

He held tight. “We might as well start practicing now if we’re going to convince my grandmother we’re a couple.”

Ellie released a sigh. “This really wasn’t what I had planned when I came to Las Vegas.”

Connor forced back a flippant response. “What were you hoping to accomplish?” he asked instead, certain they’d never discussed why either of them was in town last night.

“I was looking for clients for my business,” she said as they made their way to the parking lot.

“I’ll hire you.”

She pulled her hand from his. “To do what?”

He shrugged. “I’ll need a launch party for my latest robotics project in the next few months if all goes well.”

“That won’t help me right now—besides, I’m not sure it’s wise to complicate our situation further, Grayson.”

At the moment, and in that tone of voice, she made his name sound like a curse. The thought rattled him as he opened the car door for her. She had been the curse of his life, not the other way around.

They had met the beginning of their senior year in high school because Ellie had needed a tutor for calculus. Sequestered in the library each day after school, the geek and the cheerleader became friends, allowing each to see who the other truly was despite the social pressure from their peers.

Connor hadn’t let anyone get too close after his mother disappeared from his life. But Ellie was different. Special. She didn’t dismiss him as a nerd like everybody else seemed to, and she truly cared for him. After four months of dating, things got serious. They’d planned to attend different colleges on opposite coasts, yet they wanted to make a lasting commitment to each other. Prom would have been the night, except that plan hadn’t gone as expected.

Old, painful memories flooded back as he settled into the car beside her. He told himself he didn’t blame her for leaving him behind. They’d been so young—young enough to lie to themselves about their future. Over the years he’d convinced himself their breakup had been for the best. They would have ruined each other’s lives, suffocated each other’s dreams.

But in this moment, staring at her in the front seat of his car, he realized he hadn’t forgiven her. How could he? She’d abandoned him just like his mother had. Aside from his grandmother, every other woman he’d allowed into his heart had let him down.

Ellie Hawthorne might not be the girl he once fell in love with, but she was the best hope for saving his grandmother’s life.