Page 21 of Unstable

Well, it wasn’t an outright refusal. “Here’s what I was thinking. I’ll take her on a pretend honeymoon someplace—there are a couple quiet beaches on the Gulf coast that would work well. Airline reservations are next to impossible to get hold of, even for a skilled hacker, so we should be safe enough to fly. Once we land, we’ll use a hired driver to take us somewhere obscure. It’ll be far enough away that the guy won’t immediately be able to follow her, even if our location were to be leaked. Hopefully, he’ll slip up and try something stupid here again.”

“You’ve been thinking about this,” Knox said quietly.

“I have. I don’t like it, but if it’ll keep her safe…”

Knox fell silent for a moment. “Did you know that marriage records are public?”

He hadn’t known that. Suddenly, this whole thing seemed a little more real. Anyone at any time could check the records to see if they were officially married. If they went through with this whole scheme, they had to go the whole way.

It couldn’t be pretend. He would have to marry her.

“I’ll double check with her and let you know, but for now…” He hesitated for a long moment, then sighed. “Let’s plan for it. Check into reservations somewhere on the beach, and get the studio to sign off on whatever you need.”

“Will do.”

Without another word, Knox hung up, and he stood, then stared at the front door. He had two choices. He could call Knox back right now and pretend like this had never happened.

Or… he could do the right thing. Maybe not right, exactly, but it was the only alternative he had at the moment. Given his options, he knew he didn’t have a choice.

He entered the house, relocked the door behind him, then made his way to the kitchen. Rina stood with her back to him as she operated the blender, and he waited until the whirring noise stopped before clearing his throat.

She jumped a little bit and threw a wary look his way. Her lips pressed slightly together, and her chin dropped a notch as she regarded him with no small amount of embarrassment. He was sure she would take back their conversation last night given the chance. If he let her, she would continue on just like this, ignoring him and pretending that none of this had ever happened.

He, however, couldn’t forget the look on her face when she’d asked him to marry her. Her expression had been hesitant, timid… hopeful. As strange as it seemed, he was the only one who could help her now.

He held her cerulean gaze for a long moment, then dropped the words that he knew would change his life. “Let’s do it.”

CHAPTER

EIGHT

“Let’s do it.”

Individually, each word made perfect sense, but her mind couldn’t quite comprehend exactly what he was telling her. She tipped her head to one side. “Do… what?”

He shrugged. “Get…” His shoulders twitched, and his gaze darted away before sliding back to hers. “Married.”

Her breath caught, and her heart skipped a beat as hope exploded in her chest. “But I thought⁠—”

He slashed one hand through the air. “Forget what I said. I was being an idiot. My boss liked your idea, and he’s already talking to Louis and the studio.”

Part of her wanted to throw her arms around him, and she grabbed the counter behind her to keep herself from doing so. He already looked uncomfortable; she didn’t want to freak him out. Though, honestly, she was lucky he was still around after everything that had happened already.

“There’s something…” He faltered. “It’s a little more complicated than just pretending to be married, though.”

She cocked her head. “What do we need to do?”

He hesitated for a long moment, as if searching for the right words. “Marriage records are public.” He stared at her, his expression bordering on anxious.

“Okay…?” she drew out the word, trying to decipher his statement.

“Anyone can check to see if we’re really married.”

It hit her like a bolt of lightning, and she felt her mouth fall open. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” He looked grim. “So… I’ll leave this up to you.”

She stared up at him. “You’re… You’d really… marry me?”