Unaccustomed to feeling off-balance, he threw out a distraction. “You’re as stubborn as my sister. In fact, you remind me of her.”
Except I have no desire to kiss my sister.
“Are you going to tell your sister the truth?” she asked.
“I’ll have to. She can see right through me.” He shrugged. “But Garner says, as long as we’re legally married with a normal prenuptial agreement, Matchup would have a hard time proving fraud. After all, plenty of marriages end in less than a year.”
“I told Harper this morning.”
“What did…” His train of thought vanished as she did it again—chewing on her lip in that tempting way. Why did his mouth feel so dry? He gulped down some coffee, grimacing at the now-tepid temperature. “What did your sister say?”
“That she wants to come to the wedding and her only day off is tomorrow.” Her voice grew softer and softer with each word, until he was straining to hear the last one.
“Tomorrow? We can’t get married that soon unless we go to Las Vegas.”
“It’s really important to me for Harper to be there.”
“Then, tomorrow it is.” Cole stood, his mind racing. He was back in his element—making plans and taking action. Best of all, he’d have his family and friends in an uproar. He hadn’t had this much fun in years. “We’ve got a lot to do in the next twenty-four hours.”
Why was Brooke’s face so ashen? Of course…she needed food!
“You must be hungry,” he said. “Can I cook you some breakfast? Scrambled eggs? Bacon? Pancakes?”
Her hand clapped over her mouth as she bolted from the room.
CHAPTER 11
“Try this one on, too.” Laurie, Finn Anderson’s wife, brought yet another dress to Brooke’s fitting room. “There’s one more I want you to try, but I’ll have to get the manager to get it down. It’s hanging in the display.”
Branson Knight’s wife, Steph, gave Brooke a rueful smile. “If she brings any more dresses back here, we may have to start a second fitting room.”
“All of these dresses are too expensive, anyway,” Brooke complained. “I told Cole I wanted a simple, quiet ceremony, but he’s turning it into a three-ring circus. The dress I brought with me would’ve been fine if he hadn’t decided to wear a tuxedo.”
“Don’t worry,” said Steph. “Cole can afford any dress you like.”
“But I don’t want to waste his money on a fancy dress for a wedding that…” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “For a wedding that isn’t even real.”
Cole had explained their plan to his sister and all his buddies, who’d shared the story with their wives. Only her parents and his were in the dark about the true nature of the impending marriage.
“This will quite likely be Cole’s only wedding.” Steph hung the latest rejected dress on the overflowing hook. “Don’t you want it to be memorable for him?”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way. I guess it needs to be special.” Brooke peeked through the slats in the dressing room door to be sure no one was listening. “Even though the whole thing is fake.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Steph tapped a fingernail on her front tooth as she studied Brooke’s current dress, a fluffy white ballgown.
“You’re not sure about this dress?”
“No, I’m positive that’s not the dress for you. You’re not the fairy princess type.” She perused the untried choices, hanging from every available hook in the room. “What I’m not sure about is this whole fake marriage thing. You’re both swearing this is a temporary, platonic relationship, but I’m not convinced.”
“What else could it be?” Beads of sweat broke out on Brooke’s forehead, even though the room was chilly. “We can’t be in love. We only met five days ago.”
“I think I’m going to like this one on you.” Steph held up a dress with drapes of soft satin. “Look, I’ve known Cole for a couple of years now, and Bran talks about him all the time. He tends to buck the system, so-to-speak. He’s a billionaire who drives a pickup with 100,000 miles on it and wears boots that’ve been re-soled, twice.”
“You see, I didn’t even know that.” But secretly, she thought it was awesome.
“My point is he’s acting like this is just another one of his rebellious stunts, but I don’t buy it. And neither does Bran.”
Brooke slid the silky dress over her head and struggled with the side zipper. “It’s more than a stunt… I’ll give you that. Cole put a lot of thought into this decision, and so did I.”
“Yes, but as far as women are concerned, this goes against everything that’s always defined him.” Steph helped her close the zipper. “The back is beautiful, the way it dips down. Let me see the front.”
Brooke turned to face the mirror. The creamy-white satin fell from her shoulders in a low cowl-neck and clung to her form like a forties-style Hollywood glam dress, the folds miraculously camouflaging the slight rounding of her tummy.
“That’s the one!” Steph declared. “It looks gorgeous on you!”
“But how much is it?” Brooke tried to read the price tag, but Steph jerked it out of her hand.
“Cole will love it, and he can afford it. He doesn’t spend money on himself, but he loves to spend it on other people. This will make him happy.”
“Do you really think so?” She realized how woefully unprepared she was for this marriage. She barely knew this man she was going to be living with for the next five months. Since she obviously wasn’t going to make him happy in the bedroom, she needed to meet as many of his other needs as possible.
“I know so.”
“Let me in.” Laurie tapped on the door. “I’ve got one more dress.”
Steph opened the door. “What do you think of this one, Laurie?”