Holly searched his stare, as if trying to find the answers to questions they both had and didn’t understand. Finally she said, “It’s not. If I don’t do this, she won’t have any shot. I can stay by her side and watch her fade away, or do this temporarily to give her some real quality time. She’ll be better off without me in the short-term.”
Trent tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek. “She’s lucky to have you. And so am I. We can go over for dinner there every night if you want.”
“I do.” She chuckled at her own choice of words. Holly cut her stare to Ford and said, “Go ahead, draw it up, please. Before I come to my senses.”
“I mean…we’ll have to be a bit creative in how we word things, but sure.” He rubbed his hands together. “We can make this happen.”
Holly glanced over her shoulder at Andi and Kari, both of whom beamed at them.
Trent did the same, looking to Owen and Lorenzo for validation that he hadn’t lost his fucking mind. They both flashed him a thumbs-up along with a sinful grin that meant they were hoping for more than a fourth platonic roommate.
Trent couldn’t even think that far ahead at the moment, though his body certainly approved of keeping Holly tucked close to him right then, as well as during the following ninety days.
When they returned their stares to each other, something intense and hot passed between them. A combined purpose, a dedication to their goals no matter the cost, and—just maybe—a shower of sparks caused by their mutual attraction.
“Well then, who wants to come to our wedding?” Holly asked.
A chorus of agreement echoed around them. It had been so long since Trent had that kind of unqualified acceptance that a rush of elation ran through him. Before he could feel guilty about it given the circumstances, he shared the moment with Holly.
Trent lowered his head and sealed their agreement with a smoking kiss that guaranteed they were going to take up right where they’d left off at the party earlier once they were alone again. Someone whistled while a few other people hooted and a round of applause erupted.
The chaos was the only thing that jarred him from the moment and reminded him that this wasn’t the time or place to lose control. Trent lifted his lips just enough to break the spell and stood there breathing hard while Holly steadied herself.
She squeezed his arms before letting go and stepping back, but he didn’t let her get far. He took her hand in his and joked, “Can Elvis officiate?”
“Hell, yes. The more fun, the better.” Holly grinned. Maybe because continuing their party atmosphere was the only way either of them was going to have the nerve to go through with what they were about to do.
“Dibs on maid of honor!” Andi shouted before bouncing up and down.
That led to Lorenzo and Owen arm wrestling to determine who would be best man. Holly and Trent laughed at their friends’ antics. He’d never felt as lucky or as normal as he did in those very unusual and twisted circumstances.
8
“Ididn’t even know you were going to get engaged tonight, never mind that I’d be getting married.” Holly blinked at the slightly worn silk bouquet in her hands before glancing up at her two best friends. Their guys mingled nearby, laughing and making the most of their second detour from the engagement party while Trent finished up some paperwork in the front office. The documents that would make their union official. “How the hell did we end up here?”
Oh yeah. She’d followed a trail of golden breadcrumbs right to the chapel door.
$437,281.17
That’s how they’d lured her into a cheesy chapel on the strip with a guy she’d snuck longing glances at out her bedroom window for a few years in college. Just like his killer smile, that amount had been burned into her brain. The number of times she’d withdrawn the estimate from the envelope and stared at it in horror, weeping over the impossibility of raising that much cash in her lifetime, never mind her mother’s, guaranteed she knew it by heart.
Thatwas why she was doing this. And if she was attracted to her soon-to-be husband, well, that only made things more bearable, right? She could put up with anything for ninety days if it meant she could give her mother the one thing she needed to be healthy. Hell, she’d have gladly given her mom her own kidney if she’d been a match.
Kari glanced down at the honking rock that covered her ring finger from the second to third knuckle. Surrounded by sapphires and emeralds, it reminded Holly of something a mermaid queen would wear. The lawyers did have a thing for the ocean, and even owned an enormous sailing yacht. It fit her perfectly and looked gorgeous, but the ring highlighted the difference between her friends’ true love story, and the mutually beneficial arrangement she’d made with Trent.
Was she about to make the worst mistake of her life?
“Would you feel better if we turned this into a double date?” Kari asked Holly. “Maybe me, Ford, Brady, and Josh should make it official…well, as official as we can…while we’re here.”
“Seriously? You would do that?” Holly wasn’t sure why that caught her off-guard. The thought of someone else being as impulsive as her did help. Hell, Kari would be signing up for a lifetime commitment, not just a ninety-day trial period.
“We’re here. We’re together. Elvis is in the building. Why not?” As Kari asked the question, she looked not at Holly but at her trio of sexy men, who perked up at the suggestion.
“You don’t want something fancy and extravagant?” Josh asked, though the tone of his question made it clear he was not-so-secretly optimistic at the news.
“All the important stuff is here.” She looked at each of the men. “And now that you’ve proposed, I don’t want to wait. We can do the official deed now and have some kind of party for everyone else back home. You know, with the pretty dress and good food and shit. If that’s what you want.”
“That sounds perfect.” Ford nodded.