A Wife by Accident (8 page)

“Still think you’ll get fired when they find out you’re married?” He sounded unconcerned, but he wasn’t. He felt he needed to watch Kathy Mark closely for some reason, and he never ignored his instincts.

Hayely
nodded. “They’re just looking for something to call my trustworthiness into question. They’ll say I was deceptive or something along those lines. Let’s not talk about it anymore. It’s not your problem to deal with. I’m handling it.”

Gary grasped the steering wheel tighter. A couple weeks or so ago, he’d hired one of Kathy Mark’s former employees, and the grateful man had painted him a vivid picture of the woman a few days later. In fact, it had taken his new employee days to stop flinching like a beaten dog every time a supervisor
so
much as spoke to him. The thought of someone treating
Hayely
the way he suspected she was being treated made Gary clench his teeth. Darn if Kathy Mark was going to get a shred of business tossed her way after that.

“I’ve heard about that Mark woman,” he said at last. “Just let me know if she gives you too much trouble. And by the way, that watch was going to be a birthday gift for Charlie.”

“Knowing you now, that makes sense.” She noticed that the only piece of jewelry on him was his wedding band. He didn’t wear a watch very often either.

The truck’s big engine pulled them effortlessly down the freeway and off an exit to a line of expensive clothing stores not far from downtown.

Gary jumped out of the truck, his heavy boots hitting the pavement in a well-practiced motion as he strode around to open
Hayely’s
door. He paused for a moment with his hands resting lightly on her waist and looked up at her tense face.

“You’d be the prettiest woman at the party even if you showed up in your paint-splattered sweatpants,” he said loudly.

Hayely
placed her hands on his shoulders and let him swing her down from the truck. “Charlie said you were charming when you wanted to be. Anyone watching would think we’re really an item. You’re good, boss.” She winked mysteriously at him.

That familiar and much-too-serious expression crossed Gary’s
face
. For a moment he looked extremely solemn. Was she genuinely flirting with him?
Usually when women spoke to him with that tone, it was just before they asked for something.
Years of conditioning threatened to kick in. Of course she wasn’t flirting.
Hayely
knew where the line was and she hadn’t seemed tempted to cross it.

Hayely
studied the panic on his face. “I think I like your usual grouchy, antisocial self better.” She turned on her heel and walked off ahead of him toward the first boutique. “Come on,” she called with a laugh.

Gary breathed a sigh of relief and caught up to her with only a few long strides. Was she as nervous as he suddenly was? He wasn’t sure if he could make the charade believable in front of an audience. He caught her hand up firmly in his grasp and held on to it with far more strength than was necessary.

“What happened to the charm?” she whispered.

“You’re my wife,” he growled. “Should I ask permission to hold your hand in public?” Despite his tone, there was the sound of a smile in his words.

“There now.
That’s the fictitious husband I know.”
Hayely
gave Gary’s hand a quick squeeze and walked into the shop with him in tow.

As a little bell on top of the door rang, the salesclerk immediately recognized Gary and rushed toward the door. Her short black hair was so dark that it might look almost blue in the right lighting. Spiked with a hard styling gel, it shook with the impact of her heels on the floor as she nearly tripped over herself to reach Gary first.

“Mr. Tarleton, welcome. What can we help you find today?”

“Evening gowns,”
came
his clipped answer.

“Evening gowns we’ve got,” the clerk said as she clasped her red-tipped fingers together and visibly fought to calm her nerves. “We had a whole new line come in just this morning. Is the dress for your … sister?” She looked meaningfully toward
Hayely
and waited.

Gary smiled stiffly at
Hayely
, his teeth held a bit too tightly together. “Would you mind handling this alone,
honey
? I’m out of my element amongst women’s clothing, and I need to pick up a few things.”

Hayely
frowned. Would he leave this woman with the impression that he was her brother? What was she supposed to say to her if he did?

“I can do it,” was all she responded.

“Good.” He leaned down and planted a sweet kiss directly on her mouth. Then he turned toward the awestruck clerk as he placed his credit card into
Hayely’s
hand. “We’re a really close family.”

Hayely
suppressed a shocked smile as Gary walked back out the door. Her hand flew to the place his lips had just touched. Already she could hear the other clerks whispering frantically from behind the counter. At first they thought
Hayely
was a girlfriend, but one of them had spotted the matching platinum wedding bands.

“Can you help me find a dress?” she finally asked.

The clerk came to her senses as
Hayely
held up the plastic card with a credit limit she could only imagine in her hand. “I think we can find something suitable. Is it for the Chamber banquet?”

Hayely
nodded and said quietly, “I’ve never been to one before. I really could use your advice on what to wear.”

The clerk took a look at
Hayely
and desperately wanted to dislike her. After all, she’d come in on the arm of the man she and her friends had fantasized about for years. But in spite of herself, one look at
Hayely’s
sincerely warm expression and a new train of thought crossed her mind.

“Mrs. Tarleton, I presume? By the time we get through with you, every snobbish, highbrow socialite is going to turn green with envy. Just you watch.”

“Thank you,”
Hayely
whispered. “You have no idea how much I appreciate it.”

The clerk held out her hand, “I’m Carla.”

Hayely
shook her hand.
“
Hayely
.”

“First things first.
You’re going to be surrounded by a lot of bleached blonde testaments to plastic surgery. They’ll all be wearing black, red, or if this year is anything like last year—pink. The sequins and spaghetti straps will all start to look the same. You’ll want something different.
Something classy.”

“Sounds fine with me.
I don’t go well with glitz.”

Carla escorted
Hayely
into an enormous, posh dressing room. “You wait right here and I’ll bring the dresses to you. I’ve already got a few ideas.”

Hayely
unbuttoned her clothes and took the first gown over the curtain from Carla. There was lavender followed by something scarlet. Black, silver, and green all fell by the wayside. Velvet, satin, and a filmy material like gauze were all cast aside in no time. Some of the outfits were too revealing, others not revealing enough, and still more hung all wrong around her curves.

“We don’t have time to specially design something for you by Wednesday night, but we can alter anything you’d like,” Carla offered hopefully.

Dress after dress,
Hayely
tried them all on until at last she and Carla found the perfect design. Just as the decision was made, the bell over the door told them Gary had returned to reclaim his wife.

“
Hayely
Tarleton, just you wait until your husband sees this dress—sees you and that cute little figure of yours shown off in this dress,” Carla whispered with a contagious excitement. “He won’t even notice the rest of the party.”

“You have to promise not to show it to him. I want it to be a surprise.” She couldn’t wait to see the look on Gary’s face when he saw the dress she’d chosen. She only hoped it would live up to his expectations—that she would.

Carla splayed her long fingers out over her heart. “Oh, it’s so romantic. I wish I had a nice man to be romantic for.” On impulse she gave
Hayely
a quick hug. “You’re going to do great. And if you ever need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask for me. Good luck.”

Hayely
thanked her and signed the credit card slip while trying not to look too closely at the obscene total printed on it. Good luck? She had the feeling she was going to need it.

Chapter Five

Monday morning started with its usual amount of chaos. For the first time,
Hayely
left her wedding band securely on her finger. She’d been careful to take it off and hide it in the zipper compartment of her purse before work each day. But she knew she had to tell the human resources department about her marriage, and just seeing the ring on her finger brought Gary’s confident voice of reassurance to mind. They’d laughed all the way home from the boutique the day before just from imagining the reaction their news was sure to get.

Hayely
locked the big front doors of the house and tugged on them for good measure. She’d hurried getting ready for work that morning, but found she had missed Gary by an hour or two. He always left so early. She wanted to get to the office as soon as possible anyway. As self-defense, she’d begun sending Kathy a good morning greeting via e-mail so that the time of day marked plainly on the printout would show she’d come in early.
Hayely
could only imagine what Kathy’s new tactics would be once she caught on to
Hayely’s
job-preservation strategy.

As she stepped down into the circular driveway, she froze. She scanned the curb up and down, but her old rattletrap car was nowhere to be seen. Had someone stolen it? Mistaken it for junk and towed it? Her mind reeled. The only vehicle left in the place was a shiny new BMW parked where her poor car used to be. She wondered where the car could have come from—it didn’t look like something Gary would drive. He would barely fit inside it!

A bit of white paper flapping from under the windshield wiper caught her attention and she walked hesitantly toward the car. Its silver paint sparkled in the morning sunlight. She could imagine someone driving in it high along winding ocean cliffs with the water churning far below. If she had a car like this, she’d put the top down and tie a long silk scarf around her neck just to feel it blow along softly around her.

She sighed, pulled out the note and read it aloud. “
Hayely
,” it began in Gary’s handwriting, “I want you to have this car. Call it a job perk. The keys are in the ignition.”

Hayely
folded up the note calmly and stuffed it into her purse. Then she pulled open the car door with a giggle and jumped inside. The smell of new leather surrounded her as she ran her hand over the seats.
New red leather.
“Wow,” she said to
herself
, “the seats are even heated.”

And then another thought struck her. He’d gotten rid of her real car. The irritation from that notion sent tiny stabs through her insides. She’d scraped together the five-hundred-dollar down payment to buy that car on her own, and then eked out the remaining five hundred dollars in monthly payments all on her own, too. It was the first thing she’d ever completely earned by herself. And Gary Tarleton hadn’t even bothered to consult with her about it before giving it away.

As she turned the key in the car’s ignition, she couldn’t help but sigh again. It truly was a gorgeous car—exactly what she’d drive if she were really the wife of a wealthy businessman. Maybe she would drive it for a day or two until Gary could get her real car back for her. After all, when people saw her in a car like this, there would be no doubt she’d really married the renowned Gary Tarleton. Maybe that’s what he’d been thinking all along.

As usual,
Hayely
was nearly the first person to arrive in the office. She would have arrived earlier if she’d been able to find all the gears in her new car a little better. Someone had already put a pot of coffee on to brew, but the lights in her area were off. No sooner than she’d turned on her computer, sent out the routine e-mail and sorted through the faxes, the rest of the staff began pouring in.

Her hands were almost clammy as she watched the human resources staff settle into their chairs. She drew in a deep breath and walked into the manager’s office.

“Do you have a minute?”
Hayely
asked. “I just need to make some changes to my paperwork.”

“Sure. What kind of changes?”

There was no backing out now. “I got married,” she answered, running the three words together as if they were one syllable.

The human resources manager got up from her desk and walked over the
Hayely
. “Congratulations,” she squealed. “I had no idea you were even engaged. What’s his name? What does he do?”

“Well—”

The sound of Kathy Mark’s demanding voice rang from the doorway behind her. “There you both are. I don’t like to see empty chairs. You know Dee, don’t you? She’s just made senior vice president and isn’t it wonderful, she’s here from Arkansas this week.”