His 24-Hour Wife (The Hawke Brothers 2) (6 page)

“I’ll call a jeweler this morning,” Adam said. “I’ll get them to come to the house with a selection as soon as they can arrange it.”

Adam had spoken in a pragmatic tone, yet the idea of looking at rings with him sounded just a little bit magical. Ruthlessly, she pushed the thought away. This was not the time for flights of fancy.

Jenna flicked through her notes and looked up. “What about the bachelor and bachelorette parties?”

Adam cocked his head. “Is that what we’d call them when we’re already married?”

Jenna shrugged. “We can call it something else if you prefer. Technically you’re not a bachelor, but it’s like the vow renewal being called a wedding.”

“You know,” Callie said, “I think it would be simpler for the sake of the campaign to call them bachelor and bachelorette parties, even if it’s not strictly correct. Everyone knows what the term means.”

“Suits me.” Jenna made a note. “Here’s another thought. Since neither of you need a traditional farewell to your single life, how about we do something different with them?”

“How different?” Callie asked.

Jenna smiled. “We could hold them jointly.”

“A bachelor-bachelorette double bill?” Adam asked, rubbing his jaw. “Sure, why not?”

Callie’s mind kicked into high gear. “That could work. It would be an integral part of the overall strategy, and we’d invite a journalist along to cover the event.”

Jenna nodded. “And instead of bachelorette games, we could have some fundraising events during the night.”

“That’s just the sort of thing that’s non-traditional enough to get some traction in the media. I’ll start getting some ideas together and send them to you.” Callie glanced down and reviewed the notes she’d made. “I think we have enough for now. Adam, if you organize the rings and get things set up for the Bridal Tulip sales to go to the trust in the first week, and, Jenna, if you start setting things up with the charities the trust supports for the children to attend the rehearsal dinner, then I’ll get to work on a plan for the rest.”

“Done,” Adam said.

“Will do,” Jenna said. “Faith will be back in town in a couple of days. Shall we schedule another meeting for then? I know she’s keen to do something with the Bridal Tulip on her show, and she’ll love the idea of linking it closely to the children. She’ll want to be part of the planning.”

“That would be great. How about the same time, same place, in two days’ time?”

“I’ll bring the pastries.” Jenna packed her things into her handbag and stood. “Now I’ll head home to Bonnie and Meg. As soon as I make it through that throng at your gate.”

Callie winced. “That’s one aspect of your life I don’t envy. They’ll fade away for me, but you’ll always have the paparazzi following you.”

Jenna shrugged one shoulder. “I’m used to it. I grew up with public scrutiny, so I barely notice anymore.”

“How do you deal with it?” A princess was probably the perfect person to ask for advice.

Jenna flashed a resigned smile. “You learn to let go of the worry. The media will always want what they can’t have.”

Callie thought about that for a moment. “So basically, our strategy is going to give them what they want and it will benefit the trust.”

“See,” Jenna said, walking to the door. “You’re smart about dealing with them already. Now you forget about them.”

They said their goodbyes and Jenna went out to her car, leaving Adam and Callie standing in the foyer together.

“Forget about them,” Adam said wryly.

Callie turned on her heel to face into the house again. “While we’re here in lockdown, we don’t have to think about them.”

“True, but we might go stir-crazy.”

She gave him an assessing look. She hadn’t thought about the impact this was having on him besides the inconvenience of having her move in. But it made sense that a type A personality who was used to overseeing a vast company would find this lockdown rather confining.

She wanted to offer to help, but didn’t know him well enough to know how.

“Do you want to watch a movie or something?” she offered.

His expression gentled. “Thanks for the offer, but no. I have a lot of work to get done today, including a video call in about ten minutes.”

“Right. Of course,” she said, feeling stupid for making the offer. “I have a lot to do, too. I’d better, uh, go and do it.”

He reached out and grasped her hand. “I really do appreciate the offer. It was sweet.”

“Oh, that’s me,” she said on a dry laugh. “Sweet as pie.”

Something that looked like a genuine smile flitted across his face. “I’ve been thinking about your offer to cook. I should have been the one offering. I can do tacos—refried beans, guacamole, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, salsa.”

He was the one who seemed a little uncomfortable this time, and she smiled indulgently. “Sounds nice.”

“All the ingredients are in the fridge, so if you’d like, I can make them for dinner tonight. Say, eight o’clock?”

She froze as she realized that would mean sitting alone with him, sharing a meal in an intimate setting, all while pretending not to be affected by him—a task that was fast becoming harder than pretending to be in love with him for the cameras.

Then she remembered the new strategy she’d decided on this morning. Spend more time with him, look at him more. Develop immunity.

Dinner would be her Adam Hawke vaccination.

She drew in a breath and nodded. “I can’t remember the last time I had a good taco. I’m in.”

“Eight o’clock, then.”

“Eight o’clock,” she said and watched him walk away.

One thing that interested her was that he’d taken a throwaway comment and thought about it. Moreover, he was making an effort to do something.

There was more to Adam Hawke than she’d even suspected.

* * *

Adam answered the security buzzer and let the jeweler through the gates out front. Luckily the man had been able to schedule a visit for the same afternoon. Well, either it was luck or enthusiasm over being the provider of rings for a wedding that was getting media coverage. Either way, Adam appreciated that it would be dealt with so quickly. He was no fan of loose ends.

He’d let Callie know the jeweler was on his way and she was waiting in the foyer for him.

“I guess it’s showtime again,” she said with a half-hearted attempt at a smile.

He dug his hands in his pockets and sought a calm that he didn’t currently feel. “We’re back to a couple in love.”

There was a small change to her stance, a slight stiffening in her spine, but then she relaxed her shoulders and gave him a more believable smile. Still not a real one—he had memories of those burned into his brain from their time in Vegas.

“At least we’ve had a little practice this time,” she said brightly.

“Listen, when he’s here, just choose whatever ring you want.” He said it casually, just wanting them to be on the same page, but as the words left his mouth he realized how unromantic that had sounded. Sure, they were playing roles and she didn’t need romance when no one was looking, but still, didn’t all women dream about moments like this? He gave himself a mental slap. He should be sensitive.

“Sorry, that sounded very...”

“Unromantic? Practical?” she queried. He nodded and she chuckled. “Adam, don’t worry about my delicate sensibilities. For better or for worse, we’re in this together. And if we can’t be honest with each other, then who else have we got?”

“Okay, good.”

The doorbell chimed and Adam opened it to the jeweler, Daniel Roberts, who was accompanied by a well-built man in a suit carrying a heavy-looking reinforced briefcase.

Adam stuck out his hand to the first man. “Thanks for coming on short notice, Mr. Roberts.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Hawke. Mrs. Hawke. You’re very welcome. Thank
you
for choosing us.”

Adam slid an arm around Callie’s waist as he stepped back to allow the men entry. Interesting how natural it felt to hold her against him. They’d been pretending to be a couple for less than a week, yet already it was beginning to feel like second nature. Like she fit him perfectly.

They all walked into the living room, which now had more people in it in the past twenty-four hours than Adam could remember ever being there before. Once they were settled, the jeweler brought out tray after tray of exquisite rings.

Callie played her part well by oohing and aahing and looking tickled pink as she modeled various rings for Adam, and he, in turn, smiled indulgently.

He also spent the time acting like a man besotted, which generally involved sitting on the armrest of the sofa she’d chosen and touching her.

Even though she’d given him permission to touch her in these situations, he still wanted to respect her boundaries, so he settled on stroking the skin from her shoulder down to her elbow—a fairly innocuous area. It was silky soft beneath his fingers and every stroke made his gut swoop. The scent of her coconut shampoo surrounded him, cocooning him from the rest of the world. Perhaps spending time together in this charade would be more pleasant than he’d anticipated.

Thankfully, Callie took the lead in choosing the rings, finding a plain gold band for him and offering it up to him for an opinion. He didn’t care, as long as he could stay like this, touching her skin, surrounded by her scent, pretending to be in love with her. In some ways, this was a perfect way to spend a day. He could spend some time enjoying being near her, with the safeguard of them both knowing the limitations of their arrangement. Callie wouldn’t read too much into it, and he wouldn’t get carried away. Control would be maintained.

She offered a pretty solitaire diamond for approval and he murmured, “It’s perfect,” before dropping a kiss on her temple.

A delicate pink flush stole up her throat to bloom on her cheeks. He knew it was probably embarrassment, but in the role of besotted new husband, he chose to interpret it as Callie liking his touch. A thought more appealing than it should have been.

When they’d made love in Vegas, she’d responded to him with no reservation—something that had moved him deeply. Now that they knew each other a little more, would she still be unguarded with him if they made love? Or would that have been lost because of their complicated relationship?

Of course, the point was moot—she was the last person he should be thinking of sleeping with. If they did, how would he be able to walk away from her a second time? It had been hard enough when they had no ties between them besides a piece of paper. Now? Things were so much trickier.

And one thing was certain—walking away once this was over was imperative. He didn’t want their fake relationship to become real. At least on that they were in agreement.

He glanced down at Callie as she tried on wedding rings and a thought hit him with the force of a Mack truck—
were
they in agreement?

Callie had wanted to dissolve their marriage, and seemed uncomfortable with their current arrangement...but what if she was secretly hoping this could turn into something more?

“Very fine choices,” the jeweler was saying. “I can see you have exquisite taste.”

The man began putting the trays back into the special briefcase, and Adam stood, still reeling over the questions in his mind.

“Thank you, you’re very kind,” Callie said.

“Yes, thank you,” Adam echoed. He moved to the side to give Callie room to stand, but this time he didn’t stay close to his wife or touch her. He needed to be certain of what she was thinking before he did that again. Why had they never explicitly discussed it?

He walked ahead and opened the front door for the visitors.

The jeweler stuck out his hand. “I’ll give you a call the moment the rings are resized and ready to be picked up.”

“I appreciate it,” Adam said, shaking his hand.

The two men left and Adam was once again alone with Callie. It was the perfect opportunity to have an honest conversation about where Callie saw their relationship heading, yet part of him wanted to put it off. If she was hoping it would evolve into something permanent he’d have to lay his position on the line, which would hurt her. Callie was the last person he’d ever want to hurt.

Then again, if she really did feel that way, the longer he let it go before addressing the issue, the more she’d be hurt. He had to do it now.

She turned. “I’ll just head—”

“Can we talk about something first?”

“Sure,” she said, turning back and folding her arms under her breasts.

Now that he’d started, he wasn’t quite sure how to word it. The topic called for finding a balance between clarity and sensitivity.

He drew in a long breath. “Ah, I just wanted to touch base with you about our situation.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, her head cocked to the side.

“We made this plan that day in my office, and since then it seems to have taken on a life of its own.”

She chuckled. “It has rather become a bit of a monster, hasn’t it?”

“Do you want to call it off?” he asked, watching her reaction carefully.

Without hesitation, she shook her head. “I want the partnership. And from Jenna’s figures, it’s helping the trust.” She unfolded her arms and tucked one hand into her back jeans pocket. “Do you want to call it off?”

“No, I made a commitment and I’ll see it through.” He shifted his weight, wishing he’d found somewhere more comfortable for this conversation. “I also need to check that you’re not hoping for...more.”

She frowned. “More?”

“From me,” he said simply. Clearly. No misunderstandings. “From the marriage.”

She arched one eyebrow. “You think I’ll succumb to your charms and beg you to make the marriage real?”

Adam flinched. Said like that, it did sound over-the-top. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. But I have to make sure that we want the same things. That I wasn’t leading you on.”

“No one could accuse you of leading me on, Adam,” she said drily. “As soon as we’re not in front of people, you drop the act pretty quickly.”

He felt as if he was missing half the conversation. Was she saying that was a problem? She’d just mocked him for suggesting she might want more, so surely she
wanted
him to drop the act as soon as he could?