Not Another Fake Marriage

Excerpt

Alexis

The bell over the door to The Purrfect Café & Bakery rang, and I glanced that way for a second before returning to my task. I immediately looked back, but I must have imagined him.

“What’s wrong?” Tessa asked as she continued to stock the display case with the pastries I’d just brought out to her.

“I thought I saw my ex-brother-in-law, but I think my eyes were playing tricks on me.”

I didn’t want to tell her, but ever since I had seen Kevin and Candace, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. Not because I wanted him back. That was never happening again.

No, it was because I was jealous. Not of Candace, but of my ex. I’d always imagined that I would have a beautiful family. With the man I loved and our one or two kids running around. But instead, I was alone and childless, and unless I decided to adopt, it looked like I was staying that way. It wasn’t fair that my asshole of an ex-husband had gotten the house, the partner, and a kid.

Even though I’d said I was never getting married again, it still hurt.

I didn’t even have a pet to call my own because my apartment was so small. I didn’t think it was fair. I knew life wasn’t fair, but in this instance, it should have been. The bad guy wasn’t supposed to win at the end of the movie.

“Oh, Trevor? When’s the last time you saw him?”

“Oh jeez. Probably a month or two before I left Kevin, so it’s been a while.”

“Maybe he heard about our place and came to check it out.”

“Maybe.” I doubted it though. Who would have told him? Kevin? I didn’t think so.

What I did think was that I needed to stop dwelling on what my ex was doing and focus on what I had. A new business. And someday, I would no longer be living in a shoebox.

“The ladies and I have been talking,” Tessa said.

“Oh? About what?”

“You.”

“You’ve been talking behind my back?” I joked.

She grinned. “Is it behind your back if I tell you about it later?”

“Yes.”

She laughed.

“What was the conversation about?”

Tessa’s face got serious. “We think you should make a GoFundMe to get enough money to hire a lawyer and get the money Kevin owes you.”

For a second, I let myself consider it, but I quickly shook it away. “I can’t do that.”

“Why? You said yourself you were going to do everything you could to get the money he owes you.”

“That was when I was mad and full of fire. But it doesn’t change my situation. By the time I got the money, it would probably all go to an attorney anyway.”

“Which is why you start a GoFundMe.”

“It’s my mess, Tessa. I can’t let others pay for it or take charity.”

She looked at me skeptically. “Oh, really? But you could meet my husband behind my back and let him fund our café?”

I laughed. “He wasn’t your husband yet. And he’s a silent partner. Not the same thing.”

“Then, let Seth be a silent partner in getting your money back from Kevin.”

“Nice try.”

Tessa’s husband owned a very profitable advertising agency and could definitely afford to pay for my lawyer, but I wasn’t going to ask him to do that.

“Okay, then let me.”

“No.”

“You have to do something,” she said.

“I think I might be able to help with that,” a deep voice said.

We both turned to see Trevor standing at our counter.

My mouth dropped open. He was really here, and he looked amazing.

He was two years younger than Kevin, but he looked at least five. Not that Trevor looked young. Kevin just looked old.

Trevor had thick, dark hair, a beard to match, and deep brown eyes. I’d forgotten how handsome he was.

Truth be told, it was Trevor I had liked first when I met the brothers. But it was Kevin who had made the first and only move, so he was the one I’d ended up dating. If only I could go back and say no.

“How can you help her?” Tessa asked, her voice full of suspicion.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to Alexis about that. Alone.”

“Um, sure. Why don’t you come in the back with me? I need to check the timer on the oven anyway.”

Trevor followed me back into the kitchen just as the timer beeped. I inspected the cupcakes and took them out of the oven.

“I have to admit, I’m pretty curious as to what you can do to help me.” And why he was even in my café in the first place.

“Technically, I said I think I might be able to help with that.”

I sighed. “You’re as bad as your brother.”

Trevor straightened. “I absolutely am not.”

He was obviously offended, and I held up a hand.

“I apologize. I didn’t really mean it. Kevin would often claim that he didn’t say something. That I misunderstood or I got a few words wrong.”

“So, he gaslit you?” Trevor shook his head. “What an asshole,” he muttered.

“Yeah. That’s the word for it.” I faced the cupcakes and fiddled with them, so he couldn’t see my cheeks turn red. I was both embarrassed that I had let someone treat me like that and validated that he had put into words what Kevin had done to me. When I could no longer stall, I turned back. “Anyway, how do you think you might be able to help?”

Trevor looked down. “My grandmother is dying.”

I gasped. “Oh no.” I had always liked Nana Nelson, even at the end, when she no longer came around. I was sure that Kevin had filled her head with stories about me, and I didn’t blame her. Kevin was her grandson. “What’s wrong?”

Trevor cleared his throat and lifted his eyes. “Cancer. Stage Four.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks.”

“If there’s anything I can do…”

“There is something.”

This was a surprise. “Oh?”

“Did Kevin ever tell you about my grandfather’s will and how we needed to either be married or become a pharmacist to inherit the family business?”

“That was true?” I laughed at the ridiculousness of it. “I always thought he’d made it up.”

“It seems like something he would do, but no, it’s true. My grandfather was a spiteful bastard.”

“I’ll say. But what does this have to do with me?”

Trevor looked away. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but Kevin is getting remarried to—”

“It’s okay. I already saw them together.”

The obvious relief on his face was almost comical.

“Then, you know, according to the will, Kevin will get everything. And he is planning to sell the pharmacy and let some developer bulldoze the place.”

“Oh, Trevor. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m glad you feel that way because I can’t let my brother do that. And that’s where you come in.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“What can I possibly do to help?”

“You can marry me.”