The Marriage Contract (Anderson Brothers) - Page 59

Jordan and Hannah seemed excited to have us over. Jordan asked if there was anything we felt like we needed as a wedding gift, and when I told him no, he cackled. I expected that whatever was on his mind would be suitably silly and extravagant. It was possible he planned on giving it to us tonight, though I doubted he would.

We pulled into Jordan and Hannah’s new place, and I marveled at how perfectly “them” it was. A cute city house in a nice neighborhood, but still easily accessible to the bar and everywhere else nearby, it was exactly what they wanted. When we got to the door, I knocked, and Hannah answered enthusiastically, bringing us inside and greeting Mom on the way.

“Oh, my baby,” she said as she pulled me into a hug. “And my new baby,” she said, pulling in Chloe. Chloe smiled wide and embraced her on her other side, making a sandwich out of my tiny mother. “You have no idea how happy I am right now.”

“I’m glad, Mom,” I said, “I thought you’d be mad about us going to the Justice of the Peace without you.”

“Nonsense,” she said, waving it away. “It was what fit the two of you, and that’s all that mattered. Hannah let my video call in to see the vows, so I wasn’t left totally out.”

“It was amazing how fast it was,” Jordan said as he came in from the kitchen, giving me a hug and then hugging Chloe. “If I had known…”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Hannah said, cutting him off.

“No, you’re right, I wouldn’t,” Jordan said, grinning. He pressed a kiss to Hannah’s lips and went back into the kitchen, throwing his dishtowel over his shoulder.

“So, is Jordan cooking tonight?” I asked, somewhat hesitantly.

“Oh gosh, no,” Mom said. “He’s just helping me out with the dishes. He’s such a good boy.”

“Ahh,” I said.

“He’s also made us a couple of cocktails,” Hannah said.

“Ooh, fun,” Chloe said. “I never get to drink the special stuff he sends out of the bar. I’d love to try one or two of them.”

“We can certainly do that,” Jordan called from the kitchen. “You name a drink, and I’ll whip it up. I do all my experiments here anyway.” He poked his head out of the kitchen and pointed to the bar in the dining room. “At my lab.”

“You finally did it,” I said. “You went from living at the bar to having the bar living with you.”

Jordan laughed, and Mom beckoned us to join her in the living room. As we headed that way, Chloe’s hand slipped inside mine, and I felt a tingle. It was different from the way she was playing the wife. Different than the little kisses or cuddles. Those all had a veneer of play to them. We were acting. But her slipping her hand in mine felt so natural I almost didn’t notice it. It was just something she did.

I had to shake that thought off. No matter how much my brain might want to see signs, she was just pretending. She had made that clear. I had made that clear. There were rules.

“So, I was thinking,” Mom said, starting a thought that usually ended in some plan. “My ladies and I usually do a big trip somewhere each month, but Tessa has been ill recently, and Rosetta is just plum tired of going on trips, so I got to thinking. What if we did a girls’ trip? Me and my daughters-in-law? Now, I know you are still very much in the honeymoon stage, but I thought it would be a wonderful chance for us to get away and get to know each other.”

“Wow,” Chloe said, “that sounds amazing.”

She was smiling, and it seemed genuine, even though I knew it had to be terrifying. Here was this woman she was pretending to be the daughter-in-law of inviting her to a vacation with three other women she barely knew and her cousin. At least she would have her cousin, but not even she knew it wasn’t a real marriage. It was a ton of pressure, and I wouldn’t have blamed her for saying she didn’t want to go or coming up with an excuse.

“We would likely go up to Vancouver. It’s gorgeous up there, and there’s a cabin that we were going to rent that is absolutely splendid. What do you say?” Mom asked.

“I think it sounds great,” Chloe said. “When should I pack?”

Dinner was amazing, and I had been dead wrong. Mom had apparently planned on inviting us since the day before and had started her Astoria-famous lamb recipe that night. We stuffed ourselves silly, and Jordan made Chloe several of the regular cocktails which she seemed to enjoy greatly. Chloe and Hannah sat next to Mom most of the night, laughing and enjoying each other’s company so well that I was able to just fall into the story of our marriage.

Tags: Natasha L. Black Billionaire Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net
readsnovelonline.net Copyright 2016 - 2024