His Temporary Wife (The Brides of Sunflower Falls #2)

Chapter 3

three

Tony rolled over in bed and curled around Melody. Even in sleep, she kept trying to push him away. But he’d reel her in.

His thumb found the slick metal band newly seated at the base of his left ring finger. They were married now, so she had to give him a chance. Super officially once they actually filed the license.

Which he’d need to find a way to amend with his real name.

After he told her.

Which he’d totally do before they filed the license.

Once he figured out how to tell her.

But he’d totally do that, too. He just needed some inspiration.

He’d figured out how to get her to agree to marry him in the first place, so he’d totally figure out how to tell her he had another name. That was actually his real name. That he hadn’t told her yet.

And hoped to hell he didn’t fuck things up .

He nuzzled her neck, drawing in the scent of her skin to soothe the nerves that were making themselves known.

A faint buzzing came from around where he’d dropped his pants when they’d stumbled in from celebrating their marriage. He’d paid the hotel’s concierge handsomely to arrange it, and it had been perfect.

Just the two of them, the officiant, and a couple witnesses recruited for the moment. Thankfully, no one had recognized him.

They’d kept their vows simple, telling each other what they liked best about each other. She’d told him how she liked how he made her laugh, that he was the missing puzzle piece that made her believe in the possibility of happy relationships for herself, and how much she loved watching him play tug with Button because his ass looked great when he was down on the floor.

He’d told her how he loved watching her talk about load-bearing walls and town ordinances because competence was sexy as fuck, how seeing her be a great friend to Ana made him want to be a better friend himself, and that what he loved most was the dimple that would pop out in her cheek when she thought she was being especially devious about something.

Like the one she’d gotten when she got him to agree that this was just a tester thing and that they’d burn the license if they decided being married wasn’t right for them.

The buzzing started up again, and he realized it was his phone. He slipped out of bed, trying not to wake Melody. When she began murmuring, he thought she was about to wake up, but she only rolled over again and buried her face in the pillow.

By the time he dug his phone out of his pants, the call had flipped over to voicemail. Damien. His lawyer. “Shit.”

Damien calling this early, and on a Sunday, was not a good sign.

Before he could unlock his phone, it began buzzing again. Damien. Again. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Melody was still facedown in her pillow. He sent the call to voicemail and quickly opened his messaging app.

After shooting Damien a text promising to call in the next ten minutes, he scrambled to get dressed. Melody didn’t stir, but he wasn’t about to sneak out of the room without telling her. Even if she was still ninety percent asleep and unlikely to remember him making the effort.

Tony stroked her ring finger where a simple gold band that matched his sat. He’d have to get her a silicone band to wear for work, but the visceral punch of pleasure at seeing his ring on her finger had him wanting to crawl back into bed. Melody mumbled something into the pillow and burrowed deeper into it.

He bent down so his mouth was close to her ear. “I need to make a call, so I’m going down to the lobby. I’ll bring you back a coffee.”

She only mumbled again and shifted so her face wasn’t as buried. He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and headed out the door before he was tempted to crawl back into bed and wake her up in a more pleasurable way.

Once he was down in the lobby, and in a secluded corner, he called Damien.

His attorney answered before the first ring had finished. “Where are you?”

Frowning, Tony watched a little drama unfold in the elevator lobby. “I’m in New York.”

“You’re not in Sunflower Falls where you promised me you’d keep your ass planted.”

A woman, maybe around his age, was stalking through the hotel lobby with a guy who appeared to be maybe five to ten years younger chasing after her. He couldn’t hear what the guy was saying, but the woman’s face got harder and she flipped him the bird without even looking back. “How do you know I’m not in Sunflower Falls? Did you bug my phone or something?”

“No. Though I wish I had. I called Zach first. All he said was that you were out of town, but he knew where you were and had assessed the situation as not dangerous.”

“Why are you so worried then? You were the one who agreed that Zach could handle anything.”

“Providing he was there watching you every moment. Where. The. Fuck. Are. You?”

“Zach didn’t tell you?”

“No.” Damien sounded like he was going to find a way to bend reality and reach through the phone to strangle him.

“Don’t worry about it then. I’ll be back there tonight. Now tell me Robert’s flipped and I can come home.” With Melody in tow so he could show her the life he could help provide her. First thing he planned on doing when they got back to Hollywood was introduce her to the various heads of production companies who specialized in the home renovation market.

Maybe they’d look at houses near him that could use updating and she could do a show about doing that.

Damien growled. And since the man had been a pro football player before an injury had forced an unexpected career change, he could growl with the best of them. “No. He hasn’t flipped. And to make matters worse, he’s gone off the grid.”

Tony blinked. Off the grid? Robert who couldn’t live without all the finest luxuries? Robert who needed to have his manicurist on set in case he cracked a nail? When he barely did anything in the first place? Besides trying to dig up or manufacture blackmail material for all the talent on set.

Partnering with the man to produce the film they’d worked on had been one of the worst decisions of his life. He still regretted not going with his instincts and requesting a deeper background check when his dad’s friend had asked the favor of helping Robert get a foot in the industry. Robert had done too good of a job of hiding his ties to certain beyond shady people and organizations at least for basic checks. If they’d dug even the tiniest bit deeper, they would have found the dirt.

During pre-production, Robert’s questions hadn’t seemed out of line for someone newer to the industry and looking to learn more. Once filming started, however, little red flags had popped here and there.

Tony had first noticed it with some of the female crew. Anytime Robert was on set after the first couple weeks, their crew leads stationed them on other duties away from him. Any time a female crew member absolutely had to interact with Robert, there was another, male, crew member right by her.

When he’d questioned the crew leads, all of them said there were no specific issues they could point to, but all of them had a bad feeling. He’d kept a closer eye on Robert after that and had commissioned a deeper background check which revealed a history of gambling debts and bankruptcies.

It was the day that he’d gotten the report when their lead actress had stormed into his office threatening to quit if Robert wasn’t banned from the set.

Apparently, he’d delivered his initial extortion demand which included sleeping with him. Tony had completely believed her, but as she’d been having issues with an ex, she’d set up her own hidden cameras in her trailer and had recorded the exchange.

Tony had assured her that Robert would be dealt with. The only problem was that when Tony went to confront Robert, it was to find the man meeting with a guy Tony certainly had recognized thanks to his father once pointing him out as a man to avoid. Neither Robert nor the known crime boss had spotted him, so he’d recorded the transaction and slipped away.

After consulting with Damien, they’d turned everything over to the authorities. They’d quickly found out that Robert was in deep with the crime organization. Had been since college, so he knew many of their secrets after fifteen years.

Damien had told Tony the prosecutor was salivating at the thought of finally cracking the group.

Which was why he was in Sunflower Falls. Thanks to Robert getting arrested for the extortion attempt, and other decidedly illegal things found in his residence, the production had shut down. The prosecutor’s office had managed to keep his identity under wraps, so with his parents’ help, they’d put it out that he was taking a break due to the “unfortunate incident”.

Tony was pretty sure everyone believed he was in some rehab facility despite him not having a reputation for any kind of substance abuse.

Robert turning up missing did not fill Tony with confidence.

“Anthony? You still there?”

Before Tony could answer, he could hear arguing on Damien’s side. Then Damien’s wife, Aspen, was on the line. “ Do you need me to kill someone? I learned how to do it when I played that medical examiner.”

More fumbling, with Damien’s muffled voice coming through. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop saying that? Just because you played one on television does not mean you can actually do that. And this is not a secure line. The bail fund does not cover conspiracy for murder.” A few moments later, Damien’s voice came through clearly. “Sorry about that.”

Tony grinned. Spending time with Aspen, even over the phone, was always a good stress reliever. “She really wants to off someone. Good thing she’s never played a mob princess.”

“That’s only because she has the on-screen reputation as the good girl, and everyone in this town is a little afraid of the things she’d do for character research at this point. Getting back to me calling this early.”

“Can I say for just a moment, that I appreciate that you as a couple have a bail fund? It shows commitment to each other.”

Damien snorted. “You know damn well that’s primarily for Aspen. Stop trying to derail me. I need you to come back to Los Angeles as soon as possible.”

“No.” Tony’s reaction was immediate. He wanted to go back to California. It was his home. But, he and Melody had just gotten married, and he needed more time to figure out how to tell her about his real life. Ease her into it. Make her secure that while he’d omitted his real name, he’d been telling her the truth about his emotions for her. That she was the missing part of his soul. When she’d talked about him being a missing puzzle piece for her, he’d known exactly what she meant and hoped that she would one day realize that he was her soulmate the way she was his .

“What do you mean no? The DA needs you here. They’ve warned me they’ll compel you to appear.”

“They agreed to this plan.”

“That was before Robert went missing. With him missing, they don’t want you mysteriously falling off the radar either.”

“Can you stall them?”

“Stall them? You want me to stall the DA’s office when they’re threatening to compel you to appear?” There was silence at the other end of the line. And then more sounds of scuffling.

Aspen’s voice filled his ear. “Hey, do you need me to come out? I can have the jet ready by this afternoon. Is it a woman? Did you finally find a girlfriend?”

More scuffling sounds. Damien’s voice was muffled, but Tony still clearly heard him. “Did you leave Hannah and Kieran alone in the kitchen?”

He couldn’t hear what Aspen said, but he did clearly hear Damien. “Then go check on them and make sure they’re not blowing up the kitchen like they did the back shed. We can’t afford another citation from the fire department.”

Aspen must have said something else as Damien’s next words had a growling tone to them. “I promise I’ll find out. Please go make sure our entire house is still catastrophe-free.”

Damien let out a long sigh on his end.

“The kids blew up the back shed?”

“Last month. Hannah had found some experiments online and raided the lawn care supplies in the garage.”

Tony thought of nine-year-old Hannah. She was the spitting image of her mother. And eight-year-old Kieran followed his sister around, doing whatever she needed him to do. “Experiments?”

“As I reminded Aspen, this is an unsecured line, and as Hannah’s parent, I’m invoking her fifth amendment rights.”

Tony chuckled. “Good to know who I should call if I need evidence destroyed.”

Damien was silent for a few moments. “Don’t think you’re distracting me.”

“Who? Me?”

“You. Besides the facts that my wife would find new ways to torture me if I don’t ask you and then would fly out immediately if she didn’t like my answer, you would have assured me immediately if there wasn’t a woman in the picture. Who are you hiding?”

“No one you need to worry about at the moment.”

“Which means, yes, I do.” A heavy sigh came over the line and Tony imagined Damien rubbing his face. He hated to cause his friend worry, but Tony could handle himself. And Melody. It would all work out. “Does she know who you are?”

Tony winced. “Kind of?”

“That’s it. You need to come back here, and never go back to Sunflower Falls. Wait. Have you been sneaking out of Sunflower Falls, and she’s not a local?”

“Ummm… She’s local. And I can’t leave.”

“You know, with every word you say, I’m tempted to send Aspen out there. Well, if she doesn’t know exactly who you are, at least that means you’re not married.”

This time all Tony could do was fidget in his seat.

“Anthony…”

Before he could say anything, he spotted Melody getting out of an elevator on the other side of the lobby. “Gotta go. ”

“Anthony…”

He hung up before Damien could finish what he was about to say. Before Damien could call him back, he turned on the do not disturb setting.

Melody was halfway across the lobby, but she must not have spotted him as her attention had locked on the coffee shop. He hurried over and got himself positioned in front of her. She really wasn’t paying attention to anything but the coffee shop as she literally bounced off him when they made contact.

“Sorry.” She didn’t even look up. Just waved her left hand with her ring finger extended in his face and tried to skirt around him.

He laughed even as he tried to get a grip on her shoulders.

“Hey.”

The outrage in her tone put him on alert. “Hey back.” He waved his own left hand in front of her face.

She blinked and looked up. It was like watching the sunrise come up over the mountains when visiting Damien and Aspen’s hideaway in the Sierras. “Tony. Why are you here?”

He frowned, but pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She eventually relaxed against him, slipping her hands under his shirt and tracing patterns on his skin. He blew out a breath. “Did you hear me say that I needed to head out?”

“Kind of? I felt you kiss me, and then just drifted for a bit. I think I’m still drifting.”

He leaned back to look down at her. She kept her cheek against his chest, not looking up at him. “Are you okay?”

“Probably. I’m not exactly at my best in the morning. I need some coffee. ”

“I thought you were a morning person. That’s what you’ve been telling me when you kick me out at night.”

This time she looked up, her brows scrunched down. “No. What I said is that I had to get up early and go to work. Being a responsible business co-owner does not mean I’m a morning person.”

“How do you cope?”

“Lots of coffee. Which I need right now.”

“You woke up just fine yesterday.”

“Because we had sex first thing. Like you’re going to notice how coherent I am when I’ve got my mouth wrapped around your cock.”

He thought that over for a moment as he turned them to walk toward the coffee shop. “Fair. What do you want?”

“A large drip coffee with a double shot of espresso.”

He bit his tongue and pointed to an empty pair of seats around a small table. “Go grab that, and I’ll get your coffee. Want something to eat with that?”

“Just the coffee.”

He placed their order, the IV of caffeine for her and a pumpkin spiced latte joined by a decadent slice of chocolate and hazelnut cake for him. Melody was staring out the window when he joined her with the drinks and cake.

Without taking her gaze off the window, she broke off a piece of the cake.

“I thought you didn’t want any food?”

“You brought it over. Communal property now.”

He snorted. “Does that mean that you’re excited about being married to me?”

“We’ll see.” She stared at her coffee for a long moment before she brought it to her mouth to drink.

She seemed to be thinking something over. As he needed to figure out a way to broach the subject of his real identity before either Damien, Aspen, or, worse, LA County sheriff’s officers showed up to drag him back to California, he let the silence grow between them.

“Tony?”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Can I ask you a favor?” He watched as she rubbed the metal of her wedding ring with her right hand.

“Always.”

“Do you mind if we don’t tell anyone for a while?”

He jerked his gaze up to meet hers. “Are you regretting it?”

She shifted in her seat before shaking her head. “I don’t know? I just…” She bit down on her lips and then blew out a long breath. “Look. I never expected to get married. It wasn’t my thing. Ana was the one who always wanted to play wedding day. I just wanted to run a construction site. I…” She fell silent, still playing with the ring.

Seeing her agitation over the situation stabbed him in the gut. He reached out and wrapped both his hands around hers. “I just want to take care of you.”

The confusion on her face broke his heart. “But why? I don’t need taking care of.”

He pulled her forward so he could kiss her knuckles. “Melody, everyone needs taking care of. Some more than others, and everyone in their own way. I want to be a support for you when you need one, and your cheerleader when you’re conquering the world of home renovation. And, when you absolutely need it, the shoulder you can cry on.”

She was shaking her head again. He leaned in. “Give me time. I wouldn’t have proposed any of the times I asked if I didn’t want to marry you. The first time I laid eyes on you, that day in the diner when Libby hit town and Ana dumped her entire tray onto Zach and me, I knew I had to get to know you. You shined so brightly.”

“I think I was on my fourth cup of coffee at that point.”

He grinned. “Whatever. I couldn’t take my eyes off you, and I couldn’t stop trying to find out more about you. Every time I spotted you in town, I didn’t pay attention to anything else. You’re my North Star. Give us a chance.”

She blew out another long breath, but didn’t take her eyes off him. He held the contact because he knew this was do or die. “Fine. But no telling anyone. If we can’t make it work, I don’t want anyone to know. It’s bad enough everyone knows about what a shithead my dad is. I can’t be the person who’s so unreliable she gets married to what should have been a summer fling and divorces the guy within months.”

When he felt the muscles of his chest relaxing, he realized how tense he’d gotten over what her answer might be. “Fine. Lips are sealed. No one in Sunflower Falls will know.”

Her breath was a bit choppy as she drew one in and then let it out. “Okay. Fine. We’re married, and we’ll see if we can make it work. In secret. Let’s head back to the room. Check out’s in a couple hours.”

He winked at her. “Just enough time for another round of celebration.”

Her laughter was rocky, but she was laughing. They’d figure it out. He’d figure it out. What could go wrong now that he’d bought himself some time?