My Unexpected Vow: California Billionaires Book 2 Harlow James (scary books to read txt) 📖

Now this question I’m prepared for. “Well, she’s actually in the process of packing up her things so we can move in together. I invited her along, but her schedule is insane this week and this is the only time she really had to do that.” Bam! Take that excuse, Mother.

“Why aren’t you helping her then? I taught you better than that.”

“Well, I didn’t want to cancel, and she’s more of the independent, I-don’t-need-a-man type of girl. I just figured it would be easier to tell you guys alone, so she didn’t feel uncomfortable.”

My mother’s face falls as I notice moisture build in her eyes. “My… my only son got married, and we weren’t even there, Alec. Hayes, why… how…” I hate that my mother is distraught over missing my ‘wedding’, a detail I wasn’t anticipating at all. Fuck, now I feel even more like scum.

My father stares at me intensely, leaning back in his chair as he grips the stem of his wineglass between two fingers. “Am I supposed to believe that you and Waverly got married of your own accord, especially after the conversation we just had with you a few weeks ago?”

My mother’s eyes flick over to him as I choke down a twinge of fear hearing my father’s tone. But I kind of figured this was coming too. “I know it seems sudden, but I swear, something clicked in Vegas, Dad. We ran into each other, sparks flew, and the next thing I knew everything just felt right. So we decided to get married,” I answer on a shrug, hoping that answer appeases him. “Why wait when life is short and you know what you want?”

I’m going to burn in hell for all eternity.

“So you’re telling me, that after years of knowing this girl, who is seven years younger than you, by the way,” he emphasizes heavily, “that you just decided to marry her on impulse?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out.” I shift in my seat, facing my dad at the head of the table and hating how I’m half-lying to him. But I need to sell him on this idea, and I have a wee bit of experience in that arena. “I took what you guys said to heart, okay? I’ve been thinking about your concerns, and when she and I crossed paths unintentionally, I took it as a sign. It’s not like she’s a stranger. I’ve known her practically our entire lives. I realized after we spoke that I don’t want to end up alone, and I’m hoping that this decision will prove to you that I mean that.” I say the words so effortlessly, that even I believe them for a second. I’m either going straight to hell for stretching the truth with my parents, or there’s going to be an ‘I never believed you’ moment when this ends in a few months.

“Marriage isn’t a game, Hayes. It’s a lifelong commitment. You made the choice to marry that girl, and you’re going to see it through.”

I swallow hard as his words slice through me and help me remember how serious this all is. We got married for real, which means we’ll get divorced for real in six months—the length of time we agreed upon to make this look like our intentions were there but it didn’t work out—and then the proof of this mistake will follow us around for the rest of our lives.

But when Waverly and I decide to get divorced, he’s just going to have to accept it. We’ll just have to think about a logical excuse for why we get divorced down the line so that he can’t argue with me too hard, but that can come later.

“I understand, sir.”

My father narrows his eyes at me, pursing his lips in thought. “Okay. Well, I guess there’s nothing to say then besides congratulations, son.” The intensity in his face drifts away as he smiles and leans forward to shake my hand. “We expect you to bring her with next time, of course. Get reacquainted with the lovely Waverly. It has been years since we’ve seen her, hasn’t it, Rebecca?”

My mother turns her perplexed face from my father to me, struggling to form a smile and act as if she understands the shift in my father’s mood more than I do. “Yes. It has. I want to spend some time with my new daughter-in-law.” Her smile builds right along with the anxiety in my chest.

Well, that wasn’t too bad. Not the best or worst reaction. But I hate to admit that the hard part is far from over.

* * *

As I pull into my garage and put my car in park, I release a heavy breath and the weight sitting on my chest with it.

My parents know now. That’s one item checked off the long list of shit to get in order in my life. But tomorrow starts the hard part, the part that might just be the death of me.

Waverly is moving in with me, into my house where no woman has ever set foot.

You might be asking yourself how that’s possible when a man like myself—handsome, rich, and virile—can’t possibly go without female companionship. And you’re right. I don’t. That’s what a hotel room is for, or the other option is going back to the woman’s place.

My home is my sanctuary, the place I retreat to after a long day of driving, schmoozing club owners and investors in an attempt to form partnerships to keep my father’s business in the billion-dollar zone, and drowning in meetings with the board of my father’s company. And with my own net worth tipping just over that billion-dollar mark last year, the last thing I want to do is welcome a one-night-stand into the only piece of my life that is solely for me.

But Waverly isn’t a one-night-stand. She’s my wife now, a truth that keeps bubbling low in my gut when I