Chapter Seven
The buzzing of her phone awakened Jessie from a troubled sleep. She’d tossed and turned for hours before finally giving in to her exhaustion. A glance at the clock showed it was barely past seven in the morning.
She switched on the lamp by her bed and grabbed her phone.
“Jessie Pierce speaking. May I help you?” No matter where she was or what she was doing, she always tried to sound professional and approachable when she answered her phone. Particularly when she didn’t take time to look at the caller ID to check who was trying to get in touch with her.
“Jessie, this is Ashley. I’m so, so sorry about what happened yesterday, and last night. I tried to get Chase to talk to you but he was… well…” Ashley cleared her throat. “And I apologize for calling so early, but I wanted to catch you before you left for the airport. Would you and Stacey please meet me for breakfast in an hour? We need to discuss yesterday’s unfortunate mishaps and the available options to rectify the situation. I’m truly sorry to put you in this position, but I’d really like to talk about it in person.”
Jessie’s first thought was to tell Ashley no and ask her to email whatever papers she needed to sign to annul the marriage. Then she thought of her own revelation about her tendency to hide away from real live humans when she had the opportunity to interact with them in person. “That would be fine, Ashley. Where would you like to meet?”
“There’s a nice restaurant in the property across the street from your hotel. Go through the hotel lobby to the left and keep going past the casino. You’ll see the restaurant sign. I’ll be waiting there for you at eight. And thank you for being so understanding about this, Jessie. You are one in a million.”
“I don’t know about that, but we’ll see you soon.” Jessie laid her phone on the table beside her bed then rolled onto her back and stretched. Determined to make it through the meeting with Ashley and wipe her hands of the entire fiasco of marrying Chase Jarrett, she jumped out of bed and hurried down the hall in the spacious suite she shared with Stacey.
When she flicked on the overhead light in her friend’s room, Stacey pulled a pillow over her face. “Turn that light off and let me sleep. I need another hour or two before I can function.”
“Ashley called. She wants to meet us at eight. Come on. Get up and get moving, Stace. You’re the one who got me into this mess, so you better believe you are coming along to help get me out of it.”
Stacey opened one eye and stared at Jessie to see if she was serious. At the stern look on the woman’s face, Stacey opened the other eye and sat up. “What did Ashley say?”
“Just that she wanted to meet us for breakfast and discuss the details. So get a move on.” Jessie returned to her room and hurried to take a shower.
Ashley had provided her with several pieces of western clothing that Jessie loved. She slipped on a pair of dark jeans with contrast stitching down the outside of the legs and pockets accented with bling. After slipping on a soft navy blouse with a navy and burgundy geometric patterned vest that reached almost to her knees, she tugged on the cowboy boots she’d worn yesterday afternoon. She loved the way they looked and felt on her feet. When Ashley told her she could keep them, she almost did a happy dance. Almost. Had she been the type of person to break into spontaneous exhibitions of excitement, she totally would have done it right there at the booth that donated the boots in exchange for the promotion Ashley had given them for being one of the wedding sponsors.
Jessie quickly blow dried her hair and pulled it up in a messy bun. She finished her morning ritual with a few coats of mascara, lip gloss, and a light spray of her favorite perfume.
Unsure how much time she’d have to pack her things after breakfast, she took a moment to stuff her suitcase with as much as it would hold then filled a canvas tote she’d purchased with the overflow. Ashley told her if there was anything she wanted to keep that wouldn’t fit in her luggage, to let her know and she’d make sure it was shipped.
Thankfully, Jessie managed to get everything stuffed or tucked away. She fingered the rose bracelet a moment before slipping it on her wrist.
For reasons she refused to examine, it made her smile every time she looked at it, reminding her of the lovely afternoon she spent as a very handsome man’s cherished wife. Too bad that feeling hadn’t lasted through the news they were really married.
In light of how easily her emotions entangled with Chase yesterday, it was probably for the best they part ways with her mad, insulted, and thinking he was a spoiled brat.
Jessie picked up her purse, stuffed her phone inside and hurried into the luxurious sitting room of their suite. When Ashley told her the trip included all expenses, Jessie had envisioned a standard hotel room with two queen beds. She’d dreaded the thought she might end up staying in a room that smelled of cigarette smoke and stale beer.
The moment she and Stacey set foot inside the fancy hotel, she knew they would have a nice room, but she never imagined they’d stay in a suite that cost more per night than she made in a month of doing graphic design work.
When they followed the porter into the suite, Stacey squealed and did a little jig while Jessie gazed around, taking in the beautiful surroundings.
For one weekend, she owned the opportunity to live a life that was nothing like anything she expected or anticipated. One she didn’t think she ever wanted to experience again.
Especially if it involved Chase Jarrett.
“Ready to go?” Stacey asked as she breezed into the room wearing spiked heel boots, leggings, and a long sweater. Hoop earrings dangled from her ears and she’d taken time to straighten her hair. She looked trendy and hip, as usual.
Jessie nodded and followed her friend out the door and across the street. They found the restaurant with no trouble. Ashley waited just outside the door and greeted them both with hugs.
“Thank you so, so much for meeting us this morning. I can’t tell you how much we appreciate it.” She opened the door and motioned for them to precede her.
“We?” Jessie asked as Ashley led them to a large table at the back of the restaurant where Chase sat drinking a cup of coffee.
For a moment, Jessie thought about turning around and leaving, but Stacey and Ashley both stood behind her, blocking her retreat.
To his credit, when Chase saw her, he rose to his feet and gave her an apologetic look before pulling out the chair next to him.
“Miss Pierce,” he said, motioning for her to be seated.
With great reluctance, she sat down and draped her purse strap over the arm of her chair. When her arm inadvertently brushed against his, she felt tingles racing from her head to her toes.
“Look, Miss Pierce, I’m truly sorry about what happened, and especially about what I said last night. It was uncalled for and untrue. I hope you’ll accept my apologies. I’m sorry.” Chase did look repentant as he gazed into her face.
The light in his eyes, one that had intrigued her from the first second she’d looked into them, drew her, but she ignored it. She disregarded the imploring look on his face and the sincerity in his voice.
After giving Chase a curt nod that he could interpret any way he liked, she picked up the menu and feigned interest in the breakfast selections. In truth, seeing Chase, sitting next to him, had left her stomach churning and her mouth so dry, she felt like she’d eaten a big scoop of sawdust.
She took a sip from the glass of ice water in front of her and scowled at Stacey when her friend tipped her head toward Chase and grinned.
Chase didn’t waste time in getting to the point. He glowered at Ashley. “Please tell me you found the pastor and can get this all straightened out. With it being a weekend, he didn’t actually file the marriage certificate yet, did he?”
“Well, technically, he filed it electronically about an hour after you two signed it.” Ashley studied her menu, refusing to look at her cousin. Let’s order our food before we get into the discussion.”
It didn’t take long for a server to take their orders and deliver steaming plates of food to their table.
As soon as they’d finished eating, Chase got down to business. “Why did the old codger have to be tech savvy? I would have assumed Pastor Randall was senile and half out of his mind,” Chase groused. “So what can we do to fix this? We can get an annulment, can’t we?”
“You can, but…”Ashley lifted a glass of ice water and took a long gulp before words spilled out of her mouth at such a rapid rate, Jessie could barely keep up. “Your wedding is the talk of the town and my phone is nearly exploding with sponsor requests, promotional deals, and companies that want to hire you to be their spokesperson. Several news outlets have requested interviews and press releases. Who knew rodeo celebrity weddings would be so popular? If you get an annulment, Chase, all that goes away.”
He scowled at Ashley. “None of that makes me ride any better. Let it go away.”
Jessie was surprised when he looked at her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “It isn’t fair to Jessie to ask her to be any more involved in this mess you created than she already is. Tell them all no and show us where to sign for the annulment.”
“But, Chase, think about it. Some of the endorsement deals are too big to turn down. You could make as much doing one commercial as you make all year competing. It wouldn’t take up that much of your time and you’d have extra money to put into the ranch. You could buy that bull you’ve had your eye on.”
From the way Chase winced, Jessie realized Ashley knew what to say to garner the most impact with her cousin. He shifted in his chair and rolled his shoulders, as though he could shrug off the ideas and dreams Ashley had prodded.
Ashley smiled at Jessie. “You’d only have to do it for a year. One year. After the rodeo finals next year, you two could call it quits and move on. If the marriage remains in name only, you could probably even get the annulment then.”
Ashley opened a folder and slid it across the table. Chase gave it a perfunctory look before tossing it down on the table and fixing his questioning gaze on Ashley again. “Essentially, you capitalized on Huck Powell’s announcement last night that he’s retiring. I’ve become the next favored bull rider, with an abundance of sponsors, commercials, endorsements, the whole works, along with a hefty bank account. That’s all fine and dandy for me, but what’s in it for Jessie? You can’t expect her to give up a year of her life for nothing.”
Jessie hid her surprise behind a cup of tea. Why did Chase care what happened to her? It didn’t matter what anyone said, she wasn’t staying married to the cowboy. Not with the tantalizing scent of him pervading her nose and his warmth seeping into her soul.
She needed to get far, far away from the man, not agree to spend an entire year as his fake wife.
Ashley looked to Jessie again. “In exchange for your agreement to remain married, you would receive monetary compensation. From what I’ve gathered, you do well with your own business, which you would be able to continue, by the way. I think it would be fair at the end of the year if Chase paid you a lump sum equal to what you would earn in a year.”
Jessie shook her head, refusing to take the slip of folded paper Ashley held out to her.
Chase whipped the paper away from Ashley’s outstretched fingers and glared at the sum before plopping it down in front of Jessie. “Is that what you make a year?”
She glanced at the figure on the paper and gave a nearly imperceptible nod. Would it be worth it to make double her usual income just for being Chase’s wife in name only? She’d have to join him for a few interviews, but beyond that it didn’t sound like she’d have to spend much time with him. Her understanding of the information Ashley shared was that most of what was required focused solely on Chase. Did she have it in her to pose for pictures with him, pretending to be his wife?
An honest person by nature, the idea of letting people think she was something she wasn’t didn’t bode well with her.
Then again, she was legally married to the man. And she wouldn’t even consider how attracted she was to him, despite his display of bad manners and temper the previous evening. He had apologized for it, and that was before he knew what Ashley had planned.
Was she bold enough to consider this peculiar proposal? The extra income would give her a nice nest egg. She could purchase a new vehicle, invest some for retirement, and maybe even move into a bigger apartment. All she had to do was stick it out for twelve months.
She cast a surreptitious glance at the man fidgeting beside her. How hard would it be to act as though she was goofy in love with the gorgeous cowboy? Every time he looked at her, she felt her knees quiver and her heartbeat gallop wildly in her chest.
The ease with which she could fall in love with him left her thoroughly unsettled and completely convicted.
“What do you say, Jessie. Would you do this?” Ashley asked.
She sat quietly for a few moments, weighing her options before sharing her decision. “No. I just wouldn’t feel right about deceiving people. It’s wrong, no matter what kind of light you paint it in. I can’t lie to people. I can’t do it.”
Chase stiffened beside her, giving her an astonished look before she caught a glimpse of something that looked a lot like admiration in his eyes.
He turned to Ashley and shook his head. “Just get us the annulment.”
“There are a few more offers on the table I haven’t yet mentioned,” Ashley said, looking from Chase to Jessie, then back to Chase.
Chase leaned forward and leveled his cousin with a hard, narrowed gaze. “You better just put all your cards on the table, cuz, before I walk out of here and never speak to you again. This secretive, scheming side of you isn’t one I’m particularly fond of. Spit it all out, right now.”
Ashley stuck her tongue out at him, drawing a snort of laughter from Stacey, who had remained silent throughout the whole conversation.
Jessie glowered at her friend. Stacey returned to drinking her coffee and watching two cowboys eating breakfast at a nearby table.
“What else are you holding back, Ashley?” Impatiently, Chase began jiggling his foot.
Ashley kicked his leg beneath the table then tapped something on her tablet. She opened a screen and turned the tablet around so Chase and Jessie could see the colorful pages of a lifestyle magazine.
“Rodeo At Home is one of the premier magazines in this industry. They want to do a series of features on you two, one for each season. Their proposal is to follow not just Chase’s career, but a year of adjusting to life as newlyweds, especially since you met only moments before you wed. The spin I’m putting on this is that the two of you intended to participate in the fake publicity wedding but it was love at first sight and now you are husband and wife.”
“But that’s not what happened,” Jessie protested, hoping no one realized how close that was to the truth on her part. Even if Chase had acted like the hindquarters of a crotchety donkey last night, no one would blame her for her immediate and overwhelming infatuation with the man. He was gorgeous, funny, charming, and wonderful, when he wasn’t accusing her of conspiring against him.
“Well, they don’t need to know that,” Ashley said, winking at Jessie, as though she knew she’d been smitten with Chase from the start. The publicist shifted her attention to her cousin. “They want to do winter and spring photos at the ranch, a summer feature at a rodeo, and autumn back at the ranch. It’s huge, Chase. You can’t buy this kind of publicity and before you ask me how that helps you ride better, it doesn’t. But it gets you more opportunities for sponsorships and product endorsements, which puts more money in your bank account, which makes your ranch more prosperous. And that makes you happy because when you get tired of being a bull rider, you are going to retire to the ranch and live happily ever after. If you think of it this way, when you are happy, you win more often. So in a roundabout way, it does help you ride better.”
Stacey grinned and Ashley gave Chase a pointed look. “Come on, Chase. Admit it. What I said is true.”
He waited as the server refilled his coffee cup before responding. “True or not, what else do you need to tell us?”
“Two other magazines want to do photo shoots as soon as we can schedule it, preferably at the ranch,” Ashley said, stirring cream into her coffee. “And Cooper James mentioned his wife is starting a brand new ad agency. She’s looking for a few freelance graphic designers who are interested in helping her, particularly with the Lasso Eight campaign.”
Jessie’s head snapped up and she stared at Ashley. “The new clothing company? The one that has ads plastered all over town? That Lasso Eight?”
Ashley laughed. “That’s the one. Paige said she’d be happy to take a look at your work if you’d like to send her some samples. Chase knows how to get in touch with Cooper.”
Landing an account with Lasso Eight would be huge. It would establish her design talents at an entirely new level, one she’d only dreamed of achieving.
Would she be selling her soul to the devil to be Chase’s faux wife for a year? Perhaps if she could just look at it as a business venture, she could reconcile herself to giving it a go. As she considered the possibilities, she felt a big, warm hand settle over hers as it rested on her thigh.
Heat sizzled from the point of contact through her extremities. It was crazy to own such inexplicable feelings for him. Good grief, she’d only met the man yesterday. In fact, she hadn’t even known him a full twenty-four hours. Yet, as she sat next to him, she knew she’d never held such an intense interest or attraction for any man she’d ever known. Even the feelings she had for the boyfriends she’d dated over the years couldn’t come close to what she felt for the cowboy sitting beside her.
She stared down at Chase’s hand as though it was some sort of foreign object, albeit not one unwelcome.
Misinterpreting her fixation on his hand, he pulled away, although his gaze remained fastened to hers. “Jessie, I know all this fuss and bother is hardly worth it to you. If you aren’t interested, just say so and we’ll make that annulment happen as soon as possible. I’m not entirely comfortable with this idea, but my finagling cousin is right in that I can’t buy the type of publicity this will generate and the best way to capitalize on it is to get moving while the interest is still strong. What do you think? Would you consider remaining my wife for a year if we sign a contract that entitles you to this sum?” He tapped the paper in front of her. “I’d pay all your travel expenses for the times when you need to be at the ranch in addition to the sum you receive at the end of the year.”
Rather than offer a reply, she studied his face. Beyond his obvious appealing good looks, she noticed a deep scar over his right eyebrow that ended with a jagged line close to his eye. Had a bull given him that scar or was it from some childhood mishap?
His left ear was a little smaller than the right, but most people would never notice it, unless they intently considered his face, like she’d been doing the past few minutes.
Aware she’d made him uncomfortable with her intense scrutiny, she glanced away and sighed as she looked at her friend across the table.
Stacey clunked her coffee cup down on the table and barely suppressed a full-fledged squeal as she clasped her hands together and her face lit with excitement.
“What’s that mean?” Chase asked, looking from Stacey to Jessie.
“It means I’ll stay married to you. For one year.” Jessie fought down a tremor when Chase leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“Thank you,” he said in a husky tone that caused the butterflies swarming around her stomach to take flight.
“You’re welcome,” she whispered, then leaned away from him, disquieted by his raw strength and the pull she felt to get closer to him. It would be hard to resist his charm, but at least she’d spend most of the year tucked away from him in her apartment. Perhaps other than the few times she’d have to see him, she could forget she was Mrs. Chase Jarrett.
“There’s just one other tiny little detail,” Ashley said, causing both Jessie and Chase to glare at her.
“What?” Chase asked, clearly irritated. “So help me, Ash, if you pull out one more bomb of news today, I will tell Granny it was really you who broke her favorite lamp when we were kids and not me. I’ve taken the blame all this time and you know Granny still hasn’t forgiven me.”
“Fine, this is the last thing, I promise.” Ashley nervously toyed with her spoon. “Since so many of the media outlets want a story sooner rather than later, I think we should have a formal wedding reception at the ranch and invite them to attend. That way, you could kill several birds with one stone.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Chase said, glancing over at Jessie.
She agreed that seemed like a sound plan. “Do you have a date in mind?” Jessie asked.
“I do.” Ashley twirled her spoon around and around in her fingers until Chase snatched it away.
“The date, Ash. When do you want to do the wedding reception?” he demanded.
“New Year’s Eve. It’s perfect! It can be a wedding reception and New Year’s party. We could rent a big tent or maybe have it in the barn.”
“Are you nuts? People will freeze to death out there. You forget temperatures could be below freezing in Eastern Oregon.”
“We can rent heaters. I know we can make this work. It’ll be amazing, Chase. I promise. There’s just one other little catch.”
Chase growled. “Which is?”
“Jessie needs to be there, like she lives there. The reporters are going to want to see her settling into life on the ranch. She can’t do that from her apartment in San Diego. To keep up appearances and make this seem as realistic as possible, she should move to the ranch for the duration of the contract.”
“No!” Jessie said, surprised when Chase muttered darkly and looked as though he’d like to throttle his cousin.
“That is not a good idea,” he finally said. “Not at all.”
“Yes, it is. It’s a perfect way to pull this off,” Stacey said. Three sets of eyes pivoted to her and she shrugged. “Jessie, you’ve wanted to find a new apartment for months. Go live on the cowboy’s ranch for a year. When you move back, you’ll be able to afford something better. You’d be an idiot to pass up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I’m not going to let you miss out. You are moving to the wilds of Oregon.”
Chase grinned at Stacey. “It’s not exactly the wilds. I only live ten miles from town, but it is an hour to the nearest airport.”
“No problem. You can come pick me up when I fly in to visit,” Stacey said, reaching across the table and squeezing Jessie’s hand.
Jessie considered smacking her friend then thought better of it. Maybe a change of scenery would do her good. Stuck in a rut of routine, her life had become too orderly, too predictable, too organized. Perhaps it would be good for her to do something different for a year. She could run her graphic design business from anywhere, as long as she could get online.
Concerned about reliable internet connections in the middle of nowhere, she turned to him. “Do you have Wi-Fi?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I do. If you’re a good girl, I might even give you the password to access it.”
Relieved, she smiled. “Okay. If I agree to do this, when do I need to be at the ranch?”
Chase started to answer, but Ashley interrupted him. “I want you to help plan the party. It needs to be a reflection of you and Chase, your tastes and interests, not mine. I’ll arrive the day after Christmas. It would be great if you could be there then, too. Would your family mind if you flew to Oregon so soon after the holiday?”
Stacey began to offer a comment about Jessie’s family, but a quelling look from Jessie made her snap her mouth closed.
“They won’t care. I’ll be there no later than the twenty-sixth.” Jessie glanced at her watch then back at Chase as she rose to her feet. “We need to get going if we’re going to catch our flight. Will you have someone send me the contract? I’d like to get it signed before we proceed with plans.”
Chase stood and took her hand in his. “I’ll have my attorney draw something up tomorrow morning and get it to you. Ashley can give you whatever other information you need.”
Jessie stepped away from him and gave Ashley a hug before she and Stacey hurried out the door and across the street to her hotel.
It looked like her quiet, boring existence was about to turn upside down and inside out.