From This Day Foward: Switched at Marriage Part 4 (4 page)

I grinned. Damn, it was good to see Dex. "Look at you, too, man. You look halfway styling. Your mom pick out your clothes?"

He grinned and squirmed. He was wearing a sport coat and jeans. "Shows what you know. Mom's an engineer, not a fashion plate. My nerdiness is genetic. If I look good, it's purely accidental." He winked.

Kayla spotted us and hurried over to hug her cousin, saving me from a response. "You're late!"

"Is there an echo in here?" Dex grinned at me. "Your better half just said the same thing. Traffic." He shrugged again.

"Better half, is he?" Kay slid her arm through mine and smiled that world-lighting smile at me, as if I made
her
dreams come true.

The smile was genuine enough. The magnitude of emotion behind it was faked. But damn, I'd take it anyway.

She squeezed my arm and put a tease in her voice. "He's been hiding out here on the periphery since I introduced him around."

"Smart choice," Dex said. "A guy can only take so much small talk. What do you expect? A pound of flesh?" He made a gun with his hand and pointed it to his head. "Pwhoooo."

"Dex!" She laughed at his antics. "You're horrible. Play nice. These are my friends."

Their mothers were twins, but they didn't look anything like cousins. Kay was slender and willowy, freaking gorgeous. And Dex was…well, Dex. Short, skinny, and geeky. He had a certain charm, though.

"Hey! I wouldn't even be here, but Mom made me. She was all, 'You have to support your cousin. You don't want to hurt her feelings, do you?'" He spoke in a high-pitched voice, mimicking his mom. "I told her you wouldn't even miss me. You'd be too busy with your crowd."

Kay shook her head. "Misguided fool! I certainly
would
have noticed the lack of grief I was getting. You're always such a soothing presence." She leaned toward him. "I'm glad Auntie made you come." She hitched a thumb at me. "You can keep this antisocial one company." She smiled up at me and stroked my beard before tipping her face up and kissing me. Her lips were soft and moist and gently parted for effect.

I called her bluff and pressed her to me, taking advantage of her open lips and darting my tongue in. She didn't expect a French kiss. Or the way I playfully tickled the roof of her mouth with my tongue, daring her to squirm or laugh when she was so obviously putting on a romantic show.

"Bastard!" she whispered in my ear, laughing, when she pulled away.

Dex was staring at us with narrow eyes, the picture of suspicion.

"Go!" I squeezed her ass, playfully. Because I could get away with it here. Because I wanted so much more. "Mingle with your friends. Dex and I will be outcasts together."

"Get him something to drink immediately, will you? Booze takes the edge off his sharp tongue." She blew us both a quick kiss.

I watched her float away, her lacy skirt blowing around her in the gentle breeze.

"Sharp tongue? I don't know what she's talking about. It's not just sharp. It's lethal." Dex grinned. "She's right, though. If I'm going to make it through the two hours I promised Mom I'd stay, I need a drink."

I escorted Dex to the bar, meaning table full of buckets filled with ice and alcohol, and waited while he grabbed a locally made beer and a plate of appetizers. We found an empty table on the outskirts of the crowd and sat, watching the sunset.

As soon as we were settled, he turned to me. "How the hell did you pull this one off?"

I stared at him. "Pull what off?"

I played innocent. But I knew full well what he meant. I'd been concerned about fooling Britt. Now Dex was hitting me with the surprise attack. He knew both of us too well and was too damned smart to be in the dark long. He didn't need emotional intelligence. He was logical and as observant as hell. Half the time I wondered if he'd already been recruited by the CIA. If not, they were missing out.

"The hell you don't. How did you get my hot cousin to marry
you
? What prank did you use to pull it off?"

I continued the innocent act. "What makes you think she
didn't
marry me for my lovable self?" I looked past him, toward the sunset.

"Or your piles of money?" He set his beer down. "Cut the shit. She's not in love with you. That's plain enough to see."

I swallowed hard. Dex never pulled his punches. He wasn't cruel. Just brutally honest in the bluntest way possible.

He was right. But hearing it from him still felt like a blow to the gut.

"I've seen her in love," he said before I could respond. "And this ain't it. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, dude. Just honestly reporting what I see."

I turned my gaze on him.

"Don't give me those hurt puppy eyes, Green. Save them for you wife."

"Puppy eyes?" I snorted. "You're full of it."

He laughed. "Hey, I'm on
your
side here. I actually
like
you. That's a first. Trust me. Lala has terrible taste in men. Always has. Since elementary school when she had her first crush on the bully who was the school's best jock."

He leaned toward me. "You're not her type, Green. Not at all. You, the two of you, are very convincing tonight, though. I'll give you that much. You should think about trying out for community theater." He laughed. "It's too bad for you that I'm completely unfoolable. How
did
you pull it off?"

I stared at him. "You're full of shit."

He shook his head, clearly amused by my denial. "Cut the crap. Here's the deal. I'm an only child. Lala's an only. Our moms are twin sisters and thick as thieves. Especially given they're just fraternal twins. Enough said.

"I know my cousin. I've been subjected to her fantasies of her ideal man practically since birth. You aren't it, Green. Not even close. Not even with your billions. My cousin likes money. Don't we all? But she's too romantic, and lusts after athletic bodies too much, to sell out love and physical chemistry for dollars." He sighed, like that was a real weakness of hers.

True
, I thought. But she
could
be convinced to help a friend in need out by taking a job as his wife. Provided there was an expiration date to the marriage.

"Don't get me wrong." When Dex was on a roll you couldn't shut him up with a 6.9 magnitude earthquake. He said so himself. He actually did talk through the one we had when we were little and in elementary school.

I didn't know him then. The quake bounced me right off the grass of the playground onto the dirt of the ball field and back. And was an exciting distraction from the pain of recess.

Dex was answering a question in class and calmly got beneath his desk as the building shook. He didn't stop talking and expounding on his answer, even though everyone else was screaming and crying for Mommy. He answered correctly, too. According to him. And got an A, naturally. And a lasting interest in seismic activity.

"She could do a whole hell of a lot worse than you." He pointed at me for emphasis, his eyes bright with excitement. Dex loved a good detective story. "I even told her that in college. I was putting in a good word for you, man, even then. You, at least, have a brain. And a heart, I think. If you'd get it out of your ass and actually use it to win her."

My death stare didn't stop Dex.

"You're not like that complete douche Eric. But she
was
in love with him. As recently as eight days ago." Again with the piercing stare. Dex would make a world-class interrogator. "Hung all over him as if she couldn't wait for him to touch her. Practically wiped his feet for him. It's a pity. And a joke. She has such good taste in everything else."

Dex sighed again, resigned to Kay's fault. "It's her sense of physical aesthetics that's throwing her off. If she could get past wanting that physical perfection fantasy, she'd have a shot at happiness." He continued to hold my gaze.

Dex was hypnotic that way. He knew how to arrest your attention.

"There's none of that fiery lust and romantic longing here for you." He tipped his head side to side in that way people do when they're weighing pros and cons and kind of going, eh! And toggled his hand side to side, fingers spread to indicate his indecision. "She likes you. That's something. A small start. But she's faking the rest. There's no lust for you."

He took another pull of beer and held it in his mouth for a second before swallowing. "Full-bodied." He read the label and raised a brow. "Smooth. Nice mouth feel. A good dark ale. I'll have to remember this one."

"Glad to hear you're on my side." I couldn't keep the sarcasm out of my voice. "With friends like you—"

"Who needs enemies?" he finished for me. "Original." He shook his head. "You can do better than that! Anyway, it's not like that at all. I just know a good piece of bullshit when I see it. And I'm seeing crap written all over this marriage."

He leaned even closer to me and lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "Eight days ago, you weren't even in her vocabulary. She was crying her eyes out over Eric. Then, suddenly, you're married and she's madly in love with you?" He held his hand out palm up, like,
Seriously? You expect me to believe that shit?

"That's too farfetched even for a fairytale. Something smells here. And it isn't these horrible crab puffs." He laughed. "Remember the guide for getting girls we invented in college? You followed it to the letter when you created Flash. Target rich environment. Making yourself indispensible. Putting yourself in a position of power. I'm proud of you, dude." He paused, his eyes twinkling. "So. What prank are you running?"

I stared at him, keeping my emotions masked. "There's no prank." I glanced across the room at Kay. My pulse roared at the sight of her, like it always did. I smiled involuntarily.

Dex shook his head. "Damn, you have it bad for her. Always did."

He paused to take another drink of beer. "Let's play the facts back. Kay went to Reno on business after Eric broke her heart. She returns home to her apartment. No mention of you. No mention of having met someone. No nothing on any of her social media accounts. She stays in, sick as a dog from food poisoning through Sunday. On Monday, a large black vehicle pulls up in front of her building and she's served with papers. A divorce summons. From you. The next day, your happy marriage is all over the news." He paused. Dex had a flair for the dramatic. "Tell me. How far off am I?"

"Nice story. Ever thought of writing a novel?" I took a sip of beer to calm down and put on my poker face. I was good at poker. Too bad this wasn't a card game. How the hell had Dex discovered all this? The sneaky little bastard.

He laughed. "Whatever prank you pulled, it's epic. Just don't hurt my cousin. Or I'll have to ruin you." Which sounded like your average idle threat. But Dex was dead serious. And he could probably do it if he wanted to. He already had a bunch of damning facts in his possession.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I tried to sound amused. "As you say, I'm in love with her."

"Isn't that sweet!" He eyed me cautiously. "That's not the end of my story, however."

"There's more?"

"I'm just getting to the interesting part. Suddenly, your digital fingerprint is all over the Internet. You're using our code. Face Find, the facial-recognition software we wrote together in college. The one we used to find the hot chicks we saw on campus and were too afraid to talk to." Again with the dramatic pause. "You're looking for something. More accurately, someone. Who is it? What's going on, Green? What have you gotten yourself into? Let me in on it, too. I can help."

I shrugged. His offer was tempting. "I'm always looking for something. Watching my competitors. There's nothing out of the ordinary in that."

He laughed. "I don't believe you." He glanced across the room to where Kay was talking with her friends and casting surreptitious glances our way when they thought we weren't looking.

What were they saying about me? Were they as suspicious as Dex?

"Look, if I can find this much out this easily, others can, too," Dex said, reasonably. "Whatever you're up to, watch yourself, man. And remember, me and my superior coding skills are here for you whenever you need my help."

"Good to know." My gaze lingered on Kay. That stupid smile was still on my face, the one I couldn't suppress.

Dex gave me a pitying look and shook his head. "I wouldn't do this for just anybody. But I'm going to help you out with my cousin—since you conned her into marriage somehow you have my grudging respect. And the moms—hers and mine—are going to be hellcats if this marriage breaks up. Family harmony means so much to me!" His eyes danced.

"I don't know much about love. But I'd suggest scouring the Internet and finding something doused in pheromones to induce at least a little lust. She's always fondly said you were sweet. You may be able to use that to your advantage. That's something new to her in a man.

"Your real advantage will be to treat her like she has a brain. She inherited the Harrington smarts from our moms. But people rarely get past her looks. And her interest in style and fashion. They don't see her creative side for the intelligence it is, and wrongly peg her as a superficial dumb blond. Appreciate that and she might fall for it. You have the perfect business for her. Use Flash to your advantage. Get her involved in it."

His eyes were sharp as he continued to stare at me. He sighed. "You can con a girl into a date. Into bed. And, shit, evidently into marriage. But how the hell do you prank them into falling in love with you? If you find out, dude, you have to share."

He sighed. "Let me give you another piece of advice about Lala. If you don't want to lose her, integrate her into your life in
every
way possible. Intricately weave her in. Get her involved in Flashionista. Hire her. Give her a job. She loves that fashion shit and she's good at it. Keep her busy.

"A little-known fact about Lala—she doesn't like change. Weave her in, make her comfortable in your life, and she'll have a hard time extracting herself from it. Crap, who would want to leave the billionaire lifestyle anyway, right?"

I shook my head, acting like he was talking crazy. "You're bizarre."