Accidentally Married to the Billionaire 3(4)
Marj laughed. “We were hilarious. And the tent kept collapsing no matter what we did.”
“Those were some good times.”
“Yes, they were.’
“Do you miss us?” he softly asked.
“Sometimes. But I’ve moved on. Especially after I saw the pictures of your bouncing, baby boy. It really helped to put things into perspective.”
“I couldn’t sleep last night at the hotel,” he said. “All I could think about was seeing you again. And you’re even more beautiful than the last time I saw you.”
Their eyes locked.
“You’re trembling,” he said.
“It’s chilly out here.”
He ran a finger across her face. “Sure it’s not seeing me?”
“How could you show up here? I’m trying to host a party. And now I’m all rattled. This is just like you!”
“I had to see you one last time.”
“You saw me. Now go.”
“I’m not over you,” he said. “And I want you back…more than anything.”
She flashed him the ring on her left hand. “Um, married. You had your chance. You blew it! So get lost.”
“Losing you was the worst thing to have ever happened to me,” he said voice wavering. “Do you ever think what could’ve been?”
Marj swallowed hard. “We can’t dwell in the past.”
He stared into her eyes. “I love you so much. And I’m not giving up on us. You were the best thing in my life.”
“Then you shouldn’t have thrown it away. How is the mother of your child, by the way?”
“We broke up.”
“So you want me back? Newsflash! Not happening.”
“I think we were meant to be,” he said, his lips hovering inches from hers. “And I think deep, down inside, you feel it too.”
His lips crashed against hers and Marj pushed him away.
“No!” she said. “How dare you?”
“You didn’t feel that? The chemistry between us is amazing. It’s like the Fourth of July or something.”
“No, I didn’t feel fireworks. Luke, I don’t love you anymore.”
He chuckled. “Good. Because I don’t love you, either. And I didn’t break up with the mother of my child. Actually, I married her.”
She looked at him stumped. “What?”
“I got what I came for. Now I’ll be leaving.”
“A kiss?”
He smirked. “Best damn kiss of my life!”
“What?”
“That kiss just landed me twenty thousand dollars. I’m going to take my family to Hawaii on a well-deserved vacation, then use the rest for a down payment on a house we’ve been looking at.”
Marj could feel her face turning red. She slapped Luke hard. “You did this for money! You ass!”
He laughed.
Jerk!
Luke blew her a kiss as he walked off.
She stood there stunned. How was that kiss worth twenty thousand dollars? She glanced around and didn’t see anybody. She then looked up and saw a man in the tree hiding in the branches and leaves. It looked like he was holding a camera.
Son of a bitch!
Paparazzi.
He was little and puny. Marj was sure she could take him on. She had to get that camera at all costs. So like any good corporate wife who would protect her husband’s reputation at all costs, she started climbing the tree to ambush the dangerous predator.
“What the hell?” the thin man said.
“Bursts of light lit up the night as he kept snapping away.
“Are you stumped, I’m coming up? Well, I was a tomboy when I was a kid! You’re just lucky I don’t have my sneakers!” Marj roared.
Fueled by adrenaline, she moved up with lightning speed, and pushed up with her feet, sliding her hands up the tree, and pulling herself upward. She kept sliding and shimmying her feet up, just like the way she used to when she hung out with all the guys as a kid. It’d been years since she climbed a tree, but it was like riding a bike, you never forget how. However, it was a little more tricky all glammed up with stilettos.
Her heel suddenly got caught on a branch. She yanked it and continued to stalk her prey, the elusive paparazzi.
She lost her balance and stumbled sideways, but she quickly pulled out of it, like a bad tailspin.
“Just stop!” the man declared. “You’re going to get all scratched up! Or even worse! Get a runner in your pantyhose.”
“If this gets out, the headlines are going to read, ‘Hostess Leaves Party, Climbs Tree, and Singlehandedly Ties Up Trespasser.’”
“That’s way too long for a headline!”
“How about, ‘Corporate Wife Smashes Camera’?”
He chuckled. “How about Out-of-control Socialite Goes To Jail?’”