Not-So Temporarily Married(20)

If so, she had another thing coming. I’d been as clear as possible when I’d told her our marriage was permanent. What Spencer had seen between us, it was genuine. I loved Zoe more than anything and I’d been certain she felt the same. She had to. There was no fucking way I was letting her go.

The impromptu visit kept us from being able to have a lazy breakfast, forcing us to grab something quick and get ready before leaving for the office. This conversation wasn’t one I wanted to rush, so I put it on the back burner for later.

I had a staff meeting first thing, but then I had a short break before I went off site to meet with a client. The talk with my dad had reminded me of a buddy who was a former CIA operative and now worked in operations.

Grabbing my cell phone from my desk, I scrolled through the contacts until I found Weston’s number. Then hit send.

It picked up after the third ring and a woman’s voice came across the line. “Landon! It’s been forever, handsome!”

“Aspen,” I greeted his wife warmly. “Still beautiful?”

She laughed. “Beautiful? More like sleep deprived and frazzled.” I grinned when I suddenly heard some shuffling and muffled words before the feminine tone was replaced with the gravelly voice of my friend. “Are you flirting with my wife, Heath? Because I have no problem flying to Wisconsin just to kick your ass.”

A noise at my door caused me to look up and see Zoe standing in my doorway, looking confused and hurt. I motioned her in and when she took a step back, I scowled at her. “Weston, hold on a sec,” I told him, and put the phone on mute. “Baby, get your ass in here.” She gave me a mutinous look and didn’t come forward, but she didn’t retreat either. I sighed, “I’ve got a friend who can help us look into Penderson. I called him and his wife, Aspen, answered. Now he’s threatening my life for giving her a compliment.” She looked relieved and took a step inside.

“Come over here and reassure him that I’m insanely obsessed with my wife, would you?” Her face lit up a little more and she sashayed over to me, allowing me to pull her down into my lap. I unmuted the phone and put it on speaker.

“Weston, I think my wife would manage to do your job first if she thought I was flirting with Aspen.”

“No need for your assistance, Weston,” Zoe chimed in. “My foot knows how to find its way up his ass. Nice to meet you, by the way, I’m Zoe.”

His laughter boomed through the phone. “You got married? It’s about damn time, man,” he finally replied. “I was afraid your virginity was growing back.” Zoe looked at me curiously but didn’t comment. “It’s nice to know he found someone to keep him in line, Zoe. I hope you two will come to Atlanta to visit one of these days.”

“Of course,” she murmured sweetly. “We’d love to.”

“I’ll put you in touch with my wife before we hang up,” he promised. “Now, I’m assuming you didn’t call just to shoot the shit, Landon?”

“I was hoping you could help us out with something.”

“Sure.”

I explained the circumstances surrounding Zoe’s visa and the theory we had that Steve Penderson might have been behind the tip to USCIS.

“Would it be possible for you to reach out to someone in Homeland and have them dig into Immigration Services? Maybe they could get the name of the tipster, or at least confirm the links in the chain?”

Weston blew out a breath, “I’ll do what I can. I do have a couple of contacts over there. But, Homeland Security oversees a lot of other departments, so I don’t know if either of them work with USCIS.”

“Anything you can do would be helpful,” I urged.

There was a beat of silence before Weston asked, “You got married so that Zoe could stay in the country?”

“Fuck no,” I growled. “It only sped up the wedding date.”

Zoe’s mouth dropped open and I gently closed it with a finger under her chin.

“She was mine the minute she stepped into my office,” I stated in an overly possessive tone.

Weston snorted in amusement. “I get it. You know how I was about Aspen. But,” he drawled, “I vaguely remember you telling me to chill and stop acting like a fucking caveman so I didn’t scare her away...How did that work out for you?”

Zoe covered her mouth, trying to stifle her giggle. I shrugged unashamedly, even though he couldn’t see it. “Yeah, yeah, shut it, asshole.”

Weston gave Zoe Aspen’s number, then we said our goodbyes and I ended the call before setting my phone down. I wrapped my arms around Zoe, peeking at my watch as they surrounded her. Her head turned and I rested my forehead on hers. “You’re mine, right?” I tried to hide it, but a hint of the vulnerability I was feeling escaped in my tone.