Fake Marriage Box Set (A Single Dad Romance) Read online

  “So, when you’re here is Sarah usually here too, or is she always gone?”

  “Like I said,” I replied, feeling uncomfortable now. “Sometimes she’s here, and I help with everything like laundry and cooking, but most of the time she has me watch him because she has somewhere to go. It’s not really down to a science; we do what is needed and I don’t ask her a lot of questions. I mean, she is my employer after all, and I’m happy to have the hours and the time with Jake.”

  He looked like he was going to continue this line of questioning and it was making me uncomfortable, considering I had never even heard of him before he showed up just now. I wasn’t sure if he was even supposed to be there, much less be interrogating me, but I kept my patience figuring he just wanted to know who was watching his son. Before he could ask another question, though, I sighed in relief, hearing Sarah coming through the front door.

  “I’m home,” she said, cheerfully.

  “We are in the living room, Sarah,” I called out.

  I could hear her heels clacking down the wood floored hallway, and for some reason I started to get really nervous. As she rounded the corner, she froze, looking at me and then back at Luke. The smile on her face started to fade away and immediately it was replaced with anger. Maybe I shouldn’t have let him in after all, but how was I supposed to know? I mean, if it’s important that one specific person not be allowed in the house, then maybe there should be instruction on that.

  “What are you doing here? What is he doing here?”

  She looked back and forth between the two of us, but I didn’t know what to say. My eyes tightened and darted toward Luke, angry that he had deceived me like that. From her reaction, there was no way that he didn’t know that she wouldn’t have wanted him there. There was no way he didn’t know that she would react this way. I stepped back slightly and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Smith, he was at the door, and Jake was excited to see him,” I responded. “You hadn’t told me about him at all, so I thought it was okay to let him inside.”

  “You should have called me first, Quinn,” she snapped at me. “You don’t just let people in because a six-year-old is happy to see them. He would be happy to see a clown, but you just don’t let a random clown come in the house, do you?”

  “Of course not,” I said, putting my head down. “I’m sorry.”

  “Leave her alone, Sarah,” Luke said, shaking his head and holding Jake in his arms. “She was just doing what was right.”

  Sarah grew angrier at the sound of Luke’s voice, and I knew immediately that whatever caused her to be a single mother had occurred on the other side of a difficult divorce. She marched across the living room and snatched Jake from his father’s arms, and kissed him on the cheek. She turned and walked toward the doorway, setting him down and bending to his level.

  “Why don’t you go upstairs and play in your room for a little while,” she said, smiling.

  “But I want to play with Daddy,” he whined.

  “I know you do,” she said, with a sigh. “But Mommy and Daddy have important things to discuss, and they aren’t for miniature ears.”

  “Okay,” he sighed, before turning and running to the staircase. “Bye, Daddy!”

  “Bye, munchkin,” he yelled after him.

  Sarah stood watching as he made it to the top and turned the corner to his room. She snapped back around and put her hands on her hips, her face angrier than I had seen it before. I knew this wasn’t going to be good, but I had nowhere to go. I stood there awkwardly, hoping that she didn’t fire me. I needed this job, and I had already fallen in love with little Jake.

  Chapter Three

  Luke

  “What are you doing here?”

  I hated the way Sarah wrinkled her nose at me when she was angry; it was like nails on a chalkboard. I used to like it when we were dating, thinking it was absolutely adorable, but now it just made me cringe. I took a deep breath and smeared a cocky smile across my face, not wanting her to know she was getting to me.

  “I came to bring the support check,” I said.

  “Well,” she said, thrusting her hand out toward me and glaring at me.

  I chuckled, shaking my head as I pulled my wallet from my pocket. I opened it up and put my fingers on the paper, stopping and looking up at her. She sighed heavily and tapped her foot faster, giving me the satisfaction of knowing I was pissing her off. Finally, I pulled it from my wallet and handed it to her, watching her shoulders ease a bit. I knew money would make this situation a little easier since that was all she’d ever wanted from the beginning.

  “I don’t understand why you didn’t just mail it like you usually do,” she said, taking the check and shoving it into her back pocket. “You didn’t have to come here and make a scene, and put my sitter in an impossible position.”

  “Well, considering I’ve been paying you out the ass to be my ex-wife, and supporting both you and my son, who should be with me part of the time, I thought I should come and find out why there had been such a hefty hike in childcare expenses,” I said, sticking my wallet back into my pocket. “I got the letter from the courts, and found it amazing that I didn’t even get notified until after a decision had been reached.”

  “That is your own fault,” she said, rolling her eyes. “And they don’t have to notify you when my expenses are increased, that is part of the terms since you don’t have custody.”

  “Look, I agreed to the initial amount without the judge having to say a word,” I said, getting irritated. “I pay a hefty sum for alimony and child support, a sum that is way more than generous, and I know because of that you’ve been able to continue living the jobless lifestyle you’ve grown accustomed to. I also know that you wouldn’t work even if you were given the opportunity. That being said, I’m not here to support your shopping habits. If you wanted free reign on my bank account, then you should have thought twice before asking for a divorce out of nowhere.”

  “So, what?”

  Sarah shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her perfectly manicured nails. I had no idea how I got into this position. When I had met Sarah, she was a sweet girl with a big heart, but now she was unrecognizable. It was like some greedy bitch had taken over her body. I looked over at the babysitter who was hurriedly trying to gather her things, purposely looking away as she moved. She was in an uncomfortable position, but so was I. Spilling my dirty laundry in front of someone who I didn’t even know at all wasn’t my thing. Sure, Sarah hired her, but she didn’t seem to have the first clue what kind of woman Sarah was, and the last thing I wanted to do was have that impact the way she took care of Jake, she seemed to be really good with him.

  “Come on,” I said, reaching for Sarah’s arm so I could pull her into the kitchen. “We need some privacy.”

  “Don’t touch me,” she shrieked as if I had her by the neck.

  I quickly let go of her arm and put my hands in the air, realizing my error after it was already too late. This woman was a piece of work, and she knew just the right moments to be dramatic for no reason. I’d barely put my hand on her wrist, but she acted like I was throwing her around the room, ready to murder her. I looked over at the sitter as her eyes widened and she quickly put her head back down. At that moment, I realized how beautiful she was and how her eyes were almost golden in color. Her light brown hair fell in waves over her shoulders, and when she looked back at me, I realized her eyes were actually a beautiful hazel with specks of gold in them. To say that I wasn’t momentarily taken back would be a lie, but I quickly looked back at Sarah who was steaming mad, looking for any sign of a mark on her wrist that she obviously wasn’t going to find.

  “You need to get out,” she screamed. “I don’t have to take this shit from you anymore.”

  “What shit? We’ve never had a physical altercation, ever,” I laughed. “And I’m not leaving until you can explain to me why I am paying you so much more, and why you are having someone else raise our
son! You wanted full custody so bad that you lied in a court of law to get it, and now you won’t even take care of your own child. I’m sure Quinn is a lovely person, but she isn’t Jake’s mother.”

  “Why is it you think you’re so special that you can march into MY home and demand answers from me?” she laughed. “I don’t owe you one single explanation.”

  “Your home? You mean the home I bought since you’ve never had a job in your life? You mean the home you took in the divorce because one woman needs five thousand square feet of space? Oh, you mean the home I still pay the mortgage on,” I said, shaking my head and trying to control myself.

  “Get out,” Sarah said, pointing to the door. “Just go, or I’m calling the police.”

  I threw my hands in the air and rolled my eyes, pulling my jacket closed and glaring at Sarah. That was what she always did: threatened me with the authorities. It was always, ‘do what I want, or I’ll make the police handle it,’ lying to them with whatever scheme she came up with in her head at that moment. She was a crazy person, and I’d been married to her for way too long before we got divorced. At one point she’d become so conniving and even had an affair, though I couldn’t prove it. I knew without a doubt it was going on, and by then I’d had enough and wanted out. Honestly, her sudden request for a divorce was almost a relief in many ways. Life was miserable with that woman. Then when it was time for court, she side-swiped me, basing her entire case around these imaginary ‘abuses’ that I had put her through during the marriage. It was a damn joke because I had never laid my hands on her in anger, not even once, in all the years we were together. She had made me look like a terrible person in a court of law.

  When she couldn’t prove that I had physically abused her, she changed her story to say that I was mentally abusive. I didn’t take that lightly, especially knowing there are plenty of men out there who do mentally abuse their wives, but I wasn’t one of them. She kept crying on the stand saying something about mental anguish, a reduced sense of self, and any other terminology she’d come up with during her Google search of abused women. She was clearly insane, but it was my word against hers, and no one wanted to believe the successful, ‘career-obsessed’ husband, choosing instead to coddle the poor abused wife. By then, I wanted out of the marriage and to get it all over with so bad that I just stopped fighting it. It didn’t matter what I said; no one was going to listen to my side of things anyway. I was fighting a losing battle and taking my career down with me.

  That was when I realized what Sarah was doing. She wasn’t lashing back at me because we were getting divorced; she was clawing at the things in her life that she had, trying not to lose everything. She didn’t care about losing me, but she definitely wasn’t going to lose my bank account. Every move she made was a calculated angle, something that would push her payday higher and higher in the eyes of the court. That was when I made the offer to the judge, knowing it was well above what they would have given her, but below what she thought she should get. The judge had no choice but to agree, surprised at how much I was offering. At that point though, the damage had been done, and I had been painted as the abusive ex-husband who was trying to shut up his ex-wife with a check every month, a check she was more than happy to grab with her little grubby fingers and stash away in her bank account. Hopefully, this would all stop, and sooner than later.

  “You know what,” I said, putting my hands down and walking toward the door. “You’re right; I should leave. There isn’t anything more to say here that we haven’t screamed out a hundred times already. You can continue with your lies, your false accusations, and your lack of a moral compass, all to give yourself a nice payday every month, but I won’t stoop to your disgusting level any longer. I have too much class for that.”

  “Whatever,” she said, watching me walk toward the door. “Just get the hell out.”

  “Oh, I’m going, but just so you know, you’ll be getting a phone call soon,” I said, stopping as I opened the door. “I’ve hired a brand-spanking-new attorney, real ball buster, and I am going to be suing you for joint custody. You might want to get all of your stories back in line, sweetie, because I’m tired of lying down for you; I’m way too good for that.”

  I chuckled to myself, watching her unfold her arms and take a step toward the door. Her face went completely pale, and her mouth dropped open. All that money she liked to spend on clothes, toys, and God knows what else, would need to be put into an attorney to fight me in court. It was like I could see the dollar signs falling from her eyes and clanking across the wood floors. She was stunned, and I loved it. She hated it when I fought back against her, and I decided that I hadn’t fought hard enough for my son when all this originally went down, and now I needed to get back in the game. I loved him more than anything and never saw him as a payday, or lack thereof. He deserved to be with me at least half of the time, and she would just have to deal with the consequences of that. There was nothing saying I couldn’t be around him, and I still had legal rights as a parent, but because she lied during the hearing I had zero physical custody until everything came back up for review in a year. I had a hunch that things might start to go my way if I played my cards right. The judge had to be starting to question whether Sarah was telling the truth or not.

  With that, I nodded my head at Quinn and walked out the door, slamming it behind me and laughing. She was so stunned that she couldn’t even think of any words to fight me back with. She would have to start her little sob story all over again, but this time it would take a lot more convincing on her part, especially since we rarely talked, and I’d never been even a day late on my support payments, something I kept very good records of through my bank. She would have to come up with a really good story as to why she wanted to continue to keep my little boy away from me just to collect her paycheck. I was going to come at this woman with everything I had, and I’d hired the perfect lawyer to do it.

  Chapter Four

  Quinn

  “Why did you let him in? What were you thinking?” Sarah was more than angry.

  I stood there with my hands folded, unsure of what to say, unable to move from the spot where I stood. She wanted an answer, but I didn’t have one to give her. It was Jake’s father. She had only ever told me a few things about the divorce and that he had been verbally abusive to her, but she never said he was mean to Jake. She never even really told me why he wasn’t around. When I saw Jake’s reaction I couldn’t ask him to leave; it was the first time I’d ever seen that little boy really open up. There was something about him that made me feel safe, and while Sarah looked livid and slightly frightened, I couldn’t understand it.

  “You listen to me,” she said, walking over and grabbing my wrist. “You will never let that man anywhere near my son, ever again. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” I said, nodding my head, a huge lump in my throat.

  I backed away, as Sarah was visibly angry. She shook her head and burrowed through her purse looking for something. Finally, she pulled out her phone and flipped through the numbers, pressing the send button and pulling it to her ear. She paused for a moment and looked up at me, with anger in her eyes.

  “That will be all for today,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I said, bowing my head as she turned her attention back to the call I now knew was to her lawyer.

  I pulled my bag closer to me and loaded up my things, including the games I had brought over to play with Jake. I hadn’t had a chance to cook dinner, and I hoped that when she calmed down, she would make something for Jake. I was sure he was probably hungry by that point. I walked up the stairs to say goodbye to him, not wanting to leave him alone and upset upstairs. I crept down the hallway to his room, trying not to upset Sarah who hadn’t even seen me come up.

  I was going to head right in and say goodbye to him, but something made me pause.

  “Well, he can’t just show up here.” Sarah said.

  I knew it was wrong to
eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help it.

  “No, he can’t. If he keeps showing up like that, it could ruin my testimony. The story you helped me come up with to make sure I got full custody of my son. No one can know the truth.”

  I took a deep breath wondering what she had lied about to get full custody of her son. It was such an awful thing to do to not only a father, but a child as well. I decided that I had heard enough and turned my attention back to what I had been doing; saying goodbye to Jake.

  I didn’t hear any noise coming from his room, which was strange for the six-year-old. He seemed to be always making some sort of noise, whether playing with his trucks or imagining himself fighting the enemy. However, this time when I walked around the corner of his room, I found him sitting quietly on the edge of his bed, his face emotionless.

  I took a deep breath and let it out, hating to see him that way. I walked over and ruffled his hair with my hand, taking a seat next to him on the bed. It was terrible that Jake was caught in this situation; he was nothing more than the innocent victim of two adults unable to put their personal issues aside and do what was best for their child. I reached my arm around his shoulders and squeezed him tightly, not even sure of what I should say. I’d only spent a couple weeks with him, but even I could tell he didn’t handle conflict well, so sending him up here on his own to overhear his mother and father fighting wasn’t the best choice Sarah could have made. I could feel him take in a deep breath and then slowly let it out, trying to let the pain escape from his chest. I knew that feeling all too well and was pretty sure I had sighed like that more in the last year than I had in my whole life. He tilted his head up and looked at me with his big green eyes.

  “Hey there, handsome,” I said, smiling. “Are you hungry? I can make you something real fast before I leave to go home. That way your mom doesn’t have to worry about feeding you.”