Husband for Hire

Needing to pull herself together before saying anything more, she said, “Would you mind waiting a few minutes?”

A few beats passed, then he nodded, although he looked as if he wanted to sigh.

Becca shut the master-bedroom door behind her and leaned against it. He wasn’t going to take the job. He was perfect, but he wouldn’t be hers, not even for two days.

Unless she could change his mind. She’d been called tenacious but also sincere all her life. It was usually a winning combination. What did she have to lose?

She shoved her hair back from her face and headed into her bathroom then returned to the living room a few of minutes later with her armor on—her hair brushed and fresh lipstick applied. She’d seen in the mirror how tired she looked, so she tried to smile now, knowing that would help.

She also carried a picture frame. She sat next to Gavin and turned the photo around.

“These are my brothers,” she said. “Eric, Sam, Trent and Jeff. Eric is oldest. He’s thirty-nine, and I’m the youngest. I’m thirty.” She set the frame on the coffee table facing Gavin. “They’re coming to Sacramento on the Saturday after next to celebrate my wedding.”

“Which you didn’t have.”

“That’s true. But they need to think I did.”

“Why?”

“Because Eric—” she pointed to him in the photograph “—won’t get married until I do. Actually I think it’s possible that all four of them are waiting for me to marry first.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I know it seems so, and certainly Eric has never confirmed it as fact, but he loves kids and he wants to be married. I know he does.”

“Why would his getting married have anything at all to do with you?”

“Because he won’t give up feeling responsible for me until he’s satisfied I’m being taken care of by a husband.”

“You do realize how archaic that sounds, don’t you?”

“Of course. But our circumstances are unusual. You see, our parents died when I was thirteen. My brothers took over raising me. It was a group project, but Eric was the patriarch and he always had the last word.” She traced a finger across the glass. “They love me. I’ve never doubted it for a second.”

“But?”

“But they also smothered me with that love, Eric most of all. He’s been by far the most overprotective. I know there are worse things in life to complain about. I’m lucky in so many ways.”

“Do they live close?” he asked.

“No. In fact they’re scattered around the country, but they remain in solidarity when it comes to me. It kills them that I’m living alone in a big city.

“And now that I’ve turned thirty, their desire to get me married and settled has intensified. Are your parents like that?”

“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter to them. Although maybe my father would like the Callahan name to continue.”

“How old are you?” she asked.

“Thirty-four. And nowhere close to marriage. What do you think is behind Eric’s need to see you settled down?”

“This is purely speculation on my part, but it’s almost as if his job won’t be done until then.”

“So you’re feeling pressure to marry because you want him to do the same?”

“Not just him, but all my brothers, I think. I owe them a lot, Gavin, a whole lot, but Eric most of all. He was twenty-two when our parents died. He’d just graduated from college and would’ve been off to new places and adventures. Instead he stayed and took care of us. We all went to college. He made sure of that. We’re all successful.”

“Professionally,” Gavin said.

“Meaning?”

“Well, none of you have married, yet you’re all in your thirties. Seems that out of five siblings, at least one would’ve taken the plunge.”

Her back stiffened. “Now you see my dilemma. Besides, that’s an odd statement from someone who’s thirty-four and happily declares he’s nowhere close to marriage himself. Don’t you consider yourself successful?”

“I’m not the one looking for a pretend spouse.”

He had a point. She stacked some cheese and crackers, giving herself something to do with her hands. “Well, I can’t speak for my brothers, but I feel not only professionally successful, but personally, as well. I’ve been happy with my life. For the most part.”

She saw him look around her loft, as if reminding her how scattered her life had become. Now, she never invited anyone to visit other than Suki, yet at one time years ago, her home had been party-central.

“So, what are you looking for in a one-weekend husband?” he asked.

“Attentiveness,” she answered hopefully.

He laughed.

She smiled. “Seriously, I do have a plan. My brothers are flying in on Saturday morning and leaving Sunday afternoon. Your job would be to convince them we’re really married, that you’re the real deal, you know? A man who loves me. So, what I need is an actor, although this play is live-action. You need to be able to improvise in a believable way.”

He eyed her thoughtfully. “Why did you choose that particular course of action?”

Becca tucked her feet under her, facing him. She had to be honest or the situation wouldn’t work. He needed to know everything—even though she was going to look foolish. She could only hope he would take pity on her.

“My brothers have an annoying habit of setting me up with blind dates, a situation that has intensified in the past couple of years. How they come up with these guys is a mystery, especially long distance, but one brother or another sets me up every few months. Every one of these guys is an extreme Alpha male, by the way, just like my brothers. I finally made up a boyfriend. A doctor,” she added, trying not to seem too embarrassed by her actions. “I knew he would need to be very successful in order to be found satisfactory. Then they started planning visits here to meet my boyfriend, so I pretended he was part of the Doctors Without Borders organization and sent him out of the country.”

Gavin looked surprisingly amused. “It’s hard to imagine being able to pull that off for any length of time.”

“I know. I didn’t think it through. I can be … impulsive.” Which didn’t describe her logical and methodical business persona, but did describe her in many other ways. “Eric didn’t buy it. After a couple of trips to see me and meet the mysterious boyfriend who was always out of the country, he called my bluff.”

She took a sip of her now watered-down iced tea. “My friend Suki and I were out to dinner when Eric called to set me up with yet another blind date. It was the same old argument, with me saying I already had a boyfriend and Eric saying he didn’t believe it. Suki said, ‘Tell him you eloped.’ So I did.”

Gavin still looked amused, so she relaxed a little.

“Which Eric also didn’t buy,” Gavin said. “Because as close as you are, he knows you wouldn’t leave him out of your wedding plans.”

She nodded. The hurt in Eric’s voice still haunted her. “I told him that my husband had been about to leave on a particularly dangerous assignment, and we wanted to marry before he went. I can’t tell you how much I regretted the lie—still regret it. But in the end it served two important purposes. It got my brothers off my back about getting married, which I will do in my own way and time, and it opened the door for them to stop worrying about me and move on with their own lives.”

“I still find it hard to believe they haven’t married because you haven’t.”

“I know it seems like I’m reaching, but you don’t understand what happens when you lose both your parents at the same time, especially at such young ages. It created an unusual bond between us as siblings.”