Two months ago…
The sound of a motorcycle pulling into the parking lot caught Candy’s ear and she straightened, spinning away from her computer. It might not be Ren. Ever since Max had hired Elia there were multiple Harleys in the employee lot, but she’d take those odds.
He’d been avoiding her.
It was making her crazy, not seeing him like this. Okay, she sucked at relationships, but they could still be friends. She needed them to be friends. She needed him.
Especially after the conversation she’d had with Max this morning. If Max was thinking of selling Elite Protection, if there was a chance she might not see Ren at work anymore…. No. She wasn’t going to borrow trouble. It wasn’t going to happen.
But she needed to patch things up with him now.
She caught up to him as he walked out of the locker room, his gym bag slung over one shoulder. “Hey!”
He paused, smiling slightly in greeting, and Candy’s heart lifted at the familiar sight. “Hey. You working Saturdays now?”
“You know what Max says. Protection is a twenty-four-seven job.”
Ren nodded, the gesture absent as his phone chimed with a text alert and he pulled it out of his pocket. A tiny, almost intimate smile quirked his lips when he checked the screen. Candy’s heart clutched erratically at the sight.
“I should get going. Just came by to pick this up.” He adjusted the bag on his shoulder.
“Hot date?”
She didn’t know why she asked. She really didn’t want to know, but the words were out before she could help it.
“Actually, yeah, sort of,” Ren admitted. He shrugged, as if trying to dispel the sudden awkwardness in the air. “I would have said something, but it’s still pretty new.”
It’s still pretty new. Which meant it was established enough to be an it. Which meant it, whatever it was, wasn’t a first date.
Ren was seeing someone.
“Awesome!” Her voice was too bright. Too loud. “I’m happy for you.” She sounded too happy. Like an infomercial. “I’m glad you found someone. I want us to be friends,” she blurted.
Something that was almost sympathy moved gently across Ren’s face and Candy’s eyes suddenly felt hot. “Me too,” he murmured. “Have a good night, Candy.”
“You too!” Fake. She sounded fake. But he didn’t call her on it. He smiled, nodded, and walked away. Off to his hot date.
She should have gotten the girl’s name. For a background check. As a friend. They were friends now.
Candy pressed a fist against her ribcage, trying to breathe past the pressure there.
He’d told her he loved her and she’d thrown him out. What had she expected? That he would pine for the rest of his life? She didn’t want that. She wanted him to be happy, damn it. She did. So why were her stupid eyes so fucking wet all of a sudden?
She’d never wanted to care. Not about Ren. Not about Elite Protection. Not about anyone. She’d kept her guard up as high as it would go, but he’d gotten through anyway. She’d tried to play it safe and it hadn’t mattered. She’d still gotten hurt. Wasn’t that just fucking poetic?
She’d never wanted love. Until the moment it was taken away.
And now all she could do was walk back to her desk like a zombie, pretending everything was okay and trying not to cry.
* * * * *
Present day…
Candy stood in front of the full-length mirror in the bathroom, trying to find some trace of her true self in the reflection looking back at her. People could say that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but everyone did. The packaging mattered. It changed how the world judged you, but it also changed how you felt. When Candy was wearing “appropriate” dresses and a strand of perfectly matched pearls, she couldn’t help feeling like she was back in the box she’d broken out of decades ago.
This was the reflection of the woman she could have been if she hadn’t woken up to the lies in her life. The perfect little country club princess.
“Missing your disguises?”
Ren’s deep voice sounded from the open doorway behind her and she shifted her gaze to his reflection. She sometimes forgot how insanely good looking he was, because he was just Ren to her. Calling him Pretty Boy kept him at a distance, but it didn’t change what he was to her. Or the fact that he was still the most handsome man she’d ever met.
And one who knew her better than anyone in the world, as his question proved.
“A little,” she admitted.
“You look beautiful.”
“You look wonderful. I look…” She didn’t know how she looked.
“You okay?” He came to stand beside her, placing one hand on her waist, and she looked at the pair of them in the mirror.
Such a handsome couple. His dark looks contrasted her fair ones. Her ash blonde hair was pulled into a neat French twist with a few strands hanging loose to frame her face. Her dress was a simple, A-line flare. Cream-colored, with a baby blue lace overlay that kept it from looking too bridal. His suit was dark navy. His hands large and strong. His eyes bright and understanding.
He would have been an incredible husband. He could have been hers, if she hadn’t screwed things up. She could imagine it. The way he would look at her when he spoke his vows. The look on his face when he first saw her walking down the aisle on her father’s arm.
She’d never been the kind of girl to fantasize about her wedding. That was Charlotte. She had never thumbed through bridal magazines—until she was forging her own wedding photos in an attempt to keep her mother at bay. She’d never pictured herself in a poofy Cinderella dress, waltzing with the man of her dreams during their first dance as man and wife while all their friends and family watched.
But she did now. And the only man whose arms she could picture herself in was Ren.
If she told him that now, would it make a difference? Would he even believe her?
“Candy?”
Had he asked her something? She couldn’t recall. “Some morning, eh?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
He slid both arms all the way around her waist, wrapping her in his warmth. He was always so warm and he smelled so good she just wanted to lean into him and inhale. “What are you sorry for?”
“Dragging you into this?” She’d meant it to be a statement, but it hadn’t come out that way.
“Don’t be. I’m not.” He turned her gently, forcing her to look away from the reflection—and suddenly it was harder to meet his eyes, without the mirror between them. “You know I would do anything for you.”
He lowered his head, slowly enough to give her time to move away—but pulling away from him was the farthest thing from her mind. His lips were gentle. Warm and comforting. Had they ever kissed like this before? Not with heat and lust and need. Not with playful teasing and naughty flirtation. But just with the soft, warm glow of some emotion she was too frightened to name.
God, she loved him.
The words shivered through her and Candy jerked away, feeling the blood rushing to heat her face. “We should go. We don’t want to be late.”
“Good idea.” His arms fell away, but he caught her hand by the fingertips, drawing her behind him out of the spacious bathroom. “I’m a little afraid of your mother. I’d hate to delay her photos.”
“I’m already on her shit list thanks to Aiden’s Escape from Alcatraz routine.” Candy looked up at Ren as he held the door for her to exit their suite. “You saw him this morning, didn’t you? Did he say anything? Give any indication where he was going or why he couldn’t run away with his nanny after the wedding?”
“All we talked about were hangover cures. I didn’t even know he was missing until your mother mentioned it.”
Candy shook her head. “I had no idea what was going on with him. Or with Scott or Charlotte. Which is my own fault. I was so angry at my parents for what they did in Venezuela that I cut off the whole family.”
“It takes two,” he commented. “They could have reached out to you.”
“Aiden tried.” She frowned as Ren took her hand in his, leading the way across the lawns to the west gardens where the photographer had set up. “I don’t even know them.”
“So get to know them. It isn’t too late.”
“I’m still lying to them,” she murmured, lowering her voice as the rest of the family came into sight ahead of them.
“And it’s killing you. We could come clean.”
Candy snorted. “If this morning couldn’t ruin my sister’s wedding, I doubt anything we can say will. Though my mother may kill me. I’m pretty sure the lying won’t bother her, but having to tell her friends I lied will be a fate worse than death. I think in her book lies are only bad when you get caught and the house of cards comes tumbling down.”
“It is a minor miracle you have such an uncompromising sense of right and wrong, raised the way you were.”
“You mean by the playboy diplomat and the woman who will murder kittens if it advances the family’s political capital?”
“I have to wonder where you got it from. That hard line view of right and wrong.”
“I stopped believing in them. After that, spotting the bullshit and hypocrisy was easy—and the more I saw of it, the more I hated it. I couldn’t stand the lies anymore.” Her hand tightened on his and she grimaced. “But then I went and built one for myself.”
“It’s almost over,” he comforted her as they reached the rest of the group. “Not much longer now.”
They only had to keep it together a little while longer. Then they could go back to Los Angeles and she could start putting herself back together again. She felt like this entire week had done nothing but break her down. But they were close. In the home stretch.
Her family stood in a small cluster to one side, waiting their turn while Charlotte was fussed over by the photographer and several of his assistants, trying to get her veil to fall just so as she stood on the small footbridge over the pond. She looked breathtaking. Every little girl’s fantasy bride—ethereal and flawless.
If only the man she was marrying wasn’t such a tool.
Candy approached the small cluster of her family standing out of the way, her arm linked through Ren’s.
Then her mother looked up from where she was fussing at one of the wedding planners and her eyes lit with unholy glee as soon as she spotted Candy and Ren.
“Lorenzo Tate Junior!”
Oh, shit.
Candy’s gaze snapped to where Alicia stood waiting for the bridal party photos a few feet away. She held her hands up defensively. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t say a word.”
That single panicked look toward Alicia was all the proof her mother needed. Her face lit with rabid enthusiasm. “Candice! Why didn’t you tell us your husband was famous?”
Candy shot a frantic look at Ren, but he hadn’t moved. He didn’t even look upset. Just mildly surprised.
“He isn’t.” Deny deny deny.
“Well, no,” Regina acknowledged. “But his parents were. Lorenzo Tate and Lily Xiao? Daughter of Chinese billionaire Hi Xiao?”
Candy frowned. The details were too specific. How could her mother know Ren’s grandfather’s name? “Who told you that?”
Her mother flapped a hand as if it was common knowledge. “It’s all over the internet.”
That got a reaction from Ren. “It is?” His expression darkened.
“Michelle from the club sent me a text this morning—”
“You text?”
“Don’t interrupt, Scott. It’s impolite. As I was saying, Michelle sent me a text with an article attached, asking me if it was about my son-in-law. Of course I had no idea what she was talking about—you could have done me the courtesy of giving me a little warning, Candice. You’re lucky nothing can spoil my mood today—”
Candy rolled her eyes. She was lucky her mother thought she could use Ren. Regina was too delighted to discover her son-in-law had fame capital to hold a grudge—though Candy was sure there would be consequences for their secrecy later. Nothing was ever just forgiven where her mother was concerned.
“I pretended to be in on the secret,” Regina went on. “I can’t believe you would let me look like a fool for not knowing when it’s everywhere—”
“Where exactly is everywhere?” Ren asked, and Regina didn’t scold her new favorite in-law for interrupting.
“Oh, you know, the internet. The article I saw was lovely.” She pulled out her phone, tapping at it until she located the site. “Here.” She handed the phone to Ren, who took it mechanically, periodically flicking the screen with a finger as he read. “It talks about your parents and their tragic death. How your father’s music was so influential. Your mother’s promise as an artist and her background as the daughter of a Chinese businessman before she met your father at a charity ball and instantly fell in love with him. How they ran away together and had you. How he left the band for her and wrote an entire album dedicated to her. It’s such a lovely story. I can’t believe you never told us!”
Candy’s stomach roiled. That wasn’t just a few lines in a puff piece. That was a full expose. His entire life story.
“Are you seriously Lorenzo Tate’s kid?” Scott asked—and even her jaded brother sounded impressed. Her father, the other bridesmaids, they all stared at Ren as if he was an act in a side show.
Ren swallowed and looked up from the phone, then he said something she’d never expected him to openly admit. “I am.”
Her father’s expression turned musing. “You said you were raised by your grandparents…”
“His parents were killed in a horrible car crash when he was six.” Regina was all too eager to share more of the story she’d learned from the tabloids. “They were being chased by the paparazzi. Just like Princess Di. Isn’t that heartbreaking? Then your grandfather dying of pancreatic cancer when you were still so young. And your grandmother fading away, dying of a broken heart without him. Oh, Ren, such tragedy in your life.”
Beside Candy, Ren’s face had gone stiff, his mobile features locking everything inside as he handed her mother back her phone. “Mom. That’s enough.”
“I don’t see why you kept it such a secret,” Regina scolded, turning her attention to Candy.
“You didn’t need to know.”
“Of course we did! This is incredible for your brother’s campaign.”
“No,” Candy insisted. “It isn’t. That isn’t how this works. Even if Aiden decides to run for office, this information is never going in a press kit.”
“Candice!” Her mother’s horror at the idea of not telling the world saturated her name. “Everyone knows anyway. Why not frame it in a way that’s beneficial to the family? After all the advantages we gave you, the least you can do is be a little grateful. For once, do your part for this family.”
Candy looked at her mother, dressed in flawless mother-of-the-bride couture. Looking like a first lady who never quite made it to the White House. So determined to run the world.
“I’m sure it would be great for the family. But we aren’t married.”
The words popped out before she’d even made the conscious decision to confess.
“Never say you’re getting divorced,” her mother exclaimed, her face falling—heartbroken at the idea of losing her new favorite in-law so soon.
Candy supposed that was a logical conclusion. Much more logical than the truth. “Technically, we were never married. It was all a lie.”
Ren shot Candy a questioning look as the rest of her family looked on in mild confusion.
“No.” Her mother shook her head, as if she could shake away the truth. “You had wedding pictures.”
“Photoshop.”
“You think I can’t spot Photoshop?” Regina’s voice was rising, the pitch growing sharp. “You think I’ve never seen faked photos? I’ve been in DC a long time, young lady. Now stop being funny.”
“I’m not laughing, Mom. No one is.” She swallowed and provided the details she hoped would convince her mother. “You kept trying to set me up with proper political alliances and I couldn’t take it anymore so I lied about being engaged to get you off my back. And kept on lying until you believed me. Ren’s just a friend. He agreed to come here to help me out because he’s the best guy in the world, but he isn’t my husband and he’s never going to be.”
“Raines family!” The photographer called. “We’re ready for you!”
Her mother’s blinding smile snapped back into place. “Excellent! We’re all ready!” She turned and ushered the family toward where Charlotte waited on the footbridge. “Candice. Ren. You’re on the left.”
Candy blinked. Impressed in spite of herself at the depth of her mother’s denial. “Mom. I just told you we aren’t married. We never were. You want Ren in the family photos?”
“Of course. Hurry along, you two.”
Ren shot Candy an inquiring look and she groaned. “Seriously, Mom? Is this because he’s famous? You want to claim him in the family photos?”
Her mother shot her a look. One of the looks that would have made her quail when she was a little girl. But she wasn’t a little girl anymore. “This is your sister’s day, Candice,” she said, smiling through gritted teeth. “And today he’s your husband. Tomorrow he can be whatever you want, but today you’re going to march up there and smile. Nothing is going to spoil this for Charlotte. She’s going to look back on this as the happiest day of her life.”
Scott burst out laughing. Regina transferred her death glare to her eldest and he choked off the sound. “Sorry. Happiest day of her life. Got it.”
But he couldn’t keep a straight face as he fell into step beside Candy and Ren. “Who would have thought that the resident cokehead would be the only one who doesn’t have a scandal this weekend? I’m the virtuous one.” He laughed. “No one would have taken that bet.”
Candy grimaced and climbed toward where Charlotte waited.
The happiest day of her life. She only hoped Charlotte had her mother’s capacity to remember things not as they were, but as she wanted them to be.