“I think we should get married,” he blurts, as if he’s been working up the courage to say it the whole way over here and now the words have come spilling out with no strategy or tact.
I blink at him a few times, trying to comprehend what he’s said. Jett Landry… wants to get married… to me. The world’s hottest professional skier, and the man every woman wants. The man who never even dates anyone.
“You said you need a husband, so marry me,” he says when I don’t respond.
“Jett, what are you talking about?” I ask, incredulous.
“I’m saying we fake a marriage, Pops,” Jett answers, like it’s clear as day, and he shouldn’t even have to be explaining it. “People do it all the time, right? Like for immigration and stuff.”
“I think that’s more common in the movies, or in romance novels, not real life,” I roll my eyes. “You don’t want to get married. Not even if it’s fake. You’d be tied down, and everyone knows you don’t like to get tied down.”
Even if he did, I’m not Jett’s type, and I’ll never be his type. Jett and I would be a terrible match, even in a fabricated scenario.
He’s self-assured, which is a nice way of saying he’s arrogant.
I saw him at the skijoring competition, celebrating his victory. I saw how the women fawned over him. You hear a lot from behind the counter serving coffee.
I even caught a snippet of his conversation with the man I assume to be his manager or coach. Whoever he was, he didn’t seem too impressed with Jett’s behaviour. Yet, Jett spoke and carried himself as if nothing could touch him.
Whatever soft, vulnerable side of Jett I saw at Grady’s is gone. So why he thinks I would be believable as his wife is beyond me.
Jett shrugs, and his eyes dart off to the side, like I’ve struck a sensitive spot.
“Turns out, settling down might have its perks.”
I cock my head, my eyebrows twitching together.
“Why?” I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me. I’m not going to agree to anything yet, but I’m interested in understanding his motive.
Jett shrugs and shoves his hands into the kangaroo pocket of his hoody.
“My sponsors are threatening to pull my funding for World’s because of the scandal,” he admits. “It might be a Hail Mary, and I don’t know if it would even work, but maybe if I have a stable relationship and can fix up my reputation, they might be willing to back me.”
My mouth twists to one side, considering.
“I don’t know.”
“You won’t think about it?” He asks, looking at me with a pleading expression.
Dating in general already makes my palms sweat, and the thought of marrying Jett is so far out of my comfort zone, it’s in another realm. Even faking a relationship with Jett would be trial by fire.
