You're The One (Very Irresistible Bachelors #1) - Layla Hagen Page 0,57
in the meantime,” Cole added.
Shit. I should have seen this coming.
“Can’t do that. Josie and I agreed not to see anyone until I receive my documents. It would raise suspicions.”
“How long will that take?” Cole asked.
“Getting my green card? Probably not too long, but we’ll stay married for about three years to avoid any red flags.”
Ryker looked stricken. “So wait, you’re going to have a three-year dry spell? Jesus, I’d rather be deported.”
“Wait, you haven’t been with a woman since you announced your engagement?” Cole asked.
Karma. This was karma. I’d been amused by the idea of Josie having to face Tess and Skye but looking at the suspicious expressions on Ryker and Cole’s face, I was not going to fare much better.
“My priority right now is not to get into trouble with the immigration office. Everything else I can handle.” There. That sounded like a smart answer.
I looked around the room, but Josie was still sitting with Tess and Skye. I felt the need to be connected to her, to touch her.
When I’d told her that today half my brain was still on the Maldives, what I’d meant was that my mind had been on her. After being with her twenty-four hours a day for the past few weeks, it had felt strange to be without her today, as if an integral part of me was missing.
Honestly, I’d never been more grateful that Josie had insisted neither of us see people during these years. I couldn’t share Josie. I was starting to wonder how I’d be able to let her go at all.
“Survived?” I asked her as we walked to the car a while later. I undid the top button of my shirt. August in New York was smothering. The humidity made it all worse.
“Yes. You?”
“They weren’t as hard on me, but Ryker was already trying to rope me into going out with them. Cole even offered to be my wingman.”
Josie stopped in the act of reaching for the car door handle. “What did you tell him?”
I brought a hand to her waist, right over her stomach. She was so damn tense.
“No, of course. You and I agreed not to see other people. And that was before I had you, Josie. I’d be crazy to want anyone else. I’m yours.”
I felt her muscles go lax. “Okay. Okay. So, now what?”
Even though she had her back to me, I could feel her smiling. I brought my mouth to her ear, enjoying the way she leaned into me, as if she didn’t want to risk missing any word. I trailed my fingers from her shoulder down to her elbow, drinking in her reaction. She sucked in a breath, shimmying against me.
“Now, I’m going to spend the evening proving what a good husband I am, wife.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Hunter
The week after returning from our honeymoon, the immigration services asked me to come in for an interview for my green card. I was relieved they hadn’t asked Josie to come in too. Still, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was nervous as hell when the case worker asked me to come to her office.
“Mr. Caldwell, we’ve received your green card application, and I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“Sure.”
“You’ve lived in the United States since you were four years old. Why haven’t you applied for a green card before?”
“Honestly, I didn’t have time and didn’t think it was too important. My parents were British citizens, and they’d never had issues with their visa.”
She looked down at my file, drawing check marks.
“But yours wasn’t renewed.”
“Hence why I decided to go directly for the green card.”
“And you got married in the meantime.”
I stood still, watching her carefully. “I did.”
“Thought you’d kill two birds with one stone, eh?”
“Josie and I have been friends for a long time.” I was still calm, but I wouldn’t be able to keep so for too long.
“A large percentage of sham marriages happen between friends. People rarely trust strangers with something like this.”
I could feel myself losing my composure. I had to force myself to keep my voice even.
“This is not a sham marriage.”
“That’s for us to determine. You have a good track record—a successful business, charity work. But we still have to investigate.”
“Any other questions?”
“No.”
That unsettled me for some reason. Usually, the less questions the better. But they’d asked me here for an interview, and we’d only covered a few things.