A Contract, A Wedding, A Wife?. Christy McKellen

she could have known that.

      ‘McQueen, you say?’ Hugo boomed, giving Xavier a confused glance, then looking towards where Russell stood with the camera. ‘Have the two of you—’ he waggled a finger between them ‘—just got married?’

      ‘Yes, just a few minutes ago,’ Soli confirmed, to Xavier’s chagrin.

      ‘Well. You are a dark horse, McQueen. We had no idea marriage was on the cards for you.’ Hugo’s confused frown deepened as he looked between the two of them.

      ‘No, well, it all happened very quickly,’ Xavier said, his heart sinking through his chest. ‘We’ve dated on and off for years but only recently decided we should make a proper go of it,’ he lied, silently begging his friend to take him at his word.

      ‘Really?’ Hugo said with a tinge of disbelief in his voice. ‘It happened so quickly you couldn’t even wait to invite your friends to the wedding?’

      Damn. He was well and truly busted. He’d never hear the end of it from his old friends now.

      ‘Neither of us wanted a big do,’ Xavier said gruffly, feeling heat rise up his throat. The last thing he needed was Hugo and his old social group to find out he’d had to pay Soli to marry him in order to keep his family home. He hated the idea of that getting back to Harriet. His humiliation really would be complete then.

      ‘We thought we’d have a party for close friends and family some time in the near future,’ he said, deciding the only thing to do was to bluster his way through this.