Chapter Thirty-One

For a moment Zach was silent. There was no particular change in the expression on his face. Then he gave an odd laugh. "I knew if I was patient my luck would improve."

Kendall was uncertain how to interpret his answer. Moving farther into Zach's large office on legs whose slight shakiness was cured by dropping into the chair opposite his desk, she asked candidly, "Do you think for once you could give me a straight answer?"

"I don't know that I can, Kendall," he said frankly. "I'm not actually sure I heard you correctly."

"Oh, yes, you did, Zach. If you don't believe me, play back the surveillance tape I'm sure just recorded the big moment," she said, matching his frankness.

Zach looked at her so long and hard without responding Kendall began to feel truly uncomfortable. "What is it, Zach? Is Bigfoot standing behind me? Did my skin suddenly turn blue? Have I grown another head?"

He laughed again, a sound that was still hard to interpret. "No. But perhaps something similar. I begin to suspect you've suddenly become possessed."

"Oh, no, this is the real Kendall Hart and I'm not channeling anybody," she assured him. "This is me and I'm completely serious. It may seem impulsive, I know, but—"

Tilting back in his chair and steepling his fingers, Zach regarded her through eyes now hooded. "I can't say I've ever known you to be anything but impulsive."

Kendall wasn't sure how this was going. "Don't psychoanalyze me now, Zach, there isn't time for that. It's very simple really, if you'll just give me a minute to explain."

"All right, we'll cut to the chase. You want a husband. If I'm the best candidate you can come up with, then Miranda's custody must be involved."

"You're a perceptive man," Kendall said. "That's exactly it."

"I'm also a curious man. I want to know what has driven you to the opposite extreme of the way you were at Myrtle's."

"Zach, first you tell me yes, you'll marry me, or no, you won't." Kendall looked at him as steadily as she was able to, attempting to gauge his likely response. "Yes or no, pick one."

The following seconds were some of the longest in Kendall's life. Then Zach said, without a single facial muscle betraying anything of his feelings, "Yes."

Again Kendall exhaled, deeply. "Okay. Good. Now there's no more time to waste. Let's go, Zach. We have to get a marriage license signed, sealed and delivered before noon tomorrow." Rising from her chair to demonstrate the need for haste, Kendall's legs felt shakier than ever.

"Not quite so fast, Kendall," he deterred her. "And that would be because—?" Zach didn't move from his chair, but his face was beginning to loosen up; his eyebrows rose.

A torrent of words rushed from her lips. "Because after I left Myrtle's I went home J.R. was waiting for me. He gave me until noon tomorrow to accept his wedding proposal and if I don't he starts building the scaffold where I'll be publicly awarded a great big red letter 'H' to wear during the custody fight. But Zach, if I'm already married I can't say yes to J.R., plus nobody can criticize me for trying to be a single mother, and if I'm married to you, well, it's even better because you're Miranda's uncle just as I'm her aunt, and together that trumps Ryan and Greenlee relationship to her by a mile."

"Letter 'H"?" Zach inquired.

"For 'harlot,'" Kendall snapped. "Didn't you hear the rest of what I said? Come on, Zach, let's go to the airport now and get this over with. The only place I can think of where we can get married and back here in time tomorrow is Las Vegas, but we have to hurry or we won't make it."

Placing his hand down on his desk, Zach leaned forward. "No, sit down, Kendall. We need to talk about this some more."

"Why, Zach? You already said 'yes'—let's not quibble about the details!"

"This won't take long if you'll please be seated." After Kendall reluctantly complied, Zach continued, "So Junior gave you a deadline. But he's already been busy poisoning the well for you. What more can he do if you don't meet his deadline?"

"He'll testify against me in court. He'll testify about the times he's seen you and me together and he'll put a scandalous spin on it. We know nothing happened but he'll still talk it up like we've been having a cheap affair."

"Ah, I see the significance of the 'H,' now," Zach said softly.

Quickly, Kendall replied, "Exactly, and that's another reason I need you to marry me, Zach. If we're married then nothing J.R. can say about me will sound so bad."

"I've already said 'yes,' Kendall," he reminded her. "Now I'm asking you to listen to me. Junior can't make good on his threat until a hearing is actually held. Even with his influence I doubt a hearing could be scheduled by tomorrow afternoon. We can find out with a quick phone call to Livia—she just happens to be my lawyer too."

While Kendall waited impatiently, Zach spoke with Livia, who fortunately was able to take his call right away. Judging from Zach's relaxed side of the conversation, Kendall's hope that J.R. had issued a somewhat empty threat to her began to grow. Zach confirmed it once he hung up the phone.

"This is what Livia told me, Kendall," Zach began. "Greenlee and Ryan still have not even been issued the temporary—note the emphasis—custody order they requested. The process is grinding on that and there's no reason your name should come up during it."

"Okay, but what about the request Livia was filing for me, Zach?"

"Livia will now delay filing until tomorrow. Even if she filed this instant, however—the wheels of so-called justice don't turn fast enough for Junior to start pulling you under for at least several more days. Even little Chandler doesn't reign that supreme." Zach's mouth twisted into a little grin. "We have more breathing room than he realizes."

Kendall felt as if she'd just stumbled into a rest stop where she least expected to find one during a marathon run, and been handed an energizing, nutritious drink. Although there was little time to savor the refreshment before resuming the race, its effects would continue to act, and she felt far less depleted already than she had before entering Zach's office. "Thank you, Zach," she breathed fervently. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," he said briefly. "Well—let's get married, then."

"Then shouldn't we still head for Las Vegas soon?" Yet Kendall couldn't suppress a smidgen of distaste at the prospect of being married in such an artificial town—even though, ironically, her marriage to Zach was going to be largely artificial, at least under the surface.

She saw Zach regard her closely. "You know what, Kendall, I was just in Vegas and I'm not keen on another cross-country trip. Let me ask Edie to look into something." He made another quick call, listening while his assistant apparently did some online research, jotting notes before ending the call and returning his attention to Kendall.

"I've just learned there's a state in this time zone with no waiting, residency, or blood test requirements," he told her. "Driving there may even be faster than flying since we won't have to deal with airport security or rent a car. So what do you say we go home, pack some things, and hit the road?"

"You're making this so much easier than I would have thought. That is, if I'd let myself stop and think about it first," Kendall admitted.

"Kendall the impulsive."

"Kendall the scared shitless. In all honesty I don't know what to make of it."

Zach shrugged. "I won't psychoanalyze you if you won't psychoanalyze me."

"It's a little scary, though, isn't it, to think of you and me ending up married?" she persisted.

"'Scary' is not the word I'd use, Kendall. In this case I'd use…oh, 'expedient.'"

It was certainly a colder, more practical word, a word that spoke less of sensation and more of getting down to business, which was what she needed to do. Kendall swallowed. "You're right, Zach. So if we're not going to Vegas, where exactly are we going?"

"Virginia. Alexandria, Virginia to be exact, just outside Washington, DC. Very historic city, I understand. We should arrive in time to do a little sight-seeing. We can be married first thing in the morning and home almost in time to meet Junior's little deadline." The twisted grin again.

For a moment Kendall wondered if she were dreaming this—and what a strange dream it was. Not only had she just proposed lawful marriage to the same dangerous man she'd been quite recently convinced bore full responsibility for her family's disappearance, a man who returned in full and very blunt measure her unflattering opinion—he had accepted her proposal. Not only accepted it but was entering into the arrangement readily, or so it seemed to her. True, they shared the same goal, but still…it was disconcerting. No, it was scary, no matter what Zach called it.

"A historic city for an historic…wedding," Kendall tried to joke, but it seemed to fall flat.

Barely an hour ago she was feeling entirely alone, sunk in the deepest pit of despair. Her own Kane genes had taken her in hand and boosted her from the lowest depths but she'd still teetered on the edge. How odd that it was for Zach of all people to be the one hauling her closer to safety. Maybe not so odd after all, though, when tallied against his other recent, uncharacteristically positive actions…especially when Kendall found that on balance, and in light of what they were setting out to do, all those things still added up to dangerous…there being subtle variations in the definition of the word.

"'Historic'…now there's another word I might use," Zach agreed imperturbably. "Why don't we do this, Kendall. I have a detail or two here to clear up. You'll want more time to pack than I need. I'll give you a head start and I'll meet you at home in about an hour and a half."

"Then we'll be on the way?"

"That would be the plan."

"So by this time tomorrow we'll be married and I can tell J.R. to go screw himself?"

"You can tell him anything you like, Kendall. Personally I'd be less refined about it."

Kendall couldn't help it. She laughed, and the rare sound of her laughter shimmered in the air between them, effortlessly turning up the corners of Zach's mouth as well into a genuine smile.

The moment, so fraught with this dangerous harmony between them, made Kendall recall, for the first time since determinedly banishing it from her mind, the night she'd spent in Zach's bed and her sensual response to his proximity. Determinedly, she tried to banish the memory again. She wasn't marrying him for that.

Maybe not, her inner self teased, but you wouldn't turn him down either. Oh god, no.

After Kendall left, Zach allowed himself no second thoughts. This was what was known as an act of the gods, something that if it was refused would offend the higher powers into meting out such consequences that you were made mightily sorry you didn't take them up on it in the first place. He had never been married before nor even been in a position to entertain serious thoughts of marriage, and now it seemed he was about to be propelled into the so-called holy state of matrimony with a woman he wasn't sure he even liked, yet didn't seem able to stay away from, any more than she seemed able to stay away from him.

So, Zach found it necessary to remind himself, this wasn't to be a true marriage in the accepted sense; this was merely a marriage of convenience, a union pragmatically entered into on both sides strictly for Miranda's sake. He hoped with all his heart that the ruse worked. But either way…for better or worse, he would have him a wife.

Following Kendall's wise example to not stop and think about it, Zach stopped by Edie's office to ask her to gather a little more information for him and let her he know was going out of town again, just for the night. On his way from the casino to his Range Rover, he detoured through the arcade of exclusive specialty shops catering to high rollers in the front lobby. With his usual attention to detail, Zach realized that if he and Kendall were really going to pull off this performance successfully, they needed to start with the right props.

This was only the second time he'd been inside the Cartier boutique. The first time had been for its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony. After that, Zach was more than happy to leave the legendary jewelers alone to generate more income for the casino; he was partial to Rolex watches himself. Now as he stepped across the threshold and the elegant blond manager, whose name he'd long since forgotten, came forward to greet him, Zach felt as if he may as well go for broke—although price was no object with him. Decisively making his selection, he soon left with a gold scroll-trimmed, red leather ring box containing a prop worth easily a year's salary to one of his well-paid managers, oblivious to the very, very happy—and smitten—boutique manager gazing longingly after him.

On the drive to his and Kendall's condo complex, the little box burned like a coal in his pocket. Resolutely, Zach still did not allow himself to think about what he was doing. This was an act of the gods, he told himself again, or perhaps of the goddesses. The skilled master manipulator had no say in this matter at all.