Marriage: Impossible (Voretti Family Book 1)

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Edited by Annie Oortman

Cover by Damonza

ISBN: 978-1-944594-00-8

Navy SEAL Sean Patterson didn't mean to marry his best friend's sister. But when he wakes up in a Reno honeymoon suite with a vicious hangover, a platinum band on his ring finger, and a mostly naked Keri in his bed, he knows the attraction he has spent half his lifetime repressing must've finally burst out of control—to disastrous consequences

Keri MacKinnon has had a crush on Sean since he rescued her from imaginary pirates when she was six, but he has always seen her as his best friend's little sister. When he returns stateside after a harrowing tour of duty leaves him with a death wish, Keri will do anything to help—even pretend to be married. But as her crush blossoms into love, she must convince Sean to trust her with what really happened on the battlefield, or their make-believe marriage won’t ever grow into the real thing.

MARRIAGE: IMPOSSIBLE

A VORETTI FAMILY NOVELLA

AVA BLACKSTONE

To my grandmother, who knew that every good book had a romance.

CHAPTER 1

N
AVY
SEAL S
EAN
Patterson had survived six grueling months of BUD/S training, parachuted thirty-five thousand feet into enemy territory, and disarmed twenty blocks of C4. And he’d rather do all three at the same time than shake his ass in a Reno nightclub while the entire city celebrated the first night of summer.

But
Vapor
was where he’d traced his best friend Ty’s ex-fiancée Brittany, so
Vapor
it was. And he wasn’t leaving until Bri was at his side, heading toward the parking structure for the drive back to San Diego. He couldn’t afford to fuck this up—not when the broken engagement was his fault.

He found a vantage point at the top of the stairs that led to the DJ booth, but the strobe lighting, over-capacity crowds, and fog raining down from the ceiling all conspired to reduce his visibility.
Damn!
He was going to have to do this on foot.

He threaded his way through the dancers crowding the floor. All the women seemed to be blondes, which defied the rules of biology, not to mention complicated his search for a blond cocktail waitress.

The next blonde was taller than Bri. The one after shorter. And the next wasn’t a blonde at all.

Sean stopped short.

His heart rate kicked up to Mach 11. His vision tunneled, focusing on the brunette seated at the bar. Something about her…

His gaze finally penetrated the camouflage of that sexy mussed hair, curve-hugging dress, and I-spent-the-last-hour-kissing lips. Keri MacKinnon, Ty’s little sister.

What the hell was she doing six hundred miles from home at a meat market like
Vapor
?

What the hell business is it of yours?
Keep moving
.

But he hesitated, and some kid wearing a T-shirt with a fraternity insignia sauntered up to her. Sean couldn’t hear what Frat Boy was saying, but the dude’s gaze wasn’t on Keri’s deep brown eyes.

The kid put a hand on her shoulder, and adrenaline charged through Sean’s system. He shoved through the crowd, only to see Keri removing the guy’s pasty white digits with practiced ease. “I’m meeting someone.”

Frat Boy crowded in as close as he could without actually touching her. “How ‘bout you meet me instead?”

A deep growl clawed up Sean’s throat. “How about you back off before I shove your head up your ass?”

The kid jerked backward, spilling half his beer, but Keri turned smoothly, like she’d somehow expected to find him behind her. “Hey, Sean.”

Even shouting over the music, her voice had that husky, I-want-you-in-my-bed rasp she was blissfully unaware of. And he reacted the way he always did—like he was thirteen years old and completely unable to control his body.

Damn it, he needed a drink.

At least Frat Boy was gone, scared away by Sean’s glare. Stepping into the empty space next to Keri, Sean signaled the bartender for a shot of vodka.

The cheap alcohol burned his throat, doing nothing to cool him down. “What are you doing here?”

Keri took a gulp of her drink. She had a beer instead of one of those frothy pink things the women next to her were drinking. Damn if it didn’t make her even hotter, and she was already well beyond a ten in his book. She always had been. Just like she’d always been off-limits.

She also hadn’t answered his question, and he didn’t want to think about what that meant. “Keri?”

Her gaze darted away. She traced the circle of condensation her glass had left on the bar with one slim finger. “I’m here for a bachelorette party.”

She was lying. Yeah, he could see the woman with the plastic tiara that read
The Future Mrs. Bennett
, but the group surrounding her hadn’t so much as looked at Keri since he’d arrived.

Something was wrong.

He leaned closer, trying to keep the concern out of his voice. “C’mon, Ker Bear. I’m not gonna call Ty and tell on you.”

Her eyes widened with what looked like panic. “I’m waiting for my friends. They were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago, but they’re always late.”

She must be meeting a guy.
He didn’t like that idea, and he tried to wash it away with another shot, but it stuck. Anyone who’d drag her all the way to Reno, only to ditch her at some pretentious club, didn’t deserve her. That was for damn sure.

“What are
you
doing here?” she asked.

He couldn’t tell her he was looking for Bri. If Ty found out Sean had brought her back to San Diego, he’d be too proud to take her back. So Sean gave Keri the same story he’d given her brother. “I needed a vacation.”

That part wasn’t even a lie. His XO had given him a choice between an extended vacation to get his head on straight or a discharge.

Those brown eyes narrowed, locking onto him like a sharpshooter sighting a target. “Your first real vacation in five years, and you choose Reno?”

“Some buddies tipped me off about The Towers. It’s this place right outside of town. Supposed to be great for cliff diving.”

Keri stiffened. Was her date here? Sean turned, searching the crowd, but with so many people crowded into the club, it was impossible to tell.

“When?” she asked.

“When what?”

She grasped his arm near the elbow. “When are you going cliff diving?”

The part of his brain that dealt with reason and logic and forming sentences shut down. All he was aware of was Keri. The firmness of her grip. The contrast of her light skin against his deep tan.

“Sean? When?”

Retreat
.

He pulled his arm free, and just enough rational thought filtered into his brain that he could answer the question. “I don’t know. I’m going to play it by ear.”

“Well, if you don’t have definite plans, we should hang out tomorrow. I know this great hike in Tahoe that goes past four different waterfalls. You like to hike, right?”

The strobe lighting hit her, highlighting that same hopeful-despite-the-odds smile as when she’d ask Ty if she could tag along to the movies with them back in high school. Except she wasn’t fifteen anymore. Every muscle in Sean’s body knew it, even though he hated himself for the thoughts.

Wasn’t it enough that Ty would never walk without a limp? Would never be able to return to the SEAL teams? Did Sean have to fantasize about his best friend’s little sister, too?

“Not a good idea.” He laid enough cash on the bar to cover his tab, then pushed away. He couldn’t look back, or he was going to do something stupid.

“Call me if you change your mind.”

“Yeah,” he said, but he kept walking. He was here to fix what he could of Ty’s life, not create more problems.

But as Sean scoured the crowd for Bri, he couldn’t stop thinking about Keri. He stopped by the bar for another shot when he caught himself wondering if her date had shown. Then he downed one more when he wondered how long it would take for her to realize the loser wasn’t for her. Because she would. Keri wasn’t stupid.

He downed yet another shot when he remembered the feel of her hand on his arm. And by the time he finally found Bri, serving Dom Pérignon to a table full of suits, the alcohol had hit his system in a serious way.

Bri nearly smacked him with her tray as she turned from Lawyer Central, and he had a harder time keeping his balance than he should’ve. The driving beat of the music was giving him a headache.
Damn
. How many shots had he taken?

“Sean,” she said, and even drunk, he could tell she wasn’t happy to see him.

His brain issued a warning, but his mouth charged ahead. “Bri. You gotta come with me.”

“Ex-
cuse
me?”

That hadn’t come out right. “No. I mean—”

“I’m working, Sean.”

“But I need… No. Ty.
He
needs…”

She stopped trying to worm her way around him. “Ty sent you here?”

“Yeah.” No—that wasn’t right. “Uh…”

“Is he okay?”

“No. He needs you.”

“But he’s not physically hurt?”

He had to think about that one for a second. “No.” How crazy was that answer? Ty’s leg was never gonna be the same.

“Then why are
you
here?”

“Told you. Because Ty wants… He needs…”

“No. Why are you here instead of him?”

“I…”

“Jesus, Sean. Did he even ask you to come?”

Sean tried to push through the cloudiness in his brain to find the right words. “No. But I could tell…”

Her demeanor snapped from receptive to pissed off, sudden as a burst of fire from a semi-automatic. “Maybe you should talk to your friend instead of harassing me at work.”

“C’mon, Bri.” He tried for a charming smile, but he’d never been good at that, even sober. Ty was the one who charmed the ladies. Sean nursed his beer and hoped his perpetual scowl didn’t scare away Ty’s rejects.

“Get lost. I mean it.” She tried to push past him, but he stood his ground, not even feeling it when her tray hit his chest.

“You were engaged, Bri. Didn’t that…” The rest of his sentence evaporated, carried along by the alcohol fumes wafting from his body.

Shit
. He hadn’t been this wasted since he’d gotten word about Ty’s medical discharge.

“
Was
engaged,” Bri said. “Past tense.”

He tried to call up the speech he’d practiced for the entire nine-hour drive from San Diego to Reno, but his brain hung. “I need… You have to…”

“Do
not
tell me what I have to do. I stayed with him for six months. Six months of surgery and rehab and walking on eggshells. I waited six months for the man who asked me to marry him, but he’s gone.”

“He’s not gone. He’s only—”

“No! I am
done
chasing after that ghost. Completely, absolutely, totally finished. Understand?”

“But—”

“I’m working. So either move your ass, or I’ll call security to move it for you.”

“Can’t you—”

“No!” Bri motioned to someone, and then some musclehead had him in a chokehold.

“Don’t move!” the bouncer shouted.

Instinct screamed conflicting instructions. Sean needed to bend the asshole’s wrists. Kick his legs out from under him. Anything to get the air flowing back into his lungs.

But this was a club, not a battlefield, and he couldn’t afford some idiot’s injuries on his conscience. Not when there was so much there already. So he kept still. He forced every bit of tension from his muscles.

The bouncer’s shouts had attracted a crowd, and the audience made the guy twitchy. He tightened his grip on Sean, pushing him forward. “Let’s go, asshole.”

Sean took a single step, and the room listed to the left. He stumbled.

The big guy overcompensated, shoving him into a support beam.

Sean’s head rang.

Instinct took over. In one explosive movement, he yanked the bouncer’s hands free of his neck.

The motion carried the guy back, into the same beam Sean’s head had gotten up close and personal with.

The bouncer clasped his hand to his shoulder. “That’s assault, asshole! I’m gonna have you arrested.”