Just One Kiss Before Divorcing Me (Martin and Calvin) novel Chapter 23

CH 23

Marylin

Checking into the hotel in Houston was really weird for her. The staff here at reception were all staring at her.

As she stood in their foyer in line waiting to be served, her boys were off with Lisa. They’d been busting to go to the bathroom. It had been a long drive out here, but this was the last book signing she had to do and then

her nice quiet life could go back to just that.

The lady at the counter waved her to step up to the counter and Marilyn greeted her, “Hi, Marilyn Riddley checking in.” she smiled.

The lady frowned a little, then stated “The author, Marilyn Riddley?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

Though she heard another murmur, “She looks just like Marrin Reeves, don’t you think?” And turned to frown at them, and had to shake it off. She focused back on the lady serving her. “There will be two rooms. My agent is with me. She’s just ducked off to the bathroom.”

The reservation was checked, and she signed and filled in her details. The lady took her credit card and read it, saw it had her name Marilyn Riddley on it and swiped it and handed it back, “For room service charges.”

“I’m aware.” She nodded and collected the keycards for the room she and the boys would have, as well as the one for Lisa, her agent was booked into the room next to hers. As she walked away she heard another comment from those at the reception desk, “It said Marilyn Riddley on the credit card!”

She turned and looked at them with a slight frown, and they were all looking at her, well, staring at her to be. exact. She headed for the elevator and saw Lisa and the boys coming back this way. She raised a hand, and they made their way to her.

The elevator opened, and the couple in there stopped and stared at her and the woman hissed “Isn’t that Marrin Reeves?” to her husband.

“Looks like her,” he stated, and she frowned at the two of them as he escorted his wife from the elevator, and Lisa looked at her questioningly.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged, but as they all stepped in and turned around, there were many out there staring at her. “Now that is weird,” Callum stated when the doors closed. “People don’t normally stare at you like that

mum.”

“Agreed.” Lisa murmured.

“I wonder who Marrin Reeves is?” she murmured to herself.

“Likely some famous woman from here in Houston. Clearly well known. I’ll look her up when we’re all settled in. See what all the fuss is about.” Lisa stated “We certainly don’t want to bring unwanted attention if she’s in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.”

“Mm,” she nodded, but a part of her was now more than curious, the car accident she’d been in. The hire car had Texas number plates on it… Maybe she had family here and didn’t know it. She recalled nothing at all. So she wouldn’t know, though she could well have a sister she supposed and one that she didn’t get along with. She shook it off, and they headed to their rooms. That picture of her wouldn’t go up at the bookstore until the

1/3

<CH 23

morning of the signing. So no one here should recognise her at all. It was one of the things she had insisted on. They could advertise her signing at the store all they liked but couldn’t put up her picture until the morning of the book signing, because she didn’t want her face all over the place.

Didn’t want people to recognise her and come at her while she was with her children, out looking around or

having dinner in a restaurant or lunch in a café. Swimming in the hotel pool even. She had so far managed to

keep the boys out of everything, and was hoping to be able to do so here as well.

This hotel also had a babysitting service that she’d booked for the time of her signing. The twins had actually liked being on the road and going to all the different cities. They had told her it was just like one big driving

They didn’t ask about their father anymore, they had done so when they were first at school, and it was a day for the dads to come and tell their class about their job. She’d had to tell them she didn’t know who he was.

They’d been stunned into silence, but gotten used to the fact that it was just her and them because she couldn’t recall anything else. They thought it was very funny now, when she couldn’t find something she was looking for, and they hollered out “Oh my God mum, your amnesia’s back. Don’t you forget us.” They often

Porty

“You know the biggest thing. I can’t find any pictures of Calvin Reeves online, it seems he likes his privacy,” Lisa stated, “though there are a fair few articles on him.” She nodded.

“Go ahead and read, if you’re that interested. Boys, are you happy sitting there playing your game?”

They both looked up at her. “You gonna work?” they asked together.

Marilyn chuckled. “Yes, that new book’s not going to write itself, you know.” She chuckled and set herself up at the table in the room to sit and work on the new chapter.

“Well, I can see why his pictures are not up anywhere, that poor bastard has had a bunch of people try and convince him they are his dead wife.”

She frowned at Lisa, “How on earth can one do that, if she’s dead.”

“No body was ever found, so I guess they think they can pretend to be her if they look enough like her, I suppose,” Lisa shrugged.

Marilyn leaned back in her chair and thought about that. “Now there’s a story.” She laughed and shook her head. “Though not so nice for him, how many does it say?”

“Mm, five now, over the past eight years, the latest one just a few months ago. Ooh! He’s vicious, each one of them is in jail for identity theft. He goes after them when they try to snag him for themselves.” Lisa was leaning on the table. “I don’t think you want to come across him. It sounds like he’d be looking to put you away for life.”

“I’m not interested in attaching myself to some billionaire. I like my cozy life with just the boys.” She smiled.” I’m certainly not about to walk up to him and go ‘Hey I’m your dead wife‘.” She shook her head. “Who does that?” She almost couldn’t believe there were people out there that would do that to someone.” that was just plain cruel, playing on someone’s grief and likely loneliness, like that.

2

H