Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 125257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
My heart speeds up. He’s so staggeringly handsome in his dark sapphire suit that hugs his muscular frame, his short hair that he cut for me, that trim beard that sends sparks across my thighs when he rubs it against me, and his cool blue eyes, intense and vulnerable and locked on me.
Memories of last night crash back into me, and I reel from the emotions that rushed through me as we came together. Maybe Caroline was right. Maybe romance can happen on its own terms, in its own time.
Maybe a rebound can become something more.
I hope.
I walk right over to him, grab the lapels of his suit jacket, and speak from the heart. “You look amazing.”
His eyes roam over me. “So do you,” he says, his voice a raw scrape. “You’re just…wow.”
I reach for his hand, and he sighs happily. Like all he’s wanted is for me to take it. We walk back through the hallway.
“I need to slip inside the ballroom where the ceremony’s being held to check on things,” I say, “and then it’ll probably be a little chaotic.”
He stops walking, spinning me around and tugging me toward him.
“What is it?” I ask.
He’s quiet though. Just squeezes my hand, like he’s sending me a private message. A new sense of calm floods me. This is the man I shared a secret with. This is the man I learned to trust. This man makes me feel…like myself.
I squeeze back and he draws a deep breath, squares his shoulders and shakes his head as he looks me over, like he can’t believe his eyes. “I was going to wait till tonight, but seeing you now—I can’t wait to ask you something.”
My pulse spikes, half in worry, half in excitement. I swallow past a knot of tension. “Ask me anything.”
“Would you like to go—”
A harsh laugh slices through the air. I jerk my gaze away from Lake, whirling around to face the noise behind me.
My ex leans against the wall, in the corner of the hallway several feet away, holding a beer bottle and his phone while sporting a closed-mouth smile that reeks of arrogance.
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, but I try to ignore it and to ignore this twisting in my chest.
“Let’s go,” I say to Lake.
“No, let’s stay,” Jameson says, pushing off the wall. “So I can hear what you two have planned for your next performance. I’ve been dying for this moment since I saw the comments on the photo.”
I freeze, all the color draining from my face.
“Oh, you’re probably wondering how I know, right?”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, my neck flushing hot as I lie.
“Maybe stop talking,” Lake cuts in, stepping closer to Jameson.
My ex cackles, his breath smelling of beer. “A picture’s worth a thousand words. Or really, a comment is.” He shoves his phone toward us. I study the image of Lake and me from last night at the game, him blowing a kiss my way. When my gaze swings to the comment, I haul in a stuttered breath. There’s a comment from Jameson saying That’s so interesting.
And it’s right under one from Cedric.
The innkeeper in Evergreen Falls. The guy who checked us into the Chestnut Inn. We claimed we were friends, then told Cedric we’d become more.
With dread swirling in every cell I read Cedric’s comment. It’s harmless, really. A sweet, supportive remark. But I gulp because the damage is done.
Love this! And pretty sure I’m the guy responsible for taking these guys from friends to lovers! When they checked in at the Chestnut, they were definitely just friends…but like many of our guests, they left as something more.
I look up, my face hot.
Jameson grins, clearly pleased he’s caught me in the act. “You were faking it with him all along, weren’t you?”
I’m sick that he found out. That he, of all people, put it together.
Lake drops my hand to wrap an arm around me, holding me close. “There’s nothing fake here,” Lake says, firm and commanding.
Jameson rolls his eyes. “Touch her all you want. It’s clear it’s fake. Because why, Remy? You wanted to show me up? Prove you could get a date for the wedding before I did? Some friend you turned out to be.”
He’s awful. Absolutely horrid. What did I ever see in him? I scoff, ready to tell him off but another voice cuts in from behind me, stitched with worry and disappointment. “Is this true, Remy?”
My mother. My shoulders fall, and I go fire engine red as I whisper a feeble, “No.”
But my mother’s seen through the lie, and my own tell. She knows me too well. She raised me, after all, to fix relationships, so she can spot all the cracks too.
“It is true.” She clasps a hand to her mouth, devastated I’d do this. Ashamed I’d trick her and my whole family.