Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Avery
The truck rumbled to a stop in the driveway, and for a moment, neither of us moved. With my peonies still clutched in my hands, I stared out the window at the inn and its weathered, peeling paint and sagging porch. My gaze landed on my broken swing, still in a heap where I’d left it.
There was so much work still to do.
Not that there was any more work than there had been that morning, but now, somehow it felt different. The weight of everything that still needed to be done, combined with what had just happened, weighed heavy.
This was home now—for both of us.
I turned to Reid, but he was already climbing out of the truck, his jaw tight as he grabbed the duffel bag he’d brought with him. He hadn’t said much since the kiss.
The. Kiss.
Of course, there was going to be a kiss. It was a wedding, after all. It was kind of required. But…damn. I had not expected that.
My stomach twisted at the memory of his hand cupping my cheek with a tenderness I didn’t know he was capable of.
Fake, I reminded myself. Not for the first time since it happened.
Still, the memory of his lips, warm and firm on mine, lingered in the back of my mind.
I followed him to the porch and dug through my tiny purse to find the new keys I’d made.
“You lock it?”
“Of course, I lock it.”
He chuckled and shook his head a little. “It’s Trickle Creek, Avery. I don’t know what you think will happen. But nothing will. Nobody locks their doors around here.”
“Just a habit, I guess.” I slipped the key in the door easily, unlike the first time Reid and I met, and turned the door handle. “Welcome home…I guess.”
He didn’t reply. Reid only stood there, looming over me with an unreadable brooding expression on his face that made it completely impossible to tell what he was thinking.
“Am I supposed to carry you over the threshold or something?”
I couldn’t help it; a laugh slipped out. “Are you serious?”
He grunted in response. Despite the shrug, I could see that he was, in fact, serious.
“I don’t think it’s necessary, to be honest.”
“What if someone is watching?”
“Who would be watching?”
Again, he shrugged. “Tilley Beckett.”
My eyes widened. “You really think that?”
“I think it’s a small town and there are eyes everywhere.”
That was fair. I still wasn’t used to the way everyone knew everyone and their business in Trickle Creek. “Okay, well—oh!”
Reid scooped me up so quickly and unexpectedly that I almost dropped my flowers. Reflexively, I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked up into his dark eyes.
His lips twitched up into what might have been the start of a smile. “I didn’t mean to startle you, wife.”
Wife.
I tried not to focus on the word. Or his strong arms that were currently wrapped underneath me, pulling me close into the hard wall of muscle of his chest.
Or his smell.
Something that was pure manliness.
“Here we go.” He hitched me a little higher in his arms before easily crossing the threshold into the inn.
Reid kicked the door shut behind him, his eyes never leaving mine.
A shiver ran through me as I looked up at my husband.
He might be a giant grump. And this might all be fake. But damn, he was sexy.
I couldn’t help but be disappointed when he set me on my feet and took a step back.
The inn smelled of paint and sawdust, two scents I was quickly coming to love because they meant progress was being made.
“I cleared out a room for you. It’s the first one on the left.” I pointed toward the stairs unnecessarily. “I’m sorry about the bed. I have to order all new mattresses when…well, when the money comes through.” I blew out a breath. “So, you get an air mattress. I hope it’s not too uncomfortable.”
“It’ll be fine.” He nodded. “Thank you.”
I dropped my hands to my sides. “Well, I’ll let you get settled. I’m just…” I looked behind me. Any other night, and I’d probably change into my work clothes and work on something, but it didn’t feel quite right to pick up a paintbrush on my wedding night.
Wedding night.
I forced any and all feelings that those words conjured out of my brain.
Reid seemed to sense my discomfort. He hitched the strap of his duffel up on his shoulder and, with a nod, headed toward the stairs. I watched him climb the stairs, a strange sensation of disappointment filling me.
But that was stupid. What did I expect to happen? It was a fake marriage. We hardly knew each other.
Still…
“Reid,” I called, the word slipping out before I could stop it.
He stopped, turning halfway to look at me.
“Thanks,” I said lamely. “For…well, for all of this,” I finished, my voice softer than I intended.
For a moment, his expression softened, just a little, and I thought he might say something. But then he gave a curt nod and kept walking, leaving me standing there watching after him long after he disappeared.
No. This was not exactly how I’d imagined my wedding night would go.