Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Reid
I’d never given weddings much thought. Or any thought at all, to be honest. I’m a guy. Guys don’t give a shit about weddings unless they were their own. Even then, it was debatable.
But even I had to admit, Craig and Lucy’s wedding was beautiful. It felt like the entire town was in attendance for the nuptials that were held up at the ski hill and the Trickle Creek Lodge that the Carlson family owned.
Craig’s little girl, Meri, was the flower girl, pulling their baby girl, Julia, in a flower-covered wagon up the aisle to where the groom waited with his brothers, Asher and Chase, along with his best friend, Andy, as his groomsmen.
Craig’s sisters, Charli and Kat, along with Lucy’s best friend from Vancouver were Lucy’s bridesmaids, filling out the bridal party.
They all looked fantastic, but not nearly as gorgeous as my wife.
Avery wore a dress that should have come with some kind of warning label on it.
It wasn’t the pink and purple flowers printed on it that were the problem, although the color did make her eyes even brighter and complemented her hair, somehow making her look even more stunning.
It was the way the light, flowy fabric simultaneously hugged her curves and floated around her bare legs that stirred up a million different thoughts, each of them more R-rated than the last. And certainly not appropriate for a family-friendly event.
What I wanted to do was whisk my wife away and do some more practicing.
The taste of Avery’s lips consumed every one of my waking thoughts. And since our first practice kiss on the porch, I’d found at least a half dozen other opportunities for more practicing.
After all, she said it herself…practice makes perfect. And if we were going to convince the entire town of Trickle Creek, all of whom were in attendance at the wedding, we needed to look like the real deal.
Based on how things had been going so far, I guessed we were doing a pretty good job. But it was still early.
Even so, we should have done more practicing.
Not that it would ever be enough, as far as I was concerned.
Every single time I had Avery in my arms and my lips on hers, I totally forgot that we weren’t really a couple. It was to be expected, because, damn …just looking at my wife had my cock rock hard, never mind kissing her.
But my brain…well, that was a different story.
Holding her close, inhaling her sweet scent that was always mingled with the faintest traces of paint these days, did something to all reasonable thought.
And it wasn’t just kissing and holding her—although that was pretty fucking amazing—it was just being with her.
It had been almost three weeks since I moved in, and we started working side by side every day. It was a little strange at first, but now, every morning, I looked forward to getting downstairs and having a coffee with Avery before starting our day together.
In my whole life, I’d never spent so much time with one person and not only not gotten tired of her, but I looked forward to spending even more time together.
A lot more time. Time that could involve ? —
Avery’s small hand squeezing mine pulled me from my thoughts, and just in time, too, because they were about to go into very X-rated territory.
“Are you crying?” I took a second glance at Avery, who dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “But this is supposed to be happy.”
She sniffled and tried to smile. “I know, it’s just…” She shrugged and turned her attention back to the couple who had just been pronounced husband and wife and were about to seal it with a kiss.
The crowd erupted in a cheer, but my eyes were on my wife. She was smiling now, but the tears fell unchecked down her cheeks.
Maybe it was just the usual emotion that weddings seemed to bring out in people—women mostly—but it felt like something more.
“Hey.” I used my thumb to wipe away a tear and let my hand linger on her cheek. When she looked at me, I leaned in and whispered, “Our kiss was better.”
She burst out laughing and immediately clapped a hand over her mouth.
“It’s true.” I winked at her, satisfied that I’d brought the bright smile back to her face.
Avery slipped her arm through mine and leaned her head against my shoulder as we waited for the wedding party to finish signing the papers. I dropped a kiss on the top of her head and when I looked up, my eyes met Grayson’s, who sat a few seats away.
He was watching us with an unreadable expression on his face. We’d always been able to read each other pretty well, but lately, I couldn’t figure him out. At least, not when it came to Avery.
Probably because I was a lying piece of shit when it came to Avery and the truth. It was for a good reason, but that didn’t make me feel any better about lying to my twin.
I gave Grayson a nod, at the exact moment he gave me one. We both laughed.
And then the music changed; the happy couple was officially announced and we were all on our feet, cheering the newlyweds down the aisle.
“We did it.” Avery looked up at me, her eyes still shining from tears.
“Oh, sweetheart.” I leaned in to steal another kiss. I kept this one as chaste as I could. “That was the warm-up,” I whispered in her ear. “This party is just getting started.”
Avery
I twirled the stem of my champagne glass between my fingers, my heels clicking softly against the wooden floorboards as I moved toward the dessert table. The smell of vanilla frosting and freshly baked cake had been calling me all night. I’d resisted long enough; it was almost time to succumb to my cravings.
It wasn’t that I needed to justify myself, but I definitely deserved something sweet after the last few hours. Pretending to be Reid’s wife wasn’t stressful; I was actually starting to really like that part of things, especially the kissing. It was more that it felt like everyone was watching me, and I wasn’t used to being on public display.
I sipped my champagne, letting the bubbles tickle my nose as I scanned the beautifully decorated room. The wedding was being held up at the lodge, which was a stunning log building, with stone floors and a showstopping floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace.
Every single detail had been considered. The flowers were all locally grown by the groom’s sister, Charli. Dalias, snapdragons, lilies and irises and blooms I couldn’t name filled vases on every single surface.
Craig, Lucy, and their girls were a beautiful family. The love in the air was palpable, and it truly was a gorgeous wedding and everything I’d imagined a wedding reception should be—intimate yet festive, full of love and laughter. The kind of wedding I once thought I might have.
The thought slipped in uninvited, and I pushed it out of my mind as I turned back toward the cluster of townsfolk chatting near the dessert table. I’d met more people tonight than I could count—neighbors, business owners, even a retired teacher who swore she’d taught Reid to read. Everyone was kind, welcoming, and eager to share stories about the town.
Through all of it, Reid had been by my side, his arm around my waist, holding me close. Now, he lingered near a wooden pole that had been carved from what had to have once been a giant tree. His broad shoulders filled out his suit like it had been custom-made for him. His dark hair, that had been combed so neatly earlier, was a little mussed now, but it wasn’t his hair I was focused on.
It was the way he watched me when he thought I wasn’t looking that made my stomach flip a little.
The dessert table forgotten, I stared across the room at my husband.
The memory of his lips on mine triggered a soft ache low in my belly. We’d spent the last two days practicing , and it had obviously paid off with all the kissing we’d already done tonight. If anyone had any doubts about our marriage, we’d surely erased them from their thoughts.
Heck, it was getting hard for me to remember that it wasn’t real. With every touch we shared, every little glance, the line between real and pretend melted a little more. It started to feel a whole lot less like acting and more like…something else entirely.
Reid was kind and steady, and the more I got to know him, the more I liked him. Even his gruffness was endearing. It helped that Grayson was right—Reid’s grouchiness was really just a crunchy shell that revealed a gooey interior.
I glanced down at the simple band on my left hand. It wasn’t fancy and there was nothing romantic about it or the matching one on Reid’s hand. I’d ordered them online with overnight shipping when I realized people would ask. It couldn’t have been more different than the big, flashy solitaire I’d once worn on that hand.
Not that I wanted it—or the man who gave it to me—back.
Still. It gave me pause to think about how things could have been different.
Shaking the thought away, I abandoned the dessert table and made my way across the room to Reid, smiling and nodding politely at the guests. It wasn’t time to dwell on the past. It was time to focus on the present—on my very handsome husband, who still hadn’t taken his eyes off me.
He extended an arm for me when I got close, and his eyes softened in a way that made my breath catch. “You looked deep in thought over there.” He kept his voice low as he pulled me close. “Everything okay?”
“Everything is fine.” It wasn’t a total lie. “I’m just taking it all in.”
Reid turned me a little so he could look me in the eye. “Are you sure? You seem a little?—”
“I’m fine.” I smiled until he nodded. “Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming. It’s been a beautiful night. Let’s just enjoy it.”
He still didn’t look convinced, but after a moment, he nodded again and took a step backward toward the dance floor. “Dance with me.”
Reid
Avery’s laugh drifted up to my ears as I spun her gently around the floor. Even in the dim light, her eyes sparkled up at me. She looked happy—genuinely happy—and I didn’t know how to feel about the way that hit me in the gut.
She deserved to be happy.
And I couldn’t deny that I loved being the man who could put that smile on her face.
I rested my other hand lightly on her waist, feeling the soft fabric of her dress against my palm. Her head tipped back to meet my gaze, her lips curved in a smile that made my chest tighten. The room seemed to shrink until it was just the two of us, the sway of her body in time with mine, the warmth of her so close.
None of this was supposed to be real. But every single thing about having Avery in my arms felt like the most real thing I’d ever had.
“What are you thinking?”
Her question caught me off guard. “What makes you think I’m thinking anything at all?”
She shook her head a little. “You have the look of a man who’s thinking about something.”
“Busted.” There was no way I could tell her what I was really thinking. That I wished—even for a minute—that even a small part of this was real. “I was just thinking that you’re the most beautiful woman in the room tonight.”
“Reid!” She pretended to look horrified. “The bride is always the most beautiful woman on her wedding day. Always .”
All I could do was shrug. “It’s not my fault my wife is stunning.”
The smile on her face, coupled with the flush on her cheeks, melted me.
“It’s true.” Taking full advantage of the fact that at least one person was probably watching us, I bent as I lifted her chin and kissed those soft, delicious lips.
One thing was for sure. The greatest perk of being married to Avery—fake or not—was kissing her. I was never going to get tired of the way she tasted. Or the way a sigh slipped from her every time my tongue met hers. Or the way she pressed her body against mine and tilted her head just so to deepen our kiss.
The music transitioned to something faster, but neither of us moved. I didn’t care if the earth opened beneath my feet, as long as Avery’s lips were on mine.
I don’t know how long we stood there in the middle of the dance floor, lost in each other. We only came apart when an enthusiastic dancer nearby bumped into me, forcing me to take a step back.
But my eyes were still pinned on her and the way her breath came a little faster, the part of her lips, slightly swollen from our kiss, and the flush on her cheeks that had deepened in the last few minutes.
“Avery.” My voice was rougher than I intended.
“Yes?” Her voice was little more than a whisper, despite the loud music that pulsed around us.
My hand slid down her side, resting on the soft swell of her hip, as my thumb brushed the fabric of her dress. “This…this is starting to feel…” I trailed off, not certain I should finish the thought.
“Real.” She swallowed hard, her eyes never leaving mine.
“Real,” I repeated. “Very fucking real.” Real wasn’t even close to what this was starting to feel like.
“Maybe we should…”
“Go,” I finished for her. “Yes. I definitely think we should get out of here.”
The desire that flared in her eyes was all I needed to see to know that she was on exactly the same page as me.
I took her hand in mine and led her through the crowd toward the door. With any luck, we could slip away without anyone noticing. The party was in full swing, and we’d done our duty all night. Poor Avery had been introduced to almost everyone in town. From my high school science teacher to Larissa Clark, who couldn’t wait to tell my new wife that we used to date.
Of course, Larissa and I had very different meanings of the word date , which was the whole reason I’d broken off our friends-with-benefits situation after only a few months. But the flash of jealousy on Avery’s face was an unexpected surprise.
We managed to make it to the front steps of the lodge before we were stopped.
“You two didn’t think you could sneak away without saying goodbye, did you?”
I froze, and Avery squeezed my hand before she spun around to face the source of the voice.
“Brody.” It made me happy to hear the comfortable way she addressed my brother after only just officially meeting him. “You caught us.” She lifted her shoulders in an innocent shrug and turned her attention to my brother’s companion, Lauren Westfield.
I wasn’t surprised to see the two of them together, not really. Despite asking dozens of times, no one could ever get a straight answer out of Brody about what the situation between the two of them was. One minute, they were acting like a couple; the next, one of them was dating someone else entirely. We’d all given up trying to figure it out.
I shot my brother a pointed look, which he ignored.
“The party’s just getting started.”
Avery sighed and pretended to look disappointed. “It’s been great,” she said. “And I’d love to spend more time with you all, but we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
I nodded, even though we’d discussed taking the day off of any actual renovation work.
“Besides…” I pulled Avery close and rested my hand on her hip. “I am desperate to get my beautiful wife alone.”
She tensed a little, but only for a second before she relaxed and added, “After all, we are still in our own honeymoon period.” She looked up at me with a wink and a flash in her eyes that had my dick hard as a rock with the promise I saw in her gaze.
It took all the self-control I had, and even some I didn’t know I was capable of, to keep from pressing her up against the wall right then and there, onlookers be dammed.
I may have broken down and done it, too, if Brody hadn’t chuckled and broken the spell my wife had cast over me. “Well, we probably shouldn’t keep you then.”
Reluctantly, and because it was the only way to move on and get my woman home, I tore my gaze away from her and said goodbye to my brother and Lauren.
“I hope to see you soon, Avery. I look forward to learning more about you,” Brody called after us, but I was already halfway back to the truck by the time his words reached us.
Nothing else was going to stop me from getting Avery home because I, too, was looking forward to learning more about my new wife.
Specifically, what her pretty face would look like when I buried myself deep inside her sweet pussy and made her come.