Chapter 14
Fact or Fiction?
The only thing worse than one mustache is two.
Luke
Jesus fuck, what was that?
I lick my lips and swear I can still taste Addison’s lip gloss as we drive out to her dad’s house just a few miles outside
of Boulder in a rural area.
Am I dreaming or did Addison want that kiss as well? I thought it was going to be hard work to get her to admit her feelings
for me but after one little kiss, I’m feeling a lot more optimistic about this plan Everly and I cooked up together. Roe’s
pupils were dilated after that kiss. Her breasts were heaving under that tiny, cropped top. My head hurts from how hard she
gripped my hair.
And I want her to do it again.
I want her to do it for the rest of our lives.
The craziest part is, that kiss was nothing. It was a brush of the lips. No tongue, no inappropriate hand movements. It was
a sweet, tender brush of our lips under fluorescent lighting and a perfect stranger observing it.
And it lit our whole bodies on fire.
She felt it. She had to have felt it. No way am I in this alone.
And the way she can’t even look at me now? My best friend is bothered as hell and she has no idea just how much more I plan
to bother her the moment she moves onto my mountain.
I smile smugly as we pull into her dad’s property.
It’s a decent-sized lot with a large machine shed that shows a couple ATVs and a run-down truck.
I’ve never been out here before, but Addison told me about her upbringing, and she painted a fairly accurate picture.
The property is pretty basic and the house is nice but possibly in need of some updates.
It looks like the type of place a single man who owns a successful lumberyard would live in if he didn’t have time to manage it all on his own.
“You might want to wipe that smile off of your face before we go inside because my dad is probably going to kill you,” Addison
deadpans from the passenger seat. Her tan, sculpted legs on full display in that satin skirt are not making my life any easier.
I attempt to frown as I slide out of the truck and make my way over to her door to open it again. “I’m not scared of your
dad, Roe.”
“Since when?” She huffs out a laugh as she grabs the handle to help herself down out of the truck.
“Since we got that piece of paper about twenty minutes ago that says you’re mine,” I reply honestly.
“I’m yours?” Addison stares up at me, her eyes lit with something I can’t quite decipher. Is she offended by my words, or
intrigued?
I shrug. “In a sense. And really, what’s he going to do? Kill his daughter’s husband?”
“Husband.” Addison flinches and covers her mouth as she grins girlishly. “That’s so weird. You’re my husband, Luke.”
My brows lift, loving the sound of that. “You’re my wife, Roe.”
“Weird!” Addison covers her ears and shakes her head. “I don’t feel grown-up enough to be a wife.”
“Oh please, you make bread from scratch and run an entire fucking lumberyard of dudes like it’s nothing. You’re ultimate wifey
material.”
Addison’s cheeks flush with my words as we make our way up the front steps, but she pauses at the door and hits me with a serious look. “Just let me do the talking, okay? And whatever you do, don’t catch yourself alone with him.”
My head jerks back but I nod woodenly. “You’re the boss.”
The corner of her mouth quirks into a grin. “A boss and a wife. Maybe being married isn’t so bad after all.” She knocks on
the door and lets herself inside before calling out, “Dad, it’s me. You in here?”
“In the kitchen,” his voice barks back.
Addison reaches behind to grab my hand and pull me closer to her. Her palms are sweaty, revealing that she’s perhaps not as
brave as she thinks she is. I stare at our hands clasped together, loving the sight of them. Hers is tough from her work at
the yard, but it’s still small and feminine. I like how it looks inside mine. Her hand would look really nice with a ring
on it. I should get her a ring. Something that’s very her so she can’t be all weird and act like it’s unnecessary.
My fantasizing about Addison’s hands comes to a crashing halt when I look up and see her dad at the kitchen table with a slew
of guns in disrepair all around him and various types of gun-cleaning products next to a silo of Miller Lite.
We came at a bad time.
“Hey, Addie May,” John says with a big smile until he sees me come in behind her. He frowns down at our hands clasped together
and I try to yank mine free but Addison has a sweaty steel-trap grip on me.
“Dad . . . Luke and I have some news,” Addison says excitedly as she pulls me forward to stand beside her. She grips my arms
and glances over at John’s girlfriend, Edith, who’s standing by the kitchen sink. “Luke and I just got married!”
Edith gasps and claps her hands instantly, jumping up and down. “Congratulations, Addison!”
“Thanks, Edith,” Addison exclaims and turns back to her dad. She slides the extra copy of the marriage license we purchased across the table . . .
. . . beside the guns.
“Here’s the proof.”
John refuses to look at the piece of paper, choosing instead to lean back in his seat and grab his giant beer. He shoots me
a menacing look and I suddenly really regret the mustache decision because I didn’t think about the fact that Addison’s dad
has a mustache. And now I feel like a fucking dick sitting here with a cheap knockoff version of his mustache telling him
I just married his daughter, when he most likely knows it was just so she could take over the company he’s trying to sell.
John downs the rest of his beer and crushes his can in his hand before standing up. The loud scrape of the chair on the floor
is deafening as he points a finger toward the front door. “You. Outside.”
“Dad, now listen.” Addison steps forward with her hands held up. “It’s my choice who I marry and—”
John cuts Addison a look and, just like that, she stops talking.
I really need to learn that look.
Licking my lips I nod and offer her a tight smile before turning on my heel and making my way out the door, hearing the loud
thud of his boots following close behind me.
Whatever you do, don’t catch yourself alone with him.
God, I really am screwed. This is the fucking pole climb happening all over again. Why do I keep putting myself in these situations?
I’m a fucking masochist.
I step out onto the front porch and turn on my heel, watching warily as Addison’s dad stomps to the far end, pacing and opening
his mouth to speak but then closing it after deciding otherwise. He’s a tall man, decent-sized belly. Not overly muscular,
but something tells me he could still kick my ass even without his armory of guns.
Finally he stops pacing and props his hands on his hips. “Did you not think it proper to ask my permission to marry my daughter before you actually married her?”
My brows lift as I consider that fact. Under normal circumstances, yeah, I probably would have asked, but these weren’t normal
circumstances. And he knows that. So I hit him back with the only thing I can think of. “Since it was your daughter who asked
me to marry her, I guess I thought that tradition didn’t really apply here.”
John huffs out a noise of indignation. “Of course she asked you. That still don’t make this right.”
He begins pacing again, his boots loud on the worn-down deck. I really don’t want this man to hate me for the next year of
this marriage. In fact, it’d be nice if I could get him on my side. If I am to win over his daughter in the end, I’d rather
we be . . . I don’t know . . . friends maybe.
He reminds me a lot of my own dad. Tall, blue-collar, unrefined. And overprotective to a fault. Not completely dissimilar
to me.
I clear my throat and step forward, holding my hands out in surrender. “All due respect, sir . . . Addison is a big girl and
is perfectly capable of making up her own mind on who she marries. And what business she can operate on her own,” I add, standing
up a bit taller because I’m speaking for her just as much for myself, and something about that makes me feel braver. “She’s
a very capable woman.”
“She don’t know what she’s in for,” John tuts, eyeing me through his furrowed brows.
I shake my head and wince. “I disagree with that.”
“You don’t know what you’re in for!” He points back to the house. “She’s a fucking lot.”
I fight back a laugh. “I’m aware.”
“And you might think this marriage is just a piece of paper to help her get what she wants, but you need to know something, Luke Fletcher. You listening to me?”
“I’m listening.”
He inhales deeply through his nose, shaking his head at the house before saying, “She was scared shitless when you were climbing
that pole last week. Damn near had a panic attack watching you make an ass of yourself up there when you know you had no business
doing that.” He barks out a wet cough and shakes his head in disgust. “So whether you two are just friends or truly married,
this shit is real on some level, she cares about you for some reason I can’t figure out. Which means if you break her heart,
I swear to Christ, I will grab my side-by-side shotgun and rain so much buckshot in your ass you won’t be able to shit right
for the rest of your life. You got me, boy?”
I blink back my shock, struggling to maintain eye contact, because what John has just said to me means more than he’ll ever
know. He’s given me hope I wasn’t a hundred percent sure I had before now.
Addison cares about me.
My best friend maybe even loves me. But whether it’s as more than a friend remains to be seen I guess.
“I understand you, sir.” I lick my lips and inhale deeply before adding, “And I may not have asked for your permission, but
I’d like you to know that eventually I’d like your blessing and I hope with time, I’ll inspire you to give it to me.” John
huffs out a noise of disbelief so I add for good measure, “But until that day you can rest assured that I’ll make it my life’s
mission to make your daughter happy.”