Chapter 5
Five
Mitch
After lunch, I go to the mountainside lodge with Allison and see our room for the first time.
It’s rich and lush, and it’s by far the nicest hotel suite I’ve ever seen.
Floor-to-ceiling windows provide a gorgeous view of the Smoky Mountains.
I’ve lived in Mercury Ridge my entire life, but even I’m awed by its beauty.
Until I see the bed.
It’s incredibly inviting… for sleep and everything else.
“We have a little time to kill before we need to get ready for the rehearsal dinner,” I say suggestively.
“Do you mean… the, erm, perks?” She blushes scarlet and I can’t help but laugh. She’s simultaneously the most adorable woman I’ve ever seen and the sexiest.
“We’d better wait for that. If we start now, I have a feeling we’d end up skipping the rehearsal dinner altogether.” I sprawl across the bed and pat the space beside me. “I was thinking we could maybe take a nap?”
She nestles in beside me, and I spoon her. Despite my best effort, my dick twitches. I can’t help it. Her soft flesh is utter perfection in my arms and her hair smells like strawberries. Fortunately, I’m exhausted, so I’m able to distract myself by counting sheep long enough to fall asleep.
When I wake, she’s no longer in my arms. I glance around the room, but she’s not here. The irrational fear that she’s left me bubbles up inside me. I can’t bear the thought of being apart from her.
“Allison?” I call, hating the frantic tone in my voice.
“I’m in the bathroom,” she calls back.
Relief floods my senses as I will my heartrate to return to its normal rate. Of course, didn’t leave me. We’re here for her sister’s wedding. Where would she go?
But she’s going to leave eventually. This is fake… don’t forget that.
She steps out of the bathroom and my jaw falls open. If I thought she was a knockout before, it’s nothing compared to now. She’s wearing a red cocktail dress, fitted at the waist and hips before flaring into a trumpet skirt. It hugs all of her curves exactly right.
“You look phenomenal,” I tell her.
She beams at me, twirling in a circle. “Do you like it? I usually don’t wear dresses that are so form-fitting, but the girl at the dress shop talked me into it.”
“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful,” I tell her honestly. At least, not until tonight, when I get to see you in nothing at all…
I pull my suit from the garment bag and start undressing in front of her. Her cheeks flush and she turns back to the bathroom.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” she says.
I laugh. “Feel free to look, sweetheart. That’s one of the perks of being my fake fiancée.”
I strip slowly. I should probably be less cocky, but I know I’m a good-looking guy. I work hard for this muscle definition, and I want the woman I’m falling for to see and appreciate it.
The woman I’m falling for.
The realization hits me like a freight train.
I was halfway in love with her last night before I knew anything about her. But now that I’ve seen how her face lights up when she talks about her students—and how it falls at any mention of her family—there’s no denying the fact that I have very strong feelings for her.
She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known—inside and out.
And before this fake relationship comes to an end, I’m going to make sure she knows it.