3. Josie
three
Josie
“Come in, bride.” Brewer finally breaks the kiss. I’m not sure whether it was seconds, minutes, or even an hour we kissed. It was my first kiss, and it was better than anything I had ever imagined.
Wait. He just called me his bride. What was I thinking, saying I was his mail-order bride?
He lightly cups my elbow and leads me into his cabin. The cabin is clean and cozy, perfect for a newlywed couple. Which we’re not, nor will we be, especially after he finds out I lied to him.
“About that,” I start to say, but he places his large index finger over my lips, silencing me.
“Sit. Let’s get to know each other better.” He guides me to his cozy-looking couch and helps me sit. “Would you like something to drink? Water? Lemonade?”
“Lemonade would be perfect.” I grip the folder in my hands tighter, pressing it to my chest. He deserves to know the truth.
I’m not sure whether it was the instant attraction I felt when I first laid eyes on his picture that Aspen gave me, or seeing him in person, that made my brain go haywire and claim I was his mail-order bride.
For the life of me, I can’t remember the name of his mail-order bride. Tiffany? Whitney? Amber? Ella?
“So, Jane.” He returns from the kitchen and hands me a glass of lemonade. “What made you decide to sign up to be a mail-order bride?”
Seriously? His mail-order bride’s name is Jane, and I couldn’t even remember that? Even after thinking of him as Tarzan?
Jane—Josie. Close enough.
“Actually, my name is Josie.” I clarify, still deciding how to best get out of this sticky situation I put myself in.
“Sorry about that.” He smiles. No, it’s more of a smirk. Does he know I’m lying? “My mistake.” He sits down next to me, takes a drink of his lemonade, then sets it on a coaster on the coffee table. “So, Josie, tell me about yourself.”
The guilt of lying to him is beginning to eat at me.
I’ll just show him the termination contract and tell him it was all a misunderstanding.
Taking a large sip of the surprisingly sweet lemonade, I set it next to his on a coaster on the coffee table, then pull the paperwork out of the folder only to lose my grip on it as it floats to the floor.
“What’s this?” Brewer bends down to pick it up before I can. His eyes scan the paper. I hold my breath knowing I’ve been exposed.
“I can explain,” I say as Brewer says.
“Ice breakers for dating.”
“What?” I reach for the paper in his hand, confirming the title. I must have grabbed the wrong folder by mistake. I thumb through the rest of the papers in the folder, only to find more getting-to-know-you ideas for couples.
Crap, how could I have been so careless?
“So, Josie. What’s it going to be? Have You Ever or Truth or Dare?” A loud crack of thunder crashes outside at his question, almost as if Mother Nature is enjoying watching me dig myself into a bigger hole.
Lightning flashes through the windows, giving me my answer—if I’m going down, I’m going down in a blaze of glory. “Truth or Dare,” I say with more confidence than I feel.