How to Design Love

by Cami Checketts

  “You’re fake-married and she doesn’t even know about Cally?” Tate asked quietly.

  “We don’t …” Colt sputtered. “I barely know her.”

  “Then why are you kissing and hugging her?”

  Colt looked down at her, beseeching her with his eyes.

  “Oh, no, these are your brothers. You have to explain.” Somehow, it was breaking her heart that even though he was still touching her, he seemed to have distanced himself and was claiming he barely knew her. True, they didn’t know each other well, but they had kissed quite a few times and it had been brilliant. And who the heck was Cally?

  Colt started explaining in a low voice. “This older lady who we’re both working for assumed we were married and Joshua, the main contractor, asked us to play along for a while so we could get a whole load of jobs.”

  “You’re a sell-out liar?” Brody asked. “What happened to my straight-laced brother who I’ve always looked up to and has worked his butt off to be successful without any help from anybody?”

  Colt shook his head. “It’s not like that. I haven’t actually lied and we’re going to straighten the lady out soon.”

  Brody and Tate both looked sternly at him.

  “Okay, you’re right.” Colt released his grip on her. “It’s just, this is a really big deal for my guys. I’ve got a slow spell after this huge job and I don’t want to have to lay somebody off. Plus, Brikelle is just out of college and it would be a huge in for her. I promise you I didn’t lie. Joshua did the lying and it was already a mess before Brikelle or I could open our mouths.”

  Brikelle felt bad for the way his brothers were grilling him. “Don’t look at him like that. He’s not doing this for himself, but for me and his crew,” she said.

  Brody relaxed his stiff stance and Tate blew out a breath.

  “Okay, okay,” Brody finally muttered. “I guess if you have to be fake-married you did a good job picking a wife.”

  Brikelle wasn’t sure if she should thank him or how to react.

  “I’m skiing.” Tate pointed at Colt. “Maybe it’s time for you to have another serious conversation and tell her about Cally while we’re distracted; then you can ski and we can all eat. You went to Eats, right?”

  “Yeah, but Momma’s going to get grumpy if you don’t eat her enchiladas.”

  Tate grinned. “Always room for an Eats sandwich and Momma’s enchiladas. Wouldn’t dare upset Momma.”

  Colt relaxed into the padded bench as Tate got ready to ski and Brody moved to the front to drive. Brikelle sat quietly next to him, the closeness they’d gained from him understanding her dog fears was gone.

  The boat started up, and within seconds Tate was skiing.

  “I’m sorry,” Colt began, clasping his hands together. “I’ve been much too … casual with you. And my brothers are right, it’s not a good situation.”

  Brikelle stiffened. She’d gotten comfortable with him much too quickly and now he was going to pull away from her. They weren’t even together in the first place, so why did she feel like a balloon that had just been popped? “I didn’t mind the casual,” she admitted.

  A ghost of a smile flashed across his sculpted face. “Neither did I.”

  “Who’s Cally?” she asked.

  He glanced behind him. Brikelle also turned and watched the fluid movements of Tate’s skiing. “Tate’s not cutting as deep as he could.”

  She recognized the deflection, but let him have the time to compose himself. “He’s still an amazing skier.”

  “He should be, with all the time we’ve spent on this lake.”

  “Are you a good skier?”

  “I guess you’ll see in a few minutes.” He forced a smile, but it fell flat.

  “I’d really like to hear about Cally first.”

  Colt blew out a breath. “Curse Brody for bringing her up.”

  “Did she … die?” Brikelle whispered.

  Colt did smile then. “No. She’s just my …” He pushed a hand through his hair. “We’ve been friends since we were in kindergarten. I was smitten with her from the start and we’d committed to love each other forever by the time we were in high school.” He focused in on Brikelle. “I always assumed we’d get married after we both finished college, but after she graduated with her masters, almost six years ago, I discovered she had bigger plans than Eden Valley and … me.”

  “She broke your heart?”

  “Just changed my plans.” He rubbed his thumb across his clasped palms.

  “Where is she?”

  “Chicago.”

  “What does she do?”

  His smile was definitely forced now. “Interior design.”

  “Oh. And she’s doing well?” She didn’t like sharing a career choice with a woman who had hurt Colt.

  “From what I hear.”

  “How long ago did she leave?”

  “It’s been over five years,” he muttered.

  Holy cow. This guy was damaged. “And you haven’t dated?”

  “I’ve dated. I just haven’t found anyone I wanted to … get serious with.”

  She nodded. Her chest tightened, and she clasped her hands together. “I can see why you’d apologize for kissing me when you’re obviously still in love with Cally,” she said stiffly.

  His head snapped up. “That is not why I apologized.”

  She tilted her head and lifted her eyebrows.

  “It has nothing to do with Cally. I apologized because my brothers called me out on the fact that I’m not treating you with respect. You deserve to be treated, like my momma trained me to treat a lady. You deserve to be taken on original dates, taken on expensive dates, kissed when I have earned the privilege of knowing you well enough to have earned your trust. I apologized because I stole what I didn’t deserve.”

  Brikelle reared back slightly. His speech and the fervor behind it had her heart thumping a little faster. Maybe he was over this Cally person. He seemed to really care about Brikelle, and not for the sake of getting steady work from a billionaire. She laid her hand over his, and he turned his palm up and interlaced their fingers. “I accept your apology, and as your wife I think you can have the right to take me on all those dates and earn the privilege of kissing me.”

  Colt grinned, sending tingles throughout her body.

  The boat eased to a stop. Once again, the skier was done, and rather than watch the athletic performance, all Brikelle had done was focus on Colt. “Your turn, bro,” Brody called back.

  “You okay if I leave you alone with these two?” Colt asked.

  “I don’t think they’ll bite.”

  Brody laughed loudly at that. “You never know.”

  Colt stood and slid his shirt off. Brikelle had just watched both his brothers do the same thing and they both had impressive builds, but somehow it was completely different with Colt. His muscles were smooth and just manly and attractive. His stomach wasn’t some washboard like he wasted all day doing ab workouts, but it was flat and defined and her eyes were darting from his stomach to his chest to his shoulders. It was all eye candy, and she’d just found her sweet tooth.

  “You wanna borrow my GoPro?” Brody asked from behind her. She turned to see him grinning. “You can take the view home with you.”

  Brikelle gave him a challenging look and said, “I can ogle my husband any time I want, thank you very much.”

  Tate and Brody both rolled with laughter. Colt gave her a smoldering look that sent her pulse skittering. He zipped up his life jacket so she could stop staring so unabashedly. “Okay. Let me show you how to ski.”

  Tate and Brody both laughed again at that. Brikelle moved to a side seat so she could watch him better. He slid into the water with his ski and Tate threw him the rope. Brody started the engine and pulled the slack out. Colt yelled “Hit it!” and Brikelle was mesmerized by the way his lean body cut through the water. He was obviously very athletic and he would cut so low that his shoulder looked like it was skimming the water, or
he’d put his fingers out and touch the spray.

  “He’s showing off,” Tate said.

  Brikelle hadn’t noticed he’d sat so close to her. “He’s unreal.”

  “Yeah.” He paused for half a beat. “Hey, don’t worry about the Cally thing. He’s smart enough to realize she isn’t worth the pain. I used to worry she’d show back up and he’d fall into her trap again, but now he has you.”

  Brikelle kept her eyes on Colt, but couldn’t help asking, “He still loves her?”

  Tate didn’t answer. Finally she glanced at him. He met her gaze and shrugged. “Did you have a first love?”

  “Back in high school. Now it seems really dumb to me.”

  “We all used to adore Cally, the four of us were inseparable. She basically lived at our house, and by the time they hit high school they’d committed to each other for life. Hard to let something like that go.” Then he muttered under his breath, “And that selfish brat assumes he’ll wait until her hair turns gray and her teeth fall out, and she finally decides she’s ready to settle down.”

  Brikelle was taken aback by the vehemence in Tate’s voice. It was reassuring that his brother didn’t seem to like this Cally person, but wouldn’t Colt wait for the girl he’d sworn himself to? She hoped he was over Cally, because even though this whole marriage had been thrown on her, she really wanted to get to know him, see if there was a chance they could date and have a connection, something real. She focused on the water skier who had gone from the owner of a scary beast to someone she liked being around, and especially liked kissing. Hopefully there was someplace their relationship could go.

  Chapter Five

  Saturday night Colt pulled into the small ranch house north of Eden where Brikelle was renting the basement. She’d been busy with work today and he’d taken the time to go on a long mountain bike ride with Ike and his brothers, and then relax with his parents and let his mom stuff him full of ribs and au gratin potatoes. He’d sat by his dad during lunch and he’d actually met Colt’s gaze and grunted out a few words today. That was different, and eased a bit of the pain of seeing his strong father reduced to a lump in a recliner since the stroke. He missed chatting with his dad and would’ve loved his insight on this situation with Brikelle.

  His brothers had luckily not told Momma about the fake marriage but they’d been relentless about Brikelle and kept reiterating that he needed to put all thoughts of Cally behind him and focus on the amazing woman who was here and interested. They were right, and he could easily see himself becoming even more interested in the vivacious and gorgeous Brikelle, but Cally still haunted his dreams. He’d loved her so desperately and he would’ve done anything for her. He even followed her to Chicago to try and work things out, but he’d hated living there and he’d hated not being the boss and installing cabinets for someone else, and he’d especially hated the way Cally had treated him. She’d been embarrassed of him and told him to leave her alone, that she wanted more out of life than a cabinet maker. She’d told him to go make something of himself and come see her in a few years. It had been more than a few years. Over five, to be exact, and neither of them had contacted the other. His cabinet shop was successful, but he’d never felt like it was enough or like he was enough. He kept hoping that maybe someday he would be strong enough that he didn’t have to prove himself to Cally anymore. Which was really pathetic, as she wasn’t even around to see his success and she was probably never coming back.

  He skirted the front entrance and Brikelle’s older Accord, which had some decent rust spreading along the wheel wells, and descended a narrow set of concrete steps. It was like a dungeon with a tin roof covering the entrance. Rapping on the door, he heard footsteps inside, and seconds later Brikelle had swung the door wide. “Hi,” she whispered, tucking a long strand of dark curl behind her ear.

  “Hi.” He glanced over the silky tank top and patterned pencil skirt, realizing he’d seen her wear that exact outfit at Emma’s house the day their sham marriage started. He’d asked her if she wanted to dress up and go somewhere nice tonight, and she’d seemed excited about it on the phone. Did she not have many clothes? “You look beautiful.”

  “Thank you. You as well.”

  “I look beautiful?” He’d worn a button down shirt and grey slacks. It wasn’t anything special, but he really liked the way she was looking at him.

  “Yep.” She licked her lips and smiled at him.

  Colt had told her he’d earn her trust before he kissed her again. What was that all about? He wanted to kiss her right now, and in the truck before dinner, and after dinner, and when he dropped her off. Would he really be able to not kiss her the entire night?

  As they stood there, him smiling sappily at her, it hit him. Her swimsuit had been a little threadbare, her car was obviously derelict, her apartment worse, and she’d worn the same outfit twice in a week. His sisters loved clothes and rarely wore the same outfit twice, period. Cally came from an extremely wealthy, though neglectful family, and had always been well-dressed. Things must be really tight for Brikelle financially. He felt an urge to help her. He knew from various conversations and teary-eyed sessions with his sisters over the years that women noticed clothes and brands and could be vicious if you weren’t dressed to impress. The women at Emma’s party next weekend would most likely tear Brikelle apart or completely ignore her if she wasn’t wearing the right styles.

  “You want to go shopping Monday after work?”

  “Shopping?” She stared at him blankly.

  Colt realized that he was being awkward. They were standing in her doorway, supposed to be going to dinner, and he was worried about shopping. He offered his hand. She took it and he escorted her up the stairs and to his truck. “I’ve just been thinking about Emma’s party,” he said.

  “And?” She tilted her head to the side and smiled.

  He helped her into the truck, noticing the way her small waist fit in his hands. Walking around to the driver’s side, he climbed in and started the truck, backing out of the driveway and heading to the highway. “I don’t have the right clothes for Emma’s party. I wondered if you’d go shopping with me and help outfit me.”

  Her shoulders rounded slightly, but she nodded. “Sure. That’d be fun.” In a small voice, she asked, “Do you think the people will be dressed really fancy the whole weekend?”

  “Maybe not fancy, except for dinner, but it’s about wearing the right brands.”

  She plucked at the hem of her knee-length skirt. Colt felt like a jerk making her question her clothes, but she needed to dress the part if she was going to get the affiliations and jobs with these high-dollar clients. These women could sniff out an imposter quicker than Ike could sniff out a mouse. Colt wanted to help her. He didn’t like the idea of Brikelle being awkward or embarrassed, but he had no clue how to offer to buy her the right clothes without offending her further.

  “So my thrift store wardrobe isn’t going to cut it?”

  Thank goodness she’d been the one to bring it up. “Probably not,” he said softly. “Will you please let me buy you some clothes on Monday too?”

  She shook her head quickly. “Oh, no. No way.”

  They cruised along the road next to the reservoir—filled to bursting with boats, wave runners, and jet skis. There were still a couple hours left of daylight and everyone seemed to be enjoying their time on the lake.

  Colt reached across the console and took her hand, trying a different tactic. “Look at it this way, Bri. You’re my wife. If I come decked out in all the right brands and you … don’t, what will they think of me? If you don’t let me buy you a few outfits, we’re pretty much both sunk.” He hoped this argument would work. He didn’t care what he wore or what people thought of him, but he wanted Brikelle to feel confident and comfortable.

  Brikelle sat there for a few seconds watching the activity on the lake. It was a perfect day for boating, but Colt was happy to be in his truck with Brikelle. Finally, she squeezed his hand. “I don
’t want to make you look bad.”

  He chuckled, but turned serious quick. “You understand that you’d be gorgeous wearing nothing—I mean …” He tried to backpedal as her eyes widened and she smiled. “Well, you know what I mean.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t, Mr. Jepson.”

  He rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand. “I’m sure you’d look amazing wearing … anything you found at a thrift store, and I couldn’t care less what clothes you wear, but some of the women at this party will be like sharks. They’ll be sniffing out innocent blood.”

  “But Emma is so sweet. Wouldn’t you think her friends would be like that too?”

  “Emma is one of those people like my mom. She loves everybody and she sees the good in everybody. I don’t know that she’ll screen for sharks.”

  Brikelle nodded.

  They drove over the dam and started down Ogden Canyon. “The other thing I’m worried about is some of these women will be irrationally jealous of you no matter what you do, say, or wear.”

  “What? Why? They’re ultra-wealthy, successful people. I’m a dairy farmer’s daughter from Idaho who’s just hoping to make a living for myself.”

  “You’re also talented, fun, kind, and one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.” Dang, he’d just let that slip out.

  Brikelle swallowed and glanced out the window at the towering canyon walls and cascading pine trees with the river rushing below the road. “Thank you,” she murmured, her cheeks turning pink.

  He was tempted to stop the truck and show her exactly how attractive she was, but he clung to the steering wheel and changed the subject. “It’ll be fun to go shopping, right? It’s my older sisters’ favorite pastime, so it must be fun for someone to shop.”

  She gave him a brave smile. “You’re going to take me to some snooty shop that I couldn’t dream of affording and buy me clothes to fit in with the uppity people that will be at the party where we will be lying about our marital status and hoping to schmooze them for work. Yeah, this sounds like a lot of fun.”