How to Design Love

by Cami Checketts

  Brikelle relaxed as Emma told her story. Maybe she and Colt would have another lovely day here tomorrow before they had to admit the truth to this kind lady.

  “I went to a dance with my roommates and saw his friend, Lewis, and the two of us got to talking. Well, Scott came prancing over to us like he owned the world. I thought he was so handsome, and he just had this confident air about him that really appealed to me. I was eyeing him up and down and he grinned and said, ‘Hey, Lewis, who is this?’ Lewis said, ‘This is Emmaline Naylor.’ That grin grew on Scott’s face and all I wanted to do was have him smile at me like that forever. He said …” She paused and laughed. “He said, ‘Well then, introduce me to my wife.’”

  Brikelle and Colt joined in the laughter. “I can’t believe he really said that,” Colt said.

  “I know. I guess it’d become a joke with his friends that I was the right woman for Scott and they started calling me his ‘future wife.’ Too funny. That man made me laugh the rest of the night, and I knew that he was the one for me.”

  “That’s so sweet,” Brikelle said.

  “I’m sure you fell head over heels for this hunk the first time you met him, too.” She gestured to Colt.

  He laughed. “No, she thought I was a jerk with a scary dog, remember?”

  “Oh, yes.” They arrived back at the patio. “But you’re gone for him now?” Emma released Colt’s elbow and came around to face Brikelle. Her eyes sparkled, but Brikelle wondered if she was imagining a secret insight, as if she knew the truth.

  Brikelle panicked. Did Emma know? She focused on Colt’s handsome face and a rush of reassurance and comfort overcame her. It was as if Colt was her safety net and he could assure everything would work out.

  “More than gone,” she murmured.

  Colt winked, and she flushed.

  “I’m glad to hear it.” Emma patted her hand. “Well, my dears, I’m going to go watch a little James Bond. That British accent and blue eyes really do it for me.” She winked.

  Colt held the door open and she slipped inside with a little wave.

  “What would you like to do now?” Colt asked Brikelle.

  “Well, I got my walk in. I’m kind of waterlogged from all the times you dumped me off the wave runner.” He smirked at that. “So swimming is out. How about we sit in these lovely patio chairs that I ordered from Restoration Hardware?”

  They sank into the chairs, and he turned to her. “You really are amazing. This is a great house, but you pulled it together in a way few could.”

  “I was just continuing with the themes and feel the other designer already had in place.”

  “Then you are even more amazing. You took something that wasn’t yours and not only made it yours, but made it shine.”

  “Thank you.”

  They sat there, holding hands and watching the sun go down. Brikelle felt comfortable like they’d been together for years, yet still the simple touch of his hand stirred excitement and desire in her.

  “I keep having to remind myself that we’re not married,” Colt said.

  She swallowed hard. “We’re pretty impressive actors if we believe it ourselves.”

  “Sorry I got so caught up in the physical.”

  “It’s okay. I did too.”

  His voice got husky. “If you had any clue how attractive you were to me, you’d make me sleep out here tonight.”

  “These chairs are pretty comfortable.”

  He laughed and squeezed her hand.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll get through this.” Brikelle meant struggling to keep their attraction for each other in check, but it kind of applied to everything they were doing this weekend.

  “Have you just been pretending to have fun?”

  “No. I’ve had the best day. I was trying to remember if I’ve ever had a day where I just played nonstop.”

  “I like that you’re such a hard worker, but it’s important to play too. I’ll have to help you remember that.” Colt winked at her.

  Brikelle didn’t want to be without him. This weekend was like a fantasy she didn’t want to end.

  They watched the sunset in contented silence. Some other couples wandered outside and they started chatting with them. By the time people filtered off to bed, Brikelle had offers to redecorate a cabin in Park City and work on a house under construction on the east bench of Bountiful. It was thrilling to chat with the ladies about their ideas and see them get excited about different possibilities too.

  “Well, Mrs. Jepson.” Colt stood and offered her his hand. “You ready to go to bed?”

  “Don’t call me that.” Brikelle blushed and looked around to make sure nobody could hear her.

  “Why? Oh, sorry. It makes you feel old or something. That’s what Momma always said. It was her mother-in-law’s name, not hers.”

  “No, nothing like that. It just makes me think of things I shouldn’t think of.”

  Colt drew in a quick breath. “Don’t do that. I’ve been doing so good these past couple of hours. We’ve got to keep the focus on our emotional connection, or whatever some marriage therapist would call it, or we’ll both be in trouble.”

  “True. Maybe I’ll have to chant that over and over: ‘Emotional connection, emotional connection.’”

  Colt chuckled. “When I hear you chanting, I’ll back away.”

  They walked to their suite, saying good night to new friends along the way. As soon as they got inside, Colt turned to her. “I promise to be a saint tonight, so give me a kiss at the doorstep and then it’s hands off.”

  Brikelle laughed and bit at her lip. “What if I don’t want to kiss you goodnight?”

  “Oh.” Colt’s shoulders lowered. “I guess I’ll just have to exercise my Superman self-control and let you walk away.”

  She stepped closer to him and touched the soft scruff on his face. “You don’t have to be a saint, Colt.”

  “Oh, thank you.” He groaned as he ran his hands over her bare shoulders and around to her upper back. “Your skin is like silk,” he muttered.

  Brikelle trembled under his touch. She cupped his cheek in her hand and rose onto tiptoes, kissing him softly. “Your lips are like heaven.”

  He smiled against her lips, then pulled her tight against him, kissing her with a stored-up passion that stole her breath completely. Brikelle couldn’t think of anything but this man. The kiss became ragged as they both were panting for air. Colt backed her up into the doorframe and trailed his lips down her neck.

  Brikelle could’ve died from how good it felt, but she knew they couldn’t be like this, not in here. She gently grasped his face and pulled him back up until he was looking in her eyes. “Colt,” she whispered. “Stop.”

  He nodded obediently, but his blue eyes were still full of desire for her. Brikelle just stood there, giving him the time he needed. Finally, he straightened up his shoulders and nodded more surely. “Thank you.”

  She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then slipped from his arms and hurried to the bathroom. Changing out of her dress, she put on a T-shirt and yoga pants, washed off her makeup, brushed her teeth, and pulled her hair into a ponytail. That should cool his ardor a little bit.

  When she exited the bathroom, he was lying on the carpet with one of the pillows under his head.

  “You can’t sleep like that,” she exclaimed.

  “How else do you expect me to sleep?” He cocked one eyebrow at her, and Brikelle knew they were one match strike away from a combustible flame.

  She pulled the fancy, fluffy comforter off the bed, folded it triple, and laid it on the carpet next to the bed. He propped up onto one elbow and watched her.

  “You do realize the yoga pants and fitted T-shirt are every bit as sexy as the fancy dresses?”

  Brikelle pushed out a breath and rolled her eyes. “You’d think I was sexy in a burlap sack.”

  “Yes, I would.”

  Ignoring the husky tone in his voice, she walked up closer to him and yanked the pillow ou
t from under his elbow.

  “Hey!” he protested as he caught himself.

  Brikelle laughed and set the pillow on top of the makeshift bed; then she hurried to the closet and grabbed the extra blanket and pillow that were stacked up high.

  Colt walked up behind her and his breath tickled her neck. “You thought of everything for the guests, didn’t you?”

  Pushing around him, she set the blanket and pillow on his stack, then turned at the sound of his approach. The look in his eyes was desire, appreciation, and dared she hope, love?

  “You said just the kiss at the doorstep,” Brikelle squeaked out through a suddenly constricted throat. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, but not tonight, not like this.

  Colt stopped and shook his head. “You’re right. Could you smack me across the face and tell me you hate my dog or something?”

  Brikelle laughed at that. She scurried to the bed and climbed under the covers, saying a quick prayer. She didn’t dare get back out of bed and tempt Colt anymore. He walked to the light switches by the door and turned off the light. The tension in the room amplified, if that was even possible. Brikelle listened carefully to his movements. He hadn’t moved from the door, as if he wasn’t sure where he was going to end up tonight. They had to find a way to control this. She had been raised that the trust and love in marriage would be a hundredfold if she could save herself for her husband.

  She could hear his soft breaths and footsteps; then he settled down on the floor next to her bed. She cussed herself. Why hadn’t she set up his makeshift bed across the room by the bathroom entrance?

  Their breathing was the only sound for a few long minutes. Brikelle wondered how she was ever going to fall asleep when all she wanted to do was slip off the bed and into his arms. Then she started imagining doing just that, and she had to grit her teeth, say another prayer, and chant “emotional connection” in her head.

  “Bri?” His hoarse whisper cut through the charged air.

  “Yes?”

  “Can I just hold your hand?”

  Brikelle smiled. Dang, he was a nice guy. She rolled onto her side, facing him, and lowered her hand over the side of the bed. He grasped her fingers.

  “Thank you,” he said. “Sometimes I get scared.”

  “You?” It was hard to imagine someone as strong and confident as Colt ever being scared. “Of what?” She liked lying here in the intimate dark, holding hands and talking.

  “Of losing you.”

  That hit her hard. They weren’t even a couple, not really, but he didn’t want to lose her. “Like you lost Cally?” she asked before she could stop herself.

  “Yeah. That was a hard time. Have you ever had your heart broken?”

  His heart broken? Had he healed enough to give his heart to Brikelle? She shook her head, then realized he couldn’t see. “I’ve never really dated anybody seriously. Always too busy with school and work, you know?”

  “I know how that goes. I’m glad we could relax and play today.”

  “It’s been a great day.”

  “It has,” he agreed. “It’d be even better if I could give you one more kiss.”

  “Colt,” she warned, heat rushing through her body.

  He laughed. “I’m just teasing you … mostly.”

  “Well, stop, I don’t take teasing well.”

  “Yes, you do. Unless there’s a beastly dog involved.”

  She smiled. It was interesting how much she’d relaxed about Ike since Colt had learned her story and become so understanding. “Sorry for calling your dog names.”

  “It’s okay. I’m sorry for calling you bad names.”

  “You didn’t call me bad names.”

  “Oh, did I keep all those in my head?”

  She yanked her hand free, grabbed one of the extra pillows, and threw it at his face.

  He grunted in surprise, then laughed. “I’d come up there and have a pillow fight, but I know you’d say ‘Colt’ in that warning voice that’s still way too sexy, and I don’t think I can handle it.”

  “Good. Then go to bed.”

  “Goodnight, my wife.” The teasing lilt in his tone helped a little bit.

  “Goodnight, my sarcastic fake husband.”

  He chuckled.

  She rolled over onto her other side, closed her eyes tight, and prayed that she could sleep and not dream about him.

  Chapter Ten

  Colt woke to the sun streaming through the cracks in the wood shutters. He kept his eyes shut and said a prayer of gratitude that he and Brikelle had been able to laugh and tease and take the focus off their physical connection. If he wanted a lasting relationship with her, it definitely needed to be more than the physical.

  He peeled open gritty eyes. He hadn’t slept much, but he had finally fallen asleep sometime early this morning. Concern over how fast he was falling had kept him up. Brikelle was fun, talented, and impressive but the truth was he’d only known her a matter of days. He’d known Cally his entire life, and in the back of his mind always thought he would marry her, always thought she’d come back to him. He needed to try to slow things down with Brikelle and make sure what they had was lasting before he gave up on Cally completely.

  He sat up. The bed was straightened and he could hear the shower running. He forced his thoughts away from that. Folding the extra blanket, he returned it and the pillow to the closet and then placed the other pillow and fancy comforter back on the bed, trying to make all the decorative pillows look good, but that was definitely Brikelle’s arena, not his.

  The shower mercifully shut off, and he waited and waited for the door to open. When it finally did, he muttered, “Oh, mercy.” Brikelle was wearing the flowered shorts he’d bought her that showed off her fit legs and a white, blousy shirt that was off the shoulder. Dangit, he liked her creamy shoulders.

  “Good morning, sunshine.”

  “Morning.”

  She grinned at him, and his resolve weakened. Slow things down? He wanted to spend every minute with her.

  “You want to shower?”

  “I’d better.” He grabbed some clean clothes and toiletries from his bag and hurried past her to the shower. Within minutes he was washed and ready to go, but he was still not sure how to take things slow with Brikelle when they were in their current situation. Pretending to be married to this impressive lady was intriguing and exhilarating and he wanted to throw caution to the wind and keep that ring on her finger permanently. Maybe he’d better talk to Emma today, reveal the truth, and see how it played out. Maybe he should contact Cally, make sure there was nothing between them any longer, and officially move on with his life.

  He opened the bathroom door to find Brikelle sitting on the edge of the bed, tapping on her phone with her legs crossed and a slight smile on her face. It was all Colt could do to not sweep her off her feet and hold her close. Dang, she was adorable.

  She glanced up and smiled more broadly. “You look great.”

  “Thanks, so do you.” He’d never been obsessive like this about a woman before, not even Cally. While he remembered finding Cally attractive and enjoyed kissing her, it hadn’t been this strong.

  “What do you want to do today?” she asked, all chipper and sunshiny.

  “Just make it through.”

  “Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

  He forced a smile, wanting to tell her how quickly he was falling for her and beg her to commit to him forever, but it wasn’t the right time. “I was just thinking about last night. We probably need to tell Emma today that we aren’t married and figure all of this out.”

  She nodded jerkily, the sunshine in her eyes dimming. “That would probably be for the best. It’s … gone a little too far.”

  That was the understatement of the year. He forced a smile, strode to the door and swung it open. “You ready for breakfast?”

  “Sure.” She walked past him and out into the hallway. They made their way down to breakfast, not saying a word
to each other.

  Was he going to lose her? After they got through this mess, he’d date her properly and they’d figure out if they could make a relationship work between them. He couldn’t lose her like he’d lost Cally. It would destroy him.

  Brikelle hated the change in Colt and between the two of them. She could feel him withdrawing from her. Though he was still kind and gentlemanly with her during breakfast, he was being stiff and not himself at all. Was he simply feeling guilty about lying to Emma, or had Brikelle done something to push him away?

  She was inexperienced, and like she’d told Colt, she’d never even had a serious boyfriend, but she knew he was special and these feelings between them were unreal. If she was honest, she’d fallen in love with the dog-lover, and though it terrified her to fall so quickly, him being distant and polite was scaring her more than how intense and passionate he’d been last night. Last night she could reach him. Today he was shutting her out.

  After breakfast Emma had an entire spa set up in different rooms in the basement of the house. Brikelle was worried about Colt, and the therapies were exactly what she needed to cut the stress. They stayed side by side but didn’t say a lot to each other as they got facials, pedicures, and massages. The entire house smelled like lavender essential oil and Brikelle felt like she was on a tropical vacation.

  By the time lunch came, the fabulous spa treatments weren’t even able to counteract the tension between them. What had she done to make him withdraw? When would he tell Emma everything? At this point, Brikelle almost wished he would. She’d thought Colt was falling for her as hard as she was falling for him, but apparently her lack of experience with relationships and the irresistible appeal of Colt was messing with her mind.

  She changed out of the robe and back into her clothes in one of the basement bathrooms. Colt was waiting for her to walk up to lunch, his grim smile in place.

  Delicious smells of Chinese food wafted from the dining room. As they reached the table, Brikelle noticed Joshua had arrived with a breathtaking blonde by his side. The woman was classy in a business suit with a glossy sheet of blonde hair and perfectly constructed makeup on her defined facial features.