by Jillian Dodd
He mutters something with his back turned.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“It sounded like you said something about Trent.”
His shoulders rise and fall when he sighs. “I said, maybe you should share a bed with good old BTO since he’s obviously still lusting after you.”
“Please. That was over years ago.”
Is he jealous? I don’t want to let myself believe it, but what other reason would there be for him to act this way?
“I don’t think it’s so over for him.”
“Please.”
“Whatever,” he says, taking his clothes out of his suitcase and hanging them in the closet. “It’s obvious he still has a thing for you.”
“Well, unfortunately for Trent, we are engaged. And I’m crazy about you.”
“You didn’t look too crazy about me when you were in his arms.”
“Are you jealous?”
“No, actually, I am not,” he says. “But you wanted this whole charade. The least you could do is show some respect for our fake relationship and not flirt with him in front of me.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” I say, moving toward him and invading his personal space. We’re so close that I can practically feel his chest rise and fall. “When my being this close to you is hell?”
He shakes his head at me. “It’s not really a conversation we needed to have in front of your family. But now that you’ve brought it back up and we are alone, it is hell, being this close to you.” He slides his hands up my back. “Because we were good together.”
“Were,” I emphasize the past tense at the same time I feel my body heating up.
“And not being able to have you puts me in hell.”
“Who says you can’t have me?” I blurt out. Because right now, that’s all I want. Us tangled up in the sheets of my little bed. Naked. For days.
That’s how it was whenever I was with him. Sure, we’d go out for dinner with friends sometimes. But for the most part, our time was spent alone. Usually in bed. Or somewhere. Having the most amazing, sensual sex.
I close my eyes and can practically feel his lips gliding across my neck.
“I say I can’t have you,” he answers, pulling back.
“I’m still not over you,” I tell him.
“And I think you’re just saying that because you need me to be your fake fiancé. I think we need to set a few ground rules. When we’re with your family, we will flirt and act like we are in love, but the second we cross this threshold, we go back to what we are in real life.”
“And what’s that?” I ask.
“Nothing,” he says.
And that breaks my heart. Again.
He doesn’t say anything else, just strips his shirt off and tosses it onto the bed.
I have to look away from the chest I love. The washboard stomach I know so well. How many times did I allow my tongue to dance across those abs? And then there are his shoulders. The ones I clung to, dragged my nails over—
“I think we should both get a little more casual, don’t you?” He drops his pants next.
I don’t know what to do anymore. My skin’s on fire along with a sudden warmth in certain other parts of my body.
“So, what? We strip for each other? That’s your idea of casual?”
“I meant for the shower.”
“You want to take a shower with me? Now? But I thought—”
An amused look forms on his face. “I was referring to the couple’s shower. Tonight.”
CHAPTER SIX
Arts and crafts.
Carter
Vale seems to have no idea what she does to me every time she touches me.
The way her hand casually brushes against mine.
The swell of her breast against my arm when she leans in to murmur in my ear.
I understand why we have to look close. In my brain, I know it.
The rest of me is another story. She has no idea how I’m struggling against the flood of memories when her body presses against mine.
We are sitting in a circle with all the other guests. Lakelyn and AJ are in the middle, opening shower gifts.
“I love it!” Lakelyn squeals, holding up a blender. “Thank you so much!”
“What are you doing?” I ask Vale, noticing how she writes something down in a notebook every time her sister unwraps a gift.
“I have to keep track of who gave what,” she explains, “so she can write thank-you cards. It’s the maid of honor’s duty.”
“What other duties do you have?” I can’t help but wonder.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” she confesses out of the corner of her mouth. “I’m only doing what I’m told.”
Meanwhile, Brooke and Raine are taping the many ribbons and bows from each gift onto a paper plate.
There’s a reason men don’t usually come to these things.
AJ seems to be taking it all in stride. He wears a goofy grin, which I can only attribute to being deeply in love with his girl. He’s happy to see her happy.
I just wish watching it didn’t make me imagine myself in his shoes. About to marry the girl of my dreams.
Now, all that’s left of those fantasies are bruised pride and the ring now shining on Vale’s hand.
“Oh, it’s a pasta maker!” Lakelyn is beside herself. She seems like a genuinely good person, truly thrilled with each gift. “Thank you so much for getting this, Aunt Helen!”
“Dinner at Lakelyn’s!” Blake grins from his side of the room, where most of the men are gathered.
I decide to take a stroll over there and get away from the estrogen for a while.
Blake immediately hands me a beer. “This’ll be you soon enough.” He winks. “Looking forward to it?”
“Oh, it’s always been my dream to have bits of glitter all over me for days after unwrapping gifts,” I say as AJ brushes more glitter from his pants.
Blake laughs. “Then, you’ll have a great time with us tonight. From what BTO and I have planned, we’ll all be covered in glitter by the time the night’s over, if you catch my drift.”
I have a sneaking suspicion I know what he’s talking about but decide to play innocent. “Arts and crafts?”
“Strip club, my man. We have a stretch limo all set to pick us up at nine. It’s an hour drive. We pregame in the limo and then settle in for the real party once we arrive.”
“Sounds like fun.” Really, it sounds like the most boring, generic bachelor party imaginable, but we’re in the middle of Iowa. I guess there are only so many options.
“You’re in then? Come on,” he insists when I pull a face. “You’ve got to come. Consider it your initiation into the family.”
How am I supposed to say no to that?
“I’ll have to check with Vale first, make sure she’s okay with it.”
“She got you wrapped around her finger, huh? Like she’s never raised a little hell of her own.” He snorts.
I make a mental note to ask later just what sort of hell she raised.
“What else is planned for this weekend?” I ask, taking a sip from the longneck bottle in my hand while keeping an eye on Vale. I can’t help it. She’s a beacon, constantly drawing me in.
When she showed up at my door this morning, she looked gorgeous as always, but now that she’s changed into jeans and pulled her hair into a messy braid, she looks wholesome. The smoking-hot farm girl who lives next door. And I like it. A lot.
“Tonight’s the bachelor party, and then tomorrow, we’re doing all kinds of games and such.”
“Games?”
He waves a hand. “Mom’s idea. We did it for Brooke and Raine, too, when they got married. You know, hay-baling. Cornhole. Football.”
“The women play football?”
“Nah, they cheer us on. This is men stuff. The girls throw a big picnic together and make sure there’s enough cold drinks.” Blake looks me up and down. “You think you could handle a
game of football?”
“I think I can manage.”
If he doesn’t know about my college career, that’s fine. Let him think I’m some California surfer boy who has never held a football.
This might actually end up being fun.
“We’ll have the rehearsal tomorrow evening, followed by the best barbecue you’ll ever have in your life. Saturday’s the wedding, and then Sunday, we’ll have a big breakfast and wish we hadn’t drunk so much the night before.”
“Some traditions don’t change, no matter where you happen to live,” I muse while Raine places a crown of ribbons on Lakelyn’s head.
The women coo and take photos.
Vale’s not laughing though. And when our eyes meet across the room, I wish I knew what she was thinking about.
A troublemaker
Vale
“So, have you set a date yet?”
My aunt Helen has always been the gossip of the family. I was hoping to avoid her, but the second she saw my ring, she started grilling me for information.
I shrug and give her a little smile. “We’re not sure yet. It’s still very recent—the engagement. Sort of a whirlwind, you know?”
She nods. “Where will you be living?”
“I—”
“And where will the wedding be? Will you come home for it?”
I wish I knew how to tell her I haven’t considered this my home in years. At the same time, I wish I understood why it feels so natural, being here again. Like falling right back into old patterns, old routines.
“We’re not sure yet.” I nod toward Lakelyn. “Besides, this weekend is all about my sister and AJ.”
That seems to placate her—for now.
“Vale, sweetheart.” No sooner am I free of Helen than my grandmother comes over, looking frailer than I remember.
The thing about being away from home for years is holding the image of the way things and people used to be in your mind. You forget—or at least I did—that everyone gets older along with you.
Grandma’s mind is still as sharp as a tack though, and her blue eyes sparkle as she waves for me to bend down a little. It’s loud in here, and she wants to make sure I hear her.
“What a hunk of a man you managed to land for yourself,” she whispers, elbowing me.
“Grandma!” I almost choke on my laughter.
“If only I were younger,” she sighs, looking across the room.
Carter is chatting with Blake, and I can only imagine the stories Blake is telling him.
“Hey, I landed myself a hunk of a man as well when I was young. Your grandfather was considered the catch of the county. I hope the two of you are as compatible as we were. In and out of the bedroom.”
Oh my God. “Uh, thank you.”
“Just let me know if you need any pointers, my dear.” She pats my hand. “Though if you manage to keep a man like him happy enough that he asks you to marry him with a ring like that to seal the deal, it seems you’re doing just fine without my help. Must run in the family.”
I honestly don’t know what to do with this woman. “Now, Grandma, you know I’m a good girl.”
“Mmhmm.” She smirks. “I’ll bet you’re good.”
“Shh!” I can’t help but giggle. “I don’t want Mom to hear.”
“Don’t let yourself be fooled,” she warns me. “Have you ever done the math between your parents’ anniversary and your eldest sister’s birthday, my dear?”
“Uh, no. They were married in May, right?”
She nods. “And Brooke was born in …”
“October.”
“October of the same year.” She winks. “Your sister wasn’t born premature either. Thought you might find that interesting.” She starts off toward the other side of the barn.
Well, I’ll be damned. Mom was pregnant when they got married.
I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry that I never put it together.
“You’re a troublemaker,” I call out after her.
“What else is there to do when you get to be my age but stir up a little trouble?” she asks over her shoulder.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Consider yourself lucky.
Carter
I find AJ carrying gifts out to his truck while the ladies sip on champagne. “Let me help you,” I offer, picking up a stand mixer and following him outside.
“Thanks. Now, we need a house just to hold all this.” He scratches his head, looking at the haul in the back of the dual cab.
“Where are you storing all of this now?”
“My parents’ house. In the bedroom that used to be mine. Now, I’m wondering if we should have rented storage space.”
“You’re lucky to have all this support.”
“No doubt.”
We head back to the barn for more gifts.
“Congratulations on all the exciting things happening in your life. I hear Lakelyn’s a great girl.”
“The best.” There’s no doubt that he’s completely in love. You can tell just by looking at him.
His goofy expression changes, replaced by widening eyes. “I know there are a ton of great athletes that are going into the draft this year. Did you know that your office called me? Said you were interested in representing me.”
“I would never have my office call a prospective client, AJ. I reached out to you personally. I was told by a man who identified himself as your father that you already had representation.”
He frowns and scuffs the ground with his boot. “My representation is my uncle. He says I don’t need an agent. That he knows contracts.”
And he looks concerned about that. As he should be. I also get the feeling there is no one in his life besides Lakelyn who he can talk to about all this.
“What kind of contracts does he do?” I ask.
“Oh, you know, partnerships, S-corps, divorces. That kind of thing.”
“So, family law? Small business? That’s a broad array of specialties.”
“He’s pretty much the only lawyer in town.”
“I see. He has to be a jack of all trades.”
“Something like that. He doesn’t think I need an agent, and I see his point. I could save a lot of money without one. Which could mean a lot of money if I go top five.”
“That’s true. What would your uncle charge you?”
“Just his normal fee for a contract review. I think it’s around two fifty an hour.”
I could choke. This kid has no idea what he’s getting into. “What’s your dad say? What about your coach?”
“My parents are super supportive. They made me what I am. But I think part of them wishes I could settle down here and start a family. They’re behind me though, just like always. I chose to go to a school close by, so they could afford to come to my games, and they never missed one. But that will change when I turn pro.”
“Consider yourself lucky. Many draftees are, at this very moment, surrounded by family and friends who only want a slice of the draft pie.”
“I know.” He scrubs a hand through his hair with a dazed grin. “It’s like I dreamed of this. But I don’t think anyone else other than Lakelyn thought I would actually do it.”
“Even though your parents are supportive?”
He lifts a shoulder. “My parents wanted me to excel academically. Not through sports. Dad played high school football and had a scholarship to play at Arkansas. Then, he broke his leg in a car accident. The offer was rescinded, and he couldn’t afford to go.
“So, my parents preached the importance of a good education. I had to keep my grades up if I wanted to stay in sports. Study, good grades, no girls. No partying.”
“And did that work?”
“Hell no.” We both laugh. “Nah, my freshman year was a blur of girls, working out, and hangovers. But when I got a C in a class, that was my wakeup call. Since then, it’s been straight As, and no crazy partying.”
“It sounds like you’ve got a good head on your shoulders.”
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“I’ve got good people in my corner. Like Lakelyn. She’s a finance major.”
“And how does she feel about your career?”
“She’s fully supportive. Of course she worries I could get hurt, but she says that’s why we both got our degrees. She wants to work wherever we go and plans on investing pretty much everything I earn since we don’t know how long of a career I will have.”
“She sounds like a keeper.”
“Thus why you’re here.”
“It is your wedding after all.” I grin.
He doesn’t grin with me. “I think maybe there’s another reason you’re here though.”
“There is. I’m incredibly in love with Vale.” The words flow so easily out of my mouth, and they shock me, but fortunately, AJ doesn’t seem to notice.
“Lakelyn suggested I call you to seek representation months ago. Now, she thinks you being here is the universe’s way of saying that I should sign with you.”
“Did she research agents?”
AJ laughs. “Not exactly. She maybe sorta has a crush on Danny Diamond and has followed his career. She read you two are close. That you are even his son’s godfather.”
“That is an honor, for sure. His son, Damon, is already one hell of a ballplayer. And Danny is a good father. A good man. And that combination makes it easy for me to get him lucrative endorsement deals.”
AJ’s eyes light up. “That’s what I want. Endorsement deals. That’s what my uncle can’t do for me. Listen, I know I’m a decent-looking guy. I’m soon-to-be married. I even took some acting classes when I was a kid, and I was a natural in front of the camera.”
He’s a smart kid. He knows what brands look for and knows he fits the bill. He deserves better than some jack-of-all-trades relative handling negotiations that could affect his entire life.
“That’s the part of the process I don’t understand,” he continues. “Do they come to me? Can I do it myself? Or do they go to guys with agents?”
“Agents facilitate things like that along the line. We constantly work with vendors to find the right fit, and I often pitch deals to them on behalf of my clients.” Then, because I’m trying to be fair, I say, “It’s something you could do yourself. Contact them.”