Page 24 of Marrying Mr. Majestic

I shoved his shoulder. “Fuck off. And yes, you’re a perv. If you want to lust after someone’s ass, pick a real man, not a junior rodeo stud.”

His laughter made me feel more at home than I had in a long time. He grabbed the hand I’d shoved him with and pulled me close. “Stud, huh? Why, Mayor Fletcher, I can’t believe you just admitted to having been a stud in high school. How very brazen of you. And here I thought you were all… aw, shucks… who, me?”

The tension crackled between us like a storm coming in strong. I wanted to kiss him again, to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to reenact the parts of our Vegas night I couldn’t quite remember.

His eyes flicked down to my lips and back up. His own mouth was turned up at the edges. I was close enough to notice his left eye sat a little lower than his right. His right eyebrow had several lighter strands in the inside edge that, from afar, made it seem like that one eyebrow was shorter.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before any sound came out, we heard the crunch of tires on gravel through the open front door.

Silas released my hand and stepped back. I glanced out the door and recognized the dark red SUV. “My sister. Sheridan,” I muttered. “Guess she didn’t want to wait for dinnertime after all.”

He pressed his lips together before nodding. “That’s fine. I need to call the office anyway, so I’ll take my phone for a walk while the two of you talk.”

“You’ll have a hell of a time getting service. The best spot is down by the riverbank, but be careful not to get too close. There’s big water right now because of snowmelt.”

He looked up from his phone screen. “Don’t you have Wi-Fi?”

I laughed. “You’re adorable. And if you knew what percentage of this house project went to just getting electricity out here, you’d be shocked. If you can’t get a good call through, you should at least be able to get texts.”

As the reality of his new situation sank in, I nudged him back outside and directed him toward the river path. Sheridan gave him an awkward greeting in passing, but I waved her to the small porch before she could try for more.

“He looks upset,” she said, setting a canvas bag on the wooden planks before throwing herself down on the bench next to the front door.

“Just found out about the Wi-Fi situation,” I said with a grin.

She laughed. “Ah.”

I took a spot on the porch step, leaning forward and clasping my hands together with my elbows on my knees. “Say your piece.”

Sheridan’s thick hair was in its usual braid. She flicked it behind her before she spoke. “I just want to know what the hell happened in Vegas. You went there to propose to Eden, and you came home married to some guy. What are you playing at? You’re not even gay.”

I’d thought long and hard about this on the drive home, and I knew I needed to find a way to sell her on a variation of the truth. If I made too much up, I’d never be able to remember what I’d said. If I told too much of the truth, she’d blab to Aunt Blake.

“I’m not gay, you’re right. I’m bi. And it’s… new. Kind of. I mean… I knew I had some attraction to guys, but I never explored it. Never really felt the need until now because I like women, too.” I swallowed. “And I kind of thought I’d end up married to Eden eventually anyway.”

“Everyone thought that,” she said before lifting her eyebrow. “Except Eden.”

“Apparently.” I blew out a breath and tried to clear my thoughts. “I really did go there to propose to Eden, but she shot me down right away. And then she got her period, so it didn’t even matter.”

“Shit. That’s good, at least.”

I nodded. “I met Silas that night. And before you say anything, I know. I know it was fast. But…” I let out a breath. “Sheridan… when I started talking to him, suddenly… suddenly I felt like myself. I don’t really know how to explain it. I felt like I could breathe. I felt like… like this mix of heady excitement and bone-deep rightness I’d never even imagined before. He listened to me. He didn’t ask anything of me. He wanted to protect me, to learn about me. He didn’t judge. It’s like he saw me. The real me. Not the mayor. Not the rancher. Not…” I shook my head. All of this was true, but it sounded ridiculous.

Sheridan’s face relaxed into a soft smile. “Wow. You really do like him, don’t you?”

“I do.”

That was the truth, too. In fact, it was a little scary how much I liked Silas. How, even though I should have been focused on the sister in front of me and the pile of chores waiting on me, my thoughts kept wanting to trip down the river path after him.

“That’s great, Way. Really.” She bit her lip.

“But?” I prompted.

“But marriage? Legal marriage? To a man you knew for a single day? It’s reckless. Do you even know if you like the same things, want the same things out of life? Where are you going to live when his job is back East? I know you said he was a successful corporate… something… but do you know that for sure? He’s driving a subcompact rental, his jeans look older than you are, and you put him in a position where he could take half your assets when you get divorced. Think of the ranch, Way.”

Part of me was amused—of course I was thinking of the ranch. I didn’t need Foster or Sheridan to remind me to think of it because I lived, breathed, and slept it every day. Another part of me was not amused for that very same reason. I also took exception to the when we got divorced bit… which was probably unfair since I knew better than anyone that this marriage had an expiration date.

I smiled and kept my patience. “He’s not going to take the ranch, Sheridan. He has plenty of money. He really is a corporate strategy consultant. In Vegas, he was wearing a killer suit and staying in a high-end hotel on the Strip. You can check out his LinkedIn profile for yourself.” Silas could have concocted years of fake comments and entries from other well-known corporate executives, but that seemed a bit of a long game to con someone out of an eighth of a debt-ridden horse ranch. “And we’ve already agreed to draw up a postnup to protect our assets. Which was Silas’s idea.”

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