Page 63 of After the Vows

“Is someone going to help me up?” Nova asks from where she’s still sprawled on the floor.

Paisley helps Nova to her feet and gets her settled in a chair.

“It’s not the moonshine,” Nova claims. “It’s the speed of the moonshine.”

“We had to be fast or else we wouldn’t have won,” Sophia says.

“Uh huh,” Nova mumbles before she slumps over.

“Maybe we should get these two home,” Paisley suggests.

“Let them be. They’re perfectly fine.” I hand out shots giving me and Sophia two glasses to Paisley’s one. “Tosmugglers, bootleggers, rumrunners, and the mermaids who loved them!”

“To the smugglers!” The rest of the bar joins in as I down my two shots. “Do you ever wonder why a speakeasy is called a speakeasy? The speaking is easy. Finding it is the hard part. Why wasn’t it a hardtofind? Sounds better to me.”

“I like it,” Sophia says. “It makes sense.”

“It makes sense because you’ve been drinking moonshine all day,” Paisley says.

Harper arrives and sets another tray of moonshine shots down on our table. “Courtesy of the boys over there.” She points to a table of men on the other side of the room. “I explained you’re drinking for free but they insisted.”

I stand. “I guess I better go thank them personally.”

Sophia latches onto me. “No, don’t go. Lucas won’t appreciate you talking to strange men in a bar.”

I push her off of me. “Lucas won’t care because nothing’s changed.”

Lucas and I aren’t a real couple. No matter how many times he rocked my world last night. No matter how I woke up feeling safe and protected in his arms.

No matter how much I want otherwise.

Chapter 22

Protective – how Lucas should not feel about his fake wife

Lucas

Iwake and even before I open my eyes, I know she’s gone. I knew it. Chloeisa runner.

This is why I have to keep my distance from her. This is why our marriage will never be real. I can’t risk another woman abandoning me or my daughter.

Except I didn’t keep my distance last night. I spent the night buried deep inside her. And when we were both too tired to move, I wrapped my arms around her and ordered her to sleep.

I’m an idiot.

The door bangs open. Is she back? Did she go pick us up breakfast and coffee?

“Dad! Are you here?”

What was I thinking? Of course, Chloe isn’t back.

Enough of this bullshit contemplation. My daughter needs me to be there for her. Especially since Chloe isn’t here. I feel a twinge of guilt at how upset Chloe was when I reminded her Natalia is my daughter.

I guess we both needed the reminder.

“Dad!” My door flies open. “Are you still in bed? I’ve been up for hours. We made pancakes for breakfast and went to the beach to eat them. Why don’t we ever go to the beach? I want to learn to surf. How old do you have to be to surf?”

“Slow down, cupcake. Did you drink coffee, too?”

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