Page 41 of The Wedding Wrecker

"I don't need?—"

He was already gone. I'd finally managed to placate Maggie with a text promising "every scandalous detail later, including why I might have chosen death by ski slope over facing another night alone with the wedding wrecker." But now I had an overly attentive fake boyfriend to deal with.

A fake boyfriend who'd changed into a soft gray sweater that made me want to run my hands over it. Or maybe that was just an excuse for wanting to run my hands over what was under it. Between that and his slightly windblown hair and the way his jeans fit as he walked away... I took a long sip of hot chocolate and tried to focus on my bruises instead of his assets.

"He's sweet," Lily sighed, curling up on the couch. Her engagement ring caught the firelight. I remember being somewhat impressed when I’d seen it. After hearing how filthy rich the Wellington’s were, I expected it to look like a geological artifact—something so large she’d barely be able to straighten her wrist under its weight. Instead, it was a surprisingly modest ring, almost like something an average guy could’ve afforded.

"You don’t think this injury is going to keep you from coming to the activities right?” Lily asked. “I was really looking forward to having you along for it all.”

“It’s seriously not even worthy of being called an injury,” I said. “James is just fussing over nothing. I’m only a little sore and a tiny bit bruised. I promise, I’ll be completely fine by tomorrow morning.”

“Mhm,” Lily said with a knowing grin. “I imagine anybody would recover with the level of pampering your boyfriend is lathering on. Maybe I should hire him to run a Pawsh Pets franchise for me. If he applied those skills to my customer’s pets, his franchise would be a hit the moment it opened.”

“Should we float the idea to him?” Marcus cut in with his perfect smile. He had that polished look the whole Wellington family seemed born with. "I’ve been telling you we need to capitalize while Pawsh Pets is getting so much media coverage. It would be the perfect time to expand and start offering franchises.”

“Easy, Tiger,” Lily said, touching his bicep and giving him a soft smile. “The most important thing to me is that we take care of the pets. Once I’m confident I could expand without compromising that, then…maybe.But I just want to think about us right now, not the business.”

“Of course,” Marcus said, clasping her hand and giving her a dazzling smile.

“What kind of work does he do, anyway?” Lily asked.

“Um,” I said.

James returned with not only more pillows, but also a soft throw blanket that probably belonged somewhere else in the resort."Lawyer. Currently not practicing, though,” he said, saving me from having to make something up. “Lift up," he ordered me.

His hands were at my waist before I could protest, lifting me slightly to adjust the cushions. The casual display of strength sent a traitorous shiver down my spine. It really wasn't fair that he could just manhandle me like that and make it seem so effortless.

A girl could almost be forgiven if her mind went straight to him using that strength to do things like throw me over one shoulder and carry me off to a broom closet somewhere.

“Why aren’t you practicing?” Lily asked.

James paused with his hands still fussing over my blanket. “There was a personal issue. I needed to take some time away to think about where I wanted to go with my future.”

“Oh,” Lily said, sounding a little sorry she’d asked.

“I heard you mention Pawsh Pets,” he said, smoothly changing the subject as his fingers lingered a little longer than necessary on my thighs through the blanket. “I remember Emma mentioning it, but she didn’t explain what it is, exactly.”

Did not,I thought. But I was happy to explain, if for no other reason than to distract myself from the lingering heat of his touch.

“It’s Lily’s luxury pet spa. The business went viral after she posted a video of a certain pop star's pomsky getting a blueberry facial."

"The precious little expression he had!" Lily gushed as her whole face lit up the way it always did when she talked about animals."Now we can barely keep up with bookings. Everyone wants the 'celebrity pet treatment' package."

"She's being modest," Marcus said, pulling out a deck of cards. "Pawsh Pets is revolutionizing the industry. The expansion potential is incredible. Imagine one in every major city."

"I don't know about that," Lily laughed, but I caught a hint of uncertainty in her voice. "Some businesses get so caught up in expansion that they lose sight of what’s important. I don’t want that for Pawsh Pets.”

"But think bigger, angel. With the right investors?—"

"Oh, look! Cards. Anyone want to play?" I cut in as I lifted a deck of cards the resort had sitting on the table. My sister was brilliant with animals and social media, but she wasn’t exactly ambitious. I could sense the awkward tension in the conversation and wanted to change the topic for her.

"Couples against couples," Lily declared. "Though maybe we should go easy on the injured party."

"I’ll keep her comfortable," James said, his hand settling warm on my shoulder.

The touch sent another shiver through me. Especially when I remembered we'd have to share a bed again tonight. After this morning's... incident. Which we were never, ever speaking of again.

"Your ears are turning pink," James whispered, his breath hot against my skin.

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