Page 257 of The Winslow Brothers

Yeah, but you can’t actually say you’ll be there. Because you’ll probably be back in LA by then.

Flynn smiles over at me and wraps his arm around my shoulders. He reaches out and rubs the top of Lex’s hair affectionately. “Consider us both there, Lexi Lou.”

“I’ll let my mom know to save two more seats,” she says. “So, fifteen seats total so far. And if Uncle Ty brings one of his girls, that’ll be sixteen seats.”

One of his girls? I’d probably laugh if I didn’t feel like the room was closing in on me.

“Daisy!” Winnie calls from the other side of the room. “Get over here, sis! We’re having a bridesmaids’ powwow in the other room.” When Ty starts to head that way, she quickly points an index finger in his direction. “No boys allowed!”

He puts a hand to his chest and feigns discomfort. “You wound me, sis.”

“I swear to everything, Ty, if you try to mess with any of the bridesmaids tonight or tomorrow, I’ll wound you for real.”

He just grins like the devil. “And what if the single bridesmaids can’t resist me?”

“Oh, they will,” Winnie adds. “Because I’ve already told them you have an incurable venereal disease.”

“Jesus, Win.”

She cackles and then meets my eyes again. “C’mon, Dais!”

“Looks like you’re being summoned. Have fun, babe,” Flynn whispers into my ear and presses a gentle kiss to my forehead. “See you in a bit.”

The kiss is simple, chaste even, but it does nothing to help my emotions. Every cell inside my body loves feeling a sweet gesture like that from Flynn, but it’s all just part of the game we’ve been playing…right?

A game that will soon be over.

The pact we made will be complete.

And like Flynn said from the beginning, no strings will be attached.

The lie we’ve been living will no longer be needed. Soon, everyone will know the truth. Winnie and Sophie and Flynn’s mom and brothers, Uncle Brad and Aunt Paula, adorable Lexi, everyone will know I’m a fraud.

Everyone who’s become the family you always wished you’d had.

Tears threaten to fill my eyes, but I blink them away. I refuse to do anything that will ruin Jude and Sophie’s big night.

You can’t change the reality of the situation. All you can do is put on a happy face and get through the night without falling to pieces.

Yeah. I can’t change any of it. All I can do is make the best of it.

And you definitely can’t change the fact that you’ve fallen in love with your fake husband.

Frank Sinatra serenades the room, and Flynn pulls me tight against his chest. We float across the dance floor in between the other couples in attendance at Jude and Sophie’s rehearsal dinner.

“This is just a taste of what’s to come tomorrow night!” Uncle Brad announces and proceeds to dip Paula and plant a smacking kiss to her lips.

Paula giggles. Ty cheers them on. And Flynn just shakes his head on a low chuckle that makes his chest vibrate against mine.

All in all, it’s been a pretty good night.

Dinner was delicious. Jude and Sophie appear so damn happy it makes my heart twist against my ribs. And I managed to pull myself together enough to help celebrate the soon-to-be husband and wife.

Flynn presses a soft kiss to my forehead, and I have to shut my eyes for a brief moment to not let it affect me. But hell, it’s affecting me.

Every innocent touch, kiss, caress from him feels so right that it’s wrong.

Wrong because he’s not my real husband. He’s not the type of guy who does relationships. He made that fact clear from the get-go. Flynn is just a kind, genuine man who helped me in my time of need. And it’s highly likely that, as of tomorrow, my time of need will be a thing of the past.

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