Page 27 of Needing Happily Ever After

Her friend’s words hit her in the gut. Katie stared at herself for a moment before closing her eyes. She could see it. The entire moment was crystal-clear. Damon at the end of the aisle. Walking toward him. Taking his hands. Marrying him.

She nodded and opened her eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. “I can absolutely imagine marrying Damon.” She looked to Faith and then her mom, and almost started crying. “This is the dress.”

It was late by the time Katie got home from the city and more than once she regretted turning down her mom’s offer to grab them a hotel room so they could stay in the city. It would have been fun to spend a night drinking wine and chatting with Faith and her mom, and of course it also would have meant that she wouldn’t have had to spend the last three hours driving through the mountains in the dark. But despite all the reasons she should have stayed, there was one big draw for her to get home.

Damon.

She couldn’t help it, but the draw to make the drive back to Glacier Falls and the little guesthouse at ElkView was strong. Really strong. She’d always loved being around him, but the last few days had been different. More intense. Of course, it was because of the whole wedding thing.

But Katie couldn’t help shake the feeling that it might be more. The kisses they’d shared had been intense in a way she would never have expected and had awoken feelings in her that no man had ever done before. It was…unsettling but also, it gave her a feeling of peace, too.

The feelings were so conflicting that if it had been anyone else, she would have laughed at the absurdity of it all. But Katie was definitely not laughing. Especially with her mom and Faith’s comments about how they’d always thought she’d end up with Damon repeating through her head. Maybe she should just talk to him about it and get it out in the open. No doubt he’d laugh, and then she’d laugh, and they could go back to being friends and she wouldn’t have to worry about all of these potential feelings clouding her thoughts.

The thoughts consumed her, and had the added benefit of making the drive go quickly. Before she knew it, she was punching the code into the ElkView gate and driving up to the cottage. She put the car in park next to Damon’s truck and shut off the engine to sit in silence for a moment.

Katie let her mind travel back through the day she’d just had. Her last final exam. Barring any major malfunctions, she was done and she’d have her degree. Finally. But that wasn’t even the most monumental part of the day. She glanced behind her at the garment bag filling her backseat. That had been the most monumental part of the day.

Her wedding dress.

Fake wedding or not, the dress was gorgeous and it was everything she ever could have imagined, if she’d been that kind of girl—which, admittedly, she hadn’t been…until now. But it wasn’t just that the dress was beautiful; it was the realization that in just a few days she was going to be marrying Damon Banks in that dress. And that thought didn’t scare the hell out of her the way it probably should have. No, the way it really should have. She was getting married to her best friend as a big, giant lie and they were deceiving everyone. She should definitely not be excited.

No.Katie shook her head. She should be pretty much anything but excited.

She gave herself one more moment of quiet in the car to pull her thoughts together before gathering up her things, including the oversized garment bag, and heading inside. The guesthouse was dark. Damon must have gotten tired of waiting up for her. Not that she’d expected him to, but it would have been nice.

No. She was quick to chastise herself. She turned her key in the lock and with her arms loaded, walked straight to the couch in the dark to dump her things when the light flipped on, startling her into dropping everything in a crash on the floor.

“What the hell?” Katie spun around to see Damon standing in the small kitchen, a glass of wine in one hand, a rose in the other.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Damon’s face changed, concern replacing the grin as he took in the sight of her with her purse scattered on the floor, the giant garment bag at her feet. “I’m sorry, Katie.” He put the wine down and rushed over to her. “I really didn’t mean to scare you. I was just going to surprise you and…shit.” He looked down at her things and back up at her and for a brief moment, she thought she might cry. But then the shock wore off and she started laughing.

“You should know by now that I don’t love to be surprised. Especially not after the longest day ever.”

In an instant, the concern on his face vanished and he once again smiled devilishly. “And that’s exactly why I wanted to surprise you with this.” He held the rose out to her as if it were the prize she’d been fighting for. “Congratulations on your last exam and being finished.”

She took the flower and held it to her nose. “Thank you.” The shock and surprise had totally vanished, as well as the idea that she was meant to remember that this thing with Damon wasn’t a real relationship. Because, in that moment, it sure as hell felt real. “That’s actually really sweet of you, Damon.”

“I know.” He winked and bent to pick up her things. When he straightened again, he had the huge garment bag in his hand. “Is this a—”

“Wedding dress.” She snatched it away from him. “And you can’t see it. It’s bad luck.” She realized what she’d said the moment it came out of her mouth. It wasn’t a real wedding, so there was no need to worry about things like luck. She turned away. “I mean…if we were worried about that type of thing. Which we’re—”

“Stop.” Damon put a hand on her arm and turned her back to face him. There was a question in his eyes, and more than anything, Katie wanted him to ask it. But he turned and hung the bag on the back of the bedroom door. He stared at it for a long minute before turning around again. “I’m really sorry, Katie.”

“For what?” She picked up the wine and took a sip.

“For all of this. For the wedding that’s not everything it should be.”

“What are you talking about?” She crossed the room. “This is exactly what it’s supposed to be,” she said. “It’s a wedding and we’re going to pull it off so you can have ElkView and—”

“It’s just that your first wedding should be—”

“My first wedding?” She couldn’t help it; Katie burst out laughing. “You make it sound like I was always destined to have more than one wedding.”

Damon wasn’t laughing and Katie’s laughter died quickly when he reached out and touched her cheek. “That’s not what I meant.” His finger traced her jawline and finally came to rest, cupping her face. “I just meant that I’m sorry if this isn’t what you’d always dreamed about when you thought of your wedding.”

“Honestly?”

“Of course.”

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