Page 9 of Fake Spring Fling

The sexiest woman I’ve ever seen is so natural at pretending she’s truly interested in me that it’s giving me a long list of ideas.

“Now what?” Madison’s eyes are bright with excitement.

“Tuck your feet in. We’ll just snuggle here for a moment, then disappear. They’ve seen us dancing and making out. They’ll assume we went to our room…” My eyebrows bounce. “For somerisky business.”

“That sounds familiar.” She squints at me. “Is that a financial podcast or something?”

I let my forehead plunk onto her shoulder. “Please don’t let Heather find out about your knowledge gap in the ways of all things eighties. She will sit you down for an immediate movie marathon.”

I love the way Madison laughs so easily, tucking in against my chest while we wait a few minutes more.

Once we hear several people shriek “Tequila shots!” from the bar, we stand up and duck out. We’re halfway across the lobby before I realize my fingers are threaded through Madison’s. Who knew that simply holding a woman’s hand could feel so perfect?

And more to the point… How on Earth am I going to keep my hands to myself when we’re lying next to each other all night?

5

MADISON

Ihave to say, since I’ve felt that my friends and I have been drifting apart, I don’t feel the need to try to impress them as much. But tonight was a total check mark. It felt so easy to be outgoing and make so many connections with Wyatt at my side. And, yeah, they were impressed.

Everything feels so natural with him. As if I’ve known him for much longer than I really have.

A few prickles of nervousness drift through me as he takes my hand on the way to our room. I genuinely trust him, but still… We’re being thrown into such a strange situation.

“Here we are.” Wyatt smiles as we reach the door, then snorts out a laugh. “These suites are so fancy, I feel like I should be carrying you over the threshold, but that would just give my mother even more ideas.”

Once inside, I stop in the center of the room. “Wow, it’s even better than the photos,” I murmur. “That never happens.”

Aadland Lodges seem to have perfected the formula to making spaces feel both cozy and magical at the same time. It’s just a smidge over the top, in plush, comfortable ways: the super soft comforter folded across the foot of the bed in the perfect shade of sage green. The two dark wooden beams across the ceiling. The thick slab of the window ledge, and the mantel over the quietly understated stone fireplace. The natural wooden floors, with a thick rug surrounding the bed.

“Pretty amazing, right?” Wyatt grabs my hand again and pulls me toward the window. “Check out the lake.”

My breath catches as we lean out over the balcony. The moon is a few days past full, but still bright in the sky as it hovers over the large lake, casting a silvery glow over the forest.

“Beautiful,” I murmur, breathing in the fresh night air.

“Yes. Very.”

There’s something in Wyatt’s tone that makes me turn. Looking up into his deep green eyes, his smile is different. He’s looking at me as if… My breath catches. As if all this romantic stuff is starting to become real.

“There are two things I need to mention,” he says hesitantly.

“Okay, shoot.” We’ve already been connecting so well over the past several hours that I’m not too worried. In fact, I’m growing excited about sharing such close quarters with this gorgeous man.

“Now that my third sister is getting married, Heather is hell-bent on me tying the knot as soon as humanly possible, too. So if she gets pushy, I apologize. Truly.” The outer corners of his eyes crinkle just a little. Why do I find that so sexy?

Maybe because every single inch of his massive body is sexy. His sharply cut jaw. Those broad shoulders. His chest, which is incredibly firm…

Well, would you look at that. My hand must have settled in the center of it while I wasn’t paying attention.

“Look, Wyatt, I’m here to make your sister’s special weekend go smoothly for you. So let’s…well, not lead your momon, exactly, but… Let her think whatever she wants to think.” Wyatt’s hand is pressed against my lower back protectively, as if he’s worried I might topple over the balcony railing. Somehow, I can feel it all the way down the back of my thighs. “Um, What was the other thing?”

“Your friendsreallyexpected us to kiss. You could tell. I don’t know how much you care about that.”

“Oh.” My mind starts racing. Does it really matter what they think? We’re turning into colleagues and business contacts more than close friends. There’s no reason for me to pretend to be something I’m not around them anymore. Although they genuinely seemed impressed when they met Wyatt, and I know it raised their opinion of me a few steps.

“Well, if the occasion presents itself again, and you feel it’s appropriate, go ahead. Especially if your family expects it.”

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