Page 38 of For the Promise

“Petal? Where does the nickname Petal come from?”

He shrugs. “Blossom. Petal. Seems obvious.”

“A flower theme? I can live with it.”

“What’s your favorite flower?” he asks as we make our way out of the building and start walking the path toward the chalets.

“Tulips. I thought you hated small talk.”

“Getting to know you isn’t small talk,” he says and I nearly melt.

Maybe pretending to be married to Jaxon for a weekend wasn’t such a good idea after all. Because I don’t know how long I can resist this gentleman act before I jump him.

I blow out a breath. No jumping your fake husband, Blossom. No matter how possessive and sweet he acts. It’s not real. He’s pretending.

Chapter 13

“And here I thought I was immune to surprises, considering who my brothers are.” ~ Jaxon

Jaxon

We enter the chalet and I freeze. I fucked up. I assumed a ‘chalet’ would have multiple sleeping accommodations. I was wrong. There’s one big bed and a small sofa I could never fit my six-foot-one frame onto.

After flirting with Blossom the entire morning, I’m ready to throw her onto the bed and find out how sturdy it is. I force my desire away. Blossom is not the woman for me. I can’t chance falling for her only for her to leave when she’s bored of me or the island.

“Wow.” Blossom spins around and her blonde hair flies out behind her. “This place is awesome. I hope the discount from the wedding is fifty percent because this chalet cannot be cheap.”

I don’t give a shit what the discount is. Whatever the price of the chalet is, it’s worth it to see Blossom happy. Her eyestwinkle, and her smile lights up her face. I’m drawn to her, but I manage to keep my feet planted where they are.

She pauses her twirling. “Holy mermaids,” she breathes out before rushing to the sliding doors. She slams her palms against the glass. “There is an honest to smuggler hot tub out there. Good thing I brought my swimsuit.”

She runs to her suitcase and flips it open.

“What are you doing?”

“Duh. I’m getting my swimsuit.” She pauses to glance over her shoulder at me. “Unless you want to get into the hot tub without any clothes on.”

My cock twitches with such vehemence I nearly fall over. Blossom in the hot tub without any clothes on? All those miles and miles of skin on display? Her perky breasts unconfined and ready to be touched? With my hands and mouth?

I inhale a deep breath and wrangle my hormones under control before I say to hell with it and throw Blossom over my shoulder.

“Don’t we have the welcome lunch in less than an hour?” Her shoulders slump and I nearly kick myself for dimming her light. “We can skip the lunch.”

“Nope.” She squares her shoulders. “You didn’t agree to spend the weekend with me romping around in the hot tub. You’re here to play my husband.”

I nearly growl at the word ‘play’ before I catch myself. Blossom isn’t my wife. I’m not her husband. It is an act. We are playing. End of story.

She yanks a dress out of her suitcase. “I need thirty minutes to shower and change.”

“Do you want me to change?”

I’m wearing khakis and a button-down shirt instead of my usual uniform of jeans and t-shirt. Eli and Rhett showed up at my house early this morning and picked out my ‘wedding wardrobe’. The assholes think I don’t know how to dress myself.

“You look good. I’ll hurry.”

She rushes to the bathroom and slams the door shut. Which is when I realize my second fuck up for the day. The wall between the shower and the bedroom is glass. Whoever is in the shower is clearly visible from the rest of the chalet.

My cock urges me to sit on the bed and enjoy the show. No matter how much I’m tempted, I would never violate Blossom’s privacy in this way.

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