Page 38 of Catch and Release Groom

His gaze seemed to stretch beyond the horizon as he bobbed his head. “That, I get.”

Unlike him, she was too nervous to ask where he’d mentally gone, afraid it had to do with his ex, and even more afraid she’d been right about him not being completely over the woman.

“Believe it or not, I realize Rome, Georgia, is a poor substitute for a trip to Italy. Same as I understand this redneck”—he tapped an open palm to his chest—“is a far cry from husband material.”

She vehemently shook her head. “That’s not true. In fact, you play the role so well that had you not told me a relationship isn’t anything you’re interested in, I never would’ve guessed.” For such a tiny space, Easton suddenly felt miles away. “And if you ever change your mind, I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding someone who recognizes how amazing you are.”

She hated the idea of this fictional person invading her territory.

Except Easton wasn’t hers, and this was all temporary, and her thoughts were getting too jumbled. Since there’d be no straightforward sorting of that particular mess, she switched it up on him—and herself, honestly.

“Would you go to Rome with me? Then I can at least say I’ve been, even if it is a city in Georgia and not the Italian version that’d require a passport and a translator app.”

“I wouldn’t exactly go callin’ it a city,” Easton quipped. “Nor would I be too sure about not needing a translator.”

Imogen hooked a finger through his belt loop and batted her eyes. “Good thing I have you for that as well.”

He gave into her pull, causing the tide of rising stress to calm and recede. “Crossing state lines too many times is frowned on down in the deep south, don’tcha know? Makes you look like a turncoat. ’Cause whether you shout War Eagle or”—his lip curled with disgust, exactly how it’d done after his first sip of wine—“Roll Tide, the Georgia Bulldogs are goin’ down.”

“See, this is the perfect example of why I need you by my side,” she said, “because I don’t know what any of that means.”

Easton opened his mouth, presumably to expand, and she pressed a finger to his lips.

“Honestly, I’d rather keep it that way. I’m willing to cross state lines by my lonesome if needed. If asking for another favor makes you feel like you’re getting the raw end of our deal.”

At her pause, he didn’t indicate he felt one way or the other.

“I just know it’d be more fun with you than without you.” There. Genuine, candid, and probably more than she should admit. Vulnerability crept in and kicked off the second-thought tilt-a-whirl in her brain.

Heat pooled between her thighs as his erection pressed into her belly, through the denim of his jeans and the blessedly thin material of her dress. “Then, lovebug, I’m there.”

Chapter Fifteen

Pine, hickory, and oak trees stretched out as far as the eye could see. The divisions of the land stood out in ways Easton would never see from below, like a patchwork quilt of greenery. He recognized almost every bend and curve of the tributaries splitting off Lake Coosa, and on most any other day, he’d be recounting his best catches.

Beautiful weather, a hot-air balloon that afforded him an amazing bird’s eye view of land he knew like the back of his hand, and all he could look at was his gorgeous date.

Fake date. Casual yet deliberate hang. Whatever it was called when his brain, heart, and body kept tugging him in contradictory directions.

Since sorting that out would take all day, he focused on a different type of fishing—one aimed at gathering information. “So, we got sidetracked. Where’s the lie?” Part of him wanted to prove his preconceived notions about Imogen wrong, and part of him needed a reminder this thing between them would never be more than a backwoods bargain. “What’d have you going full Pinocchio?”

She smiled at his joke, but it didn’t fully take hold, and with the humor in her expression waning, he kicked himself for not letting it go. “When it came to the honeymoon, I was not an easygoing gal. Brett and I fought a lot about the cost of going on a trip. I used the ‘you only get married once’ argument—the irony I didn’t even make it down the aisle isnotlost on me—and he thought we should put every penny into a down payment on a house. I totally get that’d be a smart thing to do, but no honeymoon at all? No celebration of our nuptials and no romantic trip to Roma, City of Love? How were weevergoing to ignite that spark?

“It’s not like I was delusional enough to think going to Italy would magically fix everything, but I begged him to help me add passion to our relationship.Begged.” Her voice cracked, and she blinked faster and faster, her eyelashes a weak dam against her impending tears. “It made me feel so inadequate. Like something must be wrong with me.”

Pink crept across her cheeks in an adorable blush, and she covered her face with her palm. “I can’t believe I just admitted that to you, of all people.”

“Tryin’ mighty hard not to be insulted by that.” Gently, he peeled her hand from her face and curled it into his. He locked eyes with her, dragging his thumb over her knuckles and silently conveying she could talk to him. If she wanted to.

“It’s just embarrassing,” she whispered, and he held his breath so he could hear her better. “I saw a sex therapist, Easton. By myself.”

Keeping his dirty thoughts at bay around Imogen was damn near impossible as it was, and now they were diving headfirst into the muck, until filth and depravity were all his mind could see.

“…wouldn’t go with me, wouldn’t work on it, and what was I supposed to do?”

The image he’d conjured of gliding his hand beneath the hem of her skirt faded as he forced his consideration back on her and the hurt beneath her words. “I’m sorry you didn’t get what you needed out of the relationship.”

That was something he’d also said to Grace when she’d turned up at his house two weeks after theyhadn’tgotten hitched. She claimed she’d come to collect her belongings and “get some closure.” Turned out, she meant telling him everything he’d ever done wrong while he stood there like a stoic sentinel, just taking it. The method had worked in past fights, as she’d eventually talk herself out, and then he would mutter an apology whether or not he thought he was in the wrong because it made things go much smoother, and that’d be that.

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