Page 18 of Contingently Yours
His breath is audible. His mouth widens, lips pressed together in a thin line.
“If you call that smiling, they’re never going to think we’re a couple.”
“I’m trying,” he grits, but it only gets worse.
“Everything all right?” Dario asks, quirking a brow.
Fuck. I’m not the only one getting angry mutant vibes from my dickhead boyfriend.
“Yeah. Lucas was just bummed that he’ll miss a monster truck rally next week when we’ll be in Massachusetts.”
“Ah shit, mate. I’m sorry.”
I can practically feel the hostility rolling off him. Slipping my arm around his shoulder, I hug him to me. “It’s all right,” I assure Dario and his husbands, who look up from their meal. “I told him I’d make it up to him. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”
Holy fuck. Could he look any more pissed off? It was just a joke. Couples joke.
Crap. Dario looks like he’s got our number, his brows now scrunched suspiciously.
Turning Lucas by the shoulder, I cup his beard in my hands to direct his grumpy face away from theirs. The man would suck at poker, wearing his emotions like this.
“What are you doing?” he whispers angrily, scanning my hands like he’s terrified by my proximity.
“Paying for a wedding. Don’t fucking move,” I murmur and hold my breath as I slam my mouth against his.
He lets out a startled noise and clutches my wrist. Only Lucas would make a guy need to resort to his backup plan on day one. If he freaks out and decks me, I’m going to drown him in the ocean.
Clutching onto the back of his fat head, I make a show of moving my lips over his when really I’m just grinding our tightly closed mouths against each other. I’m going to have beard burn after this. That’s a new one for me. The shit I do to prove things to my family.
“Yeah! Get it, Lucas!” Mason cheers, letting me know I’ve sold enough of my soul for one day.
I release him, and he lets out a strange sound. You’d think I just slapped him the way he’s gaping at me. His tongue darts out and wets his lips. It didn’t feel like a kiss until he did that. Gross. Now I can kind of taste him.
Granola bar. Yeah. Definitely granola.
Someone whistles, probably Mason. He seems like the liveliest of the group. It’s enough to clear the strange fog in Lucas’ eyes, and he blinks, releasing my wrist. Clearing my throat, I glance over at our amused clients. Flashing them a satisfied smile, I run my hands down Lucas’ beefy shoulders to further seal the façade. It’s meant to look like a caress, but it feels strange. He’s like a damn brick building. A far cry from the slender and curvy female bodies I’ve had my hands on.
“There’s more later where that came from,” I tease, patting his furry cheek, enjoying the way it makes his jowls jiggle on his stupefied face.
Fortunately, feeding him turns out to be a good cover to hide his emotions. For a guy who bitched about me controlling the entire showing, he stayed mostly silent throughout lunch and the rest of the afternoon. By the time dinner rolls around, holding his hand isn’t even weird anymore. It just feels like I’m guiding around a silent lumberjack out of charity sincehe’s given up sassing me in front of the Hepperlys. He offers one-liners of slightly helpful insights about the property and manages these breathy little laughs that have to be completely forced, but all in all, it’s passable. I haven’t detected a single skeptical look from our merry clients.
The tour of some of the rooms, the grounds, and a potential area to build a stage all went fairly well. Yet, the trio seems satisfied to wait to give their full opinions until we look at the next property the day after tomorrow. With the investment they’re making, I can’t say I blame them, even if I hoped we could cut this trip shorter than planned.
Hauling our luggage upstairs, I leave my suitcase by the room we were given and grab one of Mason’s from him. “You guys are right here in one of the luxury suites. We’ll be right next door if you need anything.”
“Andrew, how about a tour around the cay tomorrow?” Dario asks, holding the door to their room open for Keenan. “Can we take one of those boats out?”
“Yeah, of course. That can be arranged. How about after breakfast? I think the caretaker said they’d serve it at eight.”
“Sure thing. See you at brekky.”
I blink, wondering what he means until Lucas mutters, “That means breakfast.”
Oh. How could I forget that Dario’s number-one fan is my new roommate? Walking back toward our room, I mumble, “I knew that.”
The asshat rolls his eyes and gives me a smug look. I’ll give zero fucks about that when I’m sound asleep in an hour.
Opening our door, I roll my suitcase inside, grateful to be done for the day. The balcony doors are open, letting in the cool evening breeze from the cay already making my sun-kissed flesh feel at ease after the long day of travel.
