Page 13 of The Gruff Loner’s Bargain

I shoot a glance at Landry. “Told you,” I mouth.

He gives me that crooked, cheeky grin of his. I hate that his smile does things to my insides. I cannot afford to fall for my fake fiancé. That will only lead to heartache.

“But,” Marci says, holding one finger up, “we want to hear the stories from the groom’s perspective.”

The other couples are reacting, but I’m just staring at Landry willing him to understand me.

His eyes drop to the cut of my shirt, showing off my cleavage, and he wiggles his eyebrows.

I give him a tiny shake of my head.

He winks.

This is it; this is when it all falls apart. Will they just escort us off the property? Will they have us arrested for fraud? Is this even considered fraud?

“Who wants to go first?” Marci asks.

“I will,” Landry says, all cocksure and confident.

I blow out a breath and take a long look at the windows overlooking the gorgeous scenery. The “mountains” in Saddle Creek are not so mountainous as these, but we’ll still be able to create something beautiful there.

“She’s the sister-in-law of one of my best friends,” he begins.

I turn to face him because I might as well look at stupid hotness while this weekend goes up in flames.

“I was getting out of my truck, and one minute she was standing up ahead of it, and the next she was gone. I raced over to her to find she’d fallen ass over tea kettle after tripping on a rock. She looked up at me, and I was a damn goner. Thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. I should have proposed right then and there. But I figured I should get her name first.”

Everyone laughs.

“The rest, as they say, is history.” He finishes, then he grabs my chin and presses a kiss to my lips.

It’s chaste as far as kisses go. Still, somehow, it is the single hottest kiss of my life.

chapter

nine

Landry

When I finally close the door to our private honeymoon cabin, I lean against it and let out a breath.

Brook chuckles. “Tired?”

I groan. “That was a lot of peopling in a short amount of time.”

Her eyes light up. “I wouldn’t have immediately thought you were an introvert, but I can see it now. Being on is exhausting, isn’t it?”

I nod, unsure of what to say. Because I don’t think I’ve ever felt more seen than I do in this moment. I swallow thickly and stare at the woman in front of me.

“That’s the problem with working in the hospitality field. You can never not be on. I tell ya, I would not mind letting Natalie handle all of that kind of stuff, and I can handle the business end.” She wrinkles her nose. “I guess my sister and I should probably talk about all of that, huh?”

She walks further into our suite and her eyes light up when she sees the private balcony with the hot tub.

“I told you there’d be a hot tub. We should definitely utilize that. I don’t know about you,” I stretch my arms up and twist my body, “but I’m sore from all the traveling.”

“Oh shit!” she yells from the room she just disappeared into.

I follow her and find the bedroom. Nice big King-sized bed, ensuite. I look around for maybe a spider or something.