Asher grabbed her hands to stop her from attacking him again and chuckled under his breath. “Diaper bagandyour camera—that should score me some points, huh?”
“You are the actual best,” she said before reaching up, hooking her hand around his neck, and tugging him down to her level. She pressed her lips to his, and though it certainly hadn’t been the only kiss they’d shared today—far from it, thanks to this reception—it had been the only one that had been spontaneous.
He could tell by the way she stepped back, her eyes a little wider than usual, that she’d done it without thought. Which was great for all the prying eyes of Havenbrook to see—Judge Seville included—but not so great when he was trying to maintain boundaries.
“I’m gonna go grab it from the car.”
Asher nodded, watching her walk away, doing everything in her power to avoid partygoers as she went.
Nash stepped up next to Asher, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “Looks like you two crazy kids are slidin’ right into marital bliss.”
Asher huffed out a laugh and shook his head, glancing down at the ground. “Not quite.”
“I don’t know about that. Those kisses y’all’ve shared looked pretty blissful.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” he said under his breath.
Nash’s brows flew up. “That so?”
“Nothing’s happened. Not really.”
“Well, something has, otherwise you wouldn’t have said a thing.”
Asher pressed his lips together, intent on keeping his mouth shut. But Nash just met his gaze head on, half smirk on his smug face and brow raised as if to say,Hurry up already.I’ve got shit to do.
He exhaled a deep sigh. “Fine. This mornin’, we decided to kiss—you know, a trial run so our first wouldn’t be in front of God and everybody else when we were supposed to be madly in love.”
Nash nodded. “Seems logical.”
“Yeah, well, as soon as we got our lips on each other, logic left the building. And if June hadn’t walked in, I don’t know where we would’ve ended up.”
Nash whistled low under his breath, tucking his hands into his pants pockets and rocking back on his heels. “Well, that’s nottoobad.”
“I’m not done.”
“Oh…shit.”
“She left to take care of the kids, and I took care of…well, you know.”
Nash chuckled and nodded. “Been there a time or two.”
“Except that as I—” Asher raised his eyes, glancing around at everyone milling far too close for him to feel comfortable having this talk candidly. He cleared his throat. “—was nearly there, she opened the door just in time to witness me cross the finish line.”
Instead of reassuring him like he’d hoped his friend would, Nash guffawed loud and long, propping his arm on Asher’s shoulder just to hold himself up.
“Thanks, man. Appreciate the support,” Asher said, trying to shove Nash off him.
Nash recovered with barely a stumble, still trying to get his laughter under control. “Sorry, sorry. How much did Nat tease you about your, uh, little man?”
“She didn’t.”
“She…didn’t?”
“Nope. And if I’ve been readin’ her right, she was just as affected by not only the kiss but also the show as I was.”
Nash hummed as he crossed his arms, bracing his legs shoulder-width apart. “So, what’re you gonna do about it? Technically, you are a married couple, and married couples enjoy those sorts of activities. Or so I’ve been told.”
Asher chuckled under his breath and scanned the crowd until his eyes locked on Nat. Camera in hand, she moved throughout the space, her grace and confidence something he was so used to when it came to her. But one thing he wasn’t used to where she was concerned was this sense of possessiveness, knowing she wore his ring. She’d be in his bed tonight and every night for the foreseeable future. And no matter how fake this marriage was, his feelings over her certainly felt real.
