I do. And I like him.
“Just being near him gets me hot,” I say. “He takes over a room with his energy.”
“Heisincredibly sexy,” she agrees. “Not just physically. I was surprised by how down to earth he was when I met him.”
That’s the thing about Declan. He doesn’t act like one of the greatest hockey players to have ever played the game. He’s not arrogant or entitled. If anything, he seems lonely. I still don’t know much about his childhood, but I’ll be meeting his parents after the wedding. They don’t know this whole thing is fake, though. I don’t know if that’s a good idea or not, but Declan and Cameron formed a united front when it came to keeping it from their mom and dad, and I figured they know their parents best.
There are a few reporters camped out at the courthouse, but not too many, thanks to my uncle’s idea to have Declan arrive in a rental car and go in through the back. Uncle Ned and his wife—my aunt Gloria—drove Jamie and me here, and we strolled in through the front with barely any fanfare. One of the reporters tried to approach me, but my uncle quickly deterred him.
“You ready?” Dad steps through the front door with what’s almost a smile on his face.
I haven’t seen my father truly, genuinely smile since Mom died. But today, he looks happy. His gray hair is combed back from his face with some sort of product, and his eyes are bright and alive. His suit is stylish as always, but it’s not the same dull blue he wears every day. It’s a dark gray, and his matching tie completes the outfit nicely.
“You look beautiful, darling.” He kisses my makeup-clad face. “Mom would be so proud.”
I hold up my wrist to show him her bracelet. “She’s here with us, Dad.”
Tears fill his eyes, and I catch Jamie Beth staring at us like we’ve both lost our minds. She’s right. We have.
“Dad.” I stop him as he tries to guide me down the hallway. “Before we go any further, let’s return to the world of reality first. Declan Wild and I are not in love.”
My father doesn’t even miss a beat. “I know you’re not yet…”
“Dad.” I grit my teeth. “This is a business arrangement. On both sides. Okay?”
“Okay.” He once again begins guiding me down the hallway. Jamie Beth trails along behind.
“But I can tell you like him,” he whispers in my ear.
“How can you possibly tell that? You’ve barely seen us together.”
“Because I’m your father. Fathers know these things.”
And just like that, he’s almost smiling again.
* * *
Declan’s wedding attire should be embalmed and held up in fashion magazines. Good Lord, the perfection—between his three-piece charcoal gray suit, his ridiculously expensive-looking silver cuff links that just keep drawing my attention to his strong wrists, and don’t even get me started on the way his dark hair is styled all wavy-like. He’s sex on a stick, and when he puts his hands in his pants pockets and strides ahead of me into the courtroom, I don’t even try not to stare at his perfect ass. He’s got a muscled ass, and I remember how it felt to grip it when he was driving deep inside me.
He turns around then and catches me staring.
I flush with heat, not so much because I was looking but because I was remembering us in bed together.
He gives me a second look, and then a grin spreads across his face.
Shit. He knowsexactlywhat I’m thinking. I can tell by the way his eyes flash with heat and how he licks his lips slowly.
He sticks to the rules, though. Instead of flirting with me like I wish he would, like I wish hecould, he nods politely. “You look beautiful, Mia.”
“Thank you.”
Next to me, Dad fully smiles, and on my other side, Jamie Beth whispers, “You two are so screwed.”
She’s right. We are screwed. I certainly am because after we go through the whole ritual of Jamie Beth walking down the aisle to stand on the left side of the justice of the peace while Cameron stands behind Declan on the right, Dad walks me straight up to Declan and shakes his hand.
“Welcome to the family, son,” my father says to Declan.
Oh. God. I turn toward where Uncle Ned is sitting on one of the wooden benches of the courtroom. I give him a pointed look, but he just smiles at me affectionately.
