“Good night,” Avery said firmly, rolling over and pulling the covers up to her chin.
I turned out the lights, listening to her breathe. Having her in my bed and not being able to touch her was excruciating. I had always consoled myself that all I needed was my work and my family. Having Avery around had finally made me admit that I needed something more.
* * *
I wokeup as I usually did, before the alarm went off. My arms were wrapped around something that felt like a giant stuffed animal.
What the hell?
I looked down. Avery had wrapped all the blankets around herself, and I had my arms around the pile. The towel had come off her hair, and her curls were splayed out. I breathed in the light, fruity scent. I wanted to kiss her awake, but that might be going a bit too far.
Avery blinked. “Seriously, Blade,” she said. “I wasn’t drunk enough last night for this, and I’m definitely not today.” She sat up and started to unwrap the blankets. “We are not in love; we are not in a relationship. This is strictly business. Kissing is to be reserved for an audience.”
I was only half listening. She was absently running her hand through the tangle of curls. Her shirt collar had been pulled down while she slept, and the only thing I wanted right then was her.
Avery snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Were you even listening?”
“No sex, but I can kiss you if people are watching. Eyes on the prize. None of this is real. Got it,” I said.
The problem? It was starting to feel real for me. The way Avery moved effortlessly around my space, the way she went toe to toe with my brothers in the meetings about the Harris & Schultz contract the next few days, insisting that we organize an actual tour and events and formally invite the Schultzes to view Harrogate. The way she nestled against me, flipping through her magazine while I read on the couch in the evening.
It felt very, very real.
* * *
“I invitedthe Schultzes to your proposal on Friday,” Greg informed me. We were in the Svensson Investment offices. Hunter was leaning against the conference table, arms crossed. I assumed he and Meg had come to some resolution, because he didn’t look like she had given him a black eye or anything.
“My what?”
“You are proposing to Avery on Friday. I have a restaurant booked,” Greg said. “A large portion of our family is coming, and her family and friends will be there. I have a speech written for you. I also have some eye drops. You need to put those in right before you propose. They’ll burn a little, but I think the teary look should really help sell this.”
“I’m not saying this,” I said, reading the paper Greg handed me. “I’ll write something else.”
“It better be good,” Greg warned. “Don’t blow this for me.”
“I’m regretting telling you and Hunter,” I grumbled.
Greg glared at me. “Don’t. If it wasn’t for me, you would completely ruin this opportunity. Honestly, I’m impressed by Avery’s backbone. When you two finally divorce, maybe I’ll have to start dating her. A woman who is so ice cold as to orchestrate a whole fake marriage for money sounds like a woman after my own heart.”
I stood up abruptly, the chair clattering to the floor behind me. “Do not,” I snarled at my older brother, grabbing his suit jacket and half dragging him out of his chair. “Avery is mine.”
Hunter swore and grabbed me, pulling me back.
“I thought I told you not to fall in love with her,” he snapped in my face.
“I’m not,” I protested, shaking him off.
Hunter scowled.
“You know me,” I insisted. “I’m the rational one. Weston is the one who thinks he’s in love one minute then forgets the girl’s name the next.”
Hunter’s eyes narrowed, and he looked at me suspiciously. “You don’t want a girl like Avery. Someone like that will sell you down the river for nothing more than a nice townhouse.”
But I did want a girl like Avery, and I couldn’t wait to propose to her.
33
Avery
