Miles grins down at me. “That’s what mean people say.”
“I’m going to show you exactly howcompetitiveI can be when we get home,” I threaten.
Miles’ eyes darken as he murmurs, “Is that a promise?”
Epilogue
LUCY
“Are you ready to face the lions?” Miles asks as we stand on his grandparents’ porch. It’s an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Sisters. There are a couple of cows in the front pasture, a golden retriever standing between us, breathing heavily, and a beautiful horse trying to get our attention. It’s a storybook place, and I’m scared to walk in the front door.
We were invited for the weekend, and it will be the first time we’ve been around his family since we decided to keep this marriage real. It’s been seven weeks since the camping trip.
“I guess we don’t really have a choice, do we?” I reply nervously. “Do you think they’ll hate me?”
Miles pulls me into an awkward hug—the golden retriever is still standing between us—and kisses the top of my head. “If you feel uncomfortable at all, you just say the word and we’ll leave. But my family loved you when we were camping, so I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one doing the worrying,” I mutter against his chest.
The front door swings open, and we jerk apart to turn and look at Goldie, who’s standing there grinning at us. “Should I come back another time?”
I bite back a nervous laugh. Goldie steps forward and flings her arms toward us, pulling us into an attempted group hug.
The dog wiggles his way in as well.
“I just knew it would work out perfectly.” Goldie sighs as she finally lets us go.
“Coming here for the weekend?” Miles asks.
“No, you two figuring out that you actually love each other.”
Miles and I look at each other, startled by this. I’d told him about blurting out the truth to Felix during the camping trip so I’m not sure if she means from that point on.
Goldie drags us inside. “I’ve known since Ainsley proposed to Lucy for you. Who do you think gave her the idea?”
Miles scrunches his brows together and looks at me. “I think we’ve been had.”
I’m not sure whether I should laugh or feign anger at the family’s manipulations.
“You realize that we probably had this coming…” I admit to him.
“True…”
“And we were the ones who tried to trick them,” I remind him.
His shoulders relax. “I’m still tossing Ainsley in the pool tonight.”
“I’ll hold her feet,” I promise him. She was a sneaky, manipulative stinker if she thought she could trick us into getting married.
Although, it worked. And I’d go back and do it all over again. So maybe I should be thanking her.
We follow Goldie into a large living room with matching couches that are full of Miles’s family members. Andrew and Lillian are here. Ainsley, Karis and her boyfriend, Holden. Ben and Kelly. But someone is missing.
“Where’s the baby?”
“Oh, she’s with Felix!” Kelly says. Just then, Felix walks around the corner holding the baby. There’s a suspicious smear of chocolate on her face.
“Grandpa, have you been feeding her cookies?” Ben asks with a laugh.
