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“I told you I would always be there for you when it counts.”
He did. I remember those words.
But this is different.
Marriage is a huge deal.
I plant my hands on my hips. “Then tell me the last time we really talked. When’s the last time we hung out because we actually wanted to see each other?”
He brushes a hand through his dark hair. “Life’s been busy, Lennon, okay? And I’m barely home because of my job. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t be there to support you again.”
Our eyes lock and neither of us has to say a word because we both know there are many instances he could be referring to.
“You know this is insane,” I fire back, ignoring the pang of endearment for the man standing across from me so that I don’t burst into tears right in front of him.
“A little.”
“And a little illegal,” I whisper.
“Only if people don’t believe it’s real.”
“And…”
He steps up to me, pressing his finger against my lips to silence me. “Just say yes, Lennon. Let me help you with this, and you’ll be helping me in return.”
“How?” I whisper against his finger as he removes it. “How on earth is this going to help you?”
Lowering his hand, he drags his finger along my jaw, stirring a reaction in my body that I can’t ignore. Easton has touched me a million times before, but this touch feels different. It feels like yearning.
And suddenly, I feel myself staggering closer to him.
“My boss wants to send me to Florida for work,” he begins to explain, still keeping his hand on my jaw before he realizes what he’s doing and retracts. “And I’m tired of working out of town, Lennon. I want to be home.”
“So how is marrying me going to help with that?”
“Part of the reason he sends me is because I’m unattached. I don’t have a family like some of the other guys. But if I do…”
“Then he’d have a reason to keep you close,” I finish for him.
He nods. “Exactly. Plus, there’s a job starting at GVCC, upgrading the telephone poles and running new fiber underground. It would make perfect sense for me to lead that project and then I could be home every night.”
“I have no idea what you just said, but it sounds like you’ve thought this all through.”
He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth as his eyes dip down to my mouth for a split second, finding my eyes quickly again. “Not as much as I should, but my motivation is more about you than myself. I—I can’t stand the thought of you and your baby not being taken care of.”
“Why?” The word slips out before I can give it much thought.
“Because you’re Lennon,” he says with a crooked smile that falls far too quickly. “My Lennon.”
Dear lord. Those two words shouldn’t have just made my entire body warm.
“I haven’t been your Lennon since high school, Easton. That’s what you wanted, remember?”
“I never wanted that,” he fires back, reaching up to cup my jaw. I wait for him to elaborate further, but he doesn’t, leaving the words hanging between us.
“How are we supposed to go from barely talking to being married, and make it believable?”
“We have history, Lennon. Everyone in town grew up watching us together. Is it really so hard to believe we might find our way back to each other? We can tell everyone that the baby is mine. It’s the perfect story. Plus, having a baby on the way would only strengthen my case for wanting to stay local for work.”
