She points a finger at me. “You can laugh.”
I roll my eyes. “Of course I laugh.”
She moves on. “So what, a couple of months? How long will the thing with the Montgomerys last?”
I’m two bites away from finishing the second half of my sandwich and about to answer her question, when she interjects, cutting herself off. “Jesus, Landry, you sure inhaled that.”
My eyes hold hers. “I’ve got a big appetite.” The sexual undertones in that statement are so thick they may drown us both, but dedicated to the cause, Quinn pushes through, though she does it with pink cheeks.
“Four months?” she guesses.
I nod. “About that. That’s our best guess.”
“Our,” she repeats. “Who is in on this with us?”
“Tate and Love.” I could leave it there, but I add, “I grew up with Tatum Collier, and Love, too. They were high school sweethearts, known ’em both my whole life. Tate works at Vaughn Ranch; has most of his adult life. Though now since times are challenging, he takes jobs off the ranch.”
She nods, taking it in.
“You got a family you’re gonna share this fake marriagewith?” I ask her, hoping to learn more about her family, and her. I’ll need to know this stuff for the fake marriage after all.
“Yeah,” she says around the last bite of her sandwich. I rather enjoy that we ate and talked, not because we have bad manners but because we’re so eager to get chatting. Not that I’d admit that. “My mom and sister live in San Francisco, well, I mean, I live there, too, but yeah, that’s where they are.”
I nod. “You all live together?”
Her face falls and I feel the need to amend my words. “There’s nothin’ wrong with living with your mama. Hell, I hope Sadie stays with me as long as she likes. Life is hard enough without bills and rent.”
Her frozen expression morphs into something softer, and she nods. “Yeah, I live with my mom. Melvin—” She catches herself, almost corrects herself, then shrugs. “Melvin wanted me to move in with him and I wasn’t ready. Something felt so off.” Her laugh is empty, but still so bloated with pain at the same time. “Boy am I smart, right?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know, you haven’t told me much about Melvin other than he’s your boss and he’s been condescending about this project.” I mean, I hate the guy just for making her feel frustrated, but I’d like to have the facts to hate him properly.
She sighs. “He cheated on me.”
I believe her, but I don’t believe there’s a good reason why anyone would ever cheat, much less on a woman so goddamn beautiful. “What a fucking idiot.”
Quinn blinks at me, mouth open, a look of bewilderment on her face. “I’ve never heard you curse.”
I get to my feet and gather our plates. “I rarely do.” She smiles, and I stand there with the afternoon sun at my back, looking down at my future wife, the woman who’s gonna help me save everything that matters to me. “I appreciate youhelping me out, Quinn. I know it’s a strange thing to ask and I know it adds complexity to your life, but, well, thank you.”
Then I push inside, because I can’t look at her with glossy eyes and a pink-tipped nose. But she follows me, and after I place the plates in the sink, I turn and find her right beneath my nose, staring up at me with those intoxicating eyes.
“My demands,” she starts, her voice quiet. “I think it makes the most sense if I move in.”
I nod, my heart racing. “Agreed.”
“I’ll take the room across the hall from Sadie’s,” she continues, and I nod to that, too. “And, of course, I’m sure you’ll figure out what to tell her, but I was thinking I’d like to be there when you talk to Sadie about all this, you know, so I can be on the same page.” Her eyes search mine as she lays out her demands, and I can’t stop thinking about how we’re alone, and how she’s gonna be my wife, if only in name, for temporary.
Still.
“Anything else?”
“We do it soon. As soon as possible. And then we start going out together, so it’s believable. In case the judge calls any witnesses,” she says, and my ribs feel a bit too small when I consider that Quinn is thinking about what’s at stake for me, not wanting to risk a damn thing. For me and my girl.
I nod. “Okay, soon. Next week, even.”
She agrees, then says, “We should go back to Mabel’s and get my stuff after this, and I’ll start sleeping here tonight.”
“Okay.”
