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I waved a hand, but it felt like I was trying to push it through quicksand instead of air. “First of all, I haven’t beenin lovewith him. I’ve been crushing on him in that same way we crushed on Justin Timberlake back in the day.”
Layla snorted. “You crushed on Justin. I was more of a Nick Lachey girl.”
“Anyway,” Shelby said with a chuckle, “it doesn’t matter what you’d call it. You definitely have feelings for Beau that aren’t fake, and we all know it. You have to admit it’s risky to have him turn all that charm on you only to end it when the charade’s over.”
“How long are you going to fake date him?” Aria asked. “If it’s not a Mr. Fake Date thing, does that mean it’s more than just this one wedding?”
I shifted in my seat. “Well, it’ll be two weddings, I guess. And a nonexistent long-distance relationship after he leaves so Grandma will leave me alone about finding someone. And also… a little faking it for his dad because he made him a promise that he’d date someone for real instead of just pretending all the time.”
My friends and sister did not react well to that, Layla worst of all. “See? This is exactly what I’m worried about. He’s going to introduce you to his family and make you feel like you’re the one, but it’s all going to be for show. Can you really not see how that’s going to mess with your head?”
“Also,” Aria piped in, “without the Mr. Fake Date side of it, there’ll be no contract. And no contract means some of the stuff he usually avoids so it doesn’t get awkward won’t be there. Like the kissing clause.”
My lips tingled at the very thought of needing to kiss Beau for appearances and not having a little thing like a kissing clause in our way. Which was actually kind of mind-blowing considering the fact that as a general rule—I wasn’t a fan of kissing. But kissing Beau? For some reason it didn’t seem like it’d be much of a hardship.
But then I remembered the contract and shook my head. “No, we’re still having a contract. At my insistence, actually, so yeah. I do see how this could be a problem if I let it become one. But I won’t. Because we’ll have our rules, and no one will be dumb enough to break them.”
Layla sighed and pushed up from her chair. “I assume there’s no talking you out of this?”
“No, it’s already in the works. Beau sat with Grandma for ten minutes talking to her about what it’s like to work on the shooting range at the depot, and she’s completely obsessed with him.”
Who wouldn’t be?
“Fine. But you’d better keep me updated so I can try to sabotage it if I think you’re going to get hurt. I wouldn’t be your big sister if I didn’t try, anyway,” Layla said, heading for the steps. “All right, I should probably get back to my wedding before my husband worries he has a runaway bride on his hands.”
“If you were a runaway bride, wouldn’t you be a little late with the running away part?” I asked.
“Yeah, well, romance tropes are your deal, not mine,” she teased. “Aria, I love you, I wish you were able to be there, but give that sweet baby boy kisses from Auntie Layla.”
“I will,” Aria said with a laugh. “And I’ll tell him Auntie Layla will never let him forget that his arrival caused me to skip her wedding.”
“Good,” she replied.
Shelby and I stood too and hugged Aria before heading back to the wedding with our runaway bride. It’d been a brief visit, but a good one. Because the four of us wouldn’t be us if we didn’t come together during major life events.
And though Layla’s wedding was the main focus tonight, I couldn’t help feeling like there was something else pretty major about this arrangement with Beau. Whether or not that was a good thing, we’d soon find out.
