Page 12 of For the Promise (The Raider Brothers #2)

“Welp. That wasn’t awkward at all.” ~ Blossom

Blossom

A s I carry my suitcase toward my car, Jaxon drives up in his vintage Mustang and parks next to me. I open my trunk and place my suitcase in it.

He steps out of his car. “What are you doing?”

I frown at him. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m putting my suitcase in my trunk.”

“You’re not driving.”

I rear back. “Excuse me?”

“We’re driving together.”

“I can drive myself.”

“Won’t it seem odd to Alan if we show up separately since we’re supposed to be married?”

Flying seals. He’s right. I bend to pick up my suitcase but he nudges me out of the way. “I’ve got it.”

“Are you going to be a gentleman all weekend?”

“Of course. You’re my wife. A man should be a gentleman to his wife. ”

I wish other men thought the way he does.

“I’m only pretending to be your wife,” I say, since I need the reminder that this isn’t real. This is fake. Jaxon doesn’t care about me. He’s helping me out because he’s a good guy. As evidenced by him putting my suitcase in his trunk.

“Why is your suitcase this heavy?”

Probably because I put every nice outfit I own in it. I need to make sure I have an outfit for every occasion. I will not get caught out in ratty jeans. Not this girl.

“It’s a mystery,” I claim as I reach for the car handle.

Jaxon bats my hand out of the way. “I open the door for you.”

I hold up my hands. “Don’t expect to hear me complain. You want to spoil me? Spoil away.”

“I enjoy spoiling you,” he says before shutting the door.

Weird. He didn’t sound as if he was playing a role. He’s good at this acting thing. I didn’t expect the nerdy whiskey distiller to be a good actor.

“Were you in drama club in high school?” I ask as we drive away from my apartment building.

“Drama club? I did not have time for drama club.”

He must be a natural born actor. Good to know.

I peruse the invitation as we drive. “An entire wedding weekend is over the top, don’t you think?”

“You don’t want a wedding weekend?”

I scrunch up my nose in distaste. “A welcome lunch for the guests, an afternoon wine tasting, a Friday night dinner followed by karaoke, spa day Saturday, the actual wedding, wedding party with dinner and dancing, and a Sunday champagne brunch. It’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

“What would your ideal wedding be?”

I stare out the window as I contemplate the answer. “I’ve always imagined getting married barefoot on the beach. The only people in attendance would be my closest friends.”

“No family?”

My heart spasms. I would dearly love my parents to be in attendance. But they’re gone.

I wish they’d lived long enough for me to wise up and ditch Alan. Mom always disliked him, and Dad didn’t trust him. I thought they were overreacting. They weren’t.

“No family,” I whisper.

He catches my hand and squeezes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

I cling to his hand. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

No one on Smuggler’s Hideaway knows. I haven’t told my friends about my parents. If I did, I’d have to explain all the rest about Alan as well and I’m not ready to admit how stupid I was.

“We’re here,” Jaxon says as we pull into the resort. He parks but he doesn’t get out. He swivels to meet my gaze. “Are you sure you want to be here?”

I roll my eyes. “Kind of late now, isn’t it?”

“No. It’s not. If you want to leave, we leave. It’s really quite simple.”

To him, it probably is simple. But not to me. If I prove to Alan I’m married, he’ll realize he doesn’t have a chance to win the lawsuit and drop it. I’m more than ready for the dark cloud of this lawsuit to move away and let sun shine on my life again.

“I want to be here.”

“Okay.” He nods.

I sit still as he rounds the front of the vehicle and comes to open my door. He offers me his hand and I accept.

A zap of electricity hits me when we touch. Judging by Jaxon’s widened eyes, he feels it, too. Sexual tension fills the air as we stare at each other.

“Do you need help with your bags?” A porter asks and – pop! – there goes the tension.

While Jaxon helps the porter with the bags, I make my way inside to the reception desk.

“I’m Wesley,” the man behind the desk introduces himself. “How can I assist you this morning?”

“Checking in. The reservation should be under the name Raider.”

Checking in under Jaxon’s name makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. How would it feel to add his name to mine permanently? And not as some ruse to fool my ex?

“We have you in one of our garden chalets,” Wesley says.

“Chalet?” Alan whistles and I nearly jump. I didn’t hear him approach. “It’s a good thing we negotiated a discount for our wedding guests.”

Jaxon slings an arm around my shoulders and draws me near. “A discount? We didn’t get a discount.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Wesley says. “It doesn’t say you’re part of the wedding party in your reservation. I can add the discount now.”

“It’s fine,” Jaxon says. “I forgot to say we’re attending the wedding when I made the reservation.”

Wesley hands him two key cards. “Here are your keys, Mr. and Mrs. Raider.”

“Raider?” Alan raises his brow. “You said you’d never take a man’s last name.”

Jaxon kisses my forehead. “Funny. She never mentioned changing her name as a problem to me.”

He’s good. Who knew Jaxon, the nerd, would excel at being a fake husband? I wonder if he’d excel at being a real one.

Whoa. Where did that thought come from?

Concentrate on the present, Blossom. You’ve got enough issues without adding pining for your fake husband to the list.

Alan nods to my left hand. “But she wouldn’t wear your ring either.”

Jaxon sighs. “My petal doesn’t like to wear rings.” He frowns at my bare finger. “But I won’t stop trying until she’s wearing my ring.”

I nearly shiver at the conviction in his voice. I might need to wear a chastity belt this weekend because there is no way I’m not jumping Jaxon if he continues this possessive gentleman routine.

“Maybe you haven’t figured out the best way to persuade me yet,” I tease .

Jaxon’s eyes flare and butterflies erupt in my stomach. I am playing with fire here and I don’t care. Let the flames burn me down. It’ll be worth it to taste Jaxon again.

“A dare,” he grumbles. “You know how much I enjoy a dare.”

Alan clears his throat but I ignore him. I’m too busy being ensnared by ocean blue eyes to care about my ex. He tries again – this time much louder – and the moment is ruined.

“I’ll see you two later. I need to speak to the owner, Hudson Clark.” Alan smirks as he drops the name. Am I supposed to be impressed?

He starts toward Hudson but the former NFL player is already heading in our direction. Alan holds out his hand in greeting but Hudson passes him by and stops in front of us.

“Jaxon. I heard you were staying here this weekend.”

They clap hands.

“Have you met my wife?” Jaxon asks.

Hudson’s eyes light with amusement. Does he know the truth?

“Blossom, right? You work at the brewery.”

Alan snorts from where he’s lurking behind Hudson. “The brewery.”

“The brewery where my wife also works,” Hudson says in a loud voice.

Alan cringes at the rebuttal but it doesn’t stop him for long. “Excuse me, Hudson. I have some questions about this weekend’s activities. ”

“Terri will be happy to help you,” Hudson says without bothering to look at him.

I bite my tongue before I burst into laughter at Alan’s sour face. His nostrils flare as he glares at Hudson’s back. He waits a few beats before finally stomping off.

“Is he gone?” Hudson whispers.

I erupt in laughter. “His face when you ignored him. I will love you forever for how you treated him.”

Jaxon growls and I pet his chest to calm him without thinking.

Hudson’s gaze flicks to my hand and I drop it. Oops. No touching the fake husband when not strictly necessary. Although, I’m the one who decides what’s ‘strictly necessary’.

“This is going to be fun,” Hudson says before stalking off.

Jaxon drops his arm from around me. I immediately miss his touch. But then he catches my hand.

“Let’s go find our chalet and get settled, Petal.”

“Petal? Where does the nickname Petal come from?”

He shrugs. “Blossom. Petal. Seems obvious.”

“A flower theme? I can live with it.”

“What’s your favorite flower?” he asks as we make our way out of the building and start walking the path toward the chalets.

“Tulips. I thought you hated small talk.”

“Getting to know you isn’t small talk,” he says and I nearly melt .

Maybe pretending to be married to Jaxon for a weekend wasn’t such a good idea after all. Because I don’t know how long I can resist this gentleman act before I jump him.

I blow out a breath. No jumping your fake husband, Blossom. No matter how possessive and sweet he acts. It’s not real. He’s pretending.