Page 14 of Grimm County Wishes (Grimm County Lawmen #4)

D amn, that was harder than he thought it would be. The one month separation should have been the hard part. But no, seeing her again and not being able to take her to bed and tell her how much he loved and missed her—that was the hardest part.

But it was stupid to feel that way. What bothered her was the awkwardness of being friends after she’d spent a night wrapped around his dick. No heartbreak. No soul crushing sadness. Just a twinge of discomfort.

Maybe he’d held out a bit of hope that she had changed her mind.

That she wanted more than one night with him.

That their time meant more to her than a casual fuck fueled by alcohol and a wedding.

But no. She was ready to shut the door on their relationship entirely.

He wasn’t surprised that he could be so easily cast aside, given his own mother had done the same.

Well, fuck that. He’d promised Ben that he would look after his sister, and she wasn’t getting rid of him so easily.

If he was being friend-zoned, so be it. He had ten women who wanted to date him so badly they were willing to do it en masse .

Al snorted. As if he’d ever be okay with his girlfriend dating a bunch of other men at the same time.

He was going to get through the next six weeks of taping the world’s stupidest show.

He’d done his research. Well, he’d talked to Marina.

The woman had watched every dating show ever made and knew what made the bachelors either loved or hated.

And more importantly, what type of female contestants made the show worth watching and which ones were snooze worthy.

He would be a perfect gentleman. Treat the women with respect.

Keep one mean girl to stir the pot, but pay a lot of attention to the sweet ones.

Lots of kissing to keep the viewers guessing who he would choose in the end.

Okay, maybe Marina didn’t suggest that part.

But he had to do something to get Jeannie off his mind, even though the thought of making out with someone else made his stomach turn.

But he’d also researched exposure therapy. Again, the term research might be a bit of a stretch, but he did read the first few lines that came up in Google, and it seemed that if he wanted to get over Jeannie, hooking up with a lot of other women was the way to do it .

And the show would become so popular that money would no longer be a problem for them.

The new attorney would get Ben’s conviction overturned and Al could leave town knowing he’d fulfilled his debt.

And if he did that with a new fiancée by his side, even better.

Surely, he wouldn’t still be pining over someone else when he was engaged?