Page 77 of The Fake Date (Brides of Beaufort 4)

“Great, sir, thanks.”

“Where’s Brett?” Lyndi asked.

I poked her side in a funnywhy do you care?kind of way, but she only pinched the back of my arm in return.

“He’s at the shop, running it for us this weekend,” Ms. Hattie explained. “He said one wedding was enough for him on this trip.”

Thatcher tugged on her arm. “Come on, Hattie, let’s go find me some food.”

“You got it,” she replied, then peered at us with a mischievous smile. “Have fun, lovebirds.”

We kept our phony smiles in place until they were gone, then I turned back to Lyndi. “You know the whole thing with Brett was a setup, right?”

“What? How so?”

“Apparently, we’ve had targets on our backs the whole time. She thought trying to set you up with him in front of me would push us together.”

Eyes wide, she slowly shook her head. “Wow. I should have known. Joke’s on her.”

Pain sliced through me, but I played it off. “Yeah. For real. And it’s a good thing we’re going to keep up the illusion after I leave. If she thinks she’s won, she won’t mess with you again.” I looked over my shoulder and laughed. “See? Look at her. She’s probably talking to whoever that is about her dating life.”

Lyndi followed my gaze and nodded. “That’s another one of my cousins, and you’re totally right. She probably is.”

“Everything’s running like clockwork. Allwehave to do is play our parts.”

Zac appeared behind Lyndi, waving to get my attention.

Frowning, I held up a finger to him before looking down at her. “I need to go see what Zac wants. You gonna be okay?”

“Yes, Beau. Your little magazine thing loosened me up. I’m good.”

“Okay, be right back.”

I crossed the grassy lawn to where Zac stood, nodding at him as I approached. “What’s up?”

“Hey. Are you doing what we talked about?” he asked, jerking his chin toward Lyndi.

“What, putting aside my wounded little heart and trying to have real feelings for her?”

He smirked. “Yes. That.”

“It’s not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because we talked last night, and she said some stuff… I don’t know, man. She said she gets why I don’t want to have a real relationship with her, given my history. And she doesn’t blame me.”

“Did you tell her it was too late? You already want to have a real relationship with her?”

I looked around, feeling oddly exposed. “No.”

“So, she still thinks this is all fake to you, even though it’s about a million miles from that?”

“I don’t know if I’d saya million. That’s a little extreme.”

He patted my shoulder. “Tell that to your face when you look at her.”

“When did you turn into such a sap, Zac?”