Page 48 of From Grumpy to Forever
He was trying to stay calm, but Jacob’s face was red when he finally sat back in his chair. “Not at all, cuz. There is no way in hell that you met and married a total stranger in under three weeks. And I’m here to prove it. This marriage is a total sham. Which means that you are in violation of the terms of the will. And the inn will be going up for sale by the end of the week.”
My hands clenched into fists at my sides, and I took a step toward the asshole, before Avery’s hand on my chest stopped me.
“Go.” She gave me a look. “I’ll see you later.”
I hated leaving her with him. Hell, I hated leaving her at all. A truth that was getting harder and harder to deny. But she was right. It would be better for everyone if I got some space.
For now.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Avery
The pile of weeds next to me was getting bigger, but the gardens didn’t look any more under control than they had when I started.
Still, digging in the dirt and yanking out weeds and overgrown shrubs was exactly the type of therapy I needed. At least, it should have been.
When Jacob decided to walk into town and spend the morning “exploring the town,” which I was certain was only code for “try to dig up dirt on me and my marriage to Reid,” I jumped at the opportunity to clear my head and get some work done.
The gardening should have been just the relaxing and mind-numbing work I needed to get some type of clarity because what I really needed was to figure out how to get Jacob to back off so everything could move forward the way it was supposed to.
My bills were piling up. A detail I hadn’t shared with Reid yet. Truthfully, it wouldn’t be a problem if I could just get the judge to sign off on the will and make the inn—and the inheritance I needed to pay for the renovations—official.
But if the judge didn’t sign off…I couldn’t let myself think of the complete and total personal ruin it would mean.
I stabbed the trowel in the dirt again as if it had personally offended me and dug around the base of a particularly stubborn weed.
Yes. I should be coming up with a solution for what to do about Jacob. But the only thing I could think of was Reid.
And the way we’d kissed last night. The way he’d touched me. The way he’d looked at me like he couldn’t go another second without having me.
Heat crept up my neck as I remembered how close I’d come to making a huge mistake—or maybe the best decision of my life.
No.
It wasn’t going to do any good to think about how we’d almost crossed the line of our fake marriage in every single way. And how I wished we had.
I’d tossed and turned all night, thinking about what could have happened if we hadn’t been interrupted.
But wasn’t it a good thing that we’d been interrupted when we had? Wouldn’t actually sleeping with my husband complicate the fact that our marriage was nothing more than an arrangement? Even if it felt more and more real with every passing minute.
Abandoning my trowel, I wrapped my hands around the base of the weed and tugged. It didn’t budge. “Come on!” I stabbed at it again with my tool before pulling once more. It moved a little, so I stood for more leverage and put all my weight behind the stubborn weed. “Come on, you little—oof!”
I landed hard on my ass on the lawn. The weed stood proudly in the garden, mocking me.
With a grunt, I stood, dusted my shorts off and headed for the porch. What I really wanted to do was sit on the swing and forget everything. But the empty chains dangling from the porch roof where the swing should be hanging only reminded me of how much work still needed to be done.
I fought back the urge to cry in frustration and reached instead for my cell phone that I’d left on the step.
I pushed the button to call my best friend. I didn’t even wait for a hello the second she picked up. “Tell me I’m not losing my mind.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “You know I can’t tell you that.” I scowled but she laughed. “What’s going on?”
“Besides taking on a project I can’t possibly do justice to, marrying a man I hardly know but can’t keep my hands off of, and my cousin showing up out of the blue on my doorstep trying to prove it’s all fake?” I blow out a breath. “Besides that, nothing.”
“Whoa.” It wasn’t a video call, but I could picture the look on my best friend’s face. “Go back. What about not being able to keep your hands off your husband? What’s that all about?”
“That’s what you want to hear about?” I shook my head before dropping it back and looking up to the sky. “Out of everything, you want to know about Reid?”
