“Don’t start with me tonight, Finn,” she says, in a tone that means she’s teasing.
I grin because I can’t help myself. She’s too easy to bait, and I love every second of it.
“Too late, honey,” I say, cocking my head. “You married a troublemaker, remember?”
She pauses, and her shoulders tense, because her guard is slipping just enough to let that word sink in. She straightens on the couch.
Married. Fake or not, it’s still our status. I set my glass down and stood, crossing the room slowly and steadily, watching her watch me like she’s waiting for the punchline. But it never comes.
She crosses her arms, and clutches her journal to her chest like a shield.
“You know what I’ve been thinking?” I ask in a playful tone..
She raises a brow, pretending she’s not curious. “I’m afraid to ask,” she deadpans.
I stop right in front of her, close enough that I can see the gloss on her cherry red lips and the way she’s fidgeting with her pen again, as if it will calm her.
I don’t blink and blurt out, “I don’t want to fake this anymore.”
Her lips part, but no words come out. She laughs instead—a short, sharp sound, all defense.
“Oh, that’s rich,” she says, shaking her head. “Now you’re catching feelings?”
I pull her to me, so there’s no space left between us, nothing but the familiar ache in my heart and the need to take her here and now.
“Don’t act like I’m the only one feeling this,” I say, challenging her to admit she feels something.
“What are you saying, Finn?” Her large brown eyes meet mine, and I’m lost. So I do the only thing I can do.
“I’m saying I want this marriage to be real. I wantyou—no media, no exes, just us. I don’t want to pretend anymore.”
I can tell by the way she looks awaythat she’s scared. But I see something else this time. I saw a glint in her eye, and I know she’s tempted to say yes.
But, in my feisty wife’s true fashion, she asks, “And what happens when it all goes to hell?”
I can’t help but chuckle.There she goes, deflecting again. “Then we go down together, sweetheart.”
She lets out a nervous laugh, but the sound is sweet, and I hope it means she’s in a good mood.
“You’re a dangerous man, Finn Callahan.”
“So what’s it gonna be, Mrs. Callahan?” I ask, my voice steady but my heart pounding like hell. “Are you gonna take a chance on us?”
There’s a pregnant pause between us, then she gives me that cute Southern smile of hers that always turns my heart inside out.
“Sure,” she says, voice soft but sure. “But if we crash and burn, I’m writing a whole damn album about it.”
I grin, pulling her in and covering her pert little mouth with mine.
“I’ll take that risk.”
She has no idea I caught feelings for her the moment we met.
I think we’re going to be just fine.
29
KATE
