Paper Marriage Proposition (Gage Brothers 1)

Very admirable and smart of him. But now she glanced worriedly at Landon and saw that he smiled at the group, an arrogant lilt of his lips that made his eyes turn to ice.

“If the good doctor’s smart about it, he’ll wish us well,” he said, and with a nod, signaled to another reporter in a move that granted him the next question.

“Miss Lewis, how did you two meet?”

She spoke quickly, grateful at how easy the answer came. “We met at a benefit. Just one peek at this man and I was done for.” Landon smiled at her, and her stomach tumbled.

“Mr. Gage, after so many years a widowed bachelor, why marry now?”

Landon’s sudden frown indicated he thought the questioner may, just may, be a little bit stupid.

After allowing this reaction to sink in among the reporters, he spread an arm out toward Beth. “Take a good look at her, gentlemen, and tell me what healthy red-blooded American male wouldn’t be honored to have this woman at their side?”

Hoots and a “Right on, Landon!” spread across the group, and a few other questions came up, to which he and Beth easily responded. Did he think she was beautiful? When she was young, she’d been thought beautiful by boys. But now? After Hector?

A few other questions came her way, and Beth tried to keep the mood light and happy, following Landon’s cue and wry jokes. Then Landon nodded at a young man she’d heard was a famous celebrity/social-scene blogger.

“Any hints on where you’ll be honeymooning?” the man asked.

“Somewhere quiet,” Landon replied with a cool smile, and another round of flashes exploded.

“Mrs. Gage, how do you feel about the wedding?”

This time the microphone was held out to Landon’s mother, who stood a few feet behind them, and Beth’s spirits sunk. Her future mother-in-law would ha

te her. What woman who witnessed their son being dragged to war wouldn’t?

They’d been introduced just hours ago and Beth had felt like the proverbial bug under the woman’s silver-handled loupe. But Mrs. Gage had class, and she said with a regal tilt of her head, “I’m thrilled to have another woman in the family. We haven’t had much time to talk, but I can already tell Beth and I have a lot in common.”

Like what? Landon? Beth wondered.

A reporter next turned to Garrett. “How about you, Garrett, any thoughts on your new sister-in-law?”

Garrett made a mischievous face that sparked up an attractive glint in his eye. “Regret that Lan saw her first.”

The reporters laughed, and Beth jumped in, suddenly inspired. “Actually, I spotted him first.”

Landon smiled at her, pulled her close to his side, and her stomach went crazy again. Within moments, Landon waved the press off, insisting they end the session. “Last shot, guys.”

“How about a kiss from the couple.”

He ignored the suggestion and let them take another round of pictures, still holding her, but only lightly.

“Kiss her, Mr. Gage,” another reporter encouraged.

He smiled sharply, and swiftly handed her a glass of champagne—and they drank to more flashes.

Though they both continued to smile, something sizzled between them.

Beth heard a chorus of requests begin and hated how silly, how predictable, how absurd it was to be asked to kiss someone you really had no reason to be kissing.

The chorus rose to a crescendo all of a sudden, deafening her clamoring heartbeat. “Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!”

Her color rose as Landon took her champagne flute and set it aside. “Well, Beth.”

It was inevitable.

“If there are any doubts left, we might as well dispel them.”