Bear's Fake Bride (Shifter Marriage Service 2)

She turned to find him opening the pack he had taken off his back and rolling out a blanket on the ground beside a large flat rock that sat almost in the center of the open space. He sat out two wine glasses and a bottle of red as she looked on.

“Care for some wine?” he asked, waving dramatically toward the setup.

“Sounds lovely,” she replied, taking a seat on the blanket while he uncorked and poured the wine.

“No time to let it breathe, but it should be okay,” he said.

“I’m sure it will be,” she replied uncertainly. “Is there an occasion?”

“I guess it is just my way of thanking you for everything. You’ve been very accommodating with what I needed to pull this off,” he told her, handing her a glass of wine.

“You paid me a large fee to do just that,” she reminded him.

“I know, but you still have taken it all in stride. You even took up with Walter there at the end. I can’t tell you how much easier you must have made it for him in a way that I couldn’t.”

“He seemed like a good man.”

“He was,” Bradley said, a sadness in his voice she had not noticed before.

“Well, I suppose it all worked out for everyone. You have the ranch and everything that goes with it and I’ve been paid. When this is all over, we can both move on to whatever unfolds for us next.”

“Yes. Do you have any idea where you will go?”

“No. Not yet. I’ve tried to look at places, but it’s a lot like just throwing a dart at a map.”

“You know, you could stay on if you wanted.”

Kay sipped her wine, buying a moment of time before responding. Staying had never been a part of their deal and to do so would surely mean remaining fake married to him. Otherwise, things would look quite odd.

“You mean what? Adding extra months to my contract?”

“No. I mean, staying on and maybe trying to see if we might be something more than a business deal.”

Kay studied his face for a moment, he was looking at her, watching for her reaction. She wondered if he would misinterpret the stricken look she must possess as she tried to process where he was going with this.

“I’m sorry. We never...I mean, we haven’t,” she stammered, trying to find the right words.

Bradley reached out, taking her glass from her and sitting it on the rock beside them, along with his. He leaned across the blanket and pulled her toward him, his lips finding hers and pulling her into a deep kiss that sent chills down her spine.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while now,” he said. “I hope it was okay.”

“I...I, I don’t know. I mean, yes. I mean, I don’t understand,” she rambled.

“The first thing I noticed about you was how beautiful you are. I know that is shallow, but you’re so stunning. Then, I realized just how down to earth and sweet you are. You try to put up a cold front, but you’re not very good at it. I could see just how thoughtful you truly are in the way you stayed with Walter so much and the love you put into decorating the house.”

“I was just trying to make him more comfortable, where I could.”

“No. It was more than that. You cared about him and he could feel that. He adored you. I was so ashamed when he told me that he was so proud I’d found someone so wonderful to be my wife.”

“Because you knew it was a lie.”

“Yes.”

“But you chose to con him into believing you were marrying, starting a family. It wasn’t accidental.”

“No. I just didn’t realize how bad I would feel about it once I’d done it.”

“Is that why you want to give this a real try? You feel like you owe some sort of truth to Walter?” she asked.

“What? No. Of course not. I am drawn to you in a way that baffles me. It’s a lot more than just your beauty. I’ve been around beautiful women all my life and not given them a second glance. I’ve been broken for a very long time.”

“But why?”

“No. Not today. I don’t want today to be about my past pains. Today is about us. I want to just enjoy being together without having any pretenses to keep up, for other people or between ourselves. Does that sound like something you might want too?”

“Yes. It does,” she said, not a hint of stammer or hesitation this time.

“I’m relieved to hear you say that,” he said, exhaling heavily. “I was afraid that I was overstepping my bounds and you’d want nothing to do with me beyond your agreement.”

“And if I hadn’t?”

“I’d have honored that decision. I still would,” he said, picking up his wine and handing her the one he had taken from her. He held up his glass toward her. “Here’s a toast to us-to what may or may not be.”