Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

“Emmerson—”

I shook my head. “We need to get one thing clear right now. I did not say we were engaged because I was jealous of that dipshit. I’m glad we broke up, and I never saw the relationship going anywhere with him. Have I been lonely? Of course. That doesn’t mean I want him back. I’ve been in a weird place the last few weeks, and I’m feeling…confused.”

More and more people joined us on the dance floor, but I ignored them. I didn’t even care if I wasn’t fake smiling or trying to look happy.

“It’s all of it,” I said. “Hailey announcing her wedding, Noah most likely on the verge of getting engaged to Amy. All my friends calling me to do their wedding planning. I guess tonight, when we ran into Jason and he started to brag, and then that witch of a fiancée started eye-fucking you, and then Jason said I was unable to love, I sort of lost my mind for a moment.”

Landon’s brows rose. “For a moment? You lost your whole goddamn mind, Emmerson. Have you forgotten about the money from the auction?”

With a sigh, I said, “You told me not to let her win. That one is your fault.”

“My fault?” he asked as he pushed me out into a spin and then pulled me back to him as someone danced by us.

“Congratulations, you two!” the older woman said with a bright smile.

Landon and I both smiled and said thank you at the same time.

“We can fix it. Everyone in this room will forget about it when some other juicy gossip comes along,” I stated. I firmly believed it too.

“It’s not just the people in this room, Emme. In case you forgot, there are reporters here. It’s probably already being published on the Internet as we speak. You already gained exposure today from the whole article in People magazine with the wedding you planned for that actress. Now add this bit of news and me sprinkled on top. It makes for a good little piece of gossip.”

I forced myself to sound more confident than I felt. “This will blow over in a week. Tops.”

Landon looked at me with an expression that said he wasn’t as sure. But right in that moment, I couldn’t think about our fake engagement or what our parents or the world might think. There was only one thing I could think about. Only one thing I wanted to think about.

That. Kiss.

Landon

THAT. KISS.

It was the only damn thing I could think about as the dance came to an end and people started to congratulate us or tell Emmerson what a lovely event it had been.

Somehow, Emmerson and I managed to avoid our parents, but Hailey and Mike finally cornered us behind the DJ booth about thirty minutes after my entire world was blown up with that kiss. After Hailey had a good round of laughter, she wiped her tears away and asked us how we planned on getting out of the mess we’d gotten ourselves into. I reminded her that it was Emmerson who had dug this hole, not me.

To which Hailey pulled out her phone and showed us the news articles that were already popping up. Both of us were tagged on Instagram, Twitter, and a plethora of other social media platforms that I didn’t even know existed.

It was everywhere. Emmerson pulled up her Instagram and gasped at all the messages she had. Then she checked her email and groaned.

My phone had started ringing right after the kiss. It rang again now, and when I looked at it, I saw Heidi’s name. Heidi McMurphy was my manager. The only time I ever heard from her was if we had an offer from an old sponsor of mine to do an ad or make an appearance. I was still under contract with a few companies, and every now and then they would ask me to do a commercial or NASCAR would want me to do guest commentary. It wasn’t often that she reached out, especially since I had left racing over a year ago. But she’d called me at least three times already tonight. I didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out she’d already heard—and seen—the news.

“Fuck, Heidi keeps calling,” I said as I glanced out at the ballroom. Things were starting to wind down as more and more people left for the night. Any moment now, I would find Malcolm walking up to me, fists clenched at his sides and a look of pure anger on his face. Especially if he’d seen me kiss his daughter like that. I never meant for the kiss to be so…

So what? Intense? Mind-blowing? So fucking amazing my cock had yet to go down?

“Fuck,” I mumbled once again, threading my fingers through my hair.