Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

The absurd statement made me stumble, but Landon was right there, and he covered it up so effortlessly, you’d think it was on purpose. He pulled me closer to his body, and for a moment, I forgot what we were even talking about. Oh, that’s right. Jealousy.

“I’m not jealous. I don’t even care that Jason’s getting married!” I whisper-shouted. It was harder to do that when you had to keep a smile on your face and all you wanted to do was scream.

Landon’s smile faded, and he rolled his eyes.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Not jealous, my ass. If you weren’t bothered that he was getting married, you wouldn’t have popped off with the ridiculous lie in the first place.”

I tried to ignore the way those words felt like they ripped at my heart. “It’s not like that at all, Landon. I don’t have any feelings for him anymore. None. He made me mad. He said I wasn’t capable of being in love. That’s why I said that.”

Landon spun us around as he let out a bark of laughter. He didn’t seem convinced as his eyes looked back at someone.

“Who do you keep looking at?” I asked, feeling real jealousy once again.

“Your ex. He keeps staring at us.”

I exhaled. “I don’t care about him. Landon, what are we going to do now?”

“Nothing.”

I widened my eyes as I laughed. “Nothing? The entire ballroom full of people thinks we’re engaged, including our parents.”

He let out a humorless laugh. “Trust me, our parents do not think we’re engaged.”

“Well, you didn’t see the look on my father’s face then.”

His eyes went back to the same spot, and this time I looked to confirm it was Jason he was glaring at.

“For fuck’s sake, Landon. I do not have feelings for him. Why can’t you believe me? It was a stupid, crazy thing to do, but I’m tired of everyone else getting…” My voice trailed off as I saw the way Landon was looking at me.

Suddenly and without warning, Landon leaned down and kissed me. Not a friendly peck on the cheek or lips, or the cute little forehead kisses he often gave me. He full-on kissed me.

And oh my word, what a kiss it was.

It didn’t take long to open up to him. The feeling of his warm breath caused a rush of electricity as his tongue found mine. I couldn’t help myself, I moaned. He growled low in the back of his throat and pulled me closer. Before I knew what I was doing, I brought my hands up and curled them around his neck. I laced my fingers through his thick hair, and I fought the urge to tug him even closer. God, I wanted to crawl into his body and get lost in there. The way my body naturally reacted to his both surprised me and made me fall easier into the kiss.

It was the most sensual kiss I had ever experienced. The way his mouth moved against mine was rough, yet sweet. Demanding, yet sensitive. My Lord, the man could kiss. When he pulled away, I was left dizzy and nearly panting for more. Landon wrapped his arm around my waist tighter to hold me up.

“There, that should convince him—if that was actually what you wanted to do.”

I gave my head a small shake, his words not making any sense. “What do you mean?”

“Jason. I assume you said we were engaged to make him jealous. We just gave him something more to be jealous about.”

I felt my mouth fall open. For the first time in my life, Landon did something I never thought he’d ever do. He broke my heart. Maybe not a full-on breaking, but I still felt it crack like I had never experienced before. I could instantly feel tears in my eyes.

He looked down at me and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“That was why you kissed me?”

The line between his eyes grew deeper. “Did you think I kissed you for another reason?”

Suddenly I felt like a stupid fool. For one brief moment, I had thought we’d shared something. Was that the way he kissed all women? Was I no different?

I pushed against him, needing to be free from his hold. I couldn’t push very hard though considering I didn’t want to cause a scene.

He held me tighter, and I could see the concern in his eyes. “Emme, talk to me.”

For once, I decided to be honest. Not only with myself, but him as well. “Yes. Yes, Landon, I did think there might be another reason.”

“What?” he asked, his voice sounding strained and just as confused as I felt.

I shook my head and pulled back from him some. “Never mind, it clearly doesn’t matter because you didn’t feel what I felt in that kiss.”

I hated how my voice sounded so weak. I was tired and ready to leave this stupid charity event. My part was over, and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for days.