Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

“About damn time you two got here. Get checked in and then meet us at the bar,” my father barked before he turned and marched back into the hotel.

Landon helped me out of the limo, and we both watched my father stalk away. I felt like I was ten years old again and had been caught sneaking the horses out to go for a ride with Landon.

We exchanged a look before Landon said, “I’ll get the bags. You go ahead and check in.”

Emmerson

WITH ANOTHER MIND-BLOWING kiss seared into my memory, I fought to regain some composure as Landon grabbed our bags and I walked into the hotel. Hailey and Mike were walking away from the front desk, each wearing a shit-eating grin on their face. I loved Hailey like a sister, but for some reason, tonight I wanted to scream at her. Maybe it was because she’d been right. After that second kiss, there was no denying that there was something between me and Landon. We just needed to figure out what it was. And what to do about it.

It didn’t take Landon long to catch up with me. Probably because I walked slowly to the front counter, since the idea of having to tell my folks I’d screwed up tonight was not really high up on my priority list right now. “Landon, do I look okay? I mean, it doesn’t look like we…like we…”

His eyes softened, “You look beautiful, Emme. Like always.”

After Landon and I checked in at the desk, we headed to the elevator and up to the twenty-third floor.

“Is anyone else on this floor with us?” I wasn’t sure why I asked. Or maybe I knew but refused to admit it to myself.

He looked at me. “I’m not sure.”

The elevator doors opened and Hailey stood there with a knowing smile on her face. “Fancy meeting the two of y’all here!”

“Not now, Hailey,” Landon said as he walked past his sister and made his way to the right. “Your room is over here, Emme.”

I followed him after shooting a look at Hailey. I had a feeling she’d somehow arranged to have Landon and me on the same floor. “Are you on this floor as well?” I asked.

She laughed. “No. I’m on the nineteenth and our folks are on the twenty-eighth.”

Well, that answered my question.

“Funny how Emmerson and I are on the same floor, and you happened to be here waiting for us,” Landon stated as he looked back over his shoulder at her.

Hailey feigned surprised. “Isn’t it, though?”

“Hailey,” I warned.

Landon stopped at my room, and I placed the keycard to the reader. Once the door opened I walked in, with Hailey hot on my heels and Landon bringing up the rear. He set my bag on the king-size bed.

“Look at that view!” I gasped, taking in the lights of Austin while Hailey and Landon stood on either side of me.

“You bitch, you got a better view than me.” Then Hailey laughed. “What am I saying? I doubt I’ll be spending my time looking out the window. More like the ceiling.”

Landon groaned, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. Hailey always did know how to lighten any mood.

“I’m two rooms down, Emme,” Landon said. “Text me after you’ve changed, and we can talk before we head to the bar.”

I nodded and walked with him to the door. Before he fully walked out, he turned around and looked at me. For a moment, I thought maybe he was going to kiss me again, but then he glanced back into the room and frowned at the sight of his sister. “Text me when you’re ready for me to come back.”

The second the door clicked, Hailey launched into a million questions.

“What took y’all so long to get here? Did he kiss you again? Did he admit any feelings for you? What in the world were you thinking when you said y’all were engaged?”

I brought my fingers to my temples and moaned. “I can’t deal with this right now, Hailey. I’ve gotten us into a real jam here, and we have to figure this all out. Even if we do have…er…if either of us did have feelings for one another, we need to work through this first. You don’t go from best friends to engaged and then to being together. It’s all backwards.”

She nodded as she chewed on her lower lip. “I guess you’re right. Are you upset with me for telling you I thought he had feelings for you?”

Our eyes met, and I slowly shook my head. “No, I’m glad you said something. I think you might be right.”

Hailey smiled and rotated her finger as she said, “Turn around, let me help you out of this dress.”

She worked in silence as she unzipped the gown and then went and opened my bag.

“I had to tell you, Emme. I could tell your own feelings for Landon had changed.”