Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

“Christ Almighty. That’s a lot of people,” I stated as I stared out at the crowd.

Emmerson gripped my hand tighter and moved in closer to me. It wasn’t like I hadn’t ever been to bars or nightclubs before, and I knew Emmerson had as well. It was just that this place was packed full of people, and it had already been a long-ass night. I was honestly exhausted.

Hailey and Mike soon slipped into the crowd of people dancing.

Emmerson took a sip of her cranberry and vodka and glanced around. “This really isn’t my thing anymore.”

I nodded, watching a guy and girl kiss each other like they were trying to eat each other’s mouths off. Yeah, this scene wasn’t one I missed. I looked at Emmerson. “Mine either.”

She smiled. “Would you mind if we left and walked back to the hotel? I don’t know what I was thinking, agreeing to come. Honestly, I’m exhausted after this crazy night we’ve had.”

“Of course, Emme.”

After trying to find my sister and Mike for fifteen minutes, we gave up and sent them both a text that we were heading back to the hotel.

We walked back mostly in silence. I wanted to ask Emmerson what was going through her brain. We’d kissed three times already, and my body felt like it was humming. The moment I got to my room, I was either going to take a cold shower or get myself off. Most likely it would be the latter while I thought about how Emmerson’s lips felt on mine.

“Do you think we can do this, Landon?”

“Which part? Pulling off being fake engaged, or exploring this thing between us?”

She stopped right outside the hotel lobby door. She looked up and her eyes met mine. “The engagement part. Do you think my mother is right? Do you think I’ll lose sight of things and get carried away?”

I pulled her to me and hugged her. My heartbeat kicked up when I realized that she wasn’t questioning what was happening between us, only worried about the stupid fake engagement. “No, I don’t think you will. And if you start to, I’ll gently remind you.”

She wrapped her arms around me and held on tightly. “Thank you, Landon. I know I put you in a weird spot.”

I drew back and looked at her. “A weird spot? No, you didn’t, Emme. If anything, I’m sorta glad it all happened. I wouldn’t have been able to kiss you tonight had you not opened your big mouth at the auction.”

She smacked me on the chest. “You told me not to let her win!”

Laughing, I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “That I did.”

I wrapped my arm around her waist and led her into the hotel. As we walked through the lobby, I looked around, but not a single person was paying any attention to us. Even for as late as it was, there was still a number of people about. Of course, it was downtown Austin, so that wasn’t a real surprise. A part of me wished we had gone back to Waco tonight. I wanted to be back in Emmerson’s house, on her sofa making out.

I closed my eyes and nearly groaned. Yeah, I was for sure going to need to relieve my aching dick.

“What’s wrong?” Emmerson asked.

I shook my head and looked at her. With a wink, I replied, “Nothing. I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”

She nodded, and we both stepped into the elevator. Another couple stood off to one side, and they smiled at us as we walked in.

“Here on business or vacation?” the older gentleman asked.

“Business,” Emmerson and I both said at the same time.

The older woman frowned and pouted her lips some. “Well, hopefully you’ll be able to enjoy the city. We love Austin. It’s changed over the years, but it still has its romantic spots. I hope you can visit them!”

We both smiled. It wasn’t the first time someone had mistaken us for a couple, but now things were different. We were a couple, weren’t we? The lines were so fucking blurred, I wasn’t even sure what to think at this point. We were in a fake engagement, but we were also secretly dating.

Why did that suddenly sound so insane? Maybe we should have come clean with our folks? Then again, it was already hard enough to figure things out without them butting into our business.

“We’re not far—we live in Waco,” Emmerson said as the elevator dinged, indicating we were at our floor.

The couple told us to enjoy our evening and waved as we stepped out of the elevator and headed to our rooms.

“Honestly, it’s going to be easy playing at this whole engagement thing,” Emmerson stated with a bit of confidence in her voice.

I nodded and looked down at her hand as we walked up to her door. “So I guess we’re calling it a night?” I asked, picking up her left hand and kissing the back of it. Her nostrils seemed to flare when I touched her, and her eyes turned slightly darker.