Strip Search (Tap That)

Mostly though, she couldn’t concentrate. She kept glancing over at the bed and wishing Axl were sprawled out on it, naked.

His house had surprised her. Much to her delight, it had been very clean and tidy. Sure, lacking in décor and a woman’s touch, but it wasn’t stark either. It was organized and masculine. It made her like him even more.

Which was a lot.

She called Zach. “I slept with him,” she said by way of greeting.

“Good. Because I wasn’t going to be able to be your friend anymore if you didn’t bang a hot cop when you had a chance.”

Leighton rolled her eyes. “You’re a total liar.”

“Was it worth it? Was it good?”

“Well.” She took a deep breath. She had to tell Zach because if she didn’t and he found out later he would most likely never forgive her. “It was amazing. As a matter of fact, it was the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“Of course it was. It’s the thrill of him being a cop, a fake stripper, the country air. You feeling sassy and dangerous by lying to everyone.”

“Why do you make me sound so pathetic? Like I’ve never had an ounce of adventure in my life.”

“How often do you have sex with men you just met and then pretend to marry him on TV? The sex could have sucked and you would convince yourself it didn’t.”

She had to call bullshit on that. “Oh, no, you can’t convince me of that. This sex was fantastic. Multiple orgasms. Against the wall.” She felt hot just remembering it. “I want to do it again and again and again.”

Zach sounded gleeful. “Yum. So how long do you get to enjoy this paragon of the penis? When do you fake break up?”

“We just need to fake it until the episode films, which is in six days. Or five, depending on if you include Saturday or not.” Her cheeks felt warm. That was a lot of sex. “Honestly, we haven’t discussed a plan for afterward. I guess we need to.” Yikes. She hadn’t thought that far enough. Her brain had been stuck on sex and filming.

“Are you sure you can stand up there and pretend to marry someone?”

“It’s going to be totally fine,” she said. But the waver in her voice gave her away. Thinking about the wedding gave her a niggle of concern. She was sitting at the desk in her hotel room and she swiveled in the chair, swallowing hard. Admitting that out loud was out of the question. “I thought you of all people would be think this is a lark and I should just roll with it.”

“I know you, that’s why. You’re falling for him,” Zach said flatly. “You were right. I was wrong. You said you couldn’t hookup without attaching and I pushed and now you’ve lost your mind. Now you’re having some bridal fantasy that if you fake marry him, he’ll for real marry you.”

“I am not!” That had never once entered her mind. In fact, the very concept astonished her.

But now that he’d brought it up, the idea was just a little appealing. If she was going to get married someday, Axl would be a perfect fit. He was thoughtful and strong, and into the quieter pursuits in life, like her. He thought she was gorgeous.

No. Stop it, Leighton.

She could not go there.

Not a ball gown, but a mermaid style. That’s what she wanted to wear when she stood across from Axl.

Damn it. She’d already gone there. Zach was right.

Old Glory roses. That’s what she should carry. It was her love of roses and Axl’s military background merged.

Of course she had fantasized about her own wedding she’d have one day. She worked on a wedding show. She had just never pictured her groom as a hot guy with shoulders so broad he could pick her up and carry her around like it was no big deal.

It was lust crashing into like mixing with a hefty dose of longing for a fairy tale.

Leighton rubbed her forehead and told Zach, “You need to fly to Minnesota for my wedding. I may need an intervention.”

Eight

It was a risk telling the guys the truth, but they’d been through a lot with him. He could not look Sullivan, Jesse, and Rick in the eye if he lied to them about the true nature of his relationship with Leighton.

Brandon wasn’t there, unfortunately. He only made it in from Chicago a few times a year.