“Well, we did it.”
She looked over at Knox who was sitting in the driver’s seat of his truck, his hands resting lightly on the steering wheel as he stared out the window.
They had just said their goodbyes to Sonny and Cora and now they were alone again, this time as husband and wife, when just the day before they had been employer and employee. Two people who were developing a friendship but who didn’t really know each other all that well.
“Yes, we certainly did,” Genevieve agreed, twisting the odd-feeling gold band around and around on her finger. She didn’t wear jewelry—not even earrings. Now she had this ring on her finger that she was supposed to wear all the time?
Knox took a deep breath in through his nose and then let it out slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him staring at the new ring on his finger.
“What now?” she asked him. The postnuptial euphoria, with Sonny and Cora and a small group of strangers walking the path by Stillwater River clapping and cheering for them, had subsided. When she had let her ego dictate her decisions, when she had thought this whole thing was a lark, this moment didn’t feel like a real possibility. And yet, here she sat, in a wedding dress in Lawrence Park as Mrs. Knox Crawford.
In the quiet of the truck, with only the distant sound of children playing on a playground, her stomach rumbled. The loud sound made her laugh and it made Knox look over at her with a smile. She had felt too sick with nervous tension to eat when she was at the diner that morning, but now that the deed was done and she was officially wed, she was feeling famished. Hungrier perhaps than she had ever felt before in her life.
“Hungry?” Her husband—wow, that was weird—kept on smiling at her.
Her hands went to her stomach. “Starving. You?”
“I can always eat,” he said. “What are you hungry for?”
“Barbecue.”
“In that white dress?”
“Why not?” She made a face at him. “I’ll put on a bib. I don’t care.”
Knox studied her face in a way that made heat come to her cheeks.
“I knew you were my kind of woman,” he said as he turned the ignition key. “Any place in particular?”
“DeSoto Grill is my favorite.”
“Then DeSoto Grill it shall be.” Knox shifted into Drive. “A woman should have exactly what she wants on her wedding day.”
Knox found a parking space on 1st Street and turned off the engine. But he didn’t move right away to get out of the truck. Instead, he wanted to put Genevieve at ease. This whole marriage-by-bet, his idea to thwart his father and establish himself in his father’s eyes as a full-grown man had been a whirlwind for both of them. Yesterday he came up with an outrageous plan and today they were married. It was enough to make anyone’s head spin with crazy thoughts.
“Do you know what I think?” He turned his body toward his bride.
“Huh?”
“I think that I like you, Genevieve Lawrence.”
“That’s Genevieve Crawford to you,” she said with a teasing tone.
Knox laughed. Gen had always made him laugh, from the first day they had met.
“My apologies. I think that I like you, Mrs. Crawford.”
“Well, that’s good, Knox, because you’re stuck with me until Viv manages to hog-tie your last three brothers. And neither one of us knows how long that will be.” Genevieve rolled her eyes and shook her head, and under her breath she added, “Leap before you look.”
“What I’m trying to say is that I always liked your company when you came out to the Ambling A.”
She sent him a small smile for his trouble.
“And you seemed to like mine...?”
That garnered him a nod.
“So, why don’t we just have fun with this?” he asked her. “Why not just keep on enjoying each other’s company, keep on being friends?”
“Okay,” Genevieve replied, her tanned exposed shoulders lifting up into a quick shrug.
“So you agree with me.” He wasn’t used to the women in his past being so easy to get along with.
“I just said so, didn’t I?” She frowned. “Now, can I eat?”
“Yes.” He laughed, wanting to reach out and squeeze her hand affectionately. He had wanted to ask Genevieve out on a date and now, oddly, he didn’t have to ask her because he had married her.
When he came around to her side of the truck, Genevieve had already hopped down onto the sidewalk and was shaking out the skirt of her gauzy white dress. They walked together, side by side instead of hand in hand, to the door of the DeSoto Grill. At the entrance to the restaurant, it occurred to Knox that this was his wedding day, albeit a fake marriage, and he wanted to celebrate. Without even warning her, because he wanted to catch her off guard and get her laughing, Knox bent down and swung Genevieve into his arms.
“What the heck are you doing?” His bride’s bright blue eyes, so close to his own now, were wide with surprise.
“I’m carrying you over the threshold.”
She didn’t struggle to get out of his arms; instead, she reached out so she could tug on the door handle to open it just enough that he could get his foot inside.
“This has been a very strange day.” Genevieve tilted back her head and let her long blond hair fall over his arm.
“Do you mind?” Knox asked as he managed to open the door and then quickly carry her inside.
“Not at all. I like strange.”
The barbecue joint was half-full and when Knox walked in carrying his bride in his arms, some of the patrons began to clap and hoot and holler.
“We just got hitched, y’all!” he called out to his fellow Montanans. “Drinks are on us!”
He held his bride in his arms a little while longer, liking the way her body felt pressed up close to his. Genevieve was a willing partner in the spectacle—her face was glowing with excitement and she was happily waving to the crowd. He had already begun to notice that Genevieve was at her best when she was performing for a crowd. It was making him feel more confident about how she would play her role as “blushing bride” in front of his family. Watching her now, Knox was pretty convinced that his family didn’t stand a chance when it came to Genevieve Lawrence. Er, Genevieve Crawford.
The DeSoto Grill had a large selection of Montana beer and everyone in the bar got a free cold one on them. Sitting cross-legged in the chair with a napkin bib tucked into the front of her dress, Genevieve gulped down a second beer before she attacked a second rack of ribs.
“Oh, my goodness, this is soooo good.” She grinned at him with a little barbecue sauce on the side of her mouth.
“I’ve never seen anyone other than my brothers eat that many ribs.”
“Getting married must’ve made me hungry,” Genevieve said between chewing, without a hint of self-consciousness. She didn’t seem to care one way or another if he disapproved of her large appetite—and he just added that to the list of things that he already liked about her.
“Here’s to us.” Knox held out his glass after the waitress brought him water—because he had to drive them home—and a fresh beer for Genevieve.
“To us!” She clanked her glass with his. “Just two crazy kids in love.”
“You know the next stop for us is the Ambling A.”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded. “I figured. First, your people and then I suppose we can go face the music with my folks tomorrow.”
“Did you pack what you need to stay at my cabin tonight?”
They had gone through with this wager so quickly, so recklessly, that they hadn’t even discussed the logistics. The truth was, he hadn’t really expected to have a bride today—he figured she wasn’t going to show.
His bride took a big napkin and swiped it over her mouth. “Not really. I mean what was I supposed to pack for a wedding night I really didn’t expect to have? Let’s see—what did I put in my backpack this morning? My toothbrush, a hairbrush, my laptop and my favorite Swiss Army knife.”
“A knife? Why do you have that?”
“Are you kidding? Only for everything. I can fix a broken radiator hose or open a bottle of beer with one awesome tool. I think you’re question should really be, why wouldn’t every bride have one?” She laughed a big laugh. “Hey! Do you have a dollar? I want to get that jukebox going.”
Now that Genevieve had cleaned her plate and had a few beers, her spirits were flying high from his perspective. She seemed to have shed the worry and the stress of their elopement and replaced it with good spirits and the desire to have a good time. He pulled a couple of dollar bills out of his wallet and handed them to her.
He watched Genevieve walk away, liking the way the material of her wedding dress hinted at the curve of her derrière and legs. No doubt, he was attracted to his bride—he always had been since the first time he had seen pictures of her on her website. He had agreed that this marriage was in name only—he had said it more to convince her to go along with his scheme—but would he really be able to keep it platonic between them? He hadn’t ever acted on the physical attraction he had for Genevieve because he was on that self-imposed dating hiatus, but that physical attraction had always been there.
“Garth Brooks or Kenny Chesney?” His wife had spun around to ask him a question.
“Brooks!”
With a nod, Genevieve pushed a button and waited for the music to begin to play before she headed back his way. She gathered up the sides of her long skirt in her hands and began to sway the material back and forth to the rhythm of the music. When she arrived back at the table, Knox stood up.
“Do you want to have that first dance?” he asked her.
Her surprised smile reached those pretty eyes of hers. Genevieve craned her head so she could look up into his face. “You know how to dance? Really?”
“Darlin’, I’ve been doin’ the Texas Two-Step since I could walk.”
“Well, all right then, cowboy. Let’s do this.” She gave him her hand.
There wasn’t a real dance floor so he pushed a nearby table out of his way and pulled Genevieve into his arms. If he hadn’t come up with this wager, how long, if ever, would it have taken him to be able to hold this woman as he was right now?
While the patrons looked on, they danced. They danced until they were both sweaty and out of breath and laughing. He had taken off his too-snug jacket and bolo tie, and he noticed the tendrils around her face had escaped from the sparkly hair clip and framed her face in the loveliest way. Several times while they danced Knox had to stop himself from kissing her. He wanted to kiss her. But they had made a deal and he was determined not to violate that agreement. This was to be a platonic marriage, no matter how hard it was on him.
“Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!” the crowd started to chant.
Her chest rising and falling from the exertion of dancing, her cheeks flushed pink, Genevieve looked around at the chanting crowd.
He leaned down, put his cheek next to hers, and asked in a voice that only she could hear, “It’s your call.”
“This won’t be the last time people ask,” she told him pragmatically and he knew she was probably right. The suddenness of their relationship would no doubt make people speculate about their sincerity. There would be times that they were going to have to be affectionate with each other because that was how most genuine newlyweds behaved. They may as well start practicing now.
Before he could respond, Genevieve threw her arms around his neck and planted a big kiss on his lips to gratified cheers in the background. Not thinking, only acting, Knox picked his bride up into the air and kissed her back, long and hard, before he let her slide down the length of his body until her toes touched the floor. Knox couldn’t have known how he would feel about marrying a woman based on a wager—but he did know now. He felt more grounded today, in this moment, with this woman, than he had ever felt in his life. He’d always played the field and he had the reputation of never being in a hurry to settle down with just one woman. But the way he felt about Genevieve was already so different than he had ever felt for anyone else. He sensed that he could be himself around her—being around Genevieve was like being around a best friend that you really liked to kiss. And, even though Knox knew that this relationship wasn’t meant to last, this petite firebrand of a woman had already changed how he felt as a man. And, maybe—just maybe—she had begun to change how he felt about settling down.
“Ugh!” Genevieve held her stomach, this time not because it was empty but because it was way too full.
She had eaten two racks of ribs on her own with a side of potato salad, corn bread and three beers. Their waitress had given them each a slice of cheesecake on the house in honor of their marriage and how could Genevieve say no to that?
“Am I waddling? I feel like I’m definitely waddling.”
She was wearing Knox’s jacket over her shoulders because the air conditioner had given her a bit of chill in her bones. She was also feeling a tad tipsy, so she naturally linked her arm with her husband’s arm for support.
“You’re not waddling,” he reassured her. “You’re weaving a bit, but not waddling.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have had that last beer.”
Knox walked her over to the passenger side of the truck. When they had gone into the DeSoto, it had been bright and sunny outside. Now it was late afternoon. They had managed to laugh and dance and eat their way through several hours. Knox unlocked the truck door and opened it for her.
“You do know I’m perfectly capable of opening my own door, right?”
Knox, unfazed, held on to her hand while she swayed onto the seat.
“I was raised to be a gentleman and you’re darn well going to enjoy it, Gen.”
Genevieve groaned again as she closed her eyes. “Have it your way.”
“Thank you. I will.”
Her companion reached across her body, grasped hold of the seat belt and buckled her in. When he climbed behind the wheel, she could sense him looking over at her. She cracked open her eyes.
“What?”
“Next stop is the Ambling A.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You going to be okay to face the rest of the Crawfords?”
Genevieve pushed herself more upright in the seat. “I’m a pressure player, Knox.”
“Meaning?” he asked as he backed out of the parking spot.
“I work better under pressure. In fact, that’s when I’m at my best. I never crumble.”
“That’s good to hear because I’m giving you fair warning, Gen. They’re gonna interrogate the heck out of us. Bugs under a microscope.”
She closed her eyes again. “Trust me, hubby. I’ll have your family believing that we are the most in-love couple they’ve ever seen. I’ll have them wondering how we managed to put off the elopement as long as we did! And your dad?” She held up her pointer finger. “I’ll have him wrapped around my little pinky in no time flat.”
“Well, I’m certainly looking forward to seeing that,” he said in response. “Of course, you do realize that’s not your pinky, correct?”
“Smart-ass.”
It was dusk when Knox pulled onto the long drive leading to the main house at his family’s ranch. Throughout the day, they had both been texting periodically with their friends and family so no one would suspect that the day was anything other than ordinary. The sky behind the sprawling log cabin main house was glowing orange and pink and purple while the clouds were shadowy shapes drifting overhead. Knox parked the truck and turned off the lights. Genevieve was breathing deeply beside him; soon after he had buckled her in, she’d fallen asleep. He almost hated to awaken her, especially when he knew that they were about to be bombarded with questions and comments and, no doubt, suspicion from his brothers, his father, as well as Logan and Xander’s new wives.
Knox reached out and put his hand on Genevieve’s arm and gave it a gentle shake. His wife mumbled something in an irritated tone but she didn’t open her eyes.
“Gen,” he said quietly with another shake of her arm. “We’re here.”
That time she opened her eyes. She yawned loudly, stretched and then pushed herself upright, looking around groggily.
“I slept the whole way back?”
He nodded.
“Sorry about that.” She wrapped her arms tightly in front of her body. “Not much company, huh?”
“I’m glad you slept. Hopefully that battery is recharged because behind that door is a roomful of critics and skeptics.”
“You sound worried.”
“I am absolutely worried. If we don’t convince them we’re the real deal, this whole day was a waste of time.”
Genevieve unbuckled her seat belt, tugged her arms free of his jacket and seemed to perk up quickly. She checked her reflection in the mirror on the back of the sun visor, gave her long blond wavy hair a quick brush through, and then declared, “I’m ready.”
It was strange—he was about to bring his “bride” home for the first time and he appeared to be the more nervous of the two. Genevieve didn’t seem nervous or anxious at the idea of facing his family. In fact, she seemed perfectly calm.
They walked up to the front door to the main house and Knox paused to take in a deep breath to calm his nerves. Genevieve reached over and took his hand in hers.
“Don’t worry, Knox. We’ve got this.”
He looked down at the top of her golden head. This petite woman seemed to have all the confidence in the world. And her confidence actually made him believe that they could pull this off. She had told him that she was a pressure player and now he was seeing that firsthand. His nerves were on the verge of getting the best of him but Genevieve was completely calm.
“They’re a tough crowd.” He felt the need to reiterate this point—to prepare her for what was to come.
Genevieve had a very serious expression on her face when she said, “Maybe they are. But they’re not tougher than trying to shod a stallion with a stable full of mares in heat. If I can handle that, I bet I can handle them.”