Falling for Your Fake Fiancé (Love Clichés, #3)

by Emma St. Clair

What has Thayden done, ruining me for perfectly good firemen?

“Hello,” Thayden says, smiling at Mr. Ax. “I’m her fiancé. Wow, do I need to roll my shirt sleeves up? My biceps feel left out.” I choke back a laugh. Territorial Thayden is hilarious.

Was I really the one to put limitations on the physical touching? I should rethink that. Or, Thayden and I need to spend more time in public, so he can freely kiss me like this.

The green of his eyes is a stormy sea, and my breath hitches.

“I’ll make every meal for you if you want. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don’t need to go to work. I’ll just stay here and be yours.”

Not soon enough. After never having a serious relationship, you’d think I would be running away from marriage, not wishing we could move the date up. Every day we don’t get hitched is another day Delilah could change her mind.

“Absolutely. I’d marry her today if she didn’t mind just going to the courthouse.”

Forget bath towels and appliances. I plan to rack up the time today.

I feel like she does this with the rest of her life as well. She knows what she really wants, but is afraid to go for it, settling for something that’s just … okay. I’d like to see that change. I want her to dream big and feel deserving of those dreams.

I want all of her.

“Why not? What would it take to make you feel at home? Like it’s your home too?” What would it take to make you know that you’re mine?

I’ve basically given up my dignity, given up on any hope of defying my father’s wishes. I’m not thinking of him at all anymore. Only Delilah. Only, ever her.

“Maybe I would. Maybe I like everything that comes with you. The whole package.”

“She’s all that matters,”

I’m going to keep pushing her, keep pursuing her, and keep spoiling her until Delilah stops thinking that she doesn’t deserve every single thing I want to give her.

No, even if I’d have to pay Thayden back, I’d rather encourage him to do what he wants than to keep him trapped in this arrangement he’s never seemed too keen on.

That none of this is fake to me, though it might have started as an arrangement. One I didn’t want in the first place but has now provided me with daily access to this woman. It gave me the excuse to be near her, to have her under my roof, to get to know her better. At the same time, she feels somehow further away because of the contracts and papers and agreements between us. I want to ask her to be mine, for real, but I’m not sure the protocol for asking a woman to go steady when she’s already wearing your engagement ring on her finger.

“I’m only brutal to you,” she says softly. “What do you think that means?” I bite back what I hope it means, which is that she likes me. If I’m the boy pulling her pigtails, she’s the little girl stomping on my foot.

preening up under the lights, longing for someone to care about her for more than the show she puts on.

Childhood photos of my Thayden? “Now you’re talking.”

“My son told me he didn’t want to marry you because of his father. He didn’t want to trick you or have some arrangement forced on him. He thought you were worth more. But, when given an option to have you any way he could, he took it. You are his Cassandra. And all the plans and papers are just a cover.”

“He’s trying to Darcy you,”

He’s grinning, and I’m filled with wonder. This is the same man who said he didn’t want to get married. And he wants to marry me. In two days.

I’ll feel a lot better when I see Thayden tonight. I need the reassurance of his smile and that look he gets in his eyes when he sees me. How did I not see it for what it was earlier? Maybe he hasn’t said the L-word yet, but I swear, I already see it in his eyes.

Delilah didn’t want her mother here. There has to be good reason for that. If I have to, I’ll throw her out myself.

“No one messes with my D!” “Y’all don’t even know who she really is!” Verity screeches. “I’m her blood! Her only family!” Zoey stands at her full height, a head taller than Verity at least. “No, we are her family.”

“They’re the things I wish my father would have said to me, but never did.”

“Delilah, I know I’m a mess. I’m not the best man. I’m not what you probably envisioned in a husband. I know I drive you crazy sometimes. But I want to spend the rest of my life figuring out how to be a man who deserves you, even if I’m doing so one mistake at a time.”

“I love you.” My voice is strong and clear, and I know Thayden has to have heard me, but before he can respond, I say it again to make sure he knows. And then again. Each time, it gets easier, my chest feels lighter. “I love you. I love you.” There’s a quick inhalation of breath, and the door creaks and groans, as though Thayden is trying to push his way through it. “You … love me?” He speaks on an exhalation, and there’s awe in it, like he’s standing at the edge of a cliff, admiring a breathtaking view. I speak through a smile. “I tried not to.”

“Abby threw lobsters at your mother,”

“Delilah Hart, will you marry me?” I’m grinning like a fool. “Hm. I need to consult my day planner. When were you thinkin’ about doing this?” “Maybe tomorrow? After lunch, if you’re free.” “I could probably clear my schedule. Sure, that could work.” “Sure, you’ll marry me?” “Uh-huh.” “Uh-huh? Maybe I should hold out for a woman that would say yes. Or Absolutely. Definitely.” “Oh no, you don’t, Thayden Walker. There are no takebacks, mister. You proposed. I answered. This is happening. Tomorrow. After lunch.” “Fine.” “Fine.”

“Too much temptation at home?” I tease, biting my lip. “That’s exactly right,” he says, completely serious.

“Promise?” He waits a beat, then says with a throaty groal, “I do.”

“Thanks, no, thanks,” Abby says. Her eyebrows shoot up. “Sorry! It’s just … this other one is butt-ugly.”

“I know you said you didn’t want to have bridesmaids, but we weren’t about to let you stand up there alone. We’re always going to stand with you.”

If anyone had told me two months ago that I’d be impatient to walk down the aisle, I would’ve laughed my way into an aneurysm.

“I’ll go where you want to go, D. I can lawyer anywhere. As long as I’m with you.”