Page 3 of Beau & Autumn

But her annoyed expression tells me otherwise.“It would be if she wasn't living in the nineteenth century. There’s a catch.”

“Uh, oh. I smell trouble.” I wince, waiting for whatever it is she’s about to spill. Whatever I’m expecting, it isn’t what comes out of her mouth next.

“The woman is out of her damn mind! The stipulation in my family is that we can get half our inheritance when we’re twenty-one, and the rest when we get married.”

Oh, I see the issue now. “So you have to find a groom? I’m sure there’s more than one willing participant, even if it is a little severe…”

She shakes her head. “No, no. You don’t understand. In my family, they arrange marriages.”

My eyes pop wide. “W-what?” I definitely haven’t heard this before.

“Yep. We can marry whoever we want, of course, but if we want any of the family fortune or assets, then we have to abide by Grandma, and she has her rules.”

I slap a hand over my mouth like that’s going to be able to stop me from commenting. “Holy shit.” I do a double take. “Wait, does she have a groom lined up already?”

Autumn snorts a laugh. “Oh, she has several dozen lined up. She’ll do the courtesy of letting me pick one from her top three, but I don’t get a say in anything else.”

“I didn’t know people still had arranged marriages in America.” My hand lifts to scratch my head in confusion. For some reason imagining Autumn hitched to some weird guy she doesn’t know makes my hands ball into fists. I don’t like the sound of that one bit.

“Only crazy control freaks like my family.” She leans forward, pressing her hands over her eyes, her waist length chestnut hair cascading over one shoulder. Autumn always looks immaculate and so well put together. Her makeup is always flawless and she dresses well even if it’s just jeans and a t.shirt.

It’s like she just wakes up like that, even though I’m sure she doesn’t. It’s effortless. She’d look elegant in a paper bag…

“So I take it you’re not gonna go along with it?”

She sputters a laugh. “Like hell I am! I’m going to go to the bank for a loan. And if they say no, I’ll beg my brother. I’m sure Anton will lend me what I need, but he’s also known to be a giant jerkface when it comes to money.”

I’ve met Anton a couple of times — he seems like a good guy.

“I can lend you some money,” I say, not wanting it to sound like I’m trying to be a hero. “How much does equipment cost these days?”

She removes her hands from her eyes and leans back, reaching up to my arm and giving my bicep a squeeze. Of course, all the blood rushes to my dick again. This is insanity.

“I can’t ask you to do that. I need extra money to fix my roof before winter and get a few other things done. It’s too much. I’ll figure this out on my own.”

“Just sayin’, I can help, if you get stuck.”

She smiles warmly and it reminds me I like it so much better when she looks happy.

I don’t notice how white and straight her teeth are.

I don’t notice how pretty a shade of blue her eyes are.

And I sure as shit don’t skate my eyes down her sexy body.

Stay focused.

I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but maybe it’s because she’s newly single and like I said — I haven't been laid in a while.

“You’re the best.” She gives my cheek a squeeze like you would a five-year-old child.

My dick all but shrivels up. That’s one way to make it go away.

I give her a cocky smile, hiding the fact that I’m mad at myself about how I’ve been hard this entire conversation. She’s a friend. Nothing more.

She needed someone to vent to, and here I am noticing her curves like I haven’t seen her a million times before.

And she just made the ‘friends’ part abundantly clear by squeezing my cheek like a good boy.

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