Page 96 of Beau & Autumn

She shrugs. “Just stating the truth.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t know about this,” Eden goes on. “When Carrie told me she put the idea in your head about the whole fake marriage thing, I didn’t think you guys would go through with it.”

“Well, there’s something to say about all of that.” I take a deep breath. “I was a little drunk when I blurted it out to Beau as a joke. But, I’ve kinda… I’ve fallen for him, you guys, and this was before we even got married.”

They both gape at me.

“I couldn’t exactly spill right away, E. I mean, you’re married to Brook and all. It wouldn’t have been fair to ask you to keep a secret like that. And I just assumed Beau wanted to help me get my inheritance, and yes, it was a lie but I didn’t think we were hurting anyone until this weekend.”

“What happened this weekend?” Eden leans forward, fully engaged in my story.

“Well, after we got married we went down to see my parents and then I had a big fight with my mom. Maybe a part of this was rebellion, because I’m sick of them telling me how to run my life, but as I say, I realized that I have the man of my dreams right in front of me. And he feels the same way.”

Carrie’s mouth drops open. “Are you saying…”

“We’re in love.” God, it feels so good to finally admit it. I can feel my body relax as I say the words. The weight on my shoulders seems to lessen each time I say it out loud. “We love each other for real and we’re gonna make this marriage work.”

Eden slaps her hands over her mouth. I mean, she knew I had feelings for him that day in the car, I just didn’t exactly elaborate to the full extent of what we were planning.

“Wait, you two have had sex, haven’t you?” Carrie is practically jumping up and down.

I smile coyly. “Umm… Well…” I take another large sip of wine. “You could say we barely made it out of the bedroom since we got back from Memphis. Sorry Eden, I know he’s your brother-in-law, but that man is skilled in bed like I’ve never known.”

“Holy shit!” Carrie squeals.

“I have known him since he was running around in diapers, so ew.” Eden screws up her nose as she walks over to the pizza oven. “But also, freaking wow! Beau is in love? How the heck did this happen?”

“It just happened,” I say. “And by the way, I did group text you both to say something serious happened between us,” I remind them.

“I didn’t think you meant sex!” Carrie claps her hands together. “Or that you fell in love for that matter!”

I watch as Eden pulls out the paddle to the pizza oven before the damn thing lights on fire. It smells delicious and my stomach rumbles.

I press my lips together. “I guess it was a weekend for confessions.”

She carefully slides the pizza onto a large wooden board next to the oven and walks back to the table, placing it in front of us.

A lovely candle which smells like coconut and vanilla flickers in the center of the large round wooden table. The spring weather makes it so lovely outdoors at night with little breeze. Perfect for pizza, wine and confessions.

“I’ll drink to that.” Carrie leans in and our glasses all clink together.

“You guys know how I’ve kinda had a thing brewing for Beau since the auction, right?”

“Uh-huh,” they both say in unison.

“Well, it turns out so has Beau. We’re a couple of dumb idiots who thought it was a good idea to never tell the other how we really felt in case one of us didn’t reciprocate. This was never about the money for me. I don’t even care about that anymore. I can’t imagine my life without Beau in it.”

“So initially you did make this whole thing up, right? And no doubt Beau jumped on board like Superman to save the day?” Eden piques an eyebrow as she slices up the pizza into sections with the cutter with swift precision.

I nod. “Something like that. And I’m sorry for not telling the truth.” I feel a lump in my throat at the idea of hurting anyone, especially my friends.

Instead of being mad at me, Eden reaches over and squeezes my forearm. “I’ve known for a while Beau has a thing for you,” she whispers.

I blink a couple of times. “What?”

She smiles slowly. “As soon as he found out you guys got hitched, Brook told me that Beau told him he was having ‘feelings’.”

My teeth grip my bottom lip. “He did?”

---