Page 33 of Runaway Bride's Guide to Love

I laugh at the memory, which gets her attention when I put down the jars of sauce next to the stove.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking back to when you thought you were going to take down a home invader with a Nike.”

A blush creeps over her cheeks. It’s also adorable. I really need her to stop being so damn cute. “In my defense, I wasn’t left with a lot of options. And it had a platform to it. Gave a little extra weight.”

“Whatever you say, Tiger.”

“You don’t have to call me Tiger anymore. We can go by our real names.”

“What if I want to?”

Stella turns to me with a small smile. “So I can still call you Cap?”

“I kind of like having a nickname only you use.”

Her blush heightens as she grabs the sauces and puts them in pans to warm. “I’m sorry,” she says. “About the shoe. And the jumping on your back thing.”

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t know I was here, and you were scared. I don’t blame you one bit.”

“I’m going to kill my brother,” she says. “He could’ve told me that someone might be here.”

I walk to the freezer to get the garlic bread I bought. “Can we do it together? Because it would’ve been good to know that it was just you and you weren’t on your honeymoon.”

“Yes!” she yells, slamming down the plastic spoon she’s been using to stir the pasta. “How does he not tell either of us this? The man has no filter or sense of when to stop talking any other time!”

“Maybe we should fuck with him when we’re home,” I say.

“Oh! Maybe you kicked me out and I had nowhere to stay.”

“I like the way you think,” I say as I preheat the oven. “Butthat might not work since you’ll be here for two weeks. Maybe we could just tell him we burned the house down.”

“That’s good,” she says, tapping a manicured finger to her lips. “Or maybe we go with that you walked in on me in the shower. Then one thing led to another and now we’re dating. Thank him for playing matchmaker.”

Her eyes go wide as the last words come out of her mouth, like she didn’t mean to say it out loud.

“Maybe we should go with the house fire,” I quickly say.

“Yup. House fire. Good call.”

Stella doesn’t say anything else, instead becoming very focused on the pasta. I do notice the blush creeping from her cheeks down to her neck. God, I love that I can tell when she’s bothered. It also makes me feel better that I’m not the only one affected by the thought me seeing her in the shower. Just the thought of it makes my cock ache.

I busy myself with getting the table set and drinks poured. Anything I can do to take my mind away from the image of a dripping wet Stella.

Fuck, I need out of here. I came here to give myself some space from thoughts of my mysterious Tiger. Now she’s not a mystery. And she’s going to be next door for the week I’m here. All because I’m the asshole who was trying to be economical and stay at one of the houses instead of getting a hotel.

Great move, Emmett. How’s that working out for you?

We each make a plate of pasta in silence before going to the dining table. When we’re seated, I look over to see just the red sauce on top of her angel hair pasta.

“Didn’t want to try the mix?” I say, taking a sip of my beer.

“Alfredo gives me bad breath, so I don’t eat it anymore.”

“Anymore?”

She shrugs like she’s embarrassed. The fact that she’s staring at her pasta confirms that suspicion. “Duncan didn’t like when I ate it, so I stopped. He said my breath was horrible after and hedidn’t want to kiss garlic breath. Actually, I grabbed this garlic bread without thinking. If you want it you can have it.”

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