Page 4 of Blindsided By Fake Love

I also can’t help but notice how broad his shoulders are or how his arms stretch the T-shirt he’s wearing to max capacity.

Those must be some really strong seams.

When he turns back to me and meets my gaze, my cheeks heat at being caught checking him out. But then I notice the worry lining his forehead, and my stomach twists.

“So…” he starts hesitantly. And my eyes are drawn back to his bottom lip as he chews on it. “I have some news.”

“News?” I parrot him for the thousandth time in five minutes. His mouth lifts and it’s suddenly too warm in here.

“Yes,” he says with a laugh. “News.”

Then he scrunches his face and spits out. “Soapparentlywegotmarriedlastnight.” His chest falls and I watch his face relax. “I wasn’t sure I could get that out.”

My brows furrow and I tilt my head. “You got it out okay, but I have absolutely no idea what you said.”

I watch him drag his hands over his cheeks and roughly rub up and down, nearly laughing at his obvious distress.

But then I see it.

The gold band on his left hand.

Slamming my hand against my lips, I squeak out. “Didyoujustsaywegotmarriedlastnight?!”

My world is falling out from under me.

“Yes!” He drops his head back and blows out a short breath. “That was so hard to say.”

The back of my eyes burn, and my throat tightens. In two steps, Beau is on the bed before me, wrapping his arms around me. Held against his warmth, his steady pulse beating against my cheek, a sense of safety comes over me.

“Kit. We’ll fix this. I promise. No one needs to know. I’ll tell my teammates that if anyone talks about the events of last night, they’ll rue the day they were born.”

“Your teammates?” I creak, dropping my head in my hands. Of course, he’s a professional athlete; I mean, only athletes have bodies like his. “Great! You’re a professional football player. I’m sure someone saw us together and took a picture. We’re probably all over the internet.”

He chuckles, and I glare at him. His face sobers, but his eyes twinkle. “Not a professional football player.” I relax, only to tense up at his next words. “A professional rugby player.”

“Noooo.” I push off of his chest, that’s too hard to be just muscles, and land on the bed. “How could you let this happen?!”

“Well, before the rest of the night got fuzzy, I distinctly remember you—” he lightly pokes me in the shoulder. “Calling out to me and kissing me soundly in front of my entire team.”

“What?!” My eyebrows shoot past my hairline.

“Yup.” He nods and a smirk creeps onto his lips. I want to wipe it away. “You were…umm…very excited to see me. Not that I’m complaining or anything. But—”

I lift my arm and slap him on his shoulder, but I might as well be a fly with what little impact it has. “That’s not funny.”

“It wasn’t funny at all…it was umm…quite nice.”

“Beau!” Screeching, I conceal my head with my hands, heat crawling up my entire body and my cheeks burning. “Please say you’re teasing me.”

“Of course, I’m teasing you.” Relief floods me. “But I’m not joking. Everything I just told you is true.”

Dropping my head in my hand, my stomach rolling, and I groan loudly.

“Kit,” Beau’s gentle voice is doing funny things to my insides. “Look at me.”

I shake my head. I’m never leaving this room or this state. I’ll just have to change my name and start a new life out here because there is no way I’m heading home as not only a jilted bride but now a wife. That’s just crazy talk.

I’d rather fall off the face of the earth than deal with the people in town talking.

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