Page 42 of Blindsided By Fake Love

My grin swells, and I gruffly ask. “Will you be my wife, Kit? For real?”

An impish gleam fills her gaze. “Dinner’s getting cold—”

“Are you serious right now?” I squeak, and she giggles, her mouth forming an ‘O’.

“I didn’t know your voice could get that high!”

“Kit,” I groan. “Are you going to answer me?”

Placing her hands on my cheeks, she says thickly. “Dinner’s going to be very cold, Mr. Matthews.”

Joy blossoms through my chest, and a grin spreads across my face, threatening to crack my cheeks.

I waggle my eyebrows and say gruffly, “Good thing we can reheat it, Mrs. Matthews.”

“BeauMatthews,”Miles‘Milo’O’Donnell, Play It Forward’s Director, pats me on the back, a gleeful smile on his face. “It’s so good to see you here today!”

It’s a perfect day for Play It Forward’s annual event in North Carolina. Overhead is a clear blue sky, the sun is shining, and the weather is perfect for spring. We couldn’t have asked for anything better.

I glance over to find Kit and Jack walking through the crowd, back from the food stands. Kit is carrying a funnel cake in one hand and trying to take a bite out of a pretzel in the other. Jack is munching on a corndog.

A lopsided grin spreads at the sight of Kit with Jack. This is the life I always wanted, but didn’t think I would have.

Missy and Nicky stopped by for a short time but had to leave. When everything is done, Jack will come home with Kit and me.

My gaze roams over Kit. Her skin is glowing, her eyes are sparkling, and her grin is so bright it rivals the sun. She laughs at something Jack says, and the sound sends a shiver of delight through me. When she looks at me, that smile gets unthinkably brighter, a surge of happiness courses through me.

“Who’s the lovely lady?” Milo asks, sticking his head in front of me, to see where I’m looking, and I chuckle. If you didn’t know him, you’d think he was being rude. But Milo just likes to show that he’s interested in other people’s lives.

Sometimes, a bit too interested, but not in an unkind way.

“That’s my wife Kit. She’s with my mentee Jack,” I say, just as Kit and Jack get to us. “Kit and Jack, I’d like for you to meet Milo, the director of Play It Forward.”

“So nice to meet you.” Kit smiles and passes me the funnel cake. Wiping her palm on her jeans, she reaches out to shake Milo’s outstretched hand. “We weren’t sure if we’d get to see you today. So glad we did.”

“What did you do to marry such a beautiful woman?” Milo asks, just as I slide my arm over Kit’s shoulders, placing a kiss on her cheek.

“I just happened to get lucky one night.” Recalling the night this amazing woman threw her arms around my neck and changed my life forever. Milo’s eyebrows shoot up, and Kit slaps me on my stomach.

“Beau!” she yells, her cheeks turning pink.

Milo covers his laugh with a cough.

“In Vegas,” I shake my head, chuckling. “I got lucky when she found me in Las Vegas.”

“Oh,” Milo says slowly, confusion written all over his face. He forces a smile. “Well, congratulations to the two of you. May you have many—”

“Milo!” A woman rushes over and starts pulling Milo away. “We have to get ready for the three-legged race. Then we have to head out.”

“This is my assistant, Martha,” Milo tells us as Martha tries to usher him away. “Are you joining the competition?”

“Yes.” I nod, nudging Jack, who beams. He’s been waiting all day for this event. Apparently, he was the three-legged champion in third grade. “Jack was—”

Martha pulls him away as Milo turns back to us and waves. “Good luck!” He yells and starts to say something that we can’t hear with all the other people talking around us.

I lift my hand and wave.

“He’s weird,” Jack says. I press my mouth together to keep from snorting, and I see Kit doing the same.

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