Rent-A Husband

by Everly Ashton

  I roll everything she’s saying over in my mind. Growing up, I didn’t see any of the struggles Grams is referring to between my grandparents, but I’m sure she means it when she says they had their fair share of struggles.

  Camila has her issues—ones I suspect stem from her dad leaving her at such a young age—but maybe Grams is right. Maybe if I tell her how sorry I am for how I acted and that I love her and I want to be there for her, maybe that will be enough to win her back.

  Because I need to win her back. I’ve been miserable without her.

  “I can see you rolling what I just said around in that noggin of yours, but don’t think too hard on it. Follow your heart. Go get your girl,” she says emphatically.

  “What, now?” I give her my “are you crazy?” look.

  She smiles. “No time like the present.”

  “But the party—”

  “The party will be just fine without you. Besides, the best gift you could give me is your happiness anyway.”

  An urgency builds in my chest and expands to all my limbs until I feel as though I’ll explode if I don’t race out of here to go find Camila right this second. “You know what? You’re right.”

  “I usually am.” She grins.

  I give her a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Grams.”

  Without waiting for her to respond, I race out of the party, pulling my phone from my pocket at the same time. I need an Uber to come get me and take me into Seattle where the wedding is being held.

  I have my woman to win back.

  Forty

  Lucas

  I race into the building where the reception is being held and have a moment of panic. Am I doing the right thing barging in here or should I wait to call her tomorrow?

  Then I shake my head. Every romantic comedy movie I’ve ever been forced to watch has some kind of scene like this and women always seem to like it, so I’m on the right track.

  I peek my head into the event, but I don’t see Camila anywhere. Hmm… there’s no way she skipped the reception, even if she was terrified to come on her own. Maybe she’s gone to the restroom or something.

  I head down the hall and make a right to the hallway where the sign says the restrooms are and stop short when I come upon Camila’s back—I’d know that ass anywhere. She’s talking to Elijah and Sarah.

  “Actually, about that,” Camila says. “There’s something you both should know. Lucas isn’t my husband. I made that up. In fact, he wasn’t even my boyfriend when I brought him to the Stag and Doe party. But through the course of all this craziness of pretending we were married, we did start seeing each other and I fell in love with him.”

  She loves me too? My chest feels as if it’s expanding and might burst.

  “And because I’m an idiot and I let you both make me feel less than, I lost him. And I’m done with it. I’m done with caring what you think or what you might say about me to other people here. Over it. Lucas is the best thing to ever happen to me and I’m certainly not going to let the likes of you ruin it for me.”

  I want to run up to Camila and pull her into a hug and tell her how much I love her, but I have a feeling this needs to play out. She needs to stand up to these two without any interference from me.

  “I knew you could never get a guy like him,” Sarah snipes, and my hand fists at my sides.

  Camila shrugs. “Well, I did. And you got…” She motions toward Elijah. “That. Have fun with it while it lasts.” She spins on her heel to leave and stops short when she sees me there.

  I can’t help but grin. I’m so proud of her for finally standing up for herself and knowing her worth.

  “Lucas… what are you doing here?”

  I walk toward her and cup her face in my hands. “I’m here to apologize and tell you that I’ve been a complete idiot. I’m sorry for how I reacted—both at the bachelor party and at my house that night. I know you don’t have feelings for Elijah. Even before I heard what you just said to him.”

  She shakes her head, eyes wide. “I don’t.”

  “I don’t want to lose you, Cami. I can’t bear it. I know we’ll have our challenges and that nothing is ever going to be perfect between us, but I want us to fight through those challenges together.”

  “I want that too.” Tears well in her eyes.

  I lean in and kiss her slowly, bringing one hand around to the back of her head. “I love you, Camila Wright. I didn’t know what happiness could be like until you came into my life, and now I can’t live without you.”

  “I can’t live without you.” She wraps her arms around my neck and plants several kisses all over my face. “I love you.”

  I grin at her when she pulls away. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that.”

  “Tell me again,” she says, grinning.

  “I love you, Cami.”

  We kiss again. Having her in my arms again feels like home. I’ll never let something stupid come between us again.

  “You ready to get out of here?” I ask.

  “Lead the way.”

  I look behind her and see Elijah and Sarah have departed. I have no idea when they left and I don’t much care. Gone are the days when Elijah had any bearing on our relationship. From now on, it’s just the two of us—forever and always.

  Epilogue

  Six weeks later…

  Camila

  Life is good. Better than good. Life is fantastic.

  Things with Lucas are better than ever. In fact, we’re talking about moving in with each other. We’re always at one of our houses, so it doesn’t make sense for each of us to have our own place. Right now we’re deciding whether we want to keep my house, his house, or sell both and buy something larger that’s more suited for a family.

  Yes, we’re already talking about family. Not in terms of it happening anytime soon, but we both know what we want and that’s each other, so why not start planning what’s best for our future?

  After my little showdown with Elijah and Sarah, I decided I’d had enough of my daddy and abandonment issues. Rejection is a part of life and I need to learn healthy ways to cope with it, so I started seeing a therapist once a week. It’s not a miracle answer, but I refuse to let my issues affect my relationship with Lucas again. Plus, I want healing for myself too. Hopefully my therapist will be able to help me work out my issues, but either way, I know Lucas is in my corner.

  Something he makes very clear when he leans over the console of his truck and kisses me in a way that’s probably not appropriate for early evening hours in a public parking lot.

  It’s Friday night and we’re here to meet Josh, Isla, and Travis. Isla started at RENT-A HUSBAND two weeks ago and has become somewhat of a friend to me. Lucas couldn’t be happier with how well she’s caught on and the workload she’s been able to take over from him, leaving him with more time to do… well… me.

  We get out of the truck and hold hands as we approach The Third Rail.

  “How’s Josh been with Isla so far? His usual flirty self?” I ask.

  “Surprisingly, no. He’s friendly with her but hasn’t crossed the line.”

  I look at Lucas with wide eyes.

  “I’m as surprised as you are, believe me. Maybe my little brother is growing up.”

  We both chuckle as Lucas holds open the door for me to go inside. I glance around and see that Isla and Josh are already seated around a high-top table. I’m not surprised Travis isn’t here yet. He’s just returning from his vacation in Wyoming and apparently told Lucas that he might be late.

  I wave as we head over to the table.

  “Hey,” I say and give Isla and Josh a quick hug before taking my seat. “How are you guys?”

  “Good. I was just telling Isla how I’m pretty sure one of our clients was hitting on me today when she suggested I taste some of her pudding.”

  “Well, that’s nothing new, is it?” I ask.

  “She was in her sixties—at least.”

  We all break into laugh
ter.

  “Please tell me you didn’t…” Lucas says.

  Josh’s face screws up. “As if, bro.”

  “She called after he left to say what a good job he did and to request that Josh be the only one to come to her house if anything else needs fixing,” Isla says. “So I promised her I’d make it happen.”

  Josh’s mouth drops open. “You did not!”

  “I did.” Isla laughs at his expression, and Lucas gives her a high five.

  “I’m starting to think maybe we should’ve hired the other girl,” Josh says.

  Isla smacks him playfully.

  “Not a chance. Isla is stuck with us. She’s too big a help,” Lucas says.

  “Thanks, boss man.”

  Mel comes over to take Lucas’s and my drink order. “No Travis tonight?” she asks, attempting to sound casual.

  Josh and I steal a glance at each other, knowing otherwise.

  “He should be here soon,” Lucas says. “He’s been away for a couple of weeks, fishing.”

  Mel nods and smiles. “I was wondering why I hadn’t seen him around.” Then she turns and goes to fill our order.

  “You getting wings?” I ask Lucas.

  He waggles his eyebrows and pats his stomach. “You know it. What are you going to have?”

  “Not sure.” I don’t even need to look at the bar menu anymore. We’re here often enough that I know it by heart. “Is work still going well?” I ask Isla.

  She nods and swallows the drink she just took from her straw. “So far, so good. I’m a little nervous about Travis returning and how things will go with that little bit of extra workload, but I’m feeling good about it.”

  “I knew you’d be perfect for the job,” I say. “I was rooting for you all along.”

  “You were?” Lucas squeezes my thigh, sending sparks up my leg straight to the center of my thighs.

  “Yep. But I didn’t want to influence your decision, so I didn’t say anything.”

  He gives me a kiss just under my earlobe.

  “All right, you two, enough with the public displays of affection,” Josh says then makes a gagging noise.

  “It’s cute,” Isla says.

  Josh’s forehead wrinkles. “Please, they’re all over each other all the time.”

  “I can’t wait for some woman to rock your world,” I say to him.

  He shakes his head. “Never gonna happen.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Mel arrives with our drinks and sets them in front of Lucas and me. “You guys ready to order or do you want to wait for Travis?”

  “I think we’ll order. We’re not exactly sure when he’s gonna show up,” Lucas says.

  Mel goes around the table and takes our orders before disappearing into the back to deliver them to the chef.

  “Does she have a thing for your brother?” Isla asks Lucas.

  The three of us all chuckle.

  “Yeah,” Josh answers. “It’s well known that she likes him, but he wants nothing to do with her.”

  “What’s Travis like?” Isla asks. “You haven’t said much about him.”

  Lucas’s head moves back and forth. “A little grumpy and rough around the edges, but he’s a nice guy underneath the front he puts up. He won’t give you any trouble, believe me.”

  Isla seems to relax a bit. “Okay, good to know. So I won’t take it personally if he’s short with me.”

  “Yeah, don’t. Guaranteed he’ll be short with you and it has nothing to do with you,” Josh says and takes a pull off his beer.

  “Speaking of Travis, here he comes,” I say.

  Lucas and I are facing the door, while Isla and Josh have their backs to him. I notice that he has more of a beard than normal. Probably a result of being out in the wilderness for two weeks. But he looks good. More rested and relaxed than before he left. The week leading up to the bachelor auction and before he left for vacation, he was especially grumpy and more run-down looking than usual.

  “Hey, Travis. How was your time away?” I ask.

  “It was good,” he says in his gruff voice, then he gives me a peck on the cheek.

  He does that bro hug thing with Lucas and turns his attention to the other side of the table. That’s when things get weird.

  “Trav, this is Isla, our new employee,” Josh says with a smile, gesturing to her.

  Neither of them says anything for a moment. Isla’s eyes are wide and disbelieving, and Travis’s energy shifts. Now he’s tense and looking at her through narrowed eyes. He doesn’t even say anything to her, just nods and sits on the empty stool beside me.

  Lucas clears his throat, clearly unsure what to make of this whole scene. “Did you catch lots of fish?”

  “Enough,” Travis says.

  Josh looks back and forth between Isla and Travis for a second. Isla can’t stop staring at Travis while Travis looks anywhere but at Isla. I’m not sure what to make of the vibe between Isla and Travis, so I decide to follow Lucas’s lead and keep my mouth shut.

  “We’ve already ordered if you want to try to flag down Mel to get your order in,” I say.

  Travis nods.

  Josh’s phone rings and he answers. Right away, I can tell it’s an after-hours call for the business just from the pained expression on his face. The four of us sit in silence, listening to Josh’s end of the call.

  When Josh finally ends the call, he lets his head fall back with a groan. “Fuuuuck. I gotta go. Call just came in.”

  “Sucks to be you,” Lucas says.

  I shove him with my shoulder. “Hey, if you never took my call that night, we never would’ve met.”

  He wraps his arm around my shoulders. “True enough. Maybe you’ll find your lady love, Josh.”

  “I’ll take it,” Travis says.

  “But you just got back from vacation,” Lucas says. “Let Josh take it. It’s his turn.”

  “Hey, if the man wants to take it, let him,” Josh says with his hands up in front of him.

  “I’ll do it. Text me the info.” Then Travis is up off his barstool. “See you guys later,” he says to everyone but Isla. He won’t even look at her. Then he’s stomping toward the door and he’s gone.

  We all look at Isla for some sort of explanation.

  “It’s a long story,” she says. “I’m gonna go too.”

  And before any of us can convince her to stay, she’s out the door. The three of us look at one another, obviously wondering what the hell just happened.

  THE END

  If you want more Lucas and Camila check out this bonus scene I wrote about the day that he proposed!

  And if you haven’t read my Love in Apartment 3B series, check out the box set (available for a discount compared to grabbing all three books separately). It’s a sexy, funny, swoony series you don’t want to miss!

  Deep Thoughts

  This entire series began with the word Rent-A Husband. Literally, that’s the phrase that popped into my mind. I was waiting on my husband to do some work around the house—tired of waiting really—and I thought to myself I wish I could rent a husband for a day to get all this crap done. Then I thought, “That’d be a cute name for a handyman business” and the rest is history.

  I decided to set this series in the Pacific Northwest because I love this region of the country. And after writing four books before this on the east coast it felt like it was time to head west for a change of scenery.

  I struggled for a long time to find names that fit the characters—both first and last—and they changed many times over the course of writing this book, but I’m finally satisfied.

  Lucas and Camila jumped off the page for me when I first started writing and I had a pretty good grasp of who they were from the get-go. What I wasn’t expecting was to love Travis and Josh just as much. Travis with the grumpy vibe he has going on and Josh with his boyish charm. It was important to me to have Grams and Gramps be such a big part of the boys lives because I think it showcases their softer sides and how t
hey will go to the mat for the people they care about.

  If you want to see my character inspiration for Lucas and Camila head on over to my Pinterest Board to check it out!

  There’s lots more in store for this series. Just how do Travis and Isla know each other? All will be revealed in their book, Buy-A Boyfriend, so be sure not to miss it—coming later in 2021!

  Ciao for now!

  Everly

  About the Author

  Everly Ashton is a USA Today Bestselling Author writing sexy rom coms under this pseudonym for Kindle Unlimited. Head to her website at EverlyAshtonAuthor.com to join her newsletter for access to exclusive giveaways, bonus scenes and other fun stuff!

  Also by Everly Ashton

  Love in Apartment 3B

  Hit or Miss

  Three’s A Crowd

  Good on Paper

  Standalones

  Don’t Mind if “I Do”

  The Abbott Brothers

  Rent-A Husband