Emma blinked, trying to push the tears away that threatened to spill. Why was he being like that? Austin didn’t love her. People who love other people don’t shove them into their truck and drop them off at the airport. They don’t let their wife—even a fake one—go around ring less when they have a perfectly good one in their drawer.
This was not what she wanted to hear. She couldn’t hope anymore.
“It was good speaking to you. I hope you have a good life. But I need to go. My plane. . .” What was she going to say? Isn’t really coming for another few hours, but I need to go wait in case it decides to leave early? No. She’d sound like an idiot. “I need to check on my flight.”
She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and turned to walk away. A warm hand rested on her forearm, causing her to halt. When she glanced back around, she was Mrs. Maverick staring up at her.
“Don’t give up on Austin just yet. He’s a fantastic boy. He loves you, I’m sure of it. Just give him some time to work through his past.” Then she gave Emma a smile. “I don’t think this is the last time I’ll be seeing you. Mark my words.”
Emma nodded, a tear slipping down her cheek. This wasn’t fair. Why was she doing this to her? Making her hope when there was obviously no hope left. “Thank you,” she whispered as she pulled her arm free of Mrs. Maverick’s grasp and race walked away.
She needed space. Dipping into the nearest bathroom, she rolled her suitcase into the nearest stall and slammed the door. After it was locked, she leaned against the wall and let the tears fall.
This was what she needed. A good cry. Let out the emotions that she’d been bottling up. Let go of the stress of trying to fake a marriage that was slowly becoming a real one. And let go of the love that seemed to encircle her chest like a boa constrictor. She loved Austin. And no matter what he said to her, she was going to keep on loving him.
But he didn’t love her, despite what Mrs. Maverick said. It was time she accepted that. It was time she moved on.
After blotting her eyes with some toilet paper, she took a deep breath and opened the door. In a few short hours, she’d be home and in her own bed, living her old life.
Right now, the monotony of all of that sounded better than the uncertainty of Montana. At this point, she’d even take the over-zealous seniors than Austin’s pushy grandmother. Anything to get away from the pain that was suffocating her chest and breaking her heart.
Austin
Austin growled as he grabbed a hay bale and stacked it on top of the growing pile in his barn. It had been two days since he’d shipped Emma back to New York and no amount of physical labor seemed to push her from his mind. He worked from sun up to sun down. The labor was taxing and exhausting. He’d crawl under his covers physically beat, only to toss and turn from the memory of sleeping in bed with her.
She’d etched herself onto his mind and heart. And no matter what he did, he couldn’t forget her.
“Man, you look terrible,” Sean said, emerging from behind the stack of hay. He’d been mucking out the horses’ stables.
“What are you talking about?” Austin asked, grabbing another bale.
“You’re pale. You have dark circles around your eyes. You’ve been growling like a bear these last two days. I’m thinking physically draining yourself isn’t helping you forget Emma.”
Shocks erupted across his skin at the sound of Emma’s name. It was one thing when she lived in the crevices of his mind. It was a whole other thing when her name was said around him. It breathed life into her memories.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Austin said, heaving a bale off the bed of his truck and tossing it onto the pile.
Sean leaned against the stack, grabbing out a piece of straw and chewing on it. “Man, you’ve got it bad,” he said, nodding in Austin’s direction. “You’re like a moony teenager.”
Austin shot him a look. “I don’t have it bad.”
Sean shrugged. “I just call it like I see it. And I see it as you’ve got a crush on your wife.” He raised his finger. “I mean, your fake wife.”
“I don’t,” Austin said, throwing a handful of straw Sean’s direction.
Sean batted them away and stood. “Oh, I’ve got it wrong. You don’t have a crush. You actually love your wife.”
Austin’s heart pounded at the words. Love? He didn’t love Emma. Did he? “I don’t love my wife—err, fake wife.”
Sean just raised his hands. “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. You should love your wife.”
Austin turned to grab another bale of hay but then paused, his hands tucked into the strings. Suddenly, a rush of exhaustion raced through him and his shoulders slumped. As much as he wanted to deny it, there was truth to what Sean said. Could it be possible?
He swallowed as he paused and studied the expansiveness of the fields in front of him. For the first time in a while, he listened to his heart. And it ached. Ached for how he treated Emma. Ached for the fact that she was no longer around. And it ached because he let her leave before he could tell her exactly how he felt.
“You’re realizing it, aren’t you,” Sean said from behind him.
Turning, Austin saw Sean studying him.
“What?”
Sean shrugged. “I can tell from your slouched shoulders, you’re realizing just how much you love that woman. That she wasn’t just a fake wife to you. That she meant more.” He tapped his forehead. “I’m not an idiot. I can see when two people love each other. And that girl loved you just as much as you loved her.”
Austin’s heart soared at Sean’s words. Emma loved him? “She loves me?”
Sean scoffed. “Bad.”
What a fool he’d been. Why had he pushed her away? How was keeping her far away keeping her safe? Regret and fear flooded his chest. “But, what if I hurt her?”
Sean narrowed his eyes. “Accidents happen. You can’t protect everyone. But isn’t love worth fighting for?” He took a few steps toward Austin’s truck and leaned against it.
Austin fiddled with a piece of straw in front of him. Sean’s words rolled around in his mind. Truth was, yes. Love was definitely worth fighting for. And Emma, she was everything he’d ever wanted and more. He was an idiot to let her slip through his fingers.
“Go. I’ll take care of this ranch,” Sean said, clapping his hand down onto Austin’s shoulder.
Austin glanced over at his best friend. “You sure?”
Sean nodded. “You’re no good to me here in your moony state. Go. She loves you. I’m sure of it.”
Austin nodded. “Okay. I will.” He started walking toward his house but paused. Fear dominated is thoughts.
“You’ll be fine. She’ll forgive you.”
Austin turned back around and clenched his hands. He could do this. He loved Emma which meant nothing else mattered. He’d face every fear he had just to let her know how he felt even if it meant she’d reject him. He owed it to Emma and his heart, and he wasn’t going to back down now.
Chapter Twenty
Emma
The music surrounded Emma. She sat at the back table of Samson and Dottie’s reception, trying to look as if she belonged. She didn’t know why she’d allowed her mom to talk her into coming to this wedding. She didn’t know anyone and was rapidly feeling like an idiot.
But, her mom had insisted. After she found out Emma had married Austin at the courthouse just to get her off Emma’s back, she proclaimed that their relationship needed work and insisted that they spend every spare moment together.
Going alone with her mom on a work assignment seemed a bit much but she didn’t want to argue. Plus, this was a lot better than her mother’s book group who thought that drinking wine and going over the latest gossip magazines counted as reading books.
She sighed as she leaned back in her chair. Why was she having such a hard time here? It wasn’t like she didn’t attend most weddings as a single girl. But now, she was a single sort-of-married-but-not-quite girl. Weird.
“Would you like to dance?”
Emma gave him a smile. Really, she didn’t. If anything, she just wanted to sit here. Alone. The man’s gaze kept darting back to a pinched lip woman who was prowling in the back. When she met Emma’s gaze, she pretended to converse with the passing waiter.
“Honestly, no. But, if you’d like, you can sit here with me. We can pretend that we’re here together.” Emma knew all too well what it felt like to have everyone around her trying to set her up.
The man let out a huge sigh and slipped onto the seat next to her. “Thank you,” he said. “My mom won’t leave me alone and she doesn’t care that I broke the foot of the last person I took out onto the dance floor.” He waved to his rolled pants and black shoes. “I have two left feet.”
Emma giggled. “Then it’s probably better that we just hang out here.”
The man smiled over at her. “Bert,” he said, extending his hand.
“Emma. Nice to meet you.” She shook his hand.
“Why is such a pretty girl here alone?” Bert’s cheeks turned pink as he dropped his gaze.
Emma swallowed. Alone. She was alone. In a way, she’d always known that. But hearing the words spoken out loud had a sort of knife-in-the-chest effect on her.
“Sorry. Not my business,” Bert said, raising his hands.
Emma shook her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just that. . .” She glanced down at the table. She hadn’t really spoken to anyone about what happened in Montana since she got back. Vincent had been trying to contact her but she wrote him a very short and to the point text. It contained four words.
STAY AWAY FROM ME
Luckily, he hadn’t tried to contact her since. She was tired of men. Well, she was tired of slimy men.
“I was married, but he forced me to leave.” She pushed a few grains of salt around on the table in front of her.
Bert raised his eyes. “Really?”
Emma nodded.
“What kind of man would make you leave?”
“The idiot kind,” a deep, smooth voice said.
Emma’s heart stuttered in her chest. When did Bert sound like Austin? Too scared to look up, she reached out and felt for Bert’s arm.
“Say that again?”
“That wasn’t me,” Bert’s voice replied.
“Your fake husband? He’s an idiot.”
Emma swallowed and then braved heartbreak and looked up. Austin was standing behind her with his hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans. He had on a plaid flannel shirt and cowboy boots. He looked like he’d stepped right out of a ranching magazine. If those things existed.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, forcing her voice to come out normal. There was no way she was going to let him off easy. He had been the one to make her to leave.
“Emma, can I talk to you in private?” Austin’s gaze flicked over to Bert.
Emma shook her head. She needed something here to ground her in reality and right now that something was Bert. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of Bert.” She reached out and patted his arm.
“It’s really okay. I can leave. I don’t want to interrupt.” Bert’s skin tone had turned a shade of red. He moved to stand.
“Don’t leave me,” she said through her clenched teeth.
Bert hesitated but then settled down next to her.
“So, what was so important that you needed to fly all the way here to tell me.” Hold your ground, Emma. Don’t give into his deep eyes and soulful gazes. If only her pounding heart would listen.
Austin glanced over at Bert one more time but then took a step forward as if he no longer cared that there was another man intruding on their conversation.
“I was an idiot, Emma.”
She swallowed so loud she could hear it reverberate in her ears. “Yeah, I’d say.”
“No, you don’t understand. I was a complete idiot. I pushed you away. I convinced myself that you’d be better off alone. That loving you meant that you’d get hurt. And. . .” He stared down at his hands. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you getting hurt. Not after my mom.”
Emma’s stomach twisted at the sight of him in so much pain. All she wanted to do was stand up and tell him that everything was alright, that she’d forgive him. But she couldn’t. He’d really hurt her. A lot.
“You can’t control that. Loving people means taking risks. It means walking around with your heart in someone else’s hands,” Bert interjected.
Austin and Emma both stared at him. Bert smiled. “Sorry. My mom has me reading a lot of relationship books.”
Emma turned her attention back to Austin who was pointing his finger at Bert. “You’re right. You are absolutely right.” Austin turned back to Emma. “Truth is, I’d rather spend every minute we have together loving you, than thinking I’m protecting you by keeping you away.”
He knelt down in front of her and pulled out a box from his back pocket. Emma’s heart sped up so fast, she thought she just might pass out right here. He raised his gaze to meet hers. It was so full of love and fear that it took her breath away.
“Emma George Maverick, please forgive your stupid husband and be my wife. For real.” He pulled open the box and extended it.
Emma moved her gaze from the ring and then up to his face. Was he serious? Suddenly, completely overwhelmed, she bolted from her chair and raced toward the exit. This was becoming too much. Why did he all of a sudden want to be with her? He’d basically told her days ago that he didn’t love her but now he wanted her to be his real wife? She wasn’t sure her heart could take another break.
Once outside, she took a deep breath and stared out at the New York skyline. It was breathtaking at night. She wrapped her arms around her chest and leaned against the railing. The door behind her opened. She closed her eyes as she felt Austin step up next to her.
“I’m sorry,” he said. His voice was low with emotions.
“Why do you want to marry me?” she asked, keeping her eyes closed.
Silence filled the air as she held her breath. Wow. If it took him this long to come up with a reason to marry her, maybe they shouldn’t be together.
“Emma, you are my other half. You are all I’ve ever wanted in a woman and everything I didn’t know I needed. You are the first thing I want to see when I wake up in the morning and the one person I want to kiss at night.”
A small sob escaped her lips as tears formed on her lids, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. What if he was lying? There had been many times in the past where she thought he was telling the truth. He’d fooled her one too many times.
“How do I know what you are saying is the truth?”
“I called my grandmother and told her everything. I haven’t gone to sign the papers. The ranch means nothing to me. If I get it or not, none of that matters anymore.” She felt him move closer to her. “All I want is you. All of you. I want you by my side as I walk through life. I want you in my bed. I want you to be the mother of my children,” his voice deepened.
Emma opened her eyes to see him standing inches from her. His expression was serious as he stared down at her.
“Kids?”
Austin shrugged. “I figured we owe it to the world to create those beautiful kids everyone keeps saying we’d make.”
“But you don’t want kids.” A tear escape and trailed down her cheek.
Austin reached up and brushed his fingertips across her skin. “Out of everything I told you while you were with me, that was the only lie.” Then he paused. “Well that and that I didn’t love you or want you around.” He smiled down at her. “But everything else was true.”
She studied him. What was happening? Did Austin really want to be married to her? “Are you sure? I can’t get hurt again.” If there was even a chance that he could change his mind, she wanted him to be honest
right now.
“Emma, I’m not anybody without you. You are my everything. Please, say you’ll come back with me.” He leaned closer to her. “Be my wife for real this time.”
Emma’s gaze trailed down to his lips that were inches from hers. “I will under one condition.”
He raised his eyebrows as he slipped an arm around her waist. “Okay.”
“Ask me to marry you.”
He leaned closer to her. “Again?”
She bit her lip and nodded. “Yes.”
He shot her a look and then released his grasp on her and slipped to the ground. “Will you, the most aggravating, interesting, and sexy woman I’ve ever met, be my real wife?” He pulled out the box and flipped it open again.
She sighed. “I guess.”
Austin growled as he stood and wrapped his arms around her. “You guess?” he asked, burying his face into her neck.
“I will,” she squealed as he pulled her close.
“You better,” he said and then his lips found hers. And in that moment, everything faded away. The pain, the fear, the worry, it all dissolved into feeling of completeness that Emma felt as she deepened the kiss.
Austin was everything she’d ever needed and he wasn’t going anywhere. Finally, she’d found her prince charming and there was no way she was going to let him go again.
Epilogue
Emma lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. The sun was creeping through the crack in the drapes. It illuminated the room around her. She couldn’t believe that it had been mere months since Austin showed up to bring her back to Montana. Now, laying here, she couldn’t imagine her life without him. He was everything to her.
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