Fool for You by Kelly Elliott

Landon

I PACED IN the hallway outside Emmerson’s hotel room while she quickly ran to the restroom. My arm was bruised from pinching it so many times. I thought I was dreaming when we were in the limo. I’d seen it in her eyes—the desire and need—before she’d demanded that I kiss her. And before I could think or second guess anything, I acted like a greedy bastard and hauled her onto my lap. Like a caveman.

“Don’t fuck this up, Lewis,” I whispered as I looked at the door to her room.

It opened and Emmerson walked out. “Ready?” she asked, holding her hand out for mine.

“Yep, let’s get this over with.”

Twenty minutes later, we all sat at a table in the very back of the bar that was off the lobby of the hotel. Both sets of parents sat patiently as Emmerson explained how the events of the night had unfolded. I had completely forgotten all about the auction—and the thirty-thousand dollars—and how it had been the catalyst that spurred on all the other shit.

“So you told her to bid on you so that no one else would win the date?” Malcolm asked.

I nodded. “Yes, but I didn’t tell her to go that high. By the way, when do we have to pay it?”

“You don’t, I took care of it,” my father stated. “I figured that kind of money wasn’t really floating around in Emmerson’s bank account.”

“That was so sweet of you.” Emmerson reached across the table and squeezed my father’s hand. “But I’m sure Landon will pay you back.”

Dad shot me a look. “Trust me, he’ll most definitely pay me back.”

And I would, but I had no doubt that my father would tease the hell out of me for years to come.

Malcolm glared at my dad. The two of them were the best of friends, but at times I wondered if that sense of competition between them was still there. “I should have known it was you who paid it,” Malcolm growled out.

My father gave Malcolm a one-shoulder shrug and smirked, knowing he had won this round. “I always was faster than you.”

Malcolm huffed. “Bullshit.”

Both of our moms sighed, and Paislie rolled her eyes and lifted her wine glass to her lips.

“Get back to the story!” Hailey said before she took a sip of her martini. I wasn’t sure why she was being so pushy—she already knew the whole story and then some.

Drawing in a breath, I slowly let it out. “Well, after the bidding war went down, I pulled Emmerson off to the side to ask her why in the hell she went so high, and that’s when Jason showed up.”

“I never did like that guy,” Malcolm mumbled, and my father nodded in agreement.

Emmerson picked up the story once again. “Anyway, Jason introduced us to his fiancée, Lillian, and then he made some messed-up comment about me not being able to love someone.”

“What did he mean by that, the little punk?” Paislie shouted more than asked.

Malcolm jumped in. “So wait, he pops off with some stupid remark and you come back with the idea that you’re engaged? Emmerson, it doesn’t sound like you to be so…what were you being? Jealous? Competitive?”

With a long groan, Emmerson replied, “I know, I know! I don’t really know what came over me. It’s just, everyone I know is getting engaged, and then that jerk-off said I wasn’t able to love. It really pissed me off.”

“So you invented a fake engagement?” my mother asked.

“I honestly don’t know what came over me. I couldn’t care less if he’s engaged or married or whatever. But when he said that about me, I…I…”

What is it, Emmerson? You wanted to prove him wrong because deep down inside you know you’re in love with me?

Okay, so I couldn’t say that.

“It was me not thinking and running my mouth off. I guess I was hurt by his comment more than anything. So yeah, I blurted out that we were engaged. Then Janet walked up and heard it and then Lillian shouted out that we were getting married in December.”

I cut in. “Janet took off like a damn race horse for the stage so she could announce it, not even once thinking to ask us first.”

Malcolm rubbed at his temples. “Why get up onstage with her and confirm it?”

I had to keep the anger out of my voice when I replied, “What were we supposed to do, Malcolm? Say ha ha, not really, Emmerson simply said that to her ex because he was engaged and told her she wasn’t capable of loving anyone? Think about what that would do to her business. Janet had already opened her big mouth, but we did try to stop her first.”

“He’s right, sweetheart. We all know what a bit of bad press can do to someone or their business,” Paislie added.

Emmerson cleared her throat. “That’s why Landon and I have agreed to keep up this charade for a few months. It really won’t be hard since we’re always together anyway, it seems like.”

“Wait, you’re going to continue this lie?” This came from my father.

“I don’t see the harm in letting it go for a few months,” I said. “Plus, it will give Emmerson a chance to relate a bit more to her clients and to pull in more clients once they see her going through the motions of her own wedding planning.”

“Fake wedding planning,” my father stated.

With a sigh, I went on. “Emmerson and I will amicably split at some point, and that will be that.”

Hailey opened her mouth to say something, but shut it when Emmerson and I both shot her a look of warning.

“Besides, I’ve already gotten so much publicity today,” Emmerson said. “Both from the People article and from tonight. If I come clean now and say I had only made it up to get back at an old boyfriend, my clients would lose trust in me. And think about Landon’s business as well.”

“Some press? I’d say you’ve gotten more than some,” Hailey mused.

Paislie leaned back in her chair and sighed. “I don’t know, Emmerson and Landon. What if you get caught in a lie or someone figures it out?”

Emmerson sighed. “The only people who know it’s a fake engagement are sitting at this table. For years, everyone has been talking about Landon and me being a couple. Maybe now that it’s out there, they’ll stop being interested in when we were finally going to admit it, and they’ll move on.”

I nodded in agreement. “I’m not going to lie and say I won’t be upset to be off the market for a bit.”

“So while you’re in this little fake engagement, you don’t plan on dating anyone?” my father asked.

My throat suddenly got thick, and I fought to form words. I had never in my life lied to my parents.

“No, we’ll be dating,” Emmerson answered with a huge smile. “Each other, just not how everyone thinks.”

I looked at her and smiled. She had told the God’s honest truth, and I think I fell a bit more in love with her right there.

“Well, I hate that you two got yourself in this pickle, and a part of me is screaming that something bad is going to come out of this,” my mother said.

“Mom, you worry entirely too much. Besides, think how fun it will be to plan my wedding, and now we’ll get to pretend-plan Emmerson and Landon’s too!” Hailey said with a wide smile.

Paislie and my mother both frowned.

“We have to plan a fake wedding?” Malcolm asked.

“Well, not really,” Emmerson answered. “I was thinking that it might be fun to have Landon and me do a cake tasting or venue shopping and do like a diary of sorts on my Instagram. It would give my followers a bit of a different perspective on wedding planning, like Landon said. If they think I’m the bride and not just the planner, I’ll be able to connect with them more.”

For a moment, I swore Emmerson actually sounded excited about all of this.

My mother shook her head. “I don’t know…”

“Don’t worry, Addie, Landon and I will not ask any of y’all to do anything that would be deceitful.”

“And what happens when people back home ask us about it?” Malcolm asked.

Emmerson shrugged. “It’s simple—just say something about how we’ve always been two peas in a pod. Or how it’s no surprise it would happen, considering it’s Emmerson and Landon. You don’t have to say what the it actually is.”

Malcolm raised one brow as he stared at Emmerson. “That’s still lying, sweetheart.”

All she did was shrug. “I don’t see any other way, Daddy. And like I said, we are dating, just not how everyone thinks.”

Malcolm let out a long sigh. “Unfortunately, I agree. You two dug yourselves into this mess, and it will be interesting to watch you climb out of it.”

My father grinned as if he knew something the rest of us hadn’t figured out yet.

Emmerson and I exchanged a look. When she smiled weakly at me, I reached over and took her hand in mine. “It’s all going to work out just fine. You’ll see.”

I wasn’t exactly sure who I was trying to convince. Myself, Emmerson, or the rest of the table.

After our parents excused themselves for the evening, Hailey and Mike invited us to go out with them. I wasn’t really been in the mood, but I also wasn’t thrilled about the idea of going back to my hotel room and sitting there alone, either.

“So this is the Container Bar, huh?” I asked as we walked up to the popular nightclub on Rainey Street. They had taken shipping containers and stacked them to make a two-story bar.

“This is it! One of my sorority sister’s boyfriend is the DJ here,” Hailey shouted back at me and Emmerson.

“Did you get any of that?” Emmerson asked.

I shook my head and took in the different containers that made up the bar. “I see where it gets its name,” I said with a grin.

Emmerson giggled, and I laced my hand with hers. Mostly because I didn’t like the way guys were eye-fucking the hell out of her.

We ordered our drinks at the bar and then followed Hailey and Mike outside to the courtyard area where the DJ was set up. The entire courtyard was surrounded with stacked containers except for the back area where a building sat. It had ‘Restrooms’ written on the front, with a giant painted rooster on one side and a cat on the other. I shook my head and laughed.

“Nice restrooms. Love the whole cock and pussy reference,” Emmerson said with a laugh.

A large dance floor sat in the middle of the courtyard and was packed with patrons. It was late and the bar was only open for another hour and a half, and I was stunned to see this many people still here. I glanced up at the second floor to see some people standing behind glass windows and others out on patios looking down at the dance floor.

“Christ Almighty. That’s a lot of people,” I stated as I stared out at the crowd.

Emmerson gripped my hand tighter and moved in closer to me. It wasn’t like I hadn’t ever been to bars or nightclubs before, and I knew Emmerson had as well. It was just that this place was packed full of people, and it had already been a long-ass night. I was honestly exhausted.

Hailey and Mike soon slipped into the crowd of people dancing.

Emmerson took a sip of her cranberry and vodka and glanced around. “This really isn’t my thing anymore.”

I nodded, watching a guy and girl kiss each other like they were trying to eat each other’s mouths off. Yeah, this scene wasn’t one I missed. I looked at Emmerson. “Mine either.”

She smiled. “Would you mind if we left and walked back to the hotel? I don’t know what I was thinking, agreeing to come. Honestly, I’m exhausted after this crazy night we’ve had.”

“Of course, Emme.”

After trying to find my sister and Mike for fifteen minutes, we gave up and sent them both a text that we were heading back to the hotel.

We walked back mostly in silence. I wanted to ask Emmerson what was going through her brain. We’d kissed three times already, and my body felt like it was humming. The moment I got to my room, I was either going to take a cold shower or get myself off. Most likely it would be the latter while I thought about how Emmerson’s lips felt on mine.

“Do you think we can do this, Landon?”

“Which part? Pulling off being fake engaged, or exploring this thing between us?”

She stopped right outside the hotel lobby door. She looked up and her eyes met mine. “The engagement part. Do you think my mother is right? Do you think I’ll lose sight of things and get carried away?”

I pulled her to me and hugged her. My heartbeat kicked up when I realized that she wasn’t questioning what was happening between us, only worried about the stupid fake engagement. “No, I don’t think you will. And if you start to, I’ll gently remind you.”

She wrapped her arms around me and held on tightly. “Thank you, Landon. I know I put you in a weird spot.”

I drew back and looked at her. “A weird spot? No, you didn’t, Emme. If anything, I’m sorta glad it all happened. I wouldn’t have been able to kiss you tonight had you not opened your big mouth at the auction.”

She smacked me on the chest. “You told me not to let her win!”

Laughing, I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “That I did.”

I wrapped my arm around her waist and led her into the hotel. As we walked through the lobby, I looked around, but not a single person was paying any attention to us. Even for as late as it was, there was still a number of people about. Of course, it was downtown Austin, so that wasn’t a real surprise. A part of me wished we had gone back to Waco tonight. I wanted to be back in Emmerson’s house, on her sofa making out.

I closed my eyes and nearly groaned. Yeah, I was for sure going to need to relieve my aching dick.

“What’s wrong?” Emmerson asked.

I shook my head and looked at her. With a wink, I replied, “Nothing. I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”

She nodded, and we both stepped into the elevator. Another couple stood off to one side, and they smiled at us as we walked in.

“Here on business or vacation?” the older gentleman asked.

“Business,” Emmerson and I both said at the same time.

The older woman frowned and pouted her lips some. “Well, hopefully you’ll be able to enjoy the city. We love Austin. It’s changed over the years, but it still has its romantic spots. I hope you can visit them!”

We both smiled. It wasn’t the first time someone had mistaken us for a couple, but now things were different. We were a couple, weren’t we? The lines were so fucking blurred, I wasn’t even sure what to think at this point. We were in a fake engagement, but we were also secretly dating.

Why did that suddenly sound so insane? Maybe we should have come clean with our folks? Then again, it was already hard enough to figure things out without them butting into our business.

“We’re not far—we live in Waco,” Emmerson said as the elevator dinged, indicating we were at our floor.

The couple told us to enjoy our evening and waved as we stepped out of the elevator and headed to our rooms.

“Honestly, it’s going to be easy playing at this whole engagement thing,” Emmerson stated with a bit of confidence in her voice.

I nodded and looked down at her hand as we walked up to her door. “So I guess we’re calling it a night?” I asked, picking up her left hand and kissing the back of it. Her nostrils seemed to flare when I touched her, and her eyes turned slightly darker.

“I guess so,” she replied in a breathy voice right before she licked her lips.

With a smirk, I said, “Gonna have to look at getting a ring on that finger.” I lifted her hand and almost slipped her ring finger into my mouth.

Slow down, Landon. Don’t scare her off.

Her eyes were fixed on my mouth as if she had read my thoughts. “Yep. We, um, we’re gonna have to do that soon. Like, maybe tomorrow or something.”

Smiling, I leaned down and captured her mouth with mine. The kiss was soft and slow, and God, how I loved the taste of this woman. When Emmerson slightly whimpered into my mouth, I had to use all of my self-control to pull away instead of pushing her back into her room.

“See you in the morning?” I asked, taking a large step away from her.

All she did was nod. “Yep. See you in the morning.”

Emmerson turned and unlocked the door and stepped inside of her room. She looked at me and smiled as she slowly shut the door. When I heard the safety lock slide over, I placed my hand on the door and closed my eyes.

Slow. We needed to go slow, even though everything in me told me to knock on the door and take what was mine.