Tough Luck Hero

“Well,” Lydia said, “that has never been the case for me.”

“Except with Colton.”

Lydia set her cup down on the desk and threw her hands up. “I don’t remember it. It’s basically the same as it not happening.”

“Except that it did.”

“It isn’t happening again.” She picked her cup back up again, then set it back down. “You know what? I haven’t had sex in four years.”

Sadie’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”

“So celibate, Sadie. So celibate. I don’t think a couple of months sharing a very large space with Colton is going to undo my willpower.”

“Except, you did... A couple of days ago. With him. He was the one that broke the celibacy.”

“Whiskey broke the celibacy. Alcohol is to blame. I’ll just...stay sober. Which is fine, because I usually am.”

“I support you.”

“But you don’t believe in me.”

Sadie shook her head. “Two different things.”

“You just can’t tell anyone that our marriage isn’t a real marriage.”

“Well, I’m going to tell Eli.”

Lydia scrunched up her face. “Do you have to?”

“Sorry. Husbands before... Well, nothing rhymes with husbands. But, I don’t keep secrets from him.”

The fact that it was Eli made it slightly worse. Lydia was over her Eli crush, but since she had been occasionally pathetic in his presence already, she didn’t want to add to it by having him fully aware that her marriage wasn’t real.

A very unsettling thought occurred to her. Even if people believed the marriage was real, she still looked kind of pathetic. The bride hadn’t shown up, so Colton had snagged the nearest bridesmaid.

But you weren’t the nearest bridesmaid. You were on the other end. So, he passed over like three bridesmaids to get to you.

The thought made her scowl.

Sadie clearly thought the scowl was directed at her. “He won’t tell. Not anyone. Not even Connor.”

“I believe you.” She couldn’t imagine the very serious, upright sheriff gossiping to his brother like a couple of hens. If there was one thing she trusted in, it was Eli’s goodness. He was one of the most truly responsible and decent people she had ever known. Which, really, explained her attraction. That and the fact that he was an integral part of the community that had become so important to her. The community that she wanted so desperately to be part of.

In a deep way. Not just a superficial way. She wanted Copper Ridge to be hers. Not out of a thirst for power; that wasn’t why she was running for mayor. It was just that she cared. She cared so deeply about this place, this place that was perfect in ways she could not begin to describe.

The sharp, salt air; the fresh scent of the pines; the way the mist hung low over the mountains. It was in her blood. It was part of her. When she had first driven into town with her car full of her earthly possessions eight years ago, ready to make a fresh start, she had felt like she’d crossed the earth, not just into the next state.

Had felt for the first time like something was hers. For her.

And she wanted more. Something that couldn’t be taken from her. It was an ache, a longing that she had a difficult time articulating, even to herself.

“So, where do you go from here? What’s next?”

“I guess...I’m moving.”

CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_ec67d63a-5d84-5a2d-a2b7-09fe36924818)

LYDIA HAD NO idea what she should bring with her. Obviously, she wasn’t going to bring her furniture. She was going to have to forward her mail. She would need clothes, but mostly early fall clothes. Maybe a winter jacket. Definitely nothing for the late-coming spring. Because they weren’t going to be married that long.

She was standing in her living room pondering these things when there was a knock on her door.

She wondered if it was Sadie with more mochas, or perhaps that was more of a fantasy than a wonderment.

“Just a second.” She turned, moving to the door and jerking it open without checking to see who was on the other side. “Hi,” she said, trying to ignore the fluttering in her stomach when she came face-to-midchest with Colton.

He was so tall. It was borderline obscene. Tall and broad and extremely muscular. Utterly masculine, with just a few days growth of gold-tinted whiskers covering his square jaw. And it made her feel a little bit regretful that she didn’t have any memories about the interior of his pants.

No. No, she was not going to go there.

“I just came to see if you needed help with anything,” he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“I’m fine,” she said, very aware of the fact that she didn’t have everything together at all.

“So, are you about ready?”

“I mean, I’m ready kind of. Mostly. Also, you didn’t have to come and pick me up.”

“Sorry, I’m a little rusty on the protocol of how exactly you help your fake wife move into your house for a temporary period of time.”

“Yeah,” she said, “we may have to pioneer that.”

“Do you need any help?”

Absurdly, she was ridiculously edgy about the idea of him coming into her house. Possibly because when all was said and done, she kind of wanted to go back to life as it had been before she had decided to make a Colton-sized mistake.

“No. I have it. Just wait there. You can sit in...” She didn’t really want him sitting in her porch chair, either. But denying him a spot to wait was a little bit shrewish. “You can sit in the chair,” she said finally.

“Okay,” he replied, looking rather like he thought she was insane.

Well, maybe she was. But he had married her. So, that didn’t say anything good about him.

“Just a—” She held up a finger. “Just a second.”

She slammed the door shut and turned back around, looking at her half-packed duffel bag. She picked it up, turning quickly into her bedroom, then grabbing some clothes that were hanging in the closet and stuffing them into the bag. They didn’t fit. She was going to have to get a suitcase.

Several suitcases, probably.

What had she been thinking? She had been thoroughly convinced that this was some kind of overnight trip, and she was going to pack a bag, and then she was going to return to her house as though nothing had happened. She was moving in with him. That was completely different. It was... Okay, now she felt like she was going crazy.