Read Online Tough Luck Hero by Maisey Yates - Free Book Online Page B

hands into his pockets.
    â€œI’m fine,” she said, very aware of the fact that she didn’t have everything together at all.
    â€œSo, are you about ready?”
    â€œI mean, I’m ready kind of. Mostly. Also, you didn’t have to come and pick me up.”
    â€œSorry, 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.”
    â€œYeah,” she said, “we may have to pioneer that.”
    â€œDo 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.
    â€œNo. 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.
    â€œOkay,” 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.
    â€œJust 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.
    â€œI was tired of waiting out on the porch. I thought the entire point was that we minimize gossip.”
    She turned around, starting when she saw him standing in the doorway. “I did not invite you in. I, in fact, did the opposite of that.”
    â€œDo you really want people to start talking about how your husband was standing on the porch looking lonely only hours after your wedding?”
    â€œThat’s so dramatic,” she said, attempting to look less perturbed than she felt.
    â€œYou’re the one with a lot of concern about appearances.”
    â€œYou’re not...disinterested in appearances, yourself. I have to find a suitcase.”
    â€œI thought you were almost ready.”
    â€œOkay, let’s not stand around acting like you would be fully on top of the procedure for going about all of this. I admit, I was feeling a little shortsighted. Like, I was kind of thinking of packing an overnight bag. And then I realized that we’re going to be living together for a few months.”
    She could have sworn that Colton paled slightly when she spoke the words. “More like a month and a half.”
    â€œSemantics. But we have to stay together until after the election. And presumably you need some time to allow your mother to adjust... Or whatever it is exactly that you’re waiting for her to do.”
    â€œI would like to avoid giving her a mental breakdown,” he said, sounding exasperated.
    â€œRight. Well, I don’t really know your mother, so I don’t really understand the situation. But I do understand that it’s kind of complicated. But all that means is that it’s not going to be a quick weekend stay at your place. And maybe I was in denial about that.”
    â€œIt’s not that big of a deal,” he said, while his expression said something else entirely.
    â€œNo,” she said, “not at all. We just have to learn to coexist.” She opened up her closet and began to rummage around, digging in the bottom until she produced her suitcase, which she