Friday turned out to be a long, but fun day. Colt still thought this party was kind of weird, but maybe when he and Bri were old they’d want to host a bunch of friends for a weekend and play old people games, eat way too much, and be surrounded by those they were most comfortable with.

He was pretty impressed with the group as a whole. He’d worried too much about them being uppity. Sure, some of the women cast jealous glances at Bri, but that was to be expected. He glanced over at her as she slipped a lifejacket around her back. She probably thought he was teasing with her earlier in the room, but the way she looked in her swimming suit right now had his blood pumping and he knew his earlier naïve plans of cuddling through the night were not going to happen. He’d sleep on the floor or in the recliner and hope he could make it through this weekend with his willpower intact.

He took her hand and they waded through the water to the waiting wave runner. One of the boys who’d been a bellhop was holding it. Colt had easily fixed Ezra’s problem earlier today by simply placing the button in the kill switch. The motor wouldn’t start without it. That was a standard safety feature, so when someone was thrown from the wave runner, the button that should be attached to their wrist would pull free and the wave runner would stop and circle back to them.

“You want to drive first?” he asked Bri.

She turned to him with sparkling brown eyes. “Can I?”

“Sure.” He helped her onto the front and then climbed up behind her. It was a three-person, so they could fit comfortably, but he held on to her waist.

She wrapped the kill button cord around her wrist, pushed the button to start the engine, and then gunned it.

“Whoa!” Colt clung to her and about unseated them both.

Bri giggled as they roared off into the lake and she turned one way, then another. Colt gripped the seat with his thighs like a bull rider, as holding on to her was proving to be squirrelly, but he didn’t want to let go. She pulled the handle hard to the left, giving it full throttle. The engine was a 1050, so there was plenty of power.

They spun in a circle, and the velocity was suddenly too much. Colt held on to her as they both flew off the machine. Colt plunged into the water, while Bri went a different direction. The cool water embraced them and they popped up quickly with their life jackets’ help. Colt ran a hand over his face and eyes to clear the lake water. Bri was a few feet away.

“You’re crazy,” he said to her. “Were you trying to throw us off?”

“Yep!” She splashed some water in his face. “Big boater and skier, I figured you could handle a little swim in the lake.”

“I’m driving from now on.”

The wave runner had circled back to them, which automatically happened when the pull cord was ripped away. “Not if I get on first.” Bri scrambled onto it.

Colt grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back into the water. They both went under again. The playfulness of the moment made him grin.

He pushed her away from the machine, held on to it, and launched himself up. Bri grabbed on to his arm and yanked, throwing him back into the water. She triumphantly held up her arm with the kill button key on it. “You can’t go anywhere without this, buddy.”

Colt leaned back his head and laughed. “I didn’t figure you to be quite this feisty.”

“Really? Even after I called your dog a beast and yelled at you the first time we met?”

He helped her onto the machine first and climbed up behind her. “That’s a good point. I should’ve been more careful how I chose my wife.”

She whirled around in the seat and pinned him with a teasing look. “Sorry you didn’t marry well.”

Colt squeezed her around the waist and laughed. “Oh, I did. I definitely married up. Just try not to kill us on this thing.”

Bri just laughed and pushed her thumb all the way forward. The machine shot off, and Colt couldn’t do much more than hang on.

* * *

Bri dressed for dinner in the spacious bathroom, thinking back over the fun, carefree day. She couldn’t remember ever just letting loose like this and playing an entire day, but being with Colt was what made it really fun. Her family was great, but out of necessity they worked a lot. They had five hundred cows to milk twice a day, cows and calves to feed, fields to plant and harvest, and a small fortune in equipment that was always breaking. She’d worked every morning and every evening during school and all day long in the summers. Most people claimed college was hard, but even though she woke at four a.m. to work as a janitor and took a full class load every semester, she thought college was a lot of fun. She was able to joins some clubs, go on dates, and have a little bit of free time.

To simply play all day today was foreign, but she loved it.

She eyed herself critically in the mirror. The flowered dress was strapless and came a few inches above her knee. She felt a little too daring in it, but she wasn’t showing cleavage like most of the women at the party seemed pretty expert at doing, and the length of the skirt was long enough she’d be comfortable. Her hair was in soft curls down her back. She felt pretty, and it gave her a little thrill to think how Colt would react. He’d expressed quite a few times how attracted he was to her. She hoped what they had was deeper than attraction, but it was fun to see him be so interested in her.

She exited the bathroom to see Colt waiting in the bedroom, wearing a button-down shirt and navy-blue slacks. She was glad he hadn’t shaved his beard; it looked good on him. He had his phone in his hand, but glanced up, blinked, and then his eyes swept over her a couple of times before coming to rest on her face. “Bri, wow.” He set his phone on the nightstand and gestured with his hand. “Look at you. Wow.”

Brikelle smiled and walked slowly to him. “You look really hot,” she said.

“Thanks, but it’s nothing compared to you.”

“Thank you. Shall we go to dinner?”

He shook his head. “You expect me to go down and socialize with people I don’t know when all I want to do is look at you?” His voice lowered. “And, if you’ll let me, hold you and kiss you.”

Brikelle’s eyes widened. “Why, Mr. Jepson. You are quite the charmer.”

“Mrs. Jepson. You’re far too appealing to me.”

Him calling her missus broke the spell of enchantment he had over her, and she backed away. She wasn’t a missus, not even close, and they were playing with fire being alone in this room. How in the world were they going to get through the night with all the emotions that kept swirling around them every time they simply saw each other? She said a quick prayer, and memories of all the great things he did trickled through her mind—making her laugh, treating her like a lady, spoiling her and buying her all these clothes, doing this sham of a marriage so she and his crew could be assured work …

“You’re appealing to me too,” she said. “But it’s not all about how you look.”

He cocked his head to the side and studied her.

“You’re a gentleman, a hard worker, you’re fun to be with, and I love teasing you. Those things are more important to me than how handsome you are.”

He nodded. “Thank you. You’re more than physical to me too.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

He laughed. “Let’s go to dinner.” He offered his arm. She took it and released a pent-up breath. Maybe they could get through this weekend without jeopardizing their future.

Everyone was seated at the long, rectangular table when they arrived. There were thirteen in all: six couples and Emma. The women were dressed impeccably and Brikelle felt another surge of gratitude for Colt and their shopping trip.

Dinner went well, and Brikelle made some great contacts and enjoyed herself. It was kind of strange for her to be served like they were in some English manor instead of a mansion in Eden, Utah, but Emma seemed to be in her element and was all smiles.

After dinner some of the couples decided to play card games, but there was a James Bond movie playing in the theater downstairs as well.

“What would you like to do?” Colt asked as he took her hand and stood.

“Could we go on a walk around the property?” she asked.

“I’d love go with you,” Emma said.

Brikelle whirled. She hadn’t realized their host was standing there. “Yes, please do,” Brikelle said.

Colt offered his elbow to Emma and kept a hold of Brikelle’s hand. They walked out onto the back patio and around the pool area and gardens, then down to the beach.

“I just wanted to thank you both for coming,” Emma said. “I know this party isn’t something that’s done often, but it means the world to me.” She sniffed. “It’s miserable being alone, but having friends like the two of you takes away so much of the loneliness.”

Brikelle’s heart went out to the elderly lady. She’d also enjoyed being around her the past week and a half. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, dear. Listen to this old woman whine.”

They made it to the beach and walked in the firm sand toward the east.

“You just make sure to enjoy each other,” Emma said. “You never know how much time you’ll have together.”

Brikelle’s heart plunged, and sorrow for Emma and fear of having something happen to Colt overwhelmed her. She was just getting to know Colt and she hoped they had much longer together than anyone could predict.

“Joshua told me that you’re an Idaho girl like me.” Emma changed the subject.

“I am. Farm girl straight from Burley town.”

Emma laughed. “I know all about being a farm girl. I grew up in Sugar City.”

“Really? Sugar beets?”

“Oh yeah, worked until my fingers bled as a little girl.”

“And look at you now.”

Emma nodded. “Most of my life has been lots of hard work, but I enjoyed it because Scott was with me. We worked together and relied on each other, and even though sometimes I wanted to beat him with a stick, I always loved him.”

They all laughed and turned back toward the house. The sun was dipping toward the western mountains, and the lake glittered in the embrace of the green valley.

“I see great things for you two,” Emma said.

“Thanks,” Colt murmured, squeezing Brikelle’s hand. Brikelle got a rush of nerves. His voice had been uncertain and that hand squeeze seemed to indicate he might be ready to tell Emma the truth. How would she react? Brikelle didn’t want him to say the words, and not just because they could hurt Emma or lose her business. She wanted her and Colt to be real, to be true. She glanced at her ring finger. Did she have the right to this gorgeous diamond?

They made their way slowly back to the house, and Brikelle held her breath as she waited for Colt to bring up that they weren’t actually married. He opened his mouth and she tensed, clinging tighter to his hand. “So how did you and Scott meet?”

Emma giggled. “We both went to Utah State University and I got to know some of his close friends through my business classes. They all thought it was odd that a woman was in business. Even though it was the seventies and supposedly forward thinking and all of that, most women still graduated in home economics or maybe nursing or teaching. Business was still for the men. But Scott’s friends grew to like and respect me. He was in the master’s program, so I’d never met him.”

Brikelle relaxed as Emma told her story. Maybe she and Colt would have another lovely day here tomorrow before they had to admit the truth to this kind lady.

“I went to a dance with my roommates and saw his friend, Lewis, and the two of us got to talking. Well, Scott came prancing over to us like he owned the world. I thought he was so handsome, and he just had this confident air about him that really appealed to me. I was eyeing him up and down and he grinned and said, ‘Hey, Lewis, who is this?’ Lewis said, ‘This is Emmaline Naylor.’ That grin grew on Scott’s face and all I wanted to do was have him smile at me like that forever. He said …” She paused and laughed. “He said, ‘Well then, introduce me to my wife.’”

Brikelle and Colt joined in the laughter. “I can’t believe he really said that,” Colt said.

“I know. I guess it’d become a joke with his friends that I was the right woman for Scott and they started calling me his ‘future wife.’ Too funny. That man made me laugh the rest of the night, and I knew that he was the one for me.”

“That’s so sweet,” Brikelle said.

“I’m sure you fell head over heels for this hunk the first time you met him, too.” She gestured to Colt.

He laughed. “No, she thought I was a jerk with a scary dog, remember?”

“Oh, yes.” They arrived back at the patio. “But you’re gone for him now?” Emma released Colt’s elbow and came around to face Brikelle.

Brikelle looked at Colt. “More than gone.”

Colt winked, and she flushed.

“I’m glad to hear it.” Emma patted her hand. “Well, my dears, I’m going to go watch a little James Bond. That British accent and blue eyes really do it for me.” She winked.

Colt held the door open and she slipped inside with a little wave.

“What would you like to do now?” Colt asked Brikelle.

“Well, I got my walk in. I’m kind of waterlogged from all the times you dumped me off the wave runner.” He smirked at that. “So swimming is out. How about we sit in these lovely patio chairs that I ordered from Restoration Hardware?”

They sank into the chairs, and he turned to her. “You really are amazing. This is a great house, but you pulled it together in a way few could.”

“I was just continuing with the themes and feel the other designer already had in place.”

“Then you are even more amazing. You took something that wasn’t yours and not only made it yours, but made it shine.”

“Thank you.”

They sat there, holding hands and watching the sun go down. Brikelle felt comfortable like they’d been together for years, yet still the simple touch of his hand stirred excitement and desire in her.

“I keep having to remind myself that we’re not married,” Colt said.

She swallowed hard. “We’re pretty impressive actors if we believe it ourselves.”

“Sorry I got so caught up in the physical.”

“It’s okay. I did too.”

His voice got husky. “If you had any clue how attractive you were to me, you’d make me sleep out here tonight.”

“These chairs are pretty comfortable.”

He laughed and squeezed her hand.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get through this.” Brikelle meant struggling to keep their attraction for each other in check, but it kind of applied to everything they were doing this weekend.

“Have you just been pretending to have fun?”

“No. I’ve had the best day. I was trying to remember if I’ve ever had a day where I just played nonstop.”

“I like that you’re such a hard worker, but it’s important to play too. I’ll have to help you remember that.” Colt winked at her.

Brikelle didn’t want to be without him. This weekend was like a fantasy she didn’t want to end.

They watched the sunset in contented silence. Some other couples wandered outside and they started chatting with them. By the time people filtered off to bed, Brikelle had offers to redecorate a cabin in Park City and work on a house under construction on the east bench of Bountiful. It was thrilling to chat with the ladies about their ideas and see them get excited about different possibilities too.

“Well, Mrs. Jepson.” Colt stood and offered her his hand. “You ready to go to bed?”

“Don’t call me that.” Brikelle blushed and looked around to make sure nobody could hear her.

“Why? Oh, sorry. It makes you feel old or something. That’s what Momma always said. It was her mother-in-law’s name, not hers.”

“No, nothing like that. It just makes me think of things I shouldn’t think of.”

Colt drew in a quick breath. “Don’t do that. I’ve been doing so good these past couple of hours. We’ve got to keep the focus on our emotional connection, or whatever some marriage therapist would call it, or we’ll both be in trouble.”

“True. Maybe I’ll have to chant that over and over: ‘Emotional connection, emotional connection.’”

Colt chuckled. “When I hear you chanting, I’ll back away.”

They walked to their suite, saying good night to new friends along the way. As soon as they got inside, Colt turned to her. “I promise to be a saint tonight, so give me a kiss at the doorstep and then it’s hands off.”

Brikelle laughed and bit at her lip. “What if I don’t want to kiss you goodnight?”

“Oh.” Colt’s shoulders lowered. “I guess I’ll just have to exercise my Superman self-control and let you walk away.”

She stepped closer to him and touched the soft scruff on his face. “You don’t have to be a saint, Colt.”

“Oh, thank you.” He groaned as he ran his hands over her bare shoulders and around to her upper back. “Your skin is like silk,” he muttered.

Brikelle trembled under his touch. She cupped his cheek in her hand and rose onto tiptoes, kissing him softly. “Your lips are like heaven.”

He smiled against her lips, then pulled her tight against him, kissing her with a stored-up passion that stole her breath completely. Brikelle couldn’t think of anything but this man. The kiss became ragged as they both were panting for air. Colt backed her up into the doorframe and trailed his lips down her neck.

Brikelle could’ve died from how good it felt, but she knew they couldn’t be like this, not in here. She gently grasped his face and pulled him back up until he was looking in her eyes. “Colt,” she whispered. “Stop.”

He nodded obediently like a whipped puppy. Brikelle just stood there, giving him the time he needed. Finally, he straightened up his shoulders and nodded more surely. “Thank you.”

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then slipped from his arms and hurried to the bathroom. Changing out of her dress, she put on a T-shirt and yoga pants, washed off her makeup, brushed her teeth, and pulled her hair into a ponytail. That should cool his ardor a little bit.

When she exited the bathroom, he was lying on the carpet with one of the pillows under his head.

“You can’t sleep like that,” she exclaimed.

“How else do you expect me to sleep?” He cocked one eyebrow at her, and Brikelle knew they were one match strike away from a combustible flame.

She pulled the fancy, fluffy comforter off the bed, folded it triple, and laid it on the carpet next to the bed. He propped up onto one elbow and watched her.

“You do realize the yoga pants and fitted T-shirt are every bit as sexy as the fancy dresses?”

Brikelle pushed out a breath and rolled her eyes. “You’d think I was sexy in a burlap sack.”

“Yes, I would.”

Ignoring the husky tone in his voice, she walked up closer to him and yanked the pillow out from under his elbow.

“Hey!” he protested as he caught himself.

Brikelle laughed and set the pillow on top of the makeshift bed; then she hurried to the closet and grabbed the extra blanket and pillow that were stacked up high.

Colt walked up behind her and his breath tickled her neck. “You thought of everything for the guests, didn’t you?”

Pushing around him, she set the blanket and pillow on his stack, then turned at the sound of his approach. The look in his eyes was like a tiger stalking a rabbit. “You said just the kiss at the doorstep,” Brikelle squeaked out through a suddenly constricted throat. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, but not tonight, not like this.

Colt stopped and shook his head. “You’re right. Could you smack me across the face and tell me you hate my dog or something?”

Brikelle laughed at that. She scurried to the bed and climbed under the covers, saying a quick prayer. She didn’t dare get back out of bed and tempt Colt anymore. He walked to the light switches by the door and turned off the light. The tension in the room amplified, if that was even possible. Brikelle listened carefully to his movements. He hadn’t moved from the door, as if he wasn’t sure where he was going to end up tonight. They had to find a way to control this. She had been raised that the trust and love in marriage would be a hundredfold if she could save herself for her husband.

She could hear his soft breaths and footsteps; then he settled down on the floor next to her bed. She cussed herself. Why hadn’t she set up his makeshift bed across the room by the bathroom entrance?

Their breathing was the only sound for a few long minutes. Brikelle wondered how she was ever going to fall asleep when all she wanted to do was slip off the bed and into his arms. Then she started imagining doing just that, and she had to grit her teeth, say another prayer, and chant “emotional connection” in her head.

“Bri?” His hoarse whisper cut through the charged air.

“Yes?”

“Can I just hold your hand?”

Brikelle smiled. Dang, he was a nice guy. She rolled onto her side, facing him, and lowered her hand over the side of the bed. He grasped her fingers.

“Thank you,” he said. “Sometimes I get scared.”

“You?” It was hard to imagine someone as strong and confident as Colt ever being scared. “Of what?” She liked lying here in the intimate dark, holding hands and talking.

“Of losing you.”

That hit her hard. They weren’t even a couple, not really, but he didn’t want to lose her. “Like you lost Cally?” she asked before she could stop herself.

“Yeah. That was a hard time. Have you ever had your heart broken?”

Brikelle shook her head, then realized he couldn’t see. “I’ve never really dated anybody seriously. Always too busy with school and work, you know?”

“I know how that goes. I’m glad we could relax and play today.”

“It’s been a great day.”

“It has,” he agreed. “It’d be even better if I could give you one more kiss.”

“Colt,” she warned, heat rushing through her body.

He laughed. “I’m just teasing you … mostly.”

“Well, stop, I don’t take teasing well.”

“Yes, you do. Unless there’s a beastly dog involved.”

She smiled. It was interesting how much she’d relaxed about Ike since Colt had learned her story and become so understanding. “Sorry for calling your dog names.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry for calling you bad names.”

“You didn’t call me bad names.”

“Oh, did I keep all those in my head?”

She yanked her hand free, grabbed one of the extra pillows, and threw it at his face.

He grunted in surprise, then laughed. “I’d come up there and have a pillow fight, but I know you’d say ‘Colt’ in that warning voice that’s still way too sexy, and I don’t think I can handle it.”

“Good. Then go to bed.”

“Goodnight, my wife.” The teasing lilt in his tone helped a little bit.

“Goodnight, my sarcastic fake husband.”

He chuckled.

She rolled over onto her other side, closed her eyes tight, and prayed that she could sleep and not dream about him.