“I can’t believe you want to play poker for your bachelor party,” Sullivan complained. “I wanted to go to the strip club.”

“It’s not a real bachelor party,” he reminded him. They were in the back room at Tap That. Sullivan’s dad and two young bartenders in their twenties were running the bar.

“So, I came here from Chicago for a fake wedding. Fantastic,” Brandon said, shaking his head.

“I told you that you didn’t have to come. I was honest about what’s going on here.”

“No one else knows it’s fake. So if I don’t show it would make me look like the shittiest friend ever. People would be like that fucking guy can’t even make his best friend’s wedding. What a dick.”

“You are a dick.”

Brandon threw his cards down. “I’m out. For the record, you owe me a plane ticket. I was just here last weekend.”

“You make like five times what I do. Fuck off.” Regardless of the reason, he was glad to see Brandon twice in a short period of time. He was also glad to see he had a full house in his hand. He slid a twenty in the center of the table.

“Ten times, more likely,” Brandon said, with a grin.

“It doesn’t matter if this is real or not,” Sullivan insisted. “It’s a perfect excuse to go to the strip club and no one can give us crap for it.”

Rick tossed a handful of chips in his mouth. “I don’t want to go to the strip club. There’s only one woman I want to see naked and that’s Sloane.”

“Yeah, my sister, you asshole. Thanks for that visual.”

“Your sister is hot. Get over it.”

Sullivan sipped his whiskey. “Me: Don’t have sex with my sister. Rick: whips his dick out and falls on her five minutes later.”

“That’s a lie. It was her idea that first night, if you want the truth.”

Sullivan grimaced. “No, I don’t want the truth. I want nothing to do with your sex life with my sister.”

“Can we all talk about my sex life?” Jesse asked. “Because it’s fucking awesome.”

That made Axl laugh. “No. Let’s talk about the Vikings. I’d rather argue with you guys about football than women.”

Sloane popped her head into the back room. “Uh, guys, I need to talk to you.”

“Get out,” Sullivan said. “You’re not allowed in here.”

Sloane rolled her eyes at her brother. “Whatever, loser. My dad owns half this bar, you know. But anyway, there is kind of a commotion out here. Leighton and her friends have arrived.”

That made Axl look over at her in alarm. “So?” Leighton wasn’t a party girl. He didn’t think. She hadn’t mentioned she’d be coming to Tap That but it wasn’t surprising. It was the largest pub in town.

“There are a bunch of guys hitting on her friends. And maybe her.”

“Are her friends hot?” Jesse asked.

“I don’t know. I guess.” Sloane shrugged. “But Leighton looks uncomfortable so I thought Axl might want to know.”

Axl figured if Sloane thought it was worth mentioning than it wasn’t just some random guy offering to buy her a drink. He stood up. “Nobody look at my hand.”

What he saw when he went out into the bar had him grinning instead of concerned. Leighton was sitting at a table reading a book. She was sipping a glass of wine. As if she were at home in her apartment instead of in the midst of her bachelorette “party.” There was a group of people he didn’t recognize right behind her. The women were thin and tan and strangers to him, presumably her California friends. He recognized the men ogling them as locals.

Jackson, the cameraman, was sitting next to Leighton looking annoyed.

“Hey,” Axl said, coming up behind her and massaging her shoulders. “What are you doing here? And why are you reading a book in a bar.”

She looked up. “Hi. My friends wanted to see a local bar so I wanted to make them happy but I’m exhausted. Whenever I’m beat down I turn to Jane Austen. Comfort reads.”

He kept rubbing her shoulders. He didn’t doubt that she was exhausted. She had been going nonstop for six days. “You know what I want?” he murmured, bending over to speak straight into her ear.

“What?”

“I want to throw you over my shoulder, take you home, and spend the night in bed.” He liked his friends but he saw them all the time. And they didn’t have bodies like Leighton.

She shook her head. “That’s not going to happen, though I doubt I would have the energy for it anyway. I have about two minutes before they realize I’m not doing a shot and come over to drag me to the bar. Oh, and Jackson wants to do an interview.”

Axl eyed Jackson, who looked glum. “Do we really have to do an interview?” Axl asked him, giving him a stern look he hoped would intimidate him into backing down. Jackson didn’t look thrilled about any of this so maybe he could talk him out of it. “Leighton is tired.”

“We really should, unfortunately.” Jackson sipped a craft beer. “Can you believe it was just a week ago we were here for Winnie’s bachelorette party? It feels like I’ve been in this town a thousand years.”

Seven days. That was kind of crazy to think about. It felt both like he’d known Leighton for a while and yet like he’d blinked and this week had disappeared.

“I actually owe you, Jackson. If you hadn’t made that comment to Leighton about me we might not be standing here right now.”

“Fabulous.”

A guy who was in Leighton’s group of friends at the bar came over and slid into an empty chair, fanning himself. He was dressed in a button-up shirt. “Leighton, is this Officer Hottie?”

“Zach, this is Axl. Axl, my best friend, Zach.”

Axl stuck his hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

“My pleasure. I’ve heard so much about you.” He lifted his hands to indicate what Axl had to assume was dick size. “So much.”

That actually made him laugh.

“Oh, my God, stop! I did not.” Leighton put her book in her purse. “You just love to embarrass me, Zach.”

“It’s not really that hard to make you squirm.” He turned to Jackson. “And what’s your name? I would like to know since you’re my future ex-husband.”

Jackson looked like he would rather do thirty days in San Quentin. “I’m the cameraman for Wedding Crashers. That’s probably all you need to know.”

“Rude.” Zach took a sip of his drink and waved his hand to Axl. “Sit down. Join us. Though why are you crashing Leighton’s bachelorette party?”

“Technically, she crashed mine. My friends and I are playing poker in the back room.”

“Scandalous.”

“Not really.”

“Oh, that’s not a euphemism for something dirty?”

Axl laughed. “No. Not even close. We really are just playing poker.”

There was a high-pitched yell from the bar.

“My friends aren’t usually this loud,” Leighton said. “But I think the long flight and the fresh air have whipped them up.”

“You should introduce me. And I see my friend Jesse is already hitting on your friends. Surprise, surprise.”

“My friend Sandra’s father owns a professional hockey team. They probably have a lot in common.” Leighton stood up, like she was resigned to all of this, but was not intending to enjoy it.

He met her three girlfriends in a blur of waves and greetings and “Oh, Leighton, he’s fucking hot!” while he tried to picture how Leighton fit into this particular group. She was definitely the quiet one. Though he wouldn’t call her shy, despite the fact she had said she was.

She was him in his friend group. They were both the hang-back-and-observe members of their respective crowds. Brandon had now joined Jesse and they were chatting up Sandra, Christina, and Jordan. “Should we do our interview now and get it over with?” he asked Leighton. “We’re not needed here.”

She shot him a rueful look. “Clearly.”

Jackson seemed to have warmed up to Zach. They were bent over talking. Despite the dirty look she got from Zach, Leighton interrupted.

“Jackson, let’s get this interview over with.”

“You’re kind of a bridezilla,” he told her. “You have been cranky this week.”

Leighton’s mouth dropped. “I have not. I’m just busy.”

“Let’s just do the filming,” Axl said to Jackson. “So you can go back to your hotel.”

And he could talk Leighton into going home with him.

“Fine. Let’s go outside. It’s too loud in here.”

They were standing in front of the bar under the flashing fluorescent Tap That sign. It made Axl grin. He didn’t think either Jackson or Leighton noticed so maybe he was just a fucking pervert but he thought it was hilarious. But him being a dirt bag was not what was needed for the damn show.

After Jackson got his camera up and ready he started to ask them questions. “Are you ready to get married?”

“Yes.” He knew he was supposed to elaborate on that but even if they really were getting married he wasn’t sure he would have anything else to say. That wasn’t his style.

“I’m sure something will go wrong tomorrow because it always does,” Leighton said, mostly looking at the sidewalk in front of the bar. “But we’ll just roll with it.”

Neither one of them really answered that the way they were supposed to and Jackson sighed. “Tell me what you love about Leighton.”

Leighton’s head snapped up. “I didn’t put that question in there, Jackson. What the heck?”

Axl was taken aback too, but what the hell, of course that would be a question if any of this were real. He was amused that Leighton was outraged but still couldn’t bring herself to swear. She only seemed to cuss when she either wanted sex or they were having sex. He found that hot.

Their fingers were entwined, something he didn’t do very often. He wasn’t really a hand-holding guy. But Leighton always seemed so delicate to him. It felt natural to touch each other this intimately. He lifted their hands now and spoke to the camera.

“We’re a good fit,” he said. He meant that. They’d had a good week. It wasn’t a lie. It was a week he would remember fondly for the rest of his life. God, fondly. That was such a fucking understatement. He sounded like his mother when she referred to being fond of coffee. This was something else entirely. This had been the fastest and hardest he had fallen for any woman ever and he cherished the time together.

So he turned to speak directly to Leighton. He wanted her to know that while this was not a real engagement, he had enjoyed being with her. Getting to know her. “Leighton is special. She has a huge heart and a consideration for others. The first minute I laid eyes on her I knew she was different.”

“In what way?” Jackson asked.

Axl squeezed her hand and stared into her green eyes. “She’s perfect and she has no idea that she is. She’s intelligent, generous, and amazing at her job. She’s as soft and delicate as the roses she loves, yet she has an inner strength I don’t think she even knows she possesses. And I’ve enjoyed every minute of this week with her, falling for her.”

Leighton bit her lip and without warning there were tears in her eyes. Axl felt it again, that strange protective surge he had around her. He reached up and wiped her eye before the tear fell down her cheek.

“And Leighton, what do you love about Axl?”

“He’s a nurturer,” she said, which kneed him in the gut.

That was the first thing she said about him? It brought up emotions he hadn’t even known he was capable of.

“And he’s thoughtful and smart and loyal.”

Axl was overwhelmed and he couldn’t resist. He bent down and kissed her, taking her mouth in a deep passionate kiss that he hoped conveyed everything he felt without having to say it. That she deserved a lifetime of happiness with a house and children and a rose garden of her own.

That he wanted to be like Bill, and throw caution to the fucking wind and marry her and get her a puppy, but that he couldn’t because his heart was frozen as solid as the lake in February and not even her sunny California smile could thaw it. Not entirely. Not the way she deserved.

So, he kissed her and willed her to feel it, to understand him, to know that she was something really fucking special.

When he pulled back, he needed to leave. He couldn’t look at her and keep his shit together. “We’re done here,” he told Jackson. “Go get some rest.” He squeezed Leighton’s hand and dropped it. “Come on. I’ll take you back to your friends. Enjoy your girl time.”

“I thought you wanted to throw me over your shoulder and kidnap me?” she said, sounding a little hopeful.

He wanted to do a lot of things. None of them were smart. “At least once this week I need to resist my impulses.” He led her to the door of the bar and yanked it open for her. “I will see you tomorrow, sweetheart.”

“Yeah. Right.” Leighton shot him a look he couldn’t interpret then marched over to the bar.

He watched her do a shot with her girlfriends before he made his way back to his poker game.

He lost his fucking shirt to Sullivan that night.

Because he was one hundred percent distracted by thoughts of a sweet blonde who looked at him like she could fall in love with him.

And he wanted her to.

---

“Zach, I’m so screwed. I’m just so completely and totally screwed.” Leighton paced back and forth in her hotel room. Her mother was texting her asking about the bachelorette night and if she’d had fun and she couldn’t bring herself to answer.

Fun wasn’t the way to describe it. Knocked on her ass was a better descriptive.

“Okay, calm down. What’s going on?” Zach looked at himself in the mirror. “This lighting sucks. Where are you getting ready tomorrow? Because this room is not going to cut it. I can’t do your makeup in these conditions.”

“I don’t care about the lighting. What I care about is that we have a problem. Or rather, I have a problem.”

“What’s that? If Sandra is currently having sex with the hockey guy, it’s not a big deal. She likes to get her ho on when she’s out of town. She’ll be on time tomorrow, no worries.”

Leighton didn’t care who her friends had sex with. “Don’t call her a ho. That is not nice. A woman is allowed to have fun.”

“Got it. As if I would ever judge anyone for multiple sex partners. Including at the same time.”

He was missing the point. What she cared about was who she was having sex with. Axl. “I’m in love with Axl!” She paused and held her hand to her chest at the very words being spoken out loud. Everything inside her just melted at the thought of him.

To her it seemed the words hung in the air, like she’d grabbed a bullhorn and set it off along with the most outrageous statement ever made.

Zach did not agree. He looked one hundred percent blasé. “Well, duh. We knew that was going to happen.”

For a second, she was stunned.

Then she realized he had a good point. “What am I supposed to do now?” Leighton sighed as she remembered what he’d said to her in that interview outside of Tap That. “He’s just so… everything. He’s romantic and sexy and strong and caring and…”

Zach stood up straight and eyed her. “Am I going to have to slap you? That’s usually what happens at this point. Or throw a drink in your face.”

“Why the hell would you throw a drink in my face?” she asked, peeling her sweater off and throwing it on the dresser. She was burning up for no apparent reason. “I think we can skip that step.”

“To talk sense into you.” Zach reached out for her.

Leighton dodged him, alarmed. “Don’t you dare shake or slap me. I’m not that hysterical.”

“I was going to hug you, I swear.”

Not sure she should trust him, she let him draw her into his arms. It was actually a genuine, reassuring hug. “What do I do?” she asked him again.

“You get fake married tomorrow and have amazing wedding night sex. Then, you lay your heart on the line and see what happens.”

“I can’t do that!” Axl had made it clear he was in this short term, nothing more.

“Then you get fake married, have great wedding sex, fake break up and come home to LA with a happy vagina and move on with your life.”

“I guess I could do that,” she said, even though she felt grumpy about it. “Even though it sucks. But that is my only option, isn’t it?”

“You could skip the wedding and the wedding night sex all together and do the fake breakup first.”

“That sounds even less like what I want.” She definitely wanted the sex. “I want one last night with Axl.”

“Lies. You don’t want one last night with him. You want indefinite nights with him.”

“I do.” She sighed.

Then she realized she was supposed to say those words the next day to his face and she looked at Zach. “Feel free to slap me now. I think I need it.”

“I’m not going to slap you. I’m going to put you to bed so you can get some quality sleep. Then I’m going to do your hair and makeup in the morning and you’re going to be so fucking hot that man will wish he could marry you for real.”

It wasn’t much of a plan but it was the only one she had. “And then what?”

“You break his heart before he breaks yours.”

Probably too late for that. Hers felt pretty darn cracked.