Substitute Bride (Beaufort Brides Book 2) by Noelle Adams

Author:Noelle Adams [Adams, Noelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B014C7AQ1Y
Published: 2015-08-21T18:30:00+00:00

Eight

James wondered if he’d finally lost his mind as he showered and got dressed for his first outing with Rose in their fake engagement.

It was a ridiculous plan. Maybe it was the kind of plan an eccentric, old-fashioned grandmother might come up with, but it certainly wasn’t a plan that two sensible people should entertain for more than a few seconds.

But yesterday, as he’d been sitting on the back porch of the Beaufort house and listening to Rose talk to her sister and brother-in-law, it had seemed like the only possible answer for their situation. It had made perfect sense and would work out with minimal consequences. And, after it was over, everyone could return to their proper slots in his life, with Genevieve’s slot removed completely.

After all, people ended engagements all the time. So he would have ended two engagements in one year. Surely men had done that before. People would just say he still wasn’t over the death of his wife.

Maybe they were right.

He’d been planning to marry Genevieve since she’d seemed like the best fit for the image of the wife he had in mind—an image that was based entirely on Melissa. He could see now that he’d latched onto her for the same reasons Marta and William had—she’d been a substitute for what they’d lost.

But he could see clearly now. And maybe a fake engagement with Rose wasn’t any stranger or more artificial than his first engagement with Genevieve.

After this, he might just give up on romantic relationships completely. He clearly wasn’t any good at them, and they just seemed to lead him into trouble.

He’d spent his life following his gut, but his gut was clearly failing him where women were concerned.

It would be easier if he still didn’t want Rose so much. Maybe then he could make a rationale decision. But the truth was his body and heart had heard the idea of Rose being his fiancée and jumped at the chance—as if all of him were desperate for her.

Maybe he was. Maybe everything but his brain was desperate. But he still needed his brain to make his decisions, since he had two little girls who would be affected by any decision he made.

It was too late to back out of the engagement now. They’d announced it in the local paper this morning, and his phone had been buzzing with curious inquirers. He and Rose needed to go out tonight and act like a couple in love, and then the deal would really be sealed, no matter what Genevieve tried to do to stop it.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t do anything, although he was afraid that was too much to hope for.

He dressed in khakis and a black dress shirt, hoping he looked decent and Rose wouldn’t think he was too sloppy or unimpressive. Then he headed downstairs to where the girls were waiting, grinning at the idea of this new plan that they didn’t fully understand.

“Where are you and Rose going to, Daddy?” Jill asked.

“We’re going to dinner and then maybe somewhere for dessert.

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