Page 61 of Fall For Me
“You’re like Pokemons,” Natalie jokes. “We have to catch you all.”
Alejandra snorts. “Now that we’re legitimate, we should put up a plaque.”
“Or charge a membership fee,” Aurora adds. “Since we’re so exclusive.”
Heat rises in my cheeks as they all stare at me, grinning, welcoming, teasing. It’s overwhelming, but not in the way the dinner with Liam’s parents was. Not like an audit, more like… an initiation.
I glance at Faye. She catches my gaze and rolls her eyes dramatically, mouthing, “Weirdos.”
I smile back and look at the circle of women. “I’m honored to complete the collection,” I say. “Do I get a sash?”
They all laugh.
Rory, bless her, steers the conversation toward the actual book, a psychological thriller about a woman who kills her husband, hides the body, and then—five months later—he reappears on her doorstep with amnesia. Real or faked? The question haunts every page.
The discussion starts, and for the next two hours, I’m not a runaway bride or the fraud living in a glass house. I’m just Peyton, debating the merits of fictional murder with a group of smart, funny women.
When Rory calls it a night, my throat is dry from talking and my cheeks hurt from smiling.
Lila hugs me again on the way out. “See? Not so scary.”
I smile. “Nothing settles the nerves like debating justifiable homicide.”
Lila tugs me a few steps away from the others. “And how are you settling in at home?” she asks, her voice dropping. “Is my best friend driving you up the wall yet? Is he being nice? Has he been changing his bandages?”
The only way Liam is driving me up a wall is literally, with his body pressed against mine, his breath hot against my ear as he pinned me to the window in his study. The memory sends a flush of heat through me.
I clear my throat. “He’s behaving, and the limp is getting better.”
“Mmmph.” Lila narrows her eyes, probably not buying my casual tone. “And you’re… adjusting okay?”
“I’m fine. Really.” I tug at the sleeve of my coat. “Actually, Liam offered me a job.”
“Oh?”
“Analyzing data for Rockwood Outdoors. He has a new strategy he wants to run past his dad, and he needs someone to build the metrics model and track implementation results.”
Lila’s eyes widen. “And you’re into that stuff?”
“That’s the thing.” I sigh, my breath clouding in the cold air. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. My brain has been running overexcited KPIs and data models since he offered me the position.”
Lila laughs, bumping my shoulder with hers. “You are such a nerd.”
“Guilty.” I smile sheepishly. “It sounds like interesting work. And it’s what I’m good at.”
“So what’s the holdup?”
I hesitate, glancing up at the stars visible between the string lights that crisscross over Main Street. “I’m worried that working for Liam, on top of being married to him, is too much. Am I setting myself up for disaster?”
Lila considers this, twisting a strand of her red hair around her finger. “I can’t say. Only you know what you can handle.” She drops her hand, her expression thoughtful. “But maybe you could shadow him at the office for a day. See the environment, meet the team, get a read on what the work would be like.”
“That’s… not a bad idea.”
“Seeing something in practice makes the decision clearer than theorizing about it.” Lila shrugs. “It took me one summer interning for my dad to be sure I didn’t want to follow in his footsteps. Meanwhile, my twin brother had the opposite conclusion.”
“Ah, the doctor, right?”
“Yep,” Lila confirms with a dramatic sigh, but her smile gives away the affection beneath the complaint. “He’s an insufferable overachiever. Preston is in Boston finishing his residency and thinks being born four minutes before me means he’s the wise elder.”
