whisper-shouted from the bottom of the steps. If she heard me, she ignored me.
“Emme, stop her!” Landon said as he gave me a little push.
I started up the steps. If I had to rip the microphone out of her hands, I’d do it. But as I got to the last step, I tripped and landed on my hands and knees.
“Right, because that is just my luck,” I mumbled as I tried to stand up.
“Emmerson! Shit, are you okay?” Landon asked, rushing over to help me.
I stood and realized it was too late. I had really fucked up this time, and I had dragged Landon down with me.
“Janet!” I whisper-hissed again, willing her to stop speaking.
“The reason our very own Emmerson Wallace got into that bidding war was because she’s engaged to her longtime best friend, Landon Lewis!”
And just like that…time stopped.
The floor I stood on felt like it had been ripped out from under me. I swayed and would have fallen over if not for Landon’s strong arms grabbing hold of me. I followed his gaze to the table where our parents were sitting, and we both let out a groan at the same time. They were all staring at us with shocked expressions on their faces.
“You’re engaged! Oh my goodness, this is amazing,” I heard someone in the crowd say. I honestly didn’t want to see who it was. “I can’t wait to see you Instagram this journey.”
“Oh yes! Please say you’re going to share every part of your wedding with us!” another female voice said.
I met Hailey’s gaze, but instead of smirking, she gave me a sympathetic look.
Closing my eyes, I internally let out a string of curse words.
“Should we have the happy couple come up onto the stage, y’all?” I heard Janet ask.
My eyes snapped open, and I looked at Landon. With a pleading expression, I silently asked my best-friend-now-faux-fiancé what in the hell we were going to do.
That carefree, easygoing smile suddenly appeared on his face as he moved his gaze from me to the rest of the room. “Smile, Emme.”
“Smile?” I asked in a weak voice.
He nodded and took my hand in his. “You can’t go out there onto the stage looking like you’re about to throw up.”
“The…the…stage? Landon, are you insane?”
Suddenly, Landon was guiding us out onto the stage, where we stood next to a beaming Janet.
“When were you going to tell us, you brat!” Janet asked me.
When I didn’t answer, Landon did. “Well, I asked her tonight, on the way here, so you can understand why we wanted to keep this to ourselves for a bit.”
I snapped my head to look at him so fast that I got dizzy. What was he doing? He’d taken the shovel from Lillian and had just thrown the first bit of dirt on us.
It was then I noticed all the flashes and that they weren’t coming from phones—they were cameras. Oh holy hell. I had forgotten there were reporters and news crews here. It was, after all, a huge social event in Austin that was held each year.
“Oh my God,” I whispered as I tried to stand behind Landon.
Janet handed the microphone to me, and I shook my head like a wild, trapped animal.
Thankfully, Landon took it, wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me next to him. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was worried I would run for my life, or if it was all for the show he was clearly putting on. My entire body shook.
Landon looked down at me, his eyes imploring me to act normal. “Well, looks like the cat is out of the bag, sweetheart.”
The entire ballroom erupted into laughter, and I forced myself to smile. Landon was playing along to keep me from looking like a fool…and worse yet…a liar.
“When’s the big date?” someone called out.
I jerked my head over to look at my parents. Daddy looked confused, and my mother had a goofy smile on her face. Surely she knew this wasn’t real. Then I remembered the stunt Landon had pulled at dinner to get Claire off his tracks. He’d held my hand. Kissed the back of it.
I swallowed hard and then looked up at Landon. He wasn’t going to answer. He was waiting for me to say something.
Crap. He wanted me to give them a date.
Forcing myself to smile brighter, I cleared my throat and took the mic. “Well, I’ve always wanted a winter wedding. I’m thinking December. That gives us six months to plan