Laying it on a little thick, Leanne.
“Right,” Benedict says. “Now look at me.”
“Ah, you’ll need a tuxedo,” She says.
“Precisely. Can’t wear this drab old thing.”
I almost laugh, “I can see the price tags still on it!”
“It’s rubbish now.”
I will my cheeks not to blush as I joke, “Is this all that charm you were talking about?”
“Is it working?” he smirks.
“No,” I say, but I’m fighting a smile and he knows it.
“Yes, well, can’t bloody well charm a goddess, can I?” he gestures up and down at my dress. “Just have to pray she’s merciful.”
“Please shut up.”
“Never.”
I roll my eyes but I let the smile take over my whole face. Again with the compliments, given so easily and genuinely. I get the feeling he has no filter because he doesn’t need one. He’s justgenuinely rooting for everyone around him. Weirdo. I don’t hate it, though.
And this dress does give off some goddess energy. My smile carries on as I hear him muttering under his breath about buying a new tux. And stays firmly in place while I pull my hair into a low bun and add a fabric flower clip Leanne suggests.
“Can we have the showroom, please?” I hear my billionaire boss ask.
My smile finally withers when I look at him.
11
BEN
The glow Janie had on her face, one I was damn proud to put there, is gone as soon as she spots the paperwork.
I try to keep things light as I pull out my pen, “A few signatures and we’re off to the chapel.”
At the word chapel, her face contorts. She collapses down on the low couch across from me, flopping into a beautiful, frilly heap.
“Janie?”
“What?”
“You look a little green, love,” I say gently. She nods nervously. I can see her mind racing. She looks not just sick, but terrified. “Care to share some of those racing thoughts aloud?”
“We can’t. This is,” she fluffs her skirt and looks around the room. “This is too much. Too fast. Too crazy.”
“It is…” I agree. “We could just get engaged now, stage a wedding later? As long as we sign the marriage certificate before the end of the year.”
“Benedict, I can’t…this is…this ismarriage!Aren’t you freaking out? Why aren’t you freaking out?”
I forgot women have a thing with weddings. Getting married one day. Being a blushing bride. I’ve never really thought about any of it. After years of restlessness with date after date and girlfriend after girlfriend, I gave up on the idea of marriage for myself.
I didn’t really think about marriage between Janie and me either. Though my brain did short-circuit when she put that ring on and gasped. And my entire soul left my body at the sight of her in this dress. How a woman can be so down to earth and look so totallyotherworldlyis beyond my tiny capacity of comprehension.
But on the whole, I haven’t thought about the wedding or the marriage.
