Nothing that affects you anyway.
“Just answer me this,” he starts, and I brace myself with a breath. “The marriage might be temporary, but .?.?. it isn’tfake. That piece of paper, the officiant .?.?. as real as any other.” He shifts on a pause. “Do you want out?”
I shake my head with a vigorousno.
He relaxes, but just barely, pinning me with those blue eyes. “When the pressure’s off and Ellie’s ours .?.?. think you might want in?”
Warmth spreads across my chest. I wantall in.
He and Ellie are a package deal, I know that. But what about when the high is over? When he looks at me and remembersher. Especially in a home he designed based on whatshewanted. When the pressure’s off—who’s to say he’ll need me?
And how do I tell him I’ve been burned so many times that I’m on autopilot, doubting everything.
ItrustDallas. It’s more like my curse I don’t trust.
My eyes mist and I nod slowly.
His lip quirks up and he cups my jaw, pressing his body against mine. “Then that’s good enough for me.”
26
My bachelorette party wasn’t nearly as much of a bust as Dallas’s, but it left me feeling bitter all the same.
I was the only single woman out tonight. Rose, Charlie, Pepper, their sister-in-law Tessa, who’s a fellow redhead and hilarious, are all married or practically married. And also Ginger, who has a not-so-secret relationship with Connor Thorne.
Rose, Charlie, and Ginger were the only ones tonight who knew this whole thing with Dallas is a farce, so I had to act like the blissful bride-to-be all night long.
It was exhausting .?.?. and depressing.
Rose and Charlie brought me home just before midnight and suggested a quiet drink out on the back porch. While they grabbed the glasses and a bottle of wine, I fetched a few blankets.
Now, the three of us are settled under the stars, wrapped up and sipping in the stillness—Rose and I on the swing and Charlie stretched out on the loveseat across from us.
“You’re a real trooper,” Rose tells me, words slurred, smile wide.
I snort. “Yeah, it was a real rough night. All those half-naked dancers. The free drinks.”
Charlie giggles low. “And where you all been hidin’ Ginger? She was the life of the party.”
Rose laughs. “Did you see the look on her face when tassel-cowboy shook his junk in front of her?”
“Shh. There are innocent ears two windows up,” I whisper and point.
Charlie hums and looks up at the stars for a long moment. “Nice digs you got here, Willow.”
I’m about to absently thank her when reality slowly settles and my stomach sinks. “You know it’s not mine.”
She scoffs like she knows better than I do. “Right.”
I exchange a look with Rose and she rolls her eyes. “Charlie’s a book nerd. She believes in happy endings.”
“Excuse me, but I happen to belivingmine and it didn’t come from a book,” Charlie argues.
“Oh yeah? Did you fall for your boss too, like Rose here?” I sidetrack.
“Noah, my boss?” she laughs. “Heavens no. We got stuck helping Chase and Pepper plan their wedding together. It was also the same week I was wrongfully evicted—so he practically kidnapped me to stay with him—after he threatened my landlord with a class-action lawsuit and somehow made the old man owememoney.”
“Sounds like a fun recipe to me.” I snicker and sip.
