I’ve been here once when he had a party, and Isla dragged me along. It’s a modern place, which I know his mom had a hand in decorating.
It doesn’t matter. I can barely see straight from exhaustion.
Arriving at the front door, Connor looks at me, and his lips twitch right before he steps forward and is quick to throw me over the shoulder before I can protest. “Carrying the bride over the threshold, right?”
I can’t help but let a giggle escape. My traitorous body seems to enjoy his effort, even if it is to tease me. “Put me down,” I tell him. I don’t think I mean it, but I can’t let him know my enjoyment from this.
He twirls me around before setting me at the bottom of the stairs. “Welcome home.”
“Home,” I scoff before I walk straight up the stairs with Connor in tow.
“The guest room doesn’t have any sheets on the bed,” he states.
I turn at the top of the stairs to face him, stopping him from taking the final step as my body acts as a gate to the upstairs hall. “Where are the sheets?” I sound only slightly agitated.
“Hell if I know. The housekeeper that comes once a week takes care of that stuff.” Of course, he wouldn’t be capable of living independently. His whole life he’s been doted on by his mother and most women within a fifty-mile radius.
I huff out a breath, and I’m past the point of caring. I march down the hall directly to his room, and yeah, I know it’s his room because my radar just sends me on roads that lead to Connor Spears.
Ignoring him, I slide up my dress and swing it to the side where it lands on the floor. I walk straight to the dresser, taking my bra off in the process before I open the drawer, not afraid about what I might find, grab one of his t-shirts, and throw it on.
He doesn’t say anything, just watches me from where he stands in the doorway, enthralled, even though I ensured that he could only see my back in the process.
I flop onto the soft bed, landing on my stomach, already feeling like heaven hit my head. “I just don’t care anymore. I’ve slept two hours in a forty-eight-hour period, got married by mistake, broke my father’s heart, and have you as my husband. I’m tired and want to sleep. It’s a dire situation that I’m sleeping in your bed, even though make no mistake, I’m not a puck bunny that you bring home, so burn this damn mattress tomorrow.”
He snickers, and I get a glimpse of him peeling his shirt up and over his head as he walks toward the bed. “It’s a new mattress, Sprinkles. Get a new one every year due to wear n’ tear.”
I may be drowsy on tiredness but even I hear the humor in his tone.
“Good. A new mattress is one less thing we need to worry about.” I begin to close my eyes on the indulgent pillow that my cheek rests against.
His chuckle is low and in the back of his throat as I feel his body cause the mattress to dip. “Sharing a bed was in your plan. That’s good. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He places his phone to the side, and I vaguely hear him mention he got an email about a photoshoot tomorrow, but my eyes give out and sleep takes over, as I lie in Connor Spears’s bed, my doting husband.
7
HADLEY
Isit in the booth at Jolly Joe’s, the old soda shop in town that decided jellybeans in coffee for luck and surprise would be what people remember about the hotspot. Well, that, and the amazing ice cream, cinnamon buns, and every carb imaginable.
Overlooking Main Street, I lean my head against the window while I hold my mug of coffee. Admittedly, I sneaked out before Connor woke. I may have crooked my head a few times to study the way he sleeps on his stomach, yet his muscles still stayed flexed with pure shoulder perfection. He smirks in his sleep too; must have been imaging ways to kill me, except I now know his secret.
“Earth to Hadley.” A voice breaks my thought. Looking up, I see Isla waving a hand in front of me. “Shouldn’t you be cooking a warm breakfast for yourhusbandwho you are currently dreaming about?” she says, enjoying teasing me.
I roll my eyes and take a sip of coffee. “He’ll survive. I am sure he has his mom on speed dial if his housekeeper can’t solve his cooking and cleaning needs. Besides, I had a class of toddlers to teach first thing this morning. Also, I wanted to catch up with you before I get roped into this photoshoot. Leave it to Connor’s uncle and dad to turn this around real fast. I woke this morning to about a gazillion emails about an interview with my husband about our blessed union.”
“Oh yeah? How is that going to go?”
“Fake it till we make it, right?” I shrug.
Isla squints her eyes at me. “You know, alcohol… it tends to bring out our inner inhibitions…”
My palm flies up to stop her. “Do not lecture me. Besides, after the shock when we told our parents wore off, our moms are in a glow of happiness. I’m not going to ruin that in less than a day by saying I’m getting a divorce.”
“Your dad?”
A long exhale escapes me. “He… isn’t pleased.”
