“No,” I agreed. “We don’t really have a choice, but I’ve already made this decision, Nate. We should move forward with the wedding.”
His eyes immediately slid back to mine from the window. “Do you really feel that way?”
“Don’t you?”
He exhaled a long, slow breath, but his gaze never left mine. “Yes, I do.”
There was no hesitation and no waffling or trying to talk around the issue. Just certainty, but I wasn’t really surprised. Nate didn’t seem to second-guess decisions once he’d made them.
“This is what’s best for the companies,” he said. “For both our families.”
It sounded like something from a boardroom memo, but I knew he meant it. Practicality was his language. He operated on structure and breathed logic, but I knew now that there was more underneath it too, the true emotional depths hiding beneath all that.
“We committed to it weeks ago,” he said slowly. “Neither of us is the kind of person who breaks their word. Walking away has never really been an option.”
Not even before everything changed between us, I thought, even though he didn’t expressly add it. The truth, however, was that everythinghadchanged.
I was marrying my soulmate. It should have felt romantic. Magical. Meant to be. Instead, it felt rushed and complicated. Messy even.
In all the times I’d imagined marrying CB, I hadn’t thought it would be happening like this. I hadn’t imagined realizing he was the love of my life and planning a wedding in the same breath. As all these thoughts raced through my head, I must’ve gone quiet for too long because Nate shifted.
“I’ll handle it,” he said.
I blinked myself back into reality. “Handle what?”
“The logistics for the wedding. Whatever arrangements need to be made.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You don’t need to worry about any of that.”
Ah. He thought I was overwhelmed, which was a fair assumption—and it was true, but he looked stressed too.
There was a tightness around his eyes and tension in his shoulders. The man was already carrying so much more than anyone knew.
Acting on an instinct that felt old and brand new at the same time, I walked around the desk. He stilled slightly when I got close, like he wasn’t sure what I was about to do, but he didn’t pull away when I reached for his hand.
Closing it in both of mine, I looked up into his eyes and gave him a gentle, reassuring squeeze. He squeezed back immediately, his gaze both curious and understanding.
“We’ll be okay,” I said. “At the very least, we know each other so much better now than we thought we did when we agreed to this, and we know we’re not marrying someone completely wrong for us.”
The faintest hint of a smile appeared on his lips. “That’s a high bar you’re setting there.”
“The highest.”
His thumb brushed against the side of my hand before he let go. “I’ll start making calls. Any specific requests?”
Only about a million.But I shook my head rather than naming a single one. “This wedding is for Hinds. We can put our own stamp on it, of course, but personally, I either want to go all out and have the wedding of my dreams or just get it done.”
“What’s the wedding of your dreams?”
“Nothing we can pull together in just a few days.” I stepped back, remembering suddenly. “I left my laptop in the conference room.”
“I’ll be here when you get back,” he said. “We’ll talk more about that dream wedding.”
I winked at him from the door. “Or maybe we’ll talk about yours.”
When I stepped out into the hallway, it felt different than it had before. More like I was finding my feet here. Like thedecision had shifted something into place deep down inside to stop being on the outside looking in and to start embracing the fact that by this time next week I’d be a Westwood.
I made it halfway down the hall before nearly colliding with Alex, looking up at him as my eyes widened. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was doing.”
“Neither was I,” he said. “Actually, I was hoping I’d run into you, though. Perhaps not quite as literally, but I’m glad I’m seeing you before I leave.”
