Page 109 of Temporary Vows

I’ll bet everyone will be talking about me here at school, too.

This is my first week back on my usual shift. I had my hours rescheduled when I took the job at the coffeehouse.

I’d normally be there at this time, with Maria breathing down my neck. So many things have happened over the past week, I haven’t had a chance to fully appreciate the thought of not seeing her again.

A knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts.

I lift my head.

The only people who’d be knocking at this hour of the morning are the cleaning staff. The students don’t usually start arriving until nine.

“Come in,” I call out.

The door pushes open, and Jack pokes his head in.

My eyes widen at the sight of him, and I instantly brace myself for another argument.

I pray he’s not here to continue what we started the other day.

There’s a newspaper in his hand. It looks almost identical to the one on my desk.

That’s not a good sign.

It means he knows.

He hasn’t stopped calling me since our argument, and I never officially told him I’d accepted the marriage offer. But I suppose it was obvious when I left him what I was going to do.

He steps inside and closes the door. There’s a stiffness about him, but otherwise, he seems like his usual self.

“Morning,” he speaks first.

“Hi,” I answer carefully. “Please don’t tell me you’re here to argue with me again.” Normally, I wouldn’t be so blunt, but my heart can’t take it.

To my relief, Jack shakes his head. “I’m not here to argue, Elodie. I just came to see you.”

He lifts the paper, showing it to me. It’s one of the other tabloids that have Dorian and me on the cover.

“I didn’t come because of this,” Jack clarifies. “I just saw it on the way. But I guess it answers a few questions. Looks like you accepted the deal.”

I clear my throat and straighten. “I did.”

He presses his lips together, and something inside me recoils.

“I’m not overly fond of this, Elodie,” he speaks slowly in a way that suggests he’s been doing a lot of thinking. “But you’re right. This is about your future. It’s not about me.”

I’m shocked to my core. In all my years, my brother has never backed down from an argument as much as this. And even accepting I was right.

“I just came to say I’m here to support you,” he adds, then smirks. “In whatever you need. Even if that means respecting your wishes.”

My wishes?

After last night, I’m not so sure I made the right choice. Perhaps I should have owed Dorian. And repaid the money over what? Ten to twenty years.

No. Don’t think like that, Elodie. You did make the right choice.

The choice was about getting a better,debt-freelife. And I still stand by that.

Getting the man, too, wasn’t part of the contract.