Page 95 of Hired Husband

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “He’s exhausted. I don’t think he’s slept since the week after we got back from the cruise, but he texts me at least every morning and every night.”

I glanced at her, feeling a smile of my own break through the agony inside. “So you guys are really a thing now, huh?”

A faint flush spread on her cheeks. “It’s casual. We’re taking it slow, but yes. We are. We’re, uh, seeing each other, I guess.”

I bumped my shoulder lightly against hers, careful not to spill any of our literal tea while happily encouraging the metaphorical type. As long as we didn’t have to talk about me. Or Isaac. Or David. Or what was happening in the outside world.

“I’m happy for you,” I said. “I realize this is a massive change of pace from your usual guy game, but I think he’s going to surprise you.”

“He already has,” she admitted, a much softer smile on her face as she let her gaze drift to the water. “Do you know he blushes sometimes even if I’m just holding his hand? The other day, some old woman in a market asked if I was his girlfriend and I thought the poor man was going to faint.”

I chuckled. “He really likes you.”

“I think so. Or maybe I should rather say that I hope so,” she murmured. “Joseph is just so different from every other guy I’ve dated, you know? He’s not some self-involved jackass who only wants to be able to tell his friends that he slept with me. He brings me breakfast in bed and he always calls. No matter what else is going on, he finds time to pick up the phone and talk to me, and he never makes me feel like he’s rushing to the end of the conversation.”

“Would you marry him?” I asked without meaning to.

I didn’t know which one of us was more taken aback by it.

Zara blinked hard, staring at me with her mouth hanging open. Then we both started laughing. I dropped my head into my hands. “I’m so sorry. I don’t even know why I asked. Forget I said anything.”

“Well, no,” she said, still laughing. “You’ve opened the door now. We’re talking through it.”

“Let’s not.”

As her laughter started tapering off, she nudged my knee. “Do you really want to know?”

“Sure. If you insist.”

“Then yes.” She said it like it was the most natural, most obvious thing in the entire world. Like it shouldn’t even have been a question. “I’d marry him tomorrow if he asked.”

“Even if it’s only been a few weeks?”

She shrugged. “It feels like I’ve known him forever. Have you ever heard the saying when you know, you know? Well, I know. I don’t need any longer to decide.”

“What about your lifestyle?” I asked. “You’re an heiress and he’s, well, not.”

“That’s exactly why I like him,” she said jokingly, but I was pretty sure she was serious. “I don’t care if we live in a mansion or a normal house. As long as we have a roof over our heads and we’re together, it will be home.”

“He doesn’t have a private jet.”

She sighed and flashed me a teasing smile. “I know, it’s a bummer, but still not a deal-breaker.”

“Is there anything that would be a deal-breaker to you if you had to leave it behind?”

She thought it over before shaking her head. “Life with him wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable, but it would still be life with him. That’s all that matters to me.”

I smiled. “Yeah. I know what you mean.”

She arched an eyebrow at me. “I know you do. I also know that’s why you’re asking, but look, we can’t help who we fall in love with. I mean, I doubt my family would actually let me marry him, but that doesn’t change the fact that I would. What about you?”

“I never even asked if marrying Isaac was a possibility,” I admitted, cracking my heart into pieces all over again. “In retrospect, I probably should’ve, right?”

“Probably, but on the other hand, what’s the use of asking if you already know the answer? Our families are exactly the same in that sense, babe. We’re expected to protect the wealth and ensure the legacy lives on. Neither of our fathers is interested in hearing about something as common and unnecessary as love.”

Before I could tell her that I wasn’t sure that was true in my case, hurried footsteps echoed along the garden path and I looked up to find my mother racing toward us. She seemed flustered and my stomach plummeted in response.