Page 45 of The Unwanted Wife

I laugh. “You’re joking, right?”

He drags his fingers through his hair. “I wish I were.”

I stare at him in frustration. “This is not helping at all. In fact, this is pissing me off.”

“Me too, more than you can imagine, but can you trust me on this?”

I bite the inside of my cheek. Should I? What he’s saying makes no sense… And yet… He seems so sincere. There’s no mistaking the plea in his voice, the coaxing expression in his eyes. There’s almost a hint of desperation in how he draws circles with his thumb over the pulse at my wrist. A gentleness in how he cradles my palm between his giant ones. And when he brings the back of my palm to his mouth and kisses the skin there without taking his gaze off mine, my bones melt in surrender.

“Okay,” I whisper, already hating myself for giving in. Knowing I’m going to regret this later. But also knowing, I don’t have a choice. “Okay.” I nod.

“Okay.” He exhales, and his lips curve.

I tip up my chin. “On one condition.”

23

Skylar

“That’s one way of ensuring you have a fucktastic consummation on your wedding night.” Zoey snickers at me from the phone screen.

I cough, then grab a glass of water from the counter next to my baking tray and take a sip. “That’s one way of putting it.”

My condition was that we consummate our relationship on our wedding night. He was surprised when I told him. I was sure he wasn’t going to agree, but he finally nodded. Maybe that’s not the done thing, asking your husband-to-be for sex, but when Nate revealed that fucking me seemed like the ultimate betrayal of Ben, I knew he intended not to sleep with me. And I haven’t come this far to have the man of my dreams decide not to make love to me. Although, given the chemistry between us, perhaps I needn’t worry? Either way, I saw the opportunity and took it.

“But you haven’t told him you’re a virgin?” Zoey pauses midway in applying her lipstick and turns away from her vanity to look at me. It’s eight p.m., and I closed the shop—the traffic today was slightly better than yesterday, so that’s a positive. I was unable to go up to the apartment and relax, so instead, I decided to work on another new recipe.

“I think he guessed it.” I add a pinch of cinnamon and the seeds from a vanilla pod into the cake batter. “He asked me if I was, and I managed not to reply.”

“Why not? Isn’t it best you’re upfront with him?”

Like he needs another excuse for not wanting to sleep with me. I keep silent as I shake in the cocoa powder, then the almond extract, followed by a cup of espresso.

It’s part of the recipe I’m trying out for my wedding cake. I wasn’t aware that’s what I was doing until I was a ways along. But as I mixed the ingredients and imagined the finished product in my head, I realized, this one was going to be special. Sure, people normally get their wedding cake catered, but I want to come up with a mix of ingredients that mean something to me—and perhaps, to him—and evoke memories for everyone else who eats the cake at the wedding. Of course, there’s no guarantee I’ll have the kind of ceremony I can invite people to, but that hasn’t stopped me from playing around with the components, either.

“Skylar, you need to be upfront with him. It’s one thing to marry him so you can stop your business from going under. It’s another thing to not share things that are going to impact your relationship. Assuming you do want to have a relationship with him?” She peers into the camera.

I shuffle my feet. “You’re right; he needs to know.”

“So, you’ll tell him?”

I nod.

“And while you’re at it, you’re going to find out more details about your wedding?”

“I guess you must think I’m a pushover for not knowing more about my own wedding?”

She looks at me with censure in her eyes. “I’ll never judge you, Skye. And the situation is unusual, to say the least. Do I wish you’d confide in me more? Yes, but that doesn’t mean you have anything less than my absolute support in anything you decide to do.”

Tears fill my eyes. “You’re a good friend.” I sniffle.

Zoey looks alarmed. “Girl, please. Don’t go all sentimental on me now. Also, your tears are running into whatever it is you’re making there.”

“Oh, shoot.” I snatch a tissue to mop at my cheeks, then roll it into a ball and toss it into the bin. The doorbell to the delivery entrance rings. I lowered the shutters in the front earlier and wasn’t expecting any deliveries. “I need to go. There’s someone at the door.” I reach for the tap to wash my hands, but the doorbell rings again. “Someone who’s in a hurry.” I frown.

“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow.” Zoey blows me a kiss. “And remember, you hold the power in this relationship.”

“Do I?” I can’t keep the skepticism off my features.

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