Page 65 of Love in Fine Print

“You okay in there?” Bailey’s voice came from the other side.

“Yes.”

I knew I couldn’t hide out in the bathroom forever, although, I’d be perfectly happy to do just that. I needed to go out thereand show all the partners, and more importantly, The Three Stooges, that this marriage was real. All the while reminding myself that it wasn’t.

All night, they had been circling us like sharks in the water. But I had to admit, they all seemed to be impressed by Ben. And who wouldn’t be? He had been a successful quarterback in the NFL for over a decade. All the partners knew who he was before I even introduced him. And Loomis, Jones, and Lincoln had fangirled over the man.

I had to admit, I couldn’t blame them. He was an impressive specimen on and off the field. And it turned out he was averygood actor. He’d been playing the part of the doting, charming, madly-in-love husband to a tee.

Hell, he deserved an Academy Award for his performance tonight.

His hand had rested on my back the entire cocktail hour. He was constantly giving me ‘stolen’ kisses on my cheeks, forehead, and lips. Anyone who happened to glance over and witness the moments of tenderness would assume they were private, intimate snapshots of what our relationship was. They would never guess that they were all for show.

I, myself was having a very difficult time remembering that they were. So much so that I’d found myself melting into him every time his body was near. Each time his fingers grazed my lower back, my inner walls clenched with need. Every brush of his lips in innocent places had my body pulsing in not-so-innocent locations.

Which is how I’d ended up hiding in the bathroom. Again. This was probably my dozenth trip to the private oasis. I was trying to take a page from Cher inMoonstruckand snap out of it.

“Can I come in?” Bailey asked.

Before unlocking the door, I took a deep breath and tried to center myself, then I twisted the knob and opened the door. I was met with a very worried Bailey.

“What?” I asked, pretending to be unaware of what the concern on her beautiful face could possibly be about.

“Is this... are you…?”

“What?!” I asked, perhaps a tiny bit more defensive than I should have. I couldn’t help it. I was scared she’d used her best-friend-Spidey-senses and figured out that this wedding was for show.

She lowered her voice and leaned forward, whispering against my ear. “Are you pregnant?”

“What? No.” I would have actually had to have sex to get pregnant. And since that hadn’t happened in over two years, it would have had to be an immaculate conception. And I was no Virgin Mary.

“Oh, okay, I just…you keep going to the bathroom. And with this wedding happening so suddenly.”

“It’s just… it’s been a tougher day than I thought it was going to be.”

“Oh.” She touched her hand to her chest. “Of course. Sorry.”

Guilt overwhelmed me. I knew that she thought I was referring to my dad not being here, and I let her, even though his absence had nothing to do with my frequent trips to the bathroom.

Today was one day I was relieved he wasn’t around. There was no way that I would have been able to lie to him. And, if I’d told him the truth about what I was doing, I don’t think he would have understood.

He was too much of a romantic and not enough of a realist. Something my mother had taken advantage of until he died. Thankfully, she hadn’t shown up today. With everything I was dealing with, I’m not sure I could have handled her.

“Ben’s waiting for you. It’s time for your first dance.”

The first dance. Right.

It was strange, but over the past two weeks, as Bailey and I had planned this day, academically, I’d known I would have to say my vows, wear a white dress, have a first kiss as husband and wife, a first dance, and I’d thought I’d been prepared for it.

I figured it would be like the plays I’d done in high school so I could put drama club on my transcripts as an extra-curricular. I was going to be playing the role of the blushing bride. The woman who had been swept off her feet by a whirlwind romance.

In theory, I had no moral problem with mine and Ben’s deception. People got married for a lot of reasons that had nothing to do with romantic love. In practice, it was turning out to be a lot more difficult to navigate than I’d thought it would be.

Mainly because it felt a lot closer to romantic love than I was comfortable with.

Bailey and I walked back into the concert hall which looked like a dream. The ornate architecture of the venue was enhanced with fairy lights and floral arrangements everywhere, and on one wall was a forty-foot light display that said Mr. & Mrs. Whitaker. I wasn’t actually taking Ben’s last name, but I did like the look of it.

“Do you know who that is?” Bailey asked, motioning across the room.

---