Page 84 of Love in Fine Print

Dolly barked a second before I heard the front door open.

“Remember, Jake doesn’t know that this isn’t real,” I reminded Trevor as we walked downstairs.

When I saw Ben walk inside, butterflies flitted low in my belly. Ben was wearing a long-sleeved thermal that was taut in all the right places to highlight his upper chest, jeans that were worn in all the right places to highlight his lower body, and Timberland boots. He’d grown out a little stubble on his strong jawline, giving him an extra edge of bad-boy appeal.

I wondered if I’d ever be immune to his sexiness. So far, it had only gotten more potent.

“Hey!” I smiled widely when Jake walked in behind him.

I’d only gotten to speak to Jake briefly at the wedding, but over the past two months I’d said hi to him when he’d been on FaceTime with Ben several times. He was a good kid. A smart kid. I liked him a lot.

Jake walked straight to me and threw his arms around my neck. Ben had explained that sometimes it was difficult for him to connect to people, so it made me feel extra special that he seemed to like me.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough. Back away from my wife,” Ben teased.

Or at least I think he was teasing. Jake laughed, and as soon as his arms dropped to his side, I felt myself being pulled up against Ben, who leaned down and covered my mouth with his. I gasped in shock, but then immediately felt myself melting against him. It was like that every time Ben hugged me, my body instantly molded to his. My entire being just exhaled when his arms were around me. It was very disconcerting.

I was vaguely aware of Trevor making some joke about the display being like a live show he’d seen in Amsterdam once and Jake, very sweetly and innocently, asking what the show was.

I ripped my mouth from Ben’s and pointed at Trevor, “No!”

Jake was a sweet twenty-year-old from Minnesota. He didnotneed Trevor corrupting him.

“What?” Trevor lifted his hands as if he was the picture of innocence.

Jake went to go put his stuff away before we headed out to take selfies in front of Christmas trees. Trevor and Ben started talking about football, something I still didn’t know that much about, but I was learning. As I watched the two men in my life talk, the kiss that Ben had just given me still tingled on my lips.

I’d noticed that every time we were around someone and he could be affectionate with me, he was. Even if it was just Miss B. I wondered if that was just him selling our relationship, or if he was taking advantage of every opportunity to kiss me, to touch me, to compliment me.

That’s what it felt like, but I had no idea if that was the case.

There were ten more months left on our contract. Ten more months of PDA and calling Ben my husband. When we first agreed to it, a year sounded like a very long time. Now, two months in, it didn’t feel like nearly long enough. And that scared the shit out of me.

36

BEN

There wasa buzz of holiday cheer in the air as people hustled along the sidewalk on the night before Christmas. Olivia and Jake were about fifty yards from me, deep in conversation, in line for a street taco. Trevor had stepped away to make a call. I was currently in charge of two armloads of packages. We’d been to eight Christmas trees and stopped in as many stores along the way where Olivia and Trevor picked up last-minute gifts.

This was the first Christmas that Gran was gone. I’d thought it was going to be hard since I had spent every Christmas with her since I was four. Plus, I was living in her house, so I was surrounded by memories. But it was turning out better than I’d thought. I missed Gran but being with Olivia and spending the day with her, Jake, and Trevor had distracted me. I was still thinking about Gran a lot, but mainly I was imagining just how much fun she’d be having if she was here with us.

Except, Olivia and I wouldn’t be married if Gran was still here because I wouldn’t need a wife. It was strange how life worked out. I’d never imagined myself being married, and I sure as hell had never thought I was going to be a matchmaker, but I was both, and I was happy.Reallyhappy.

Ironic since my marriage wasn’treal. Also, since Olivia had moved in, she’d been doing the lion’s share of the matchmaking. I was good at running the business side of things, but the actual matches…I was about as useful as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.

Olivia, however, was a natural. I loved watching her work. She stared at photos, read bios, watched video testimonials, and took notes. I would ask her why she thought two people should match, and she’d just shrug and say that she had a feeling they would like each other. It was the same response Gran always gave when people asked her how she knew which people to put together. A feeling, a sixth sense.

I didn’t have either.

As I stood on the sidewalk with my arms filled with bags, a family of four passed by me. I felt my chest tighten as I watched the man carrying one kid on his shoulders while the woman was pushing the stroller that held the baby. I’d never given any thought to having a family. Ever. I had planned on being a bachelor until I died.

But now things were different. Since saying ‘I do’ I’d been thinking about my life in a totally different way. Even though I knew it wasn’t forever, I found myself wondering what having a family would look like. Not just any family. A family with Olivia. Which was ridiculous. Next year at this time, she wasn’t going to be my wife.

That thought made me a lot sadder than it probably should have. But it also made me want to enjoy the time we did have together. If this was the only Christmas we were going to spend together, I wanted to soak it up. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, I wanted to be fully present.

I still hadn’t quite reconciled my feelings for Olivia since realizing that I loved her a week ago at her Christmas party. That discovery had been placed on the back burner of my mentalstovetop. My feelings didn’t matter. At least not yet. I still had time with Olivia, time to figure out what I was going to do about being in love with her.

One of the bags I was holding slid off my arm, and I caught it before it hit the concrete. It held a sweater for Ms. B that Olivia said she’d love. I hadn’t thought of getting Ms. B anything, but I was glad Olivia had.

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