Page 52 of His Fake Wife

I hadn’t seen the woman’s face. She’d had her back turn so all I saw was a sleek blonde bob, and Adam sitting close.

“Beth, the woman is married with children. She’s almost as old as my mother.”

Losing ammunition, I stuttered, “T-that doesn’t matter. I saw how...comfortable you two were.”

His nostril flared and a muscle ticked in his jaw.

“I don’t know whether to laugh or be pissed that you still think of me as a cad.”

Folding my arms defensively, feeling like I’d screwed up big time, I studied the carpet. “What else was I to think when you’ve been acting so shady?”

“Shady how?”

“Sneaking out, hushed conversations on the phone.”

His brows kicked up.

“I hired Janine to plan something special. A surprise, for you. I’ve been cagey because you’re too observant and smart for your own good. I had to work overtime to make sure you didn’t catch on.”

I blinked.

“A...a surprise? For me? Apparently, I’m not that smart. Adam, I’m sorry, I feel so foolish.”

“You should.”

The way he glowered at me made me want to hide out of pure shame.

“Everytime I snuck out was to meet up with Janine so we could decide on the perfect locations. My hushed phone conversations were me and your sister trying to work around her schedule to get her here without you knowing. One or two might have been me arguing with my brother about making sure he showed up.”

I was at a loss. Throwing my hands up I wailed,

“What are you talking about? Locations for what? Why does Melissa need to be here? What does Nate have to do with anything?”

“I went out on a limb?a very thin one since I had no idea if you’d say yes?to plan our wedding and the romantic tropical honeymoon you wanted.”

My jaw practically brushed the floor.

“We already had a wedding.”

“Not a real one. I was going to propose properly. If you said yes, we’d have a real wedding ceremony with the few who knew the real story behind the first one. This time we’d be getting married for love because I love you, Beth. I haven’t even looked at another woman since we’ve been together.”

I’d only ever read about women swooning in novels, but I think nearly swooned hearing Adam’s declaration.

“Of course, I know that I have to put in work to get you to trust me, much less fall in love with me, before our year comes to an end. I thought your opinion of me had changed.” The hurt flickering in his eyes would likely haunt me forever. “How can you fall for me if you still think the worst of me?”

Recovering from my shock, I rushed to him.

“I don’t! I mean, I only assumed the worst because I was jealous, Adam. You’re so late with the whole getting me to fall for you bit. I fell in love with you when I wasn’t supposed to and I was angry with myself. I overreacted. I’m so sorry.”

Face now flaming with embarrassment, I added, “I take back what I said about your pregnancy research. It isn’t stupid. It’s so sweet and you're so cute when you discover something new and boast about your new knowledge.”

He grimaced.

“Cute? Oh, God. That’s not what I was going for.”

I laughed. “You make me feel like I have the best support system. I don’t know why I blew up like I did.” Peeking up at him through half-veiled eyes, I murmured, “I’m going to blame a little of my behavior on the hormones. I don’t want you thinking I’m completely insane.”

I thought I saw his mouth move as if he wanted to smile but it didn’t come. He continued gazing down at me, straight-faced. My heart plummeted. I’d ruined everything.

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