Page 28 of Married With Lies

I did take Cale’s advice and go shopping. The dress I chose was a simple knee-length white sheath and I added a gauzy veil only because the saleswoman who helped me was on the verge of crying if I didn’t agree to wear one.

But it’s not until this very moment, as I slide the dress on half an hour before my wedding ceremony, that I realize I forgot to buy shoes. The only semi-formal shoes in my bag are the black pumps I wore on Christmas Eve and they don’t look great. I give my faded cowboy boots a try. They look worse.

I ask myself why it matters what shoes I wear.

I decide that it doesn’t matter at all.

The wedding photos don’t need to include our shoes. Anyway, my boots are comfortable and I don’t need to please anyone but myself. I’ll just think of this, my wedding day, as another day of work. If I were at home, working on the ranch, I’d be wearing my boots.

Cale is silently staring at the vast wall of windows when I venture out of the bedroom.

He was gone far longer than a few hours yesterday. He was gone for most of today as well. I’m not even sure where he slept last night but I know it wasn’t in the colossal bed with a dozen giant feather pillows because that’s where I slept and I would have noticed some company. The suite has four couches so I imagine he claimed one of those, although everything looks neat and in its place today.

Maybe Cale doesn’t need to sleep. He’d make a very convincing vampire.

“Should we go?” I ask when a minute passes and he remains at the windows, lost in thought.

Cale turns and I don’t exactly gasp but I come pretty close. He has transformed from dauntingly sexy to a freaking god in a black tux. He belongs on skyscraper-sized billboards and it seems like a sinful waste that he’s not.

He looks me over and I’m suddenly self-conscious about my weathered boots and the fact that the dress is a bit tight in the bust. Hopefully I don’t sneeze or a nipple might pop out.

“Will this work?” I ask because his expression is impossible to decipher. It’s probably an occupational skill, keeping his thoughts carefully masked. I wouldn’t mind learning how to do that.

Cale has shaved since yesterday and I’m about ninety percent sure he also got a haircut. He’s clearly taking this very seriously. I should have known he would. I should have bought real shoes.

But he nods with what appears to be genuine approval. “You look the part.” He pulls a red velvet box from his pocket and moves closer before flipping it open.

“Good grief. That thing could blind someone.” I gawk at the sparkling ring nestled in the velvet.

“I guessed at your ring size,” he says.

“Shoot, was I supposed to pick up your ring? I didn’t know that. We’ll stop at a store on the way.”

He closes the box and returns it to his pocket. “Don’t worry. I took care of it when I was making the rest of the arrangements.” He peers at me for a few seconds. “Let me ask you something.”

“You already asked me to marry you. What more do you want?”

“I want to know if all the Gosh Golly Gee Whiz bullshit is for real.”

“I have not uttered the words Gosh, Golly or Gee Whiz to you once.”

I’m pretty sure that’s accurate but I’m not positive. The last two days have been very eventful and I’m still feeling rather dazed. But those words don’t sound like things that might come out of my mouth.

“You don’t curse at all, do you?” he says.

Somehow he makes it sound like a character flaw. In any case, I suddenly feel defensive.

“Turns out I’ve learned so many words in the English language that I don’t feel the need. Since we’re on the topic, why are you such a huge fan of profanity?”

He raises an eyebrow, amused by my lack of sophistication. “It’s the least of my sins, Sadie.”

Gulp. Think I’ll avoid asking about the worst of his sins. I don’t want to have nightmares.

But I do think we should keep talking.

“This is good,” I say. “We should know at least a few things about each other besides basic statistics. Just in case any questions come up.”

He shrugs. “Go on.”

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