Page 3 of Marrying Off My Husband

I pretended to study the menu as the waiter brought a bottle for Spencer to approve. Once he did, the man uncorked it and poured us each a glass, leaving the bottle behind for later.

“What are you going to have, sugar?” I asked, my voice sickly sweet.

I glanced up to find Spencer staring at me. “Don’t sugar, me, you’re avoiding my question.”

My lips involuntarily tugged into a slight wince. “I’m just trying to find something to eat.”

“Mm-hm. I heard you, Lou. You’re going to do something even if it kills you. And knowing you, it will. I’d just like to be prepared.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Actually, it involves you so I suppose I should tell you.”

“I can’t wait.”

The slight wrinkle of his nose told me he was uncomfortable. My strong personality had a way of making people do things they didn’t want to do sometimes.

I returned my gaze to the menu as the waiter returned for our orders. With those placed, I grabbed my glass of red wine and sipped it before broaching the subject.

As I set the glass down on the crisp white linen tablecloth, I settled my gaze on Spencer. My eyebrow arched again, letting him know I meant business. “I want you to start dating.”

Spencer choked on his wine. “O-okay?”

I understood his questioning tone. We weren’t even divorced yet. But it was inevitable. “I’m serious, Spence. It’s time. We’ve been married for six months. Everything is taken care of with my inheritance. We need to both move on.”

His fleeting smile meant he didn’t agree. “I can call my attorney anytime you’re ready. Are you…ready?”

“More than,” I said with a roll of my eyes before I slid my lips into another wince and stretched a hand across the table, my fake engagement ring sparkling under the lights. “Oh, sugar, it’s not you. It’s me.”

“Lou, I get it. We were never supposed to stay married. I just think…we don’t need to…”

Spencer’s voice trailed off as he glanced at me. The firmness in my jaw made him shake his head. “Whatever you say, Lou.”

I sat straighter, bouncing in my seat. “Oh, Spence, really?”

“Sure, I’ll…if I stumble across someone, I’ll totally ask her out. I don’t know how I’ll explain my wedding ring, but…”

“Take it off,” I said. “Stop wearing it.”

He stared down at the gold band on his finger. “I could…”

“Spence,” I said, my voice filled with disappointment as my shoulders slumped. “Please tell me you aren’t going to use that ring to hide away.”

“I’m not hiding,” he said, “I’m just…not interested.”

I clicked my tongue. “You can’t spend the rest of your life hiding alone in that big old house, Spence. You need to find your happiness.”

Spencer lifted his shoulders, his eyes falling to his plate as the waiter delivered it. “I’m happy, Lou.”

I eyed him, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Spencer Whitaker wouldn’t know happiness if it kissed him right on the smacker.

He spent all his time clacking on his keys and avoiding the real world. He made a fortune creating a video game that allowed people to slip away into a fantasy world and avoid the real one entirely.

“You can’t hide in that fictional world all the time, Spence.”

“I got married to you, didn’t I?”

I shot him an unimpressed stare as I picked at my salad. “And now it’s time to find you someone new.”

“Sure,” he said, without looking up from his plate.

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