Page 134 of Marrying Off My Husband

I fluttered my eyelashes, shifting on the cushion that had suddenly become uncomfortable. I had literally sat across the table from a woman on a first date and asked her to help me–to fake date me–so I could wimp out on any future dates my friend wanted to set me up on.

Louise wasn’t right, though. I wasn’t just a coward. I was a selfish jerk.

Eve couldn’t possibly like me. There was no way. What kind of woman fell in love with a man who treated them that way on a first date?

My mind went over the details of subsequent dates. We’d spent a lot of time together in the pursuit of making our relationship look legitimate. We’d connected easily most times.

Our time at the arcade had been fun…fun enough for Eve to fall in love?

Eve’s eyes had lit up when she’d beat me at the racing game, her laughter echoing above the electronic buzzes and beeps. That moment, genuine and joyful, now haunted me.

My stomach clenched as I recalled the moment we’d won Street Fighter together. We’d come dangerously close to kissing then.

I’d shied away from the moment, and we hadn’t repeated it for the rest of our dates, however, they had all been pleasant. My mind reached the unexpected moments of connection like our date on the beach as we spied on Louise.

My protective instincts had surged that night when I’d met her sister, Audrey. I’d wanted so desperately to defend her, to support her, that I’d done something I’d never expected of myself.

I curled my fingers into fists as I recalled the tender moments during our amusement park adventure. Eve had been so sweet about the disastrous ride that I’d insisted on winning her that bear. And then we had shared a kiss–forced but still a kiss.

But that had been nothing compared to the kiss we’d shared in Vale. I slid my eyes closed as my insides melted as I recalled our lips pressed together.

She’d made my heart race, but we’d quickly pulled away. It had been then that I’d really felt our connection, though it had been building for a long time.

It had been in Vale that I’d realized a relationship could be nice, that the right woman wouldn’t ruin my life, but enhance it.

I shook my head as I opened my eyes, a flash of lightning illuminating the sky over the turbulent sea and lighting the truths I was now forced to confront. The water churned like my roiling emotions.

Had Eve experienced the same connection? Had I broken her heart?

Louise insisted I had, but I couldn’t believe that.

My mind swirled as I scrubbed my face with shaky hands. How had I missed her genuine interest?

“Because you’re an idiot, Spencer,” I murmured.

My heart plummeted as I went over the conversation and my actions earlier this evening. I’d acted so cavalier, terrified that she’d see through me, that she’d know that I was upset.

I’d been so focused on myself, I hadn’t considered Eve at all.

“You don’t deserve her,” I mumbled.

With my lips tugged into a firm frown, I slouched down on the couch, wrapping my arms around myself. As the shock wore off, my senses slowly returned.

Even if Eve had feelings for me, it didn’t mean things were going to last. In fact, one sure-fire way for me to have ruined this relationship was to have engaged in it.

Without fail, once we’d swapped the fake for real, Eve would have grown tired of me, sick of my weird quirks, my penchant for working long hours, my overall lack of desire for social settings.

She’d go to parties alone, dragged by Louise, and then resent me for it.

I bobbed my head as though it would lend some credence to my internal thoughts.

“She’d leave you,” I said aloud, allowing those words to echo in my living room as thunder punctuated them.

I leapt to my feet as the storm closed in around me, both physically and emotionally, pacing the floor. “Yep, she’d leave you. She’d get frustrated and leave. She…might have liked you a little. But she won’t. She doesn’t know you.”

I rubbed my chin as I nodded again. “Yeah, once she gets to know you better, she’ll fall out of love with you.”

With myself convinced that what I’d done was absolutely correct, I settled onto my couch again. Rain pelted the windows as the storm finally made landfall.

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