Page 95 of Marrying Off My Husband

Istared at the image of the third victim in Spencer’s scheme to find me love. He was getting better at selecting thanks to Eve’s input. It would be trickier to get rid of this one, but I had to. I needed to keep Spencer and Eve dating until he finally got enough courage to get serious with her.

If I had my druthers, I’d keep going with my little plan until they were engaged, at least. Although, I wasn’t certain Theo could take it that long.

A sigh escaped me as I studied the last message I received from him. Each new correspondence was a reminder of the delicate balancing act I was performing. A twinge of guilt sliced at my heart as I read it again.I’m jealous…these fakes dates get to spend more time with you than I do.

The winky face at the end of his message implied that he meant it tongue-in-cheek, but I was beginning to feel the same way. I hadn’t managed to come up with a way to tell Spencer,though, too afraid that it could ruin the fragile relationship he was building with Eve.

Things were moving painfully slow between them. Both of them seemed to have reservations. Eve’s question to me when I’d spent the day with her to facilitate her recovery still echoed in my mind.

It highlighted her trust issues over truly allowing herself to fall for Spencer, though I suspected she was despite herself. But she’d hold back until she was certain he wouldn’t break her heart.

And I couldn’t convince him to take the next step because he was too darn nervous to mess everything up.

I had myself in a fine pickle, that was for certain.

My thumbs hovered over the virtual keyboard as I tried to figure out a response that would be cheeky but reassuring. I couldn’t come up with anything, though.

For the first time in my life, I was lost for words.

I let my head thud against my vanity with a groan. “Oh, Lou-Lou, you’ve made a fine mess of things.”

“What’s that? Louise Montgomery admitted that she’s messed up?” Spencer’s playful tone brought to mind an image of his boyish grin, one that I was certain made Eve’s heart flutter.

I snapped my head up, quickly recovering from my stupor. “Nothing I can’t fix.”

“So, youdidsay you messed up,” Spencer said, his grin broadening as he approached me. “All ready for your date?”

“No,” I answered as I snatched a tissue from the pearl-studded box and wiped away my lipstick. “I didn’t want to wear Rev-up Red tonight. I’ll go with Cherry Bomb instead.”

I uncapped another tube of lipstick and slicked it on my lips, hoping I covered well.

He clicked his tongue at my supposed faux pas. “Well, that’s important. Because this is your third date, and you know what they say, right? Third time’s the charm.”

I held back an eye roll. Third time’s the curse was more like it; I was running out of ways to dodge these guys, but I’d have to dig deep. Before that, I wanted to talk about how it wasn’t the charm for Spencer and Eve.

“That may be the saying, but it seems like it wasn’t for you.”

His eyebrows shot up and he held his hands up in defense. “Hey, it wasn’t my fault. Eve was sick.”

“Yes, she was. And now she’s better. And you’ve yet to reschedule the date.”

“She’s catching up on work, and I have to reschedule the lighthouse–which, by the way, was a great choice because Eve loves lighthouses.”

“I heard,” I answered. “She told me when I stopped by for my girls’ day cold therapy. Points for knowing her so well.”

He gave me a satisfied grin.

“But not well enough.” I stuck my hands on my hips.

“What? What does that mean?” His features registered hurt.

“It means she doesn’t think you’re really interested in her.”

He gulped, guilt flashing in his eyes.

“Uh-huh, that’s right. Eve seems to think we’re in some sort of bad rom-com where you and I are going to fall madly in love and end up together.”

“What?” This time his features devolved into shock.

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