Page 381 of The Christmas Wife

Karma is next. Her swollen belly between us, she squeezes my shoulder, then leans in and whispers, "I hope both of you will be very happy."

Then it’s Penny, then Abby, and finally, Gio. She holds out the wedding bouquet, and I take it from her. "Since most of us here are married, you might want to hand this over to Rachel. She’s the only one not married."

I nod.

She leans in and kisses my cheek. "That was a very convincing kiss."

I feel myself blush, then nod.

"Is he taking you on a honeymoon?"

I blink, but before I can reply, there’s a woof. Then Tiny pushes his way between Gio and Rick, who’s congratulating Edward.

"Hey, baby, you played your role so well." I bend and rub him behind his ear. He woofs again and wags his tail with such force, he brushes against G-Pa who’s walked up to congratulate us.

Gio steps aside, and G-Pa takes my hands in his. "That was beautiful." He blinks the tears from his eyes. "Edward is very lucky to have you in his life."

"I’m lucky to have him in mine," I murmur.

My husband must hear my words, for his muscles stiffen. He continues to accept the felicitations from his friends. Then, it’s his half-brother Knox’s turn. He jerks his chin toward Edward. "Congratulations."

Edward nods. "Thanks."

"Just because you’re married and fulfilling the terms of Arthur’s agreement doesn’t mean I accept you as the CEO."

Silence descends as, one-by-one, people stop talking and train their attention on the exchange.

G-Pa slowly releases my hands. He looks between the two half-brothers but doesn’t say anything. Apparently, he wants to see how this exchange will proceed.

Knox shoves his hand in his pocket. "I won’t make it easy for you during your honeymoon, either."

"There is no honeymoon," Edward drawls.

G-Pa stiffens.

Gio gasps.

I’m not sure what I expected, but I think a part of me, somewhere, assumed there’d be a honeymoon. Isn’t that what people do when they get married? But this is a fake wedding. And that’s my fake husband. Let's ignore that he kissed me so I felt it all the way to my toes; it was all pretense.

Knox looks taken aback. "No honeymoon, huh?"

G-Pa looks at Edward with something like suspicion in his eyes. "You’re not taking your wife for a honeymoon?" His forehead furrows.

"I’m the newly appointed CEO. I can’t take time away from the job."

"Don’t forget, you continue to stay CEO only if you consummate the marriage," G-Pa snaps.

"What?" Edward’s usual mask-like features unwind enough for the shock to show in his eyes.

"What?" I squeak.

"Why do you seem surprised?" G-Pa looks at Edward steadily. "Were you planning otherwise?"

"I’m surprised because I didn’t expect my grandfather to interfere in my personal life to this extent."

"Welcome to the family," Knox says drily. Then he steps toward me. "I assume it’s okay to kiss the bride?"

Without waiting for Edward’s response, he bends and kisses me, not on my lips, but so close, he might as well have.

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