Page 77 of The Rogue and His Flower

“I’m going to get some fresh air for a bit. I’ll meet you at the car in an hour, then we can head over to the church, okay?”

“Sure,” I reply, watching her walk from the dining room feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt rendering me immobile.

I know that none of this is what she wanted, not being married to me–a man she doesn’t love, not being tied to a family who is using her for its own gain, and not getting married in a church to suit my father’s wishes. But this is what we both signed up for, and there is little I can do to change it.

“Well that wasn’t asawful as I imagined it would be,” Daisy says as we step outside of St Augustine’s a couple of hours later.

“What were you expecting exactly, to go up in flames for pretending to be in love with me?” I ask, shooting her a half-smile.

“Actually, I admit Iwasexpecting you to start smouldering a little,” she retorts with a grin as we walk down the steps of the church.

I bark out a laugh, her humour amusing me. “Why?”

She arches her brow as a cool breeze ruffles her hair, sending her strawberry blonde and pink streaked strands dancing around her face. “You’re seriously asking me why?”

“Go on, enlighten me,” I insist, knowing exactly where she’s going with this, but enjoying the banter anyway.

“Isn’t sex before marriage a sin that gets you sent straight to Hell?”

“Not if it’s with your fiance. I’m pretty sure there’s a loophole for that,” I tease, nudging her with my elbow, trying to make light of the situation, liking the way her lips quirk in a smile.

“You would say that,” she retorts with a roll of her eyes, as she opens the passenger door to my car and slides inside.

“By your reckoning, coming all over my motorbike seat would also be a fast pass to Hell,” I say, biting down on a smile that twitches my lips.

“If coming all over inanimate objects was a fast pass to Hell then every single woman on the planet would be lining up at the gates with their vibrators.”

I throw my head back and laugh. “Now that’s a little sexist, don’t you think? I’m sure there are plenty of men who meet those requirements too.”

“Well that goes without saying,” she huffs, folding her arms across her chest as she feigns annoyance even as mirth sparks in her eyes.

A few minutes later we’re heading back home, passing through town, when Daisy lets out an audible gasp. “What?” I question, glancing over at her.

“Look, they’re playing Stardust at the cinema!” she exclaims excitedly.

“Stardust? Never heard of it,” I reply, stopping at a red light as she turns to me with wide eyes.

“Are you kidding me, you’ve never watched Stardust?”

“Nope.”

“You haven’t lived. It’s my all time favourite movie.Ever,” Daisy replies, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm as she continues to gush about the movie. “It’s this amazing magical adventure with romance and action, and a beautiful unicorn!”

I arch a brow. “A unicorn? Don’t tell me, that’s when your obsession started! Am I right?”

“It sure is. Oh, I love the film so much. I think I’ve watched it a hundred times already.”

“A hundred times?” I question incredulously. “It must be good then.”

“It really, really is,” she replies, almost a little wistfully.

“Well in that case, it looks like we’re watching Stardust this afternoon,” I declare, making a sharp turn towards the cinema.

“Wait, you’re actually serious?” she asks, grinning over at me.

“I may regret this later, but yeah, why the hell not? You came to the racetrack with me, I’m going to watch Stardust with you.”

“Haven’t you got better things to do?” she asks.

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