Page 15 of Help Wanted: Wife

“About my ass.”

“You were thinking about your ass?”

“I was thinking about you thinking about my ass.”

He stared.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I know we have a business arrangement, but it gave my confidence a needed boost that you find something about me attractive, even if it is just my rear end. William’s rejection hit me hard,” she admitted.

“You are attractive all over,” he said. “Exotic.”

“I wasn’t fishing for another compliment.”

“It’s true though. You are a beautiful, exotic woman.” Her blonde hair seemed to capture the light, turning even more golden. She smiled with her whole face, her eyes crinkling. She had a delicate chin, a cute nose, and adorable ears.

“Well, thank you.”

“Tell me about him,” he said. He was curious about the man who had undermined the confidence of such a remarkable woman. “If you don’t mind talking about him. You don’t have to.”

“The first day of school, he asked me to be his girlfriend.” Her mouth twisted with a sad smile. “We were inseparable. He was an ever-present fixture in my life. I never dated anyone else. I always believed wewould marry. It never occurred to me he had changed his mind. He never said anything. He blindsided me, didn’t have the decency to tell me to my face. He messaged me only minutes before the ceremony. Why couldn’t he tell me the truth?”

“Because he was a selfish coward. He cared more about avoiding any discomfort to himself than minimizing your pain.”

“In hindsight, I recognize there were signs he’d lost interest. We spent less time together. We weren’t uh, intimate, as often. He hadn’t said, ‘I love you’ in a while. I attributed the distance to us being preoccupied with planning a wedding. On occasion, he wasn’t where he said he’d be, but I had no idea he was seeing somebody else.”

“Someone else?”

“He fell in love with some bimbo and eloped on our wedding day.”

A double betrayal. Her no-good ex had led her on and cheated on her. “He is worse than a coward. He does not deserve you.” It was wrong to mislead one woman while loving another. No decent man would do such a thing. “I’m sorry.”

“William humiliated me in front of the entire village.Everybodyknew he had jilted me. I couldn’tface the stares, the whispers, the pity. I wanted a fresh start where nobody knew me and what had happened.”

“I’m happy to provide you with that fresh start,” he said. “We will be able to help each other.”

“How long were you and Sala married?” she asked.

He was reluctant to discuss his previous marriage, but he’d opened the topic with his questions about William. “Seven years total. We were married five years before the pandemic hit. She fell ill within a couple of weeks of the outbreak. Then she spent two years in the stasis pod before she succumbed. A month later, the treatment became available.” If she had just hung on one month more. If the cure had come out a month sooner. If, if, if.

Some people blamed Krogan for not finding a cure sooner, but Larth believed the governor-general had done everything in his power. His scientists had begun working on a cure as soon as the first cases broke out. He’d brought in the stasis pods. Most of the women in the pods had survived.

Prudence pressed a hand to her throat. “That’s devastating. I’m so sorry.”

“She was the only woman I ever loved. I can’t imagine loving anyone else like I loved her. Thisbakery is my tribute to her. Since the cozi lease is expiring and I must vacate, I can’t call the shop Bakery at the Cozi 2, so I’m renaming it Sala’s Bakery!”

They had argued over the name. Unable to come up with something they both liked, they’d compromised on a mundane descriptor until they could agree on something better. And then the pandemic hit. If he’d had an inkling of the future, he would have let Sala call the bakery anything she desired. No, he would have spirited her off the planet before she’d become infected with the nano-virus.

“A fine tribute,” Pru said with a slight smile.

“Speaking of bakeries, we should get back to the cozi.” He shied away from further confidences, filled with a vague sense of guilt, like he’d said something wrong.

“Sounds like a good idea,” she readily agreed.

He locked up, and they vapped over to the cozi, but the guilt and discomfort lingered.

Chapter Eight

One week later

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