Page 42 of Rim Job

Time to call in the troops.

I dial the number. A few rings later, Evelyn is on the other line.

“Evelyn, put me on speaker phone.”

“Okay, just a sec,” she answers. Jen says something in the background. “Okay, you’re on speaker.”

“Girls, I have a date with Rim tonight. I need to pull out the big guns.”

“Wait, just one minute,” Jen says, and the phone shuffles. She must be taking it away from Evelyn. “Are you planning to do the dirty with your husband?”

“That, umm, is a yes.” My face heats from the confession.

“You like him? Like, like him, like him?” Jen asks.

“I do. I mean, why shouldn’t I? He’s smart, funny, really good-looking, and kind. Shouldn’t I have some fun with him while I can?”

“Who are you and what have you done with Christina?”

“Stop. Don’t make a big deal out of it, okay? It’s just a fling. A girl is entitled to a fling with her husband.”

“Girl, if anyone is entitled to a fling, it’s you.” Evelyn laughs.

“What can we do to help?” Jen asks.

I clear my throat, my nerves evaporating some now that I’ve confessed. “Help me get ready? Rim has gone to see his dad and will be back to get me for our dinner in just a bit.”

“Absolutely! Where the hell is your room? We need a map for this damn castle!”

I hang up with the girls after I tell them how to find me.

He may have the Rim Effect but he’s about to meet his match.

Look out Rimmington Banks. You’re about to get Ti Bagged.

Wait, that’s not right.

I’ll work on that.

20

RIMMINGTON

“You realize what an uncomfortable position you’ve placed your mother and I in by showing up married? Isadora and her family were expecting you to propose to her.”

Father sits behind his desk, glass of brandy in hand. He runs his fingers through his hair, frustrated. A trait we share. He is a good man but he believes in duty and honor. The honorable thing to him would be to marry Isadora.

Our families are intertwined—socially, politically. It’s been assumed that Isadora and I would marry. She is the ideal match for me within our circle, but I’ve never been one to give a shite about what anyone in our circle thinks.

My life is mine. My money is mine. I started my own business after college and have been extremely successful in my own right. Was I planning to ask Isadora to marry me? Yes, but then this amazing woman fell into my lap. Any thoughts of a mapped-out future were left on the casino floor the moment Christina sat next to me, even if I didn't realize it at the time.

“I’m aware of that. I am sorry this places a burden on you, but I cannot be sorry for marrying Christina. I will speak with Isadora’s father, if need be, but I never publicly made any declarations regarding the engagement.”

“Rimmington,” Mother says as she turns to face me, “you don’t need to bother with explanations. No promises were made. Isadora just assumed you would propose. There’s history between you.”

Yes, there's history.

We briefly dated several years ago, not to mention the car incident most recently, bloody mistake that was, but she couldn't settle for me then. Not when there were princes available. It wasn't until she realized I was her last hope of proper nobility that she tried to sink her claws into me. I wasn't happy to settle for a marriage of convenience but, for my family, our name, I would have. Luckily, my plans were happily derailed.

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