Page 45 of Dex

I pick up my cocktail.“Like what?”

“Our impending wedding.”

“Our surprise wedding.”

“That too.”

He lifts his glass and drains it completely dry.Shock lances through me.He must be stressed.Maybe he’s uncomfortable being with me, and that’s why he’s drinking so fast.

I groan.“We need to work on our stories.”

“We do,” he agrees.“People always ask how people met.What are you going to tell them?”

I take a slow sip of my drink, thinking.“I’d say… we were both at a carnival,” I begin.“I won a giant stuffed panda, but I couldn’t carry it, so you, being the chivalrous man you are, offered to hold it for me.”

He narrows his eyes.“I’m already regretting this story.”

I grin, feeling the tension between us soften.Feeling slightly more at ease with him.“And then, just as we were standing under the Ferris wheel, bam!You asked me out on a date.”

He shakes his head.“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

“Because which Ferris wheel?Which carnival?Why would someone you like and me meet at a place like that?We live in different countries, also, I can’t remember the last time I went to a carnival.And, did you go alone, or with friends, if so, where were they?”

I’m impressed that he’s giving this such careful consideration.“Maybe we should work on how we met, but what about the proposal story?How did that come about?”

He shrugs.“The usual.We went out for dinner.Had a lovely time.”

“What did we eat?”

“Truffle risotto.It was out of this world.”

“I love truffle risotto!”

He nods.“Good to know.At the end, I ordered you a pudding, and inside was a ring.”

I wrinkle my nose.“Boring.”

“Predictable,” he admits.

“Have you ever actually come close to actually proposing?”

“No.Never.”

“Good thing this marriage is fake, then,” I mutter.But I’m more curious than ever now about his former girlfriends.

He exhales a laugh.“We probably shouldn’t be saying that out loud.”

I swirl my cocktail.“Maybe we should’ve done this ‘getting to know each other’ part at your apartment instead.”

He cocks a brow.“Are you coming on to me, Miss Oliveira?”

I roll my eyes.“You wish.”

“Soon to be Mrs.Knight.”

I stiffen.“Nope.That doesn’t work.”

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