Page 86 of Partnering with the Artist

My worries…lift.

Head tilting, he asks, “Is something wrong?”

“I’m nervous,” I blurt, and then I begin to pace, running my fingers through my hair. “About next Sunday. Not the ball. I’m looking forward to the ball. To riding in a limo. To walking up a red carpet into an elite event. I’m praying I don’t trip on the red carpet, but if I do, I’ll live with it. I’m excited to see what aballlooks like. I can’t believe I have the opportunity to go to one. It’s…afterward.” I suck in a breath. “It’s getting married.”

Rising, Zakery heads toward his open bedroom windows and draws the sheer white curtains over them.

My nervous heart stumbles, and I stop moving as I watch him.

Love is sacrifice. Love is thinking about the other person before yourself. Love…loveis Zakery Bachelor.

I’ve just told him that I’m nervous about marrying him, and he’s ignoring that to make sure the sunlight isn’t too strong for me.

Yet, I find the gall to say, “What if I’m too scared to love you? What if you’re lying to me? What if everything falls apart, right when I least expect it? I don’t know what you get out of marrying me, but this is crazy, isn’t it? It’s been weeks.”

Zakery returns to his chair, sits, and stares at me.

My stomach dips as I wring my hands. I whisper, “I’m…sorry. I’m scared.”

“Maelin, you don’t have to marry me if you aren’t ready.”

“But Isaid. I said I’d love you if my parents approved. They’ve approved. And I knew they’d approve. I just wanted to make sure. Just in case I was being monumentally stupid again. But I think I was pushing the responsibility off onto them, and now it’s back on me, and I’mscared.”

Smiling gently, Zakery opens his arms. “Come here, princess.”

Helpless, I go to him, forget about the stupid dais step, and nearly face plant into his tablet. He catches me just in time to save his work, and my face, but my ankle smarts as I melt toward the ground, whimpering.

He soothes me the whole way down. “Are you all right?”

“My ankle, or my brain?”

He kisses my forehead, pushing my hair back over my ear. “Yes.”

Shoulders sagging, I refuse to meet his gaze. “No.”

“How can I support you?”

Dry laughter escapes. “Haven’t you done more than enough? Isn’t it my turn to do something for you? You’ve done so much for me, yet here I am, having second thoughts instead of justlovingyou a fraction of how much you love me.”

“Maelin…you experience emotions in ways I don’t. Loving someone is harder when you have to—”

“Don’t be stupid, Zakery,” I spit. “You forced yourself to love me through sheer terror that locked all your muscles up yesterday. I know that was hard. I know it was painful, even. But you did it, for me.”

“I did it because I want to marry you, Maelin. Don’t remove my motivation and make it seem like a wholly selfless feat.”

“There are ways to coerce me, without appeasing my demands.”

He lifts my face, so I can watch his brow arch. “Are therereally? Didn’t work when Harry tried them, did it?”

“Harry is an idiot. You…aren’t.”

He smiles. “I appreciate that sentiment.” His thumb slips across my cheek, heating in the wake of the caress. “You don’t have to marry me, Maelin. Not next week. Not ever. I’ll love you through it. I’ll pine. I’ll suffer my desire as it rises and falls with no relief, grateful only that it’s yet to fade. Who knows? Maybe never appeasing my want will be what allows me to feel it forever. I’ll be okay with that. Wanting you is a feeling I always want to recognize.”

I grip his clothes. “Iwantto marry you. It’s just…scary.”

“Which part? The…wedding night? We don’t have to, until you’re ready, even if we’re married.”

Liquid heat pulses in my veins. “N-not that. The moving in part. Are your brothers okay with you marrying me?”

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