Page 15 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding
“Yes,” she said, nodding.
“I don’t understand how a fake husband factors into any of this.”
“Well, my family just informed me that to inherit my fortune, I need to be … married,” she said, almost choking on the word. “I know.” She shook her head at Victor’s scrunched brows.
“That’s some patriarchal bullshit,” he said.
“That’s what I said!” Pandora said, smiling at him for a second before trying to get serious again. “But my parents are … very traditional. They really dug their heels in about this. They won’t hear of me inheriting if I’m not married.”
“So you are going tofakebeing married?” Victor asked.
“Well, no. I actually have to be married. But the relationship itself will be, you know, fake. All for show, kind of thing.”
“That’s … a lot to take in,” Victor said, twisting his coffee cup in slow circles on the surface of the table.
“I know. And it has to be convincing, which is why Lucy and I drew up the list.”
“He has to … smolder?” Victor asked, a hint of teasing slipping into his tone.
“We kind of meant that he has to try to look at me like he’s attracted to me,” Pandora said.
“That shouldn’t be hard. And waltzing?”
“Well, you know, like … wedding dances and such?”
“Guess that’s also why there was a note about waistcoats and cravats?”
“Exactly,” she said, nodding.
“And he has to have a tragic backstory?”
“What?” Pandora asked, brows raising. “No. No, that’s not … mandatory. Lucy went a little crazy with her notes. We’d only gone over a few of them.”
Victor nodded at that before sitting back.
“Why are you telling me all of this?” he asked, watching her with those verdant eyes of his. She’d imagined just this moment countless times before, what it might feel like to have his undivided attention, to see his gorgeous eyes looking at her like he was truly seeing her, not just glancing at her from the other side of the counter.
It was better than she’d imagined.
She had a sinking feeling, though, that what she was about to say was going to make him roll those eyes, tell her she was absurd, then rush out of the shop.
“Well, after hearing about your … predicament,I was starting to think we might be able to work together toward a common goal.”
“What goal is that?”
“My inheritance.”
Victor shook his head at her, making her stomach bottom out before he spoke. “I think I’m missing something here. Why does your inheritance have anything to do with me?”
“Well, you clearly need some money so you can go back to university. I’m about to come into a lot of money.”
“Wait … You want to pay me to—”
“Marry me, yes.” Pandora watched him, half expecting him to burst into laughter.
“You’re serious,” he said, leaning forward, bringing with him the scent of his cologne that she’d never been close enough to catch before. It was a cozy, warm scent. Leather, vanilla, and a hint of cinnamon. Pandora wanted to press her face into his neck, to breathe him in, to …
No.
