Page 25 of Attached At Heart
“What’s wrong?”
I didn’t even look up from the puzzle pieces on the floor of my apartment when I replied, “Nothing’s wrong.”
“You’ve been working on that puzzle for almost four hours.”
“I love puzzles.” I shrugged. “You know I love puzzles.”
“I do know you love puzzles.” Blake’s voice grew louder as he sat on the couch. I almost forgot he was still in my apartment. He’d been sitting at my kitchen table studying while I trained my focus on something I could control. Just for a little bit. “But since when does it take you so long to do this puzzle?”
I wrinkled my nose. “You say that like I do this puzzle often.”
“Delaney…”
Okay, fine. This was my favorite puzzle, and sure, maybe I’d done it before. Many times. But there was something to be said for that—the satisfaction of puzzling through something you knew you could solve because you’d done it before. I needed to feel accomplished about something today.
“I just think the colors are pretty. Can you imagine seeing that many rows of tulips in real life?” I stared thoughtfullyat the picture on the lid of the puzzle box for a moment, wondering what it would be like to indulge in the little things in life instead of sifting through never-ending piles of homework. Like wearing pretty dresses and going to see tulip fields. Then I snapped out of it, because that just wasn’t my life or my life goals, and looked up at Blake. “You wouldn’t understand. You don’t like color.”
“I like color,” he said in immediate defense but didn’t elaborate because he knew he didn’t have a way to prove it.
CHAPTER SIX
delaney
BLAKE AND I ARRIVED at the courthouse separately, as two people getting married to satisfy an inheritance clause would. I found him leaning against a marble archway that branched off the atrium just inside the courthouse’s main entrance. And goddamn, he reallywasunfairly handsome.
It had always been a fact that I’d known, that I’d been aware of in the back of my head. Just like how newborn babies have the fastest heartbeat. Or that cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally.
Blake London was an attractive man.
But that fact felt a little bit different today as I took him in while he waited for me to show up so we could get married. He stood there, the picture of nonchalance with his hands shucked in his pockets and his shoulder resting against marble. And yet, he didn’t even have a hair out of place. His McDreamy waves were sculpted perfectly on his head, and his crisp, black suit had been tailored precisely to his fit physique.
My stomach flipped in a mix of emotions I didn’t dare try to unpack. Not right now.
As though Blake could sense my gaze, he straightened, head swiveling to find me just inside the door. Something flickered in his eyes before he masked it and strode toward me with a wave, acting like this was the most natural thing in the world. Like we were meeting up for drinks after work or getting together to study for a final exam.
To an extent, it did feel natural. And to be completely honest, Ihadthought about this moment before.
The marriage clause was fresh on my mind when I initially met Blake in the front of a lecture hall, looking as solitary as I was at the time. He’d seemed kind of perfect for the role: an equally driven partner who had similar career goals to me.
But then I got to know Blake more and realized his goals in life were not, in fact, the same as mine. Because they went beyond a career. He came from a big, loving family, and hewanteda big, loving family. It made sense, something I was sure many people with normal, healthy upbringings could relate to.
Unfortunately, I was not one of them.
I was raised in the same fashion a prized thoroughbred mare might have been. Except Ididpossess enough autonomy to select not to join the race when it came down to it, and the disappointment that caused was likely as traumatic to me as it was to my family. My dad had been raised in a supremely traditional sense. He was born to manage money, whatever that really meant, and he’d found a wife who’d liked the idea of marrying into that money. My parents’ partnership was as superficial as they came, and if what they had was love, I didn’t want it.
The only scraps of tenderness my parents possessed were reserved for Bryan, but I wouldn’t change that for the world. It was the least they could do.
So no, I’d never wanted to follow a traditional path the way that Blake did. We were two best friends aligned in every wayexcept that one. At some point, I’d always known our lifestyles would split and go down different roads. He wanted a wife, a family, and I’d never really wanted a husband. And yet, for some reason, we’d still somehow ended up together in a courthouse.
“I’m looking for a blonde girl in a white dress. Said she wanted to get married today,” Blake teased with a crooked smile as he walked up. “Maybe you’ve seen her?”
I gave Blake a shaky smile. The last week had flown by, and it was hard to wrap my head around the fact that we were really here. It should feel rushed or rash. It should feel uncertain. But the truth was…it didn’t. Standing here with Blake seemed like the only logical conclusion at this point.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t a little nervous, though.
“Don’t get too disappointed, but you’re lookin’ at her,” I muttered beneath my breath.
Blake’s demeanor immediately shifted as he sensed my anxiety. He reached out to grab my hand and squeezed it.
