Page 68 of Attached At Heart
“Perfect.” She cocked her head to the side and pulled out her phone. “How far is it?”
“A mile or two,” I answered before she had a chance to look it up. “We could bike—there’s a few in the garage. Otherwise, this upgraded rental came with a Vespa we could use. Only one, though.” I flashed her a grin that I hoped didn’t look too excited. “I might not be an Italian pop star, but I can still do my best to drive you around Europe and do whatever your Lizzie McGuire dreams are made of.”
Delaney burst out laughing at that, and the tension broke between us.
For now.
Delaney and I opted to ride the Vespa into town, simply because it had a compartment under the seat where we could put a few groceries.
Not because it meant that we’d be squished together on that seat.
Not because it meant that she had to straddle me from behind.
That had nothing to do with the decision-making at all because I honestly wasn’t really looking to be tortured any more today.
I wasn’t sure if Delaney had thought of those details or not, but based on her giddy expression as she fit the helmet over her braided hair, I was almost positive her brain was not where mine was. That was for the best because, as I’d learned in the last twenty-four hours, it was considerably easier to pretend when Delaney was oblivious.
“How do I look?” she laughed as I buckled the helmet beneath her chin.
“Perfect,” I said automatically, giving her chin a tap to indicate she was all good to go.
She rolled her eyes at my response before looking down at her outfit—a pair of loose jeans and a linen shirt. “Well, considering you’re used to seeing me in scrubs or sweats, I probably look better than normal to you.”
“You always look good, Delaney,” I muttered, not wanting to lie when I didn’t absolutely have to. “You’re stunning no matter what you wear.”
“Stop.” She flicked me in the arm. “Just because we’re married doesn’t mean you need to feed me compliments. Appeasing my ego was not part of the deal.”
I hopped on the scooter without looking at her. “I’m not trying to appease your ego.”
She inhaled before she followed suit, sliding onto the seat with a more delicate approach. I felt one leg brush against mine and then the other. Luckily, we both wore pants, which helped to avoid that skin-to-skin contact that seemed to mess with bothof our heads. But then Delaney’s chest grazed my back, messing with my head anyway. Her hands skimmed my sides as she wound herself tightly around my waist, flattening her body to mine.
“Well, then…thank you,” she said, breathing in my ear.
I’d forgotten what we were talking about.
I swallowed hard as I fit the key into the ignition. Hopefully, Delaney wouldn’t clock my harder-than-normal breathing or the way my pulse likely fluttered in my neck, right by where I could feel her presence. If she did, it would only take her a few moments to deduce what was happening to me, considering my lack of other symptoms that might correlate with tachycardia.
“I think we’re doing a very good job at faking this honeymoon,” Delaney said with a breathy laugh, and I decided breathy laughs when she was this close to me were almost as bad as breathy moans. “This feels very couple-y.”
I wanted to answer,You think, Lane?But instead, I nodded and suggested, “Maybe we should take a picture. I suppose this honeymoon is only as convincing as the evidence we bring home about it.”
“Good idea.” Delaney handed me her phone and then tightened her hold as though how hard she was squeezing me could be conveyed through the picture. “We can send it to Sully. I’m sure he’ll approve.”
I lifted her phone to snap the photo, and a grin immediately bloomed on my face from seeing Delaney’s head hovering over my shoulder, her smile wide, eyes sparkling. She looked happy, and maybe it was fake or forced, but at the moment, I was going to choose to believe it was real. That whatever ended up happening on this trip, regardless of the pretense of why we were on it, was real.
“I’d give you a convincing kiss on the cheek or something, but I can’t get that close to you,” she chuckled as I snapped afew pictures. Her head bobbed toward mine, and our helmets clinked together, demonstrating her point.
“Maybe another time,” I murmured, feeling the adrenaline shoot up in my body at the idea of Delaney’s lips anywhere near my body.
“Yeah,” she breathed, and her expression morphed into something unfamiliar in the phone screen before I lowered it, handing it back to her.
“Ready?” I prompted.
“Ready,” Delaney echoed, giving another squeeze to indicate she was holding on and prepared to take off. I ran my hand over her interlaced fingers on my stomach, wanting a little bit of proof that she was there and I wasn’t imagining it. I felt Delaney inch closer, her hips flexing into my ass in a way that had me reeling.
“Lane…” I choked on thin air for a second before getting myself together. “Trying to make it hard for me to breathe is not really the best approach when I’m about to drive us around in a foreign country.”
“Do you want me to drive?” she quipped back, loosening her hold a little as thoughthatwas the reason I couldn’t get air into my lungs.
