Page 18 of The Accidental Wife

She turns and looks at me over her shoulder. “Yes?”

“Sit.” I point to the seat next to mine at the conference table. For once, she doesn’t argue and obeys. “So, I was thinking. If we want this whole thing to work, we should put some ground rules in place. We should have a contract or some form of an agreement, so we both know where we stand. What do you think?”

Shayla looks at me blankly for a long moment but shrugs and nods in agreement. “That’s probably wise.”

“Great, after dinner at my parents, we can go to my place and discuss the terms of the contract,” I explain, and she nods again.

“Fine,”

“Good. Now, let’s take one last look at this presentation.” Shayla groans and drops her pen.

“Cole, we’ve been over it fifteen times. It’s great. Besides, they’re here.” She informs me, gesturing to the group of men escorted to the conference room by Heather. I nod, gather up my laptop and files I need, and stand from my chair.

“I guess it's showtime,” I say, and Shayla follows me as we walk out of my office toward the conference room to greet Mr Turner and his associates. “Mr Turner, it's so nice to see you again. Welcome.” I greet and gesture for them to take a seat. “Okay, without further ado, let me present to you the design for your new eco-friendly hotel.” I watch the men's faces in the room as I explain the in’s and out’s of the project. From the corner of my eye, I can see Shayla watching me as I walk around the room. I try to avoid looking at her the entire time I was talking because I knew one look at her, and I would lose all train of thought.

“As stated, all of the materials used to build your hotel will be economically friendly.” I finish and click the screen off.

“That is just incredible, Tristan. It’s like you’ve just plucked the image from my brain. It’s just as I imagined my hotel would be. I love it.” Kyle Turner says, standing from his seat. “Send over the contract, I’ll sign it, and we can start the project.” I smile and shake his hand. He takes one last look at the building and mumbles “Incredible” before he walks out, leaving Shayla and me alone in the conference room. After weeks and weeks of stress and hard work, I finally felt my shoulders relax. I look over at Shayla, who smiles up at me prettily, her green eyes alight with excitement.

“We did it,” I whisper, and she nods; standing from the chair, she crosses her arms over her chest and leans against the table. “We won the project.”

“You did it.” She corrects. “You’ve worked your arse off for weeks to get this project done, and it’s beautiful, Cole. Why aren’t you more excited?!” She exclaims. I grin, and without a second thought, I wrap my arms around her, lift her off her feet and hug her tight.

Shayla squeaks in surprise but laughs and hugs me back. “Thank you for keeping me on track; you’ve been incredible these last couple of days,” I declare, pulling back and looking into her eyes. She smiles at me warmly and shrugs.

“You were a royal pain in my arse, but it was worth it. Seeing your face light up when he told you that you got the project certainly made up for the late nights and early mornings we’ve pulled the last couple of days.”

“I was pretty awful, wasn’t I?” I wince, and she nods again with a dramatic sigh.

“The things I put up with for this job…” She adds sarcastically, and I laugh. “Speaking of…” She smacks my head with a sweet little frown on her face. “Put me down.”

I set her down and ruffle her hair, and her arms flail, trying to hit me. I grab my laptop and power walk out of the conference room, laughing while she follows me, grumbling about me messing up her hair.

* * *

An hour later,we were standing outside my parents house. I look over at her. She’s chewing her lip anxiously. “Here, you’ll need to wear this.” I pull out the diamond ring and hand it to her. Her nose wrinkles in distaste, but she takes it and slides it on her finger. I swear she is the only woman I know that turns her nose up to diamonds. “You ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I hold out my hand, and she looks down at it and back up at me again. “We need to act the part, remember?” I remind her, and she sighs and laces her fingers with mine. “Cole, I’m begging you, please don’t do anything to make me uncomfortable in there.” I nod and give her hand a little squeeze before I push the door open, and we walk in.

“I’m hoping Hollie and her parents aren’t here for dinner,” I whisper to her as we walk through the foyer.

“What? Hollie? Isn’t that the girl your supposed to marry?” She whispers back, and I nod.

“Yeah, they were supposed to be here to talk about our engagement arrangements. If they are, please don’t freak out. Just stick to the plan.” I tell her and pull her toward the living room. “Mum. Dad.” I greet my parents, who stand when they see us.

“Tristan,” My father greets me and nods at Shayla, she smiles kindly at him. “Shayla, welcome dear.”

She flushes. “Good evening, sir.”

“Mum, this is my wife, Shayla. Honey, this is my mother, Elaine Hoult.” I introduce. Shayla smiles and holds her hand out to shake my mother’s hand, who stares at it expressionlessly.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs Hoult,” Shayla says, dropping her hand and shifting back, the smile on her face faltering a little.

“Mother,” I warn sternly, and she looks at me and then back at Shayla.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Shelly.” I open my mouth to correct her, but Shayla squeezes my hand and shakes her head a little, silently telling me to let it go. “Dinner is served. Let’s eat.” My mother says and walks toward the dining room. We all follow her and take a seat at the dining table.

“Your home is beautiful, Mrs Hoult,” Shayla smiles, laying her napkin in her lap.

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