Page 58 of Adoration: Isn't What It Seems (Love Isn't What It Seems 2)

“We are both out of time,” he replied. “If we are going to do this, we have to hurry up and get it done.”

“Talk about killing the romance,” I mumbled, pushing my hand through my hair. “This is so not fair.”

“Life is rarely fair, Liberty,” he replied calmly.

No shit, Sherlock!

I got up and left for the door. “Fine, I’ll let you know tonight. Now, I’m going on my date. Bye!”

I shut the door without another backwards glance. That man was too much. How could I marry him when half the time I wanted to throttle him? I should be hyperventilating thinking about getting married after what happened last time. But I didn’t, which made me even more worried. Maybe that was good… things were easier since it was a business arrangement.

I hurried to my desk and found Maxim chatting with Brandon.

“Not sure why Liberty would tell you that,” Maxim was telling him, a flabbergasted look on his face. “But in American football, you run so you don’t find yourself on the ground. You don’t want other players tackling you.”

Brandon saw me first and ran to me, giving me a big hug. I looked at Maxim and he winked at me again.

“Is something wrong with your eye?” I asked him, although now I knew why he winked.

“Not at all,” he replied with a big smile. “But we will need to have a talk about the football rules you’ve been misfeeding Brandon.”

I smiled sheepishly. “Well, I figured if he threw himself on the ground before boys tackled him, he won’t be hurt as bad.”

He laughed at that. “I guess it makes sense, but we’ll have to teach him how to play it right.”

“It won’t be today,” I told him. “C’mon, Brandon. We are having a date.”

“Yay,” he cheered and we hurriedly left.

We left Maxim behind and I attempted to leave Alexander there as well, but he lingered in my thoughts. I kept turning each possibility in my head, but no matter what way I went, I kept coming back to his offer being the only one that could work.

We went for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was Brandon’s favorite. We sat and talked about football, and Peter Pan, and what movie we were going to watch after bathtime. My heart ached just at the thought of losing him and before we were even done with dinner, my mind was made up. But I delayed sending a message to Alexander as much as I could.

When we got home, Brandon got a bath, we watched a movie, and read a bedtime story. After the long day he’d had, Brandon was exhausted. Fury still overwhelmed me when I thought about him walking from the daycare all the way to Caldwell’s Enterprise, just imagining all the things that could have happened to him. I gave him one more hug and turned on the nightlight as I left him already halfway asleep.

Only then, I decided not to postpone the inevitable any longer.

I picked up my cell phone and stared at it. I knew my decision, I just couldn’t quite type it out.

I wasn’t sure why it bothered me to make the marriage a business arrangement. It made it simple, no attachments. I almost wished Maxim was the one to offer the marriage. He would have been easier to get along with, less intense. With Alexander, my self-preservation kicked in every time I saw him.

Taking a deep breath, I sent up a text message to my boss.

*If we do this, I don’t want any changes in Brandon’s life. He’s had too many changes already.*

Maybe Brandon and I could go through this like I never even married the guy. Really, it was just a paper, nothing more.

Before I even had a chance to put my phone away, his reply came in.

*Agreed. We’ll make it as easy as possible for him.*

What did he mean bywe? Brandon was my responsibility, not ours.

Stop jumping on his case, Liberty!I could almost hear my sister’s voice in my head. He was just trying to help, I guess. The familiar ache consumed my chest thinking about my sister. I missed her so much.

*And I get to keep my job.*Until I could figure out what I wanted in terms of my career, I added in my head. I needed an income.

His reply came instantly.*If that’s what you want.*

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