Page 28 of Cinderella's Secret Baby

“Oh. Yeah, of course.” He pushed off the counter, all dynamic motion as he started back to the living room. “Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

THEYMARRIEDTHREEdays later in the apartment.

Hunter offered to plan something bigger for another time, but Amelia brushed that off. She really did believe this union would be temporary. That’s why she didn’t take him up on the offer to fly her father in for the ceremony. Tobias had only just settled into the cottage at Lake of the Woods. He sounded content, so she would tell him after the fact.

Maybe she was also punishing Tobias for putting her in this position. He wanted Peyton’s father to do the right thing? Fine. She acquiesced, but she wouldn’t let her father see it and be all smug about it.

She wouldn’t raise his expectations, then dash them in a year or two when she and Hunter admitted it wasn’t working.

She asked Hunter to keep it to a bare minimum. Vienna was their witness, along with Carina. Apparently, Remy had read Hunter’s invitation to be his best man again, but hadn’t replied. Amelia could tell he was confused when his friend ghosted him, but the ceremony went on—not that it was very ceremonial.

She kept reminding herself that it was her choice to keep it so unsentimental and bureaucratic. Unity had shown her a dozen beautiful dresses of various lengths. Amelia had settled on a muted yellow pantsuit that Unity persuaded her to dress up with a satin camisole and a few sprigs of baby’s breath in her hair.

Even that much froufrou nonsense bothered Amelia. She couldn’t help recalling the vineyard and the string trio, the multitude of guests and linen-draped seats and the pavilion of fine china. That vision carved a hollow cavern into the pit of her stomach. Not because she wanted that. Not really. A thrown-together civil union would have been completely satisfying if she was marrying someone she loved, but she and Hunter didn’t have that.Thatwas the reason she felt cheated and unattached to anything that happened today.

Maybe if they had spent the last three days getting to know each other she might have felt differently, but they’d only come together for meals, and invariably someone had joined them. He had constantly been taking calls or meeting with strangers whom he would introduce very casually as, “Your driver while we’re here,” or “She’s with the nanny agency. They’re pulling some candidates together.”

Amelia had been equally busy and inundated with decisions. Did she like this cut of neckline? Would she rather have her hair corrected to brunette or re-streaked to blond? Which brand of crib would she prefer for Peyton, and was there anything she needed from the house in Goderich?

She had left the penthouse only once for a visit to the doctor. She took Peyton because she was due for her first immunizations. That left the infant fussy and running a low-grade fever. Amelia had opted for an IUD, so she had cramps and was up with Peyton half a dozen times in the night.

Hunter came in at four, concerned that Peyton wasn’t settling. He took her and walked her until she cried herself out, allowing Amelia to finally get some sleep.

They both had sunken eyes and a distinct lack of spirit as they repeated their vows.

When the officiant pronounced them husband and wife and urged, “You may kiss if you wish,” Amelia felt teary, and not in a good way. She was still angry about all of this. She was sad that her life had become so much less than she had wanted for herself. She felt cheated and raw and second-best.

Why had she agreed to this?

Hunter’s strong hand cupped her cheek and his mouth slanted across her own. It was a chaste kiss, but the warmth of his palm brought heat to the surface of her skin. The brush of his lips made hers buzz with subtle electricity that pulsed in signals down her throat, through her heart and into her loins. Her lips unconsciously caught at his, wanting him to linger.

The tip of his tongue brushed the seam of her mouth, and she opened to welcome a deeper kiss. A more thorough seal of their mouths and their union. His touch on her arm firmed, and her hand fisted into his jacket. She ran the other up and behind his neck. His arm went behind her back and crushed her into the hard wall of his chest.

This, she thought distantly, as desire swept through her like fire through dry grass. This was why she had agreed. She wanted the sex, too. She wanted the run of his palm to her lower back and the shift of his body so she felt the brush of his growing erection against her stomach. She wanted to be wanted.

But even as she melted, Hunter abruptly lifted his head, setting Amelia back a step. He checked his mouth for smudged lipstick.

She pretended to care about her hair and used her raised elbow to hide whatever hurt might be showing in her expression. Then she sat to sign all the paperwork including a form to have Hunter added to Peyton’s birth certificate.

She took Peyton from Vienna while they had their photo taken and accepted congratulations and sipped champagne when it was handed to her.

“It’s a shame you didn’t have time to get Peyton’s passport sorted. A proper honeymoon would have been nice,” Vienna said as they ate a light brunch. “The cabin is off-grid, though. At least no one will bother you there.”

“I’ve never seen the Rockies. I’m looking forward to it,” Amelia said politely. She had never seen Greece, either, but she was glad not to be subbing into the honeymoon Hunter had planned with Eden. “What time do we have to be at the airport?” she asked Hunter, already dreading the long flight with Peyton.

“The plane is ready when we are,” he said absently.

That wasn’t an answer, but she bit back saying so.

A short while later, they said goodbye to their few guests. Amelia combed out her hair and changed into more comfortable travel clothes. When she came downstairs, Hunter was putting Peyton into her car seat.

“Ready?”

“No,” she said with frustration. “I packed the diaper bag, but now I can’t find it. Did you put it somewhere?”

“Everything has gone ahead. I’ve got the ticking time bomb—Yes, I know you hate being in this thing,” he said patiently to Peyton as she squawked a complaint. “It’s only a few minutes. I promise.”

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