Page 56 of The Wedding Hoax

I couldn’t help but stare at her, taking in every second of her happiness and joy. Simone was always beautiful, but she was especially beautiful in moments like these, when she completely let her guard down.

“What’s going on?” Simone stared back at me. “What is it? Is there something on my face?”

“Oh, uh, no.” I stumbled over my words. “I just, uh, wanted to tell you that if you needed to take a leave of absence from work to deal with the surgery with your mom, I’d be okay with that.”

“Really?”

“Yep. And you could come back whenever you’re ready. I’ll just hold your job for you.”

“Thanks. I’ll probably take you up on that.” Simone sighed. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a bit intense for a while.”

She gripped the counter suddenly as she swayed a little by the sink.

“Hey. Are you feeling okay?” I wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her in place.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just a little tired, I think.”

“Sounds like you should go to bed, then.”

“I think I’ll take you up on that, too.” Simone set the clean plate down beside the sink. “I’ll see you in the morning?”

“See you in the morning.”

I let her out of my grasp, even though I didn’t want to. I wanted to follow behind her as she went to bed. I wanted to make sure she was truly okay and keep a watchful eye over her until she fell fast asleep.

I wanted to hold her close to me all through the night.

Fuck.

This was bad. This was really, really bad.

It was one thing to crave Simone physically, but wanting to comfort her? Wanting to share a bed with her just for the sake of it?

If I didn’t get a grip soon, I was going to reach a point of no return.

Besides, it wasn’t like I’d ever been a cuddler, anyway. So, why the hell was I trying to start now?

I forced myself to stay by the sink, despite everything inside of me wanting to go knock on her door.

She’s tired. She wouldn’t want to see you, anyway.

I repeated the words in my head. But the more I heard them, the more I felt I was lying to myself.

Like I was trying to convince myself of something that just wasn’t true.

22

SIMONE

How was I going to tell Harry?

I paced up and down my bedroom the next morning, my mind racing with a million thoughts a minute.

He didn’t want kids. He’d told me that about a dozen times over.

What would be the point of even telling him of my pregnancy? So he could say he wasn’t interested in being a dad? That I’d made an awful mistake, and he didn’t want any part of it?

But that was just it. I didn’t feel like I’d made a mistake.

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