Page 35 of Seaside Cowboy's Marriage of Convenience

Chapter Nine

“ISTILL STRUGGLE TObelieve I’m married. I thought everything would feel different. And it... it doesn’t. Well, not different enough,” Kennedy told Marina two days later as her friend helped pack for the honeymoon.

The trip to the small European country also served the important purpose of searching for Zoey. Kennedy would’ve gone sooner if not for worrying about her uncle. But now he’d assured her he was doing much better and had given his blessing for the trip.

Skylar had offered to help pack, as well. But she had a dinner date with her husband, and Kennedy didn’t want to interrupt it. And fine, Kennedy still preferred to have a two-person group than a larger one.

Kennedy had opened a window in her spacious bedroom to let in the salt-scented breeze and the ocean’s murmurs. She probably shouldn’t have risked it, but the window was far enough from the ground. Plus, the cameras were recording and Rachel was monitoring them. If anyone tried to get through that window or anything suspicious happened, Rachel would notify Kennedy. Besides, Caramel or Smileymightbark if they sensed an intruder.

Nervous, Kennedy tucked a mustard-yellow summer dress into her suitcase, then took it out. She often traveled for work, but this was the first time in a long time she’d packed to travel for personal reasons. Besides vacations with her uncle, Auntie, and Zoey as a child and her uncle during her teens, Kennedy didn’t even remember when she’d traveled for personal reasons. Whenever her parents had traveled to Europe or some Caribbean resorts, they’d always left her with a nanny.

Plus, the honeymoon trip required different kinds of outfits than professional outings, and she wanted to choose ones that appealed to Austin.

Just thinking of him quickened her pulse. A normal reaction for a newlywed. Only she wasn’t a normal newlywed who had the luxury of knowing her new husband adored her. But a marriage was a marriage, and she needed to make it work.

Caramel and newly-adopted Smiley stretched on the thick silver carpet close to the window. They’d tired themselves out playing first with each other, then with Kennedy’s clothes. Happily, the dogs got along as well as chocolate and caramel flavors, just as she’d expected.

She removed another dress from her walk-in closet, a shorter and flirtier one, and nestled it in the suitcase. Then she took it out. Caramel lifted a paw as if voting to put the dress in the suitcase again.

Of course, Kennedy could have someone else do this job for her. Her uncle’s household staff took care of bringing his things to a new location, and though they weren’t packed until after he left, somehow they had always arrived before he did. Same with her parents. But she couldn’t imagine someone touching her things. It felt... sort of ick.

“Well, the three of us got married in such a short span of time, and our husbands are brothers. What were the chances of that?” Marina folded both dresses back into the suitcase. “They are lovely. Wear them.”

“If I take everything you like, I won’t be able to close this suitcase.” Yet Kennedy left the dresses there and added a long white skirt.

“You will close it because I’ll sit on it if I need to.” Marina smirked. “But you wouldn’t be able to take everything I like because Kai wouldn’t fit there.”

Kennedy rolled her eyes as she picked up silver-toned open-toed sandals. Marina had started joking way more after she’d married Kai. Must be picking it up from her husband. “Seriously?”

“Yup. Is it bad to wish Saylor could find a good man to marry, as well? And we all could be friends. Skylar said she’d love to resurrect the Hibiscus Sisterhood. Of course, she has much better memories about that friendship circle than I do.”

“No kidding.” Kennedy placed the brand-new sandals in the suitcase. “She didn’t have to practically raise her siblings like you did. Sorry, you had to go through that, by the way.”

Marina looked away. “Everyone had their difficulties. Including Skylar.” Then she hesitated. “But I’m getting closer to my siblings now—well, especially Saylor. Would you mind if I invite her on our group outings?”

“Saylor might be the one who minds.” Oops, Kennedy hadn’t intended to sound so dry.

Marina waved it off. “She’s super sociable. And a lot of fun to be around. She’s awesome, and I’m not just saying so because she’s my sister.”

Kennedy folded a silver-toned silk scarf, resisting the urge to ball it up and throw it in the suitcase. “Saylor and I, um, might have a conflict of interest. Haven’t you noticed how much your sister likes my husband?” She deliberately emphasized “yoursister” and “myhusband,” but she sounded too harsh. So she hurried to add, “Not that... not that I blame her.”

Marina was smart, but somehow, she’d missed that clue. “Oh. Oops. I didn’t notice that. But Saylor’s interests changed fast in high school, and that might be the case again. She was like a female Kai. Or Kai was a male Saylor. But I won’t push the issue.”

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