“Let’s go over here.” Dirk touches my elbow and leads me to a small alcove to the right of the elevator bank.
I face him and wait. I have no idea what this is about, but it seems ominous.
“How are you feeling, Noli?”
“I’m good. Fine. Happy.” I absently touch the side of my face where I can still feel the imprint of Collin’s kiss. I want that imprint everywhere.
Dirk grunts. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
I stay quiet, waiting for him to explain.
He lets out an overdone sigh. “I don’t want to see you get hurt, and I’m afraid this whole arrangement is going to end in a crash and burn.”
“I—what?”
“Can I shoot straight with you?”
“Please, by all means.” I cross my arms, shielding myself from the bad news I’m afraid is coming.
“You seem great. You’re doing Collin a major solid by agreeing to this.” He pauses. “But you look smitten with my son, and it’s never good when feelings aren’t reciprocated.”
I blink. What is he saying?
“Collin informed me that you both entered into this knowing the terms of the arrangement,” he continues. “A no-strings-attached marriage that would last as long as it was beneficial to his campaign for sheriff.”
I nod slowly. “That’s what we agreed to, yes.”
“But you seem to have fallen for him.” He arches one of his bushy eyebrows, his weathered skin pulling up ever so slightly with it.
I don’t want to break eye contact with him, but I do. My non-answer is answer enough.
“That’s what I thought,” he tsks. “Listen, Noli. I know Collin thinks highly of you. I do too. Any 911 dispatcher has all my respect, so that’s why I’m telling you this now. My son is a charming young man. Don’t make the mistake of getting caught up in him. You’ll wind up with your heart broken. You don’t have time for that, and he doesn’t either. He told me so.”
I find my voice. “Told you what, exactly?”
“That you’re nothing more than a means to an end.”
I suck in a breath. Has Collin really been stringing me along this whole time? Has he been acting? Getting me to buy in to make all of this more believable? To serve his purposes.
A means to anend.
I want to disagree with Dirk. To tell him I know his son, and I trust what he’s told me over the past few months. But the seed of doubt has been planted. My feelings of unworthiness rise up from the ground like weeds, threatening to choke me out.
Dirk’s eyes take on an empathetic glow as my own fill with tears. I don’t want to believe Collin’s dad, but he’s giving voice to all my deepest insecurities.
“I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t have felt right not saying something, especially after seeing you two just now. I’ve warned my son time and again not to toy with a woman’s heart, but here we are.” Dirk shakes his head. “I’d understand if you don’t want to go through with the wedding. But if you do go through with it, just go in with your eyes wide open, okay?”
I press my lips together and nod once. “Is that all?”
I hate the pity on his face as he nods.
“Right.”
He waves his hand, motioning for me to go before him.
“By the way, who is Collin talking to?” he asks as I step forward.
“Ashlyn,” I say, my voice devoid of any emotion. “She’s a reporter who’s very interested in our wedding.”
