“That was due to special circumstances.”
“Oh?” He propped his elbows on the granite countertop of the island. “And what were those special circumstances? Were you jealous, Sunday School?”
I glared at him.
He chuckled. “I think it’s cute. Actually, scratch that. It was fucking hot when you introduced yourself as my wife, and I wish I hadn’t been so stuck in my head and could have truly enjoyed it.”
“If you still want to stay married to me by the end of our deal, I’ll look into changing my name.”
The amusement faded from Hayden’s face. “I thought we’d already established that I have no interest in letting you go at the end of our deal.”
Something warmed in my chest at his words, but I couldn’t really accept his declaration until he knew everything. He might think he wanted me now, but would he still feel the same way when he learned the truth?
“Baby,” he said, coming around the island to wrap his arms around me. “What’s going on?”
I shook my head. “I’m just… Everything feels so perfect, and I can’t help feeling like it’s all going to fall apart.”
“Hey, I’m supposed to be the pessimistic one in this relationship.”
“There’s no rule that says you get a monopoly on that,” I said with a weak smile.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise.” His lips found my forehead, and I let him hold me, wishing I could believe him. Wishing I could live in this moment forever.
Shortly after Hayden left for work, Miles showed up at the front door with a bottle of wine and a grin.
“Hello, stranger who has been avoiding my calls since the last gala.”
“I haven’t been avoiding you. I’ve just been busy.”
“Right. According to my brother, you’re taking someclass that’s sucking the life out of you.” He placed the bottle of wine into my hands and moved into Hayden’s kitchen to get glasses. “I’m hurt, Dani. Are we really to a point where I’m hearing about your life through my brother?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been turning my phone off so I can focus. You could text me, you know.”
“But you don’t like texting.”
“I’ve gotten used to it lately.” Hayden’s constant texting had trained me to assume the best when my phone chimed. I no longer dreaded seeing a message from Z every time I got a text.
Miles lifted his brows at me. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He took the wine bottle back from me and poured us each a glass. “Now, are you going to tell me what happened at the gala?”
“What do you mean?” I asked innocently.
“You asked me to dance right in front of my brother. That’s about as close as you have ever gotten to being spiteful. What did he do?”
“He didn’t do anything exactly.” I took my wineglass from Miles, and we moved to my beanbag chairs in the living room. “We ran into Jacqueline.”
“Ah.”
“She sort of implied that her kid could have been Hayden’s. He didn’t exactly rush to explain the situation, and I guess I was hurt.”
“Well, you know I’m always down for helping you put my brother in his place. He’s been hurt before, and I hate that, but that doesn’t give him the right to hurt you.”
“It’s okay. I get it. I’m actually glad we ran into her. The whole thing was good for us.”
Miles grinned. “It’s about time he started healing.” He took a sip of his wine. “Now, enough about my brother. What are we doing today?Bridgertonmarathon?”
“Would you mind trying something new? There’s another show I saw that sounded good.”
“But if it’s new, we might miss something when we talk through the whole thing.”
