Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Shit.
I rubbed my hand over my mouth, looking away, and sighed. “What do you want?”
She laughed lightly, dropping her innocent charade. “I want my own room. I want to keep my job.”
“Is that it?”
“No, I’m just trying to be understanding and let you process each of my requests.”
She was really sticking to the request thing, huh?
I propped my elbow on the back of the sofa, rested my head on my fist, and waved my hand for her to continue.
“Even if this isn’t a real marriage, it goes without saying that neither of us can see other people.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “What do you take me for?”
“I was just saying,” she said hurriedly. “I’m not saying anything. Just… You know, it’s going to be awkward enough as it is pretending that we’re in love without us risking being caught with anyone else.”
“Mhmm.”
“That said, if either of us meet someone we truly love, we should end our little ruse.”
I blinked at her. “Bold of you to assume my wife would fall in love with anyone other than me.”
“Bold of you to assume I’d ever fall in love with you,” she retorted. “If I was going to do such a thing, I’d like to think that would have happened by now.”
“Never say never. I am terribly charming,” I said, grinning. “I agree to your requests, as long as you understand there may be times separate rooms aren’t possible. Since we’ll be married, you’ll need to be my plus one for any events I have to attend, and if we have to travel, we’ll have to share a room.”
She sighed, but that didn’t stop her nodding. “It’s not like I’ve never been your plus one or shared a bed with you before.”
While both of those things were true, this was going to be very different. “Attending as husband and wife is different than attending these things as friends. If it’s a dinner party, we won’t be seated together, and you’ll be treated more harshly as my wife than you would be as my friend.” I paused. “And there’s only so much my—our—friends would be able to do to help you.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know how stuffy and stuck up your circles are.” Deli blew out a long breath. “I know all my upper-class manners from when your mum taught me and Amelia together, so I’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m a stranger to your world, is it?”
I tilted my head to the side. She was technically correct. When we were kids, my sister had kicked up a huge fuss when Mum had tried to put her through etiquette lessons, and she’d only consented to them when Deli and Lucy had joined, too.
Deli also shared my friend circle given how close the two of us were, and if I had no partner, she’d attended many events and functions as my plus-one, so she also knew how they went.
Maybe marrying her wasn’t the worst idea in the world.
Jesus, no. What a train of thought to take a ride on.
“Yes, I suppose,” I said after a moment. “You’ll also have to move in here.”
“Didn’t you say about one of the rental apartments?”
“Mm, but Granny was right—the staff may notice something is off. You’ll have to live here in the main house… with me.”
She wrinkled up her nose. “I want my own room.”
“That we can do. I’ll have the room next to mine made up for you.”
“How are you going to explain that to the staff?”
I grinned. “You work late some nights at the pub, so you wanted a second bedroom for you to sleep in so you don’t disturb me when you come in at two a.m.”
“I don’t know how to feel when you say something so smart,” Deli mused. “It’s a bit unnerving.”
I shook my head. This girl… “And the other nights, you’ll access your room from inside. There’s a door in there I keep locked that leads to the other bedroom.”
“Huh. Is that where it goes?”
“No, it actually leads outside, and I thought it would be amusing to watch you plummet into the rose bushes at half-three in the morning.”
Deli sighed. “There’s always a catch.”
“Yes, the thorny bushes would catch you.”
She kicked out her leg and rammed her heel into the side of my thigh, making me wince.
“This is bullying. I’m telling Nana.”
“Shut up.” She kicked me again, but her touch was lighter this time.
I grabbed her lower leg and pinned her foot to my lap. “Any other requests?”
“Yes, actually. If you ever call me ‘my love’ again, I will reach inside your pants and twist off your balls. I’ll shove your left one down your throat and your right one so far up your arse that they’ll meet somewhere inside your stomach.”
“Hmm.” I tilted my head to the side, slowly rubbing a circle around her ankle with my thumb. “I’ll hold you to that. I think I’d like to see you try.”