Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 96046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
That felt like a punch to the gut. Liv was living my former life.
“If there’s any chance of you pulling a runaway bride, I wanted you to know that if you wait too long, things are gonna be a lot more complicated,” Candace said. “I promise I’m not trying to stir up trouble. I just want to protect my friends. I still consider you one of them. To be clear, I’m not on anyone’s side here. I wouldn’t have dreamed of getting involved if I hadn’t seen that you liked and unliked the photo of them. That made me wonder if you haven’t fully gotten over him.”
I’d never get over him.
She sighed. “I’m not gonna interfere anymore, and I’m not gonna tell anyone we had this conversation. What you do with this information is totally up to you.”
“Thank you for reaching out to me, Candace,” I said after a long pause. “I appreciate it.”
“I hope I haven’t overstepped.”
“No. I respect you for sharing what you think is important for me to know.”
“I also hope I haven’t scared you off and that you’ll want to keep in touch. I swear, we don’t have to talk about Dorian next time.”
“It’s all good,” I said, though if I knew what was good for me, I wouldn’t initiate any additional communication with her, even if that made me sad. There was no real way to separate Candace from Dorian.
“Well, I’m sure you have things to do,” she said. “So I’ll let you go.”
“It was good talking to you, Candace.”
“You, too, Primrose. Truly.”
After we hung up, I sat in a daze, the weight of the conversation heavy on my shoulders. I’d hoped to come out of that phone call feeling better, but it had only made me feel worse. Dorian was getting serious with that woman. What if he was falling in love? And more than that, why was I so invested if I wanted him to be happy? Why did this feel so utterly devastating? Did I expect to move on and marry Casey while Dorian pined for me alone at the mansion in perpetuity? Of course not. That would be the most selfish thing imaginable. I’d made my decision. I’d ended things with Dorian. And I had to come to terms with it.
The door opened. I jumped and turned to find Casey entering.
I sprang to my feet. “What are you doing home?”
“I decided to take the rest of the day off.” He dropped his bag. “Surprise!”
“You never do that.” I flashed my best fake smile.
“I know. It just hit me today how much I miss out on because of work. I got ahead on my to-do list and told Jim I needed the afternoon off. I want to surprise Rosie at pickup.”
Running a shaky hand through my hair, I forced another smile. “She’s gonna love that.”
“Just her?” He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the cheek. “I was hoping you’d be happy, too.”
“Of course I am.” I stiffened. “What do you want to do after we pick her up?”
“I was thinking we could get sandwiches from the deli and take them to the park. After, we can hit the zoo. We don’t use those season passes nearly enough.”
“That sounds like an amazing plan.”
Casey kissed me again. Immediately, I noticed his erection.
He whispered in my ear, “You think we can get a quick one in before we have to pick her up? I’m so freaking horny.”
My first instinct was to lie. “I just got my period.”
“So?”
“I’m not comfortable.”
“Okay.” He pouted. “I understand.”
My heart sank. Lying to get out of having sex was a first for me. But I couldn’t bear to do that right now. It didn’t feel right when I’d spent the morning agonizing over Dorian. I added another notch to the long line of things I felt guilty about lately.
That afternoon, Casey, Rosie, and I had what by all appearances was a wholesome family outing. Inside my brain, though, was a tornado of inappropriate thoughts contaminating the entire experience. I felt like the worst mother and wife-to-be on Earth.
CHAPTER 28
* * *
Primrose
Lucy smiled from behind me in the mirror.
“It looks so much more beautiful now that it’s perfectly fitted to your body, doesn’t it?”
We were at my final dress fitting, and she was right. The dress was absolutely perfect and fit like a glove.
I should’ve been on top of the world. Yet for the last couple of weeks, since the phone call with Candace, instead of excitement over my wedding, I’d been preoccupied with the idea of losing Dorian forever. I was certain he and Liv were getting closer.
As the wedding date had grown closer, too, more than anything, I became more and more ashamed of my inner turmoil as it related to Casey. He had a right to know what was going on in my mind. I’d been so afraid to hurt him, yet wasn’t I hurting him anyway by keeping him in the dark? Somehow I’d justified it.