Page 40 of Walkoff Wedding

“This is such a mess,” she whispers defeatedly. “I’m so sorry for dragging you into this. This is exactly what I was worried about, the mess of my life bleeding out onto you.”

“Don’t apologize. I’m the one who’s sorry that you had to deal with that. I should’ve just broken his nose,” I mutter.

“You can’t do that. You could break your hand, and those hands are going to be worth lots of money one day.”

The corner of my lip tugs into a grin, and I nod. “That’s true, but I’m pretty sure it would’ve been worth it.”

“I… I just—god, he’s such a jerk,” she blurts out angrily. “I’m just so mad and so hurt that he’s done all of this… simply for money? So he can sell the bakery and make a buck off of everything my mom worked for? Grant, he manipulated and exploited me my entire life. I’m not sure anything he’s ever said to me was the truth. I’ve spent years suffering by his hand of calculated cruelty. I’ve had to deal with his lazy, entitled son while I carried the weight of everything around me, and they never cared. They never cared about me; they never loved me like a parent should. I did all of this for my mom because I can’t imagine a world where I don’t have a piece of her with me. I… Thi—I’m more angry than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”

Her words fly out in a rush of frustration, and I just nod, giving her the space to unload and get it off her chest. This is the closest I’ve ever seen Addie to pissed, and I’m not going to lie, I’m happy as fuck she’s letting all of it out.

I can’t imagine what she’s really feeling right now, and I want her to direct that anger toward the asshole who deserves it.

“He can’t do this. I… I won’t let him do this.”

“No you won’t, ArtGirl,” I respond.

“I won’t.”

I love the conviction in her tone. I’m proud as fuck hearing it and seeing her lift her chin higher, squaring her shoulders as if the more she says it, the harder she feels it, the more she’ll convince herself.

My lip twitches. “Nope.”

“I know I keep saying it, but I’m so sorry, Grant. About all of this. This isn’t what you… agreed to. And now we’re married, and all of this drama with Brent, it makes it all even worse.” She pauses before pulling her lip between her teeth anxiously. “The only way to secure the bakery is to prove that our marriage is legitimate, or this will have all been for nothing. He’s going to do whatever he can to try and disprove our marriage. He threatened us, Grant.”

I nod. “I know. Take a breath for me. It’s going to be okay. I’m here.”

She follows my directions and inhales shakily while nodding and continuing the motion, in and out.

“I can’t believe… that I’m even going to ask you to do this for me after you’ve already done so much. Would you be willing to pretend that we’re really married? Because that’s the only solution, right? To convince everyone, publicly, that our marriage is legitimate and give Brent no ammunition or cause to contest the will? I know that’s not what you signed up for, and I’m so sorry.”

My shoulder dips slightly. “Okay, so we’re going to have to show everyone that it’s real. So what? We can handle that. We just need a plan.”

Addie doesn’t look any less worried, her blue eyes flicking back and forth between my eyes nervously, so I keep going, trying to reassure her that it’s going to be okay. I mean, fuck, we just got married—if the only thing we have to do is pretend that it’s real in public in order to prevent Brent from taking the bakery, then we do it.

“He’s not ever going to prove that our marriage isn’t real, ArtGirl. Because we’re going to show him that it is. If he’s looking for a way to prevent you from getting your inheritance, then we’re going to have to convince everyone that this is legit for it to work. We don’t give him a single opportunity to disprove anything. What better way to convince everyone than to be the sappiest, head over heels, crazy about each other couple they’ve ever seen?”

I can’t imagine I’m going to have to try very hard to act like Addie’s my wife. To pretend that we’re a real couple.

When she nods hesitantly, I step closer and lift my hand to cradle her jaw, leaning in until my lips are a centimeter from hers. So close I can feel the warm fan of her breath as it hitches, ghosting along my mouth. Her eyes widen, and my lip tilts in a smirk.

“But… I think in order to do that, we’re going to have to practice being a couple in private first so you’re comfortable in public. There can be no room for doubt, so we practice until you’re comfortable with PDA. With me touching you. Holding your hand, putting my arm around your shoulders when we’re around other people.” My fingers trace her jaw lightly as I continue. “Your cheeks turn this fucking adorable shade of pink when I give you a compliment. And as cute as it is, it’s clear you’re nervous anytime I touch you. The only way we’re going to pull this off is if we practice until we seem natural as a real couple.”

Her throat works as she swallows and peers up at me with those wide, endless blue eyes that flicker with curiosity. “Are you… Are you going to be okay with that? Doing that in public? With me?”

I chuckle when she scrunches her nose and pulls back slightly. “Yeah, it’s not a problem for me. Are you going to be okay with this?”

“Um… yes? I mean, I think that I probably won’t be very good at it,” she murmurs timidly as she drops her gaze to the floor and fingers the ends of her hair. “It’s not like I have very much, um, to go on.”

My brow pinches. “Holding hands? Kissing?”

I’ve picked up on the fact that she’s nervous around me and really shy, but this is not a conversation we’ve had. Her experience with things.

“Today was my… first kiss.”

Holy fuck. My heart drops to my ass, and my throat runs dry.

I was her first kiss?

---