Page 28 of Her Inconvenient Wedding Date

That’s about as likely as me waking up with perfect vision tomorrow.

Speaking of sleep, my body suddenly feels the adrenaline rush of the day wear off. My eyelids flutter as I fight the urge to let them fall, but they ultimately win. I can feel my limbs turning into wet noodles as I drift off into la-la land. At least in my dreams, I can imagine what a real relationship with Lily could be like.

I have no idea how long I’m out, but when I wake up, the sky is fully dark. An owl hoots in the distance as the rest of the neighborhood remains quiet. I wonder if Lily fell asleep as well, but a softslurp slurpto my left confirms that she’s still working on her tea.

I stretch my arms, causing the swing to sway. “How’s the story?”

“Hey!” she exclaims. “Did I wake you with my slurping? Sorry, those last few bobas are always so hard to suck up.”

“No, you’re good. I woke up on my own.” I start in on my own tea and sandwich, suddenly feeling as ravenous as my name. “It looks like you’re enjoying the book.”

“It’s so good! I can’t believe I almost gave up on reading romance. It’s the best genre there is.”

“Why would you have done that?”

“Because romance books are completely unrealistic. But the upside is that they’re at least more predictable than real life.”

“That is especially true coming from a woman who went todinner with Mr. PowerPoint, then married her coworker, all in the span of a week.”

“Don’t remind me.” She smirks. “Apparently, I’m the poster girl for the saying,truth is stranger than fiction.”

“Be proud of it. You probably have the most interesting life of anyone you know right now. Far more interesting than the guys at work. Speaking of work, do you mind going into the office early tomorrow? I have an eight-thirty meeting.”

“Are you suggesting that we go together?”

“Unless you want to sleep in. I just figured we could save time if we carpool.”

“That does make sense. But let’s not go into the building at the same time, okay? You can go in first, then I’ll wait a few minutes before I go in.”

I chuckle at her mysterious tone. “If you’re trying to keep our marriage exciting, I suppose that’s one way to do it.”

She laughs and gives me an eyeroll. “It’s to keep our new relationship status under wraps. You know how fast gossip travels in the office. It’ll be less complicated this way, especially when we part ways in a few months.”

“You’re probably right,” I reluctantly agree, even though the dream I’d just woken up from had been about me sending out a company-wide email to announce our union. I’d also been wearing a red cape and blue tights, which I’d never be able to pull off in real life, so I guess it works out that this scene was for my eyes only.

My eyes…

I suddenly realize how dry they feel. No matter how much I blink, I can’t get enough moisture in them. Even a few rounds of ocular aerobics—looking up, down, and all around—don’t give me any relief. I swallow hard as my worst fear manifests before my poor, parched eyes—my contact lenses are stuck to myeyeballs.

“Uh, Lil, I think we have a problem.”

“What is it?” She sets her book down to look at me. “Did they forget to add boba to your drink? I hate when that happens, and you don’t realize it until you get home.”

“No, it’s not the boba. It’s my eyes. They’re so dry, I’m pretty sure my contacts are dried up.”

“Oh, that’s no problem. I know exactly what to do.” She rises to her feet and calls over her shoulder as she enters the house, “Hang on, I’ll be right back.”

I breathe a little easier knowing that Lily has a solution. Of course, she does; she’s my helpmate, after all, at least for the time being. I have full confidence in her brilliant brain. She has the best logic and reasoning skills out of anyone I know. There’s no doubt she’ll get me out of this pickle once she returns…

Oh. My. Goodness.

The moment she steps back into the yard, a chill falls down my back. She has a bottle of contact solution in one hand and a clear container of Q-tips in the other.

Q-tips?!

Is Lily planning to get near my eyes with those pointy things?

CHAPTER 15

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