Page 36 of Her Inconvenient Wedding Date

I try to get up as well, but my whole right leg and foot are numb. Oh, the joys of being tall. The sensation of pins and needles attacks me, spreading throughout my limb. I brace myself against the table and wiggle my toes inside my sneaker to get the blood flowing. Once I regain some feeling in my little piggies, I start rotating my ankle. Next, it comes time to stomp my foot, then swing my leg back and forth. This happens so often, I’ve gotten a routine down, or half a routine since it only involves one leg. Someday, I’ll add in some jazz hands and spins and choreograph a whole dance. For now, though, my goal is to get moving so I can find Lily.

“Hunter? What are you doing?”

Glancing up, I see my gorgeous wife standing in the doorway with a bewildered look on her face. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s third-guessing her decision to marry me right about now. “Uh, my leg fell asleep. I’ll be fine in a few minutes.”

She rushes over, then kneels beside me. “Have a seat. I’ll try not to hurt you.”

“H-hurt me?” I do as I’m told, albeit slowly. I give her a helpless smile as I take a seat. “What do you have in mind?”

“Don’t worry. Just relax. You’ll be fine.”

I swallow hard. “That sounds exactly like something dentists say before they bring out the drill.”

Her dark brown eyes light up as she smirks. “Do you trust me?”

“I think so.”

“Good.”

With both of her hands, she starts massaging my leg. Her fingers and thumbs work in circular motions, applying just the right amount of pressure to knead my muscles. Soon, tingles travel up and down my calf as the feeling comes back. The relief is so tangible, I release a happy sigh. “You’re amazing, Lil! How are you so good at this?”

“I do this for my Ye Ye,” she says, referring to her paternal grandfather, “whenever he comes to visit. His legs fall asleep every time he sits too long. It’s common for people like you.”

“People like me? You mean old?”

She laughs. “No, I mean tall. He’s almost your height.”

“Oh, okay, that makes sense.” I pull out the chair beside me and gesture for her to sit down. “Thank you for coming to my rescue yet again. First, the contact lenses and now my leg. I’m like a system badly in need of a hardware update.”

“I don’t mind,” she replies with a kind smile. “I happen to like your hardware.”

I blink in surprise at how forward Lily’s being. “You like my hardware?”

“I was going along with the metaphor you started.” Her cheeks turn rosy pink as she bites her lower lip. “Yes, you have great hardware, but I personally think your software’s more important. You know, like what’s in your heart. You keep surprising me, Hunter—or should I call you @GeekyGirlsRule?”

“Huh? What are you talkingabout?”

“I know it’s you behind that username.”

“You do? How?”

“Just now when we were messaging each other, you called me Lil. No one besides you calls me that. I was also thinking back to all the times we’d chatted online, and everything made sense. You followed my account about a year ago, which was around the time you started working here. You never ask for makeup or fashion advice. You usually give me compliments and encourage me or you say you’re praying for me. You’re not like any of my other viewers. That’s how I know it’s you.”

I hold up my hands in surrender. “Well done, Sherlock. If you decide to quit engineering one day, you could become a detective.”

“Only if you’ll be my Watson.”

“Deal.”

A wistful smile curves her lips. “There’s something I want to elaborate on about what I said earlier in my messages to you. About me being your wife.”

“Go on.”

“I should have told you this before. The real reason why I was trying to give you a way out of our marriage of convenience was because I didn’t think I deserve you.”

“Why would you think that? That’s so far from the truth.”

“Probably because my mom keeps saying you’re better than me. Not that I usually let what she says dictate how I feel, but sometimes her comments have a way of sneaking under my skin. It’s hard to compete with you, Hunter. You’re smarter than me and more talented, too. You’re almost even more Chinese than me, which is not something I thought was possible.” She rolls her eyes playfully. “I love all these things about you though, and I feel so blessed that you think enough of me to want to be with me. I do want to staymarried to you. I’m not going to push you away anymore, I promise.”

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