Page 95 of An Inconvenient Marriage
Way better, considering Javier hadn’t mentioned the pool incident even once. He hadn’t even joked about it. And I couldn’t have been happier.
I wasn’t stupid, I knew he’d probably heard and seen everything that’d happened in the pool earlier. Which was why I was so grateful I wouldn’t have to relive my embarrassment.
Instead, they’d rewarded me with tales of their childhood that had Zach scowling at his brother. Especially when I heard of Javier’s chocolate-stealing ways from the thief himself. And when he’d told us he’d done it on purpose because Zach always refused to share his chocolate, I couldn’t keep my laughter from bubbling out.
In fact, I’d laughed more in the past four hours than I ever had in one day. It felt amazing. Because I was happy. Genuinely, truly happy. And now, as Zach and I walked hand in hand through his beautiful garden, I knew he was a big part of the reason I couldn’t stop smiling.
It was as scary a thought as it was exhilarating.
This thing we had going had terms and conditions.
It had an expiration date.
Getting attached to him would only lead to heartache.
I had to remember that.
“You’re being awfully quiet over there?”
I squeezed his hand. “Just enjoying the moment. It’s the perfect end to a wonderful evening.”
“Hmm.” Zach’s gaze met mine in a sideways glance. “I’m happy you had a good time.”
“Oh, it was better than good.” I smiled wide, and my poor heart skipped a few beats when Zach returned it. “Hearing about grumpy Zach’s chocolate obsession was the highlight of my year. I’m curious, though.” I bumped his shoulder with mine. “Have you warmed up to the idea of sharing at all?”
He shook his head vehemently. “There are things a man never shares.”
“Such as?”
“His chocolate.” Dark eyes bored into mine. “And his woman.”
The way he’d saidhis womanhad chaos erupting throughout my entire body. My blood went from hot to icy, back to hot again. Those pesky butterflies that’d been stirring around inside my stomach took their acrobatics to a whole new level.
And my heart?
Aside from it beating a million times too fast, feelings I had no business feeling crept in and tried to make themselves at home.
Acknowledging even one of them would have been the same as jumping out of a plane… without a parachute.
I couldn’t do that when there was no one there to catch me.
That was exactly why I focused all my attention on the first part of his sentence. “So if I asked for a bite, you seriously wouldn’t give me one?”
Before he could answer, we reached an archway. It was covered in fairy lights that illuminated the white and pink roses happily wrapped around the curves of the wrought iron. It was beautiful and magical, and I hadn’t seen it on any of my walks before.
“Has this always been here?”
Zach scraped his free hand over the back of his neck. “The archway, yes. But the lights… I asked the gardeners to do this while we were at dinner.”
I didn’t have time to process his words when he pulled me into an alcove. I’d thought the archway was magical, but it was nothing compared to what I was looking at. There was a big blanket in the middle of the grass surrounded by a dozen battery-operated tealight candles.
My hands flew to my mouth. “Zach, what’s this?”
Instead of answering me, Zach walked to the blanket and stepped out of his shoes. Once he sat in the middle of it, he patted the space beside him. “Dessert. Sit.”
I stood there staring in absolute awe for a few more seconds before I could get my feet to move. Luckily, I’d already kicked off my heels when we’d first come outside because I didn’t think I’d still have the strength to remove them.
My knees were weak, and I desperately needed to sit down.
