Page 77 of The Fiancée Farce
Lucky didn’t begin to cover it.
“Are yousureI can’t convince you to play hooky?” She rested her chin on her hand and gave Tansy her most salacious smile. “We could go upstairs and I could start making good on that promise.”
“Youare a terrible influence.” Tansy stared at Gemma’s mouth, transfixed.
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“I’d love to, but I can’t. Ireallycan’t. Book launch, remember?” Tansy smiled ruefully. “But you could come back?”
“Or I could stay.” She was already taking off her coat. It was only a few hours until closing, after all. “Help you with, I don’t know... crowd management? Pouring beverages? Uncapping Sharpies?” Whatever she needed. “If that’s okay? And if you’re free after, maybe we could grab a bite to eat? Order in, if you’d rather.”
“If you’re sure, then, yeah.” Tansy grinned. “I’d really like that.”
Gemma tugged her fingers free from her glove and smiled. “Put me to work, boss.”
***
“You want to know what I miss most about living in New York?Reallygood Indian food.” Gemma took a bite of her prawn pineapple curry. “Don’t get me wrong, Seattle’s got the best thai food I’ve had, phenomenal East Asian cuisine, but if you’re looking for great Indian food you’ve got to go over to the Eastside, and none of those places deliver over here.”
The sound Gemma made was so full of longing that it sent a straight shot of heat to the place beneath Tansy’s belly button. “I’m serious, Tansy. There’s this place in the East Village, Baar Baar. God, just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Best Indian food I’ve ever had.”
They were sitting on the floor of Tansy’s apartment, takeout from Jai Thai in Capitol Hill spread out across Tansy’s coffee table, their reward for a long evening. An evening that would’ve been much longer had Tansy been at it alone. Longer and lonelier.
Tansy dug her chopsticks into her tofu pad thai and resolutely ignored Mills’s and Boon’s begging. The smell of takeout had drawn them both out from her bedroom and into the living room, where they were perched on the couch, staring at the table full of food with undisguised longing. Rascals had full bowls of cat food in the kitchen, butno, they wanted Thai.
“I’ve always wanted to go to New York,” she said, shaking her finger at Boon when he stretched out, batting at the end of her chopstick.
Gemma nearly dropped her fork. “You’re kidding. You’ve never been?”
Tansy shook her head. “My mom had always talked about taking me when I turned sixteen, how we’d make a whole girls’ trip out of it. Just the two of us. Broadway shows and fancy dinners and tea at Tavern on the Green.”
Of course, Tavern on the Green had briefly closed—not that it mattered. They’d never gone; never had the chance.
Gemma didn’t express any of the platitudes everyone else did when Tansy mentioned her parents. Instead, she squeezed Tansy’s knee, and somehow that was so much better. “I’ll have to take you sometime.”
“Seriously?”
That was quite the distance to go for a date.
“Sure.” Gemma smiled and shrugged. “We’ve got to go on a honeymoon, don’t we?”
A honeymoon.Right.As if this wasn’t all confusing enough. Notbadconfusing, but... talk about a roller coaster of a day. A roller coaster of a month.
She’d gone to the Mayflower today hoping for two things: make a good impression on the interviewer—verdict was out on that front, but Tansy just hadn’t been able to stand the not-so-subtle jibes directed at her fiancée—and get answers from Gemma.
It hadn’t been her intention to pump the brakes, to cool the heat between them—at least how they chose to act on it—but by the time the interview wrapped, it had seemed like the smart thing to do.
Stupid, fragile heart of hers just didn’t understand the concept ofno strings.
She’d left the Mayflower, feet dragging slightly but with her head held high. Disappointed but proud of herself for standing her ground. She’d thought she knew where their relationshipstood—business partners with a side of friends but absolutely no hanky-panky that would confuse her heart.
Then Gemma had shown up at the store and turned Tansy’s world upside down.
Gemma liked her. Enough to toss herno stringsstance right out the window.
They were dating now. And engaged, about to be married in less than two months’ time. Obviously, the marriage was still convenient, but was it still a marriageofconvenience?
Gemma was right—only they defined their relationship. It didn’t bother Tansy that it was unconventional, but what would happen if Gemma broke up with her? What would happen if she didn’t? Were they sticking to the original agreement of divorcing after two years, or...
