Page 43 of The Physical Attraction Seminar
I tried convincing myself that I had locked away the memory of our kiss for the week, butit turns out I deceived myself. Despite my best efforts, that kiss remains etched in my mind, and I can't seem to shake it. I have a sinking feeling that it's only going to become more difficult to shake off as the week unfolds.
“Mr. Banks, are you asking me if I’d like to pretend to be your wife again?”
“You must have gotten amnesia again because you never stopped,” he corrects me. “And who said we were pretending? Did you forget the part where I said that we are happily married?”
“Wait, I thought you said we wereextremelyhappily married? There’s a difference.”
“Ahh, it looks like your memories are starting to come back.” He raises a brow playfully.
“Well, maybe if I had a ring, it would help them to come back quicker next time. Just a little something to reflect on for the future.” Barrett shakes his head at me, his hand hovering over the handle to open the door, but I stop him. “What if she sees right through us?”
“What if she doesn’t?”
I give him a quick nod, my heart pounding in my chest, and we step into the unknown.
“Welcome! Welcome in!” Standing from her desk, a curly-haired woman with vibrant red hair gives the two of us an overly chipper double-handed wave. “I’m Glenda Glover. Lovely to meet you. Please… go right ahead and make yourself at home.”
She’s wearing a baby blue puff sleeve dress that’s tight around the bust and forgiving in the skirt. If Ms. Frizzle were a Disney Princess, she would look just like this.
“We saw your sign outside. Congratulations on your novel. That’s a tremendous achievement. You should be very proud of yourself,” Barrett praises as we take our seats on the cocoa-brown tufted sofa.
As she takes a seat in the lone chair across from us, the woman's face lights up, and a bashful blush spreads across her cheeks. “Thank you. Thank you. It recently reached twenty copies in lifetime sales, and I’m over the moon about it.”
Barrett and I shoot each other skeptical looks from the corner of our eyes. Didn't her sign boast about being an international bestseller? How can you achieve international bestseller status with only twenty book sales?
“That’s… wow. That’s amazing,” I join in on the conversation. “We’ll have to buy a few copies before we leave.”
“You’re too kind.” She waves us off, then grabs a green ceramic teapot that’s sitting on the coffee table and holds it up. “Muira Puama tea? It’s great for increasing libido.”
“Oh… um… we’re fine for now. Thank you, though,” I decline for the both of us.
“More for me.” Glenda nonchalantly shrugs her shoulders and fills one of the tea cups on the table with a healthy pour. “Alright, let’s start with the easy stuff. How did the two of you meet?”
“You could say it was a bit of a happy accident?” The sentence tumbles out of my mouth as a question instead of a statement.
“One-night stand. Noted.” Glenda nods, her lips pursed tightlytogether.
Barrett and I exchange a puzzled glance, silently asking each other, “How did she know that?”
“It’s more common than you might think,” she adds. “That and dating apps seem to be all the rage these days. How long have the two of you been together?”
“Six years,” I begin to explain, but Barrett unexpectedly speaks at the same time, declaring, “Two years.”
I blink at him. Maybe we should have taken the time to align our stories before discussing them with others because we are clearly not on the same wavelength. I thought we were sticking to our fake marriage timeline, but he chose to go with the version we shared with Charlene and Buster yesterday when we met them.
“Six years together. Two married,” I clarify.
“Mmhmm,” Glenda hums suspiciously, her eyes narrowing in doubt. “Tell me about the wedding. Was it big? Was it small? Any delicious-looking groomsmen in tuxedos?” I can't help but feel a slight sense of horror as her tongue pokes out and she starts licking her lips. “Don’t spare any details. I want to get the full picture.”
“Well, it was a sunset ceremony in Santorini two summers ago,” I start.
“All of our close friends and family were there,” Barrett chimes in.
“Big reception afterward.”
“She wore white.”
Barrett looks down at me, his eyes twinkling mischievously, and I nudge him in the ribs with my elbow. He doesn’t even flinch. Instead, he shifts his weight, allowing him to wrap his arm around my shoulders anddraw me in. My heart flutters in my chest, and I silently pray that he can't feel my pulse racing.
