Page 18 of Inconvenient Marriage
MIRANDA ON THE LINE
ANNALIESE
So… I think I’m getting married.
Opening the door to my car, shaky fingers struggling with the key fob, then the door handle… I finally get it open, tossing my purse onto the passenger seat before flinging myself into the driver’s side.
Three hours ago, I panicked. I know Eric well enough that his are no idle threats. If I don’t do what he says, he won’t just go after me. He’ll target my sister, and I can’t let that happen.
So what did I do? I hatched a plan. If I could find a husband, Eric would have to leave me the fuck alone. Preferably an Order member for that level of protection, but the moment I started to get dressed again to head out again, I admitted to myself that I wasn’t really picky. I just neededsomeone.
However, if I wanted to convince one of the Owed to take a chance on me, my best shot was at the King’s Court. An Order gentleman’s club, I had to flutter my lashes at the doorman to get in, then spent a half an hour sizing up the men. I was looking for those who seemed on the younger side—but obviously stilllegal—because the odds of them being new members without a formal wife were a lot higher than the middle-aged men.
I thought I had one. He said his name was Kyle, he was twenty, and he didn’t have the connections to Claim an Offering. He was still interested in getting to know me, though, and when I mentioned that I was looking to enter into a year-long marriage of convenience with an Owed, his only concern was whether or not he’d get to fuck me.
I was prepared for that. I doubted that I’d be so fortunate as to find a husband who didn’t want to have sex with his wife, and after Eric, then my stranger at the Last Prayer, I felt confident that, so long as he treated me well, I could stomach fuckinganyoneif that’s what he required of his wife.
So, yeah, I was prepared to go that far once our marriage was finalized and I told him so.
What I wasn’t prepared for?
Was my one-night stand walking up to me as though he owned the place.
One look. One gesture. He got rid of Kyle, sidling into his place, completely oblivious to the effect he has on me. I wanted to throw myself at him. Worse, I wanted to snag his hand, drag him to the nearest bathroom, and have a re-run of the night I haven’t been able to forget.
I knew who he was, and then he gave me his name, and I think he expected me toknow who he was.Sebastien Reynolds. It sounded familiar, and it took a second for me to remember that the big building downtown—the Order’s headquarters down the street from Eric’s law offices—is the Reynolds building. That means he must be super high up in the Order, and though I knew I shouldn’t bother, I asked him anyway.
I asked him to marry me.
I thought he’d laugh. I definitely thought he’d admit that, like Eric, he’s married and just wanted a little strange on theside. I… yeah, I didn’t think he’d jump to the conclusion that I was pregnant, though when I remember that we didn’t use any protection that night in the bar, it makes sense that he’d be concerned.
He doesn’t have to be. When I lived with Eric, he insisted on birth control. Not condoms, of course; he was too good for them. But I was on the pill since he—at his grand age of forty-six—wasn’t ready for kids. I’ve stopped since I left him, but I’m not an idiot. Even though it was only a day or two after I took my last pill when I went to the Last Prayer, I’m not the type of woman to take precaution. I took a morning after pill, plus had a panel done a month later to make sure that my stranger—and my former lover—didn’t pass anything else along to me.
I was all clear. Like I told him, I’d be the perfect wife. I can cook. Clean.Fuck. I’m a pro at organizing, and if he wants me out of his sight, I can disappear, too. I just figured that he already had one.
He doesn’t. At least, he told me that he didn’t. I want to believe him… but I believed Eric once upon a time, too.
Which is why, despite the way he smiled at me, asking me to come home with him, I had to refuse. There’s so much I have to do, and as I start my car, heading out of the Court’s parking lot, I start by texting my sister one-handed.
Hey. Do you know a Sebastien Reynolds?
It’s late, Miranda has school in the morning, but she’s a teen. That phone is glued to her hand 24/7, and I’m not surprised when she answers me right away.
sounds familiar… Order?
Yes.
cool
I can ask around, get back to you later?
That would be awesome. Thanks!
np
I toss my phone back to the passenger seat.
Sebastien Reynolds.Sebastien.
