Page 29 of Groom Gamble
I cannot do this.
My first instinct was right. I want to help Mr Streatham, but I’d be crazy to tie myself forever to having children with a man who won’t love me. I head blindly away from the door, heading for the stairs to get out of this dress and run. Somewhere, anywhere.
“Miss Berry.”
I stop, instinctively obedient to Mr Streatham’s harsh voice.
“Where are you going?”
Excuses scroll through my mind. I forgot my phone? No. I need to water the flowers in this bouquet. I thought I might run away to Australia after all. I’m actually a werewolf and the full moon is rising. Lost your chance of a human bride by being late, bad luck. Shouldn’t have seen the dress.
“Nowhere.” But I don’t move.
“Darling,” he says more softly, from right behind me.
My heart thumps. The unfamiliar weight of the dress puts me off-balance as I turn to Dex. On the first step of the stairs, I’m only a bit shorter than my boss. He’s wearing a dark suit, and immediately I see a speck of blood. Fear surges in me.
“I’m sorry I’m late, darling. There was an Essex Cartel incident,” he says calmly.
I reach for his lapel, covering the mark.
Whatever delayed him, and it was only a moment, must have been important. Was I really going to run away? When he says he needs me?
He slowly places his hand over mine. I’m too shy to look at him, but it’s like my soul is reaching out, pushing through my skin, the silk, the air, his shirt, and trying to link to him. I think we’re closer than we’ve ever been before, with or without clothes on.
Maybe it’s the gravity of the situation. We’re going to be married.
“Sophia,” he breathes.
I try to let my hand fall away, but he moves with me, interlocking our fingers so they’re joined at our waists.
“Dex, are we doing the right thing?” I ask in a whisper, giving voice to the surface of my fears. This is a marriage of convenience for me to have babies and him to gain influence. Of course it’s the wrong thing for me, because I’ve already broken the unwritten rule: don’t fall in love.
“I am.” His voice is a smooth and confident bass. “Why are you concerned?”
“You’re a billionaire kingpin, and my boss, and I’m just… Me.” A girl who is so out of her depth she’s doing splashy doggy-paddle to stay afloat.
“Ahh. I understand.” He tightens his grip on my hand, and for a second, I think perhaps he really does. “I’ll never cheat onyou. I swear on my life and yours, and that of the baby I’m going to give you.”
It’s not that, although obviously his oath helps.
It’s that I’m in love with him, and he’ll never know.
“Now, are we getting married?”
“Yes.” Because scared as I am of being hurt, opportunities to marry your silver-fox crush only happen once in a lifetime. However painful anything that happens next might be, surely it’s better than not having him at all.
“Good.” Then he adds under his breath, “Because I wouldn’t have let you go.” But it’s so soft, as our gazes meet, I think I imagined it, because that hardness has dissipated from his titanium eyes.
Even so, my tummy is full of butterflies as Dex leaves me at the door to the house and stands waiting, a lone figure beneath the arch of flowers. Music swells as I walk towards him and he watches every step I take, gaze so intent and hungry I almost stumble.
The sun is low on the horizon, the sky stained pink-purple. He takes my hand again and something settles in my chest. This is where I’m supposed to be.
A pair of birds wheel high above us, and the air is fragrant with lavender and roses as we exchange our vows. To love and honour. To cherish. To love. I choke up a bit as I speak that word, and Dex squeezes my fingers reassuringly. It’s all elegant and low-key and intimate.
Okay, it’s gorgeously romantic.
Fine. Heartbreakingly romantic for a marriage of convenience, made all the more meaningful because Dex arranged it.