Page 21 of Husband to Go

“Hi Tanner,” flirts Leslie. “Veronica did such a great job with the shower. Try the chocolate fountain. I think it’s Belgian,” she says while batting her lashes.

But I ignore the older woman, and look around for Jane. There she is, standing with her niece. Wow, Kylie looks amazing because she’s all curves in a delicate floral dress with her brown curls hanging about her shoulders. Kylie hasn’t seen me yet, but all I want to do is watch her. She looks positively stunning.

But I can’t be caught staring because it would be so wrong. Fortunately, the familiar sound of silverware hitting glass rings through the room. Veronica has her glass held up, commanding everyone’s attention.

“Hi everyone! Thanks for coming.” She’s sporting a huge smile, clearly loving all the attention. “I think it’s time for presents. There’s a little area set up where we can all gather. Follow me!” The entire party goes with Veronica to the gift table. There’s an attendant already there, hired to hand presents to the bride-to-be. Another hired hand is standing by to place already opened gifts on a separate table and to get rid of any trash. It’s a nice assembly line to keep things moving, no doubt charged to my credit card.

Gift opening commences, but I have absolutely zero interest in what people got us. I should probably be standing at the front with my fiancée, but she hasn’t even asked for me. The spotlight is somewhere Veronica likes to sit, preferably alone so that she gets all the attention.

Her daughter, on the other hand, has positioned herself at the edge of the crowd. Kylie is huddled in a corner, standing rather stiffly. It’s not hard to see she’s uncomfortable. She looks out of place, but in a good way, like she hasn’t been tainted by all this posturing the pretentiously rich do.

However, her attempts to act normal are failing. Her gaze keeps travelling back to me, and it’s kind of cute. Her eyes slide to my frame, and then slide away just as quickly when I catch her looking at me. Those beautiful cheeks flush, and her breathing grows quick. It’s clear how much she’s drawn to me yet fighting the urge.

That would be fine and dandy if her act wasn’t so transparent.

I navigate around the crowd, reaching Kylie. There’s panic on her face, but she stands her ground.

“What do you want?” she asks in a low tone, trying to appear normal with a smile on her face.

“Look, you can’t act weird,” I casually inform her. It should be obvious, but Kylie seems to have no idea that she’s behaving awkwardly. “People will notice, and we can’t have anyone finding out what’s going on.”

“You think?” she practically hisses under her breath. Thankfully, everyone is too preoccupied with Veronica to pay us any mind.

“Kylie,” I say sternly.

“How do you want me to act?” she asks, breathing through her teeth while keeping her eyes on the presents. “This whole thing is messed up.Iknow that.Youknow that. And if anyone else found out about our little whatever, they’d make sure to tell us how fucked up we are. You’re sleeping with me while engaged to my mom for Pete’s sake! Do you think I wanted this? Any of this?”

She’s being much too loud. I shush her, but it just makes her angrier.

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

If we stay here, she’s just going to keep getting more upset and someonewillnotice. So I grab her arm and as discreetly as possible, pull her into a nearby bedroom.

Once we’re alone, Kylie yanks herself loose, those cheeks flushed.

“You have to stop doing that!”

“What?”

“Dragging me wherever you want to drag me. You can’t just throw me around like a rag doll.”

“Well, next time don’t go around yelling about what we’re doing together,” I say in a wry tone.

“Well then, maybe we should stop!” she whisper-yells, looking furious. “Which is what I was trying to tell you the other day, but then you had to – ” Her rant stops dead in its tracks. I can see her thinking and going red again.

Kylie takes a deep breath.

“Why are you even doing this?” she continues more calmly.

I consider her questions. I’m not even sure myself, to be honest. In my brain, I know this is a big risk because anyone could walk in on us.

And yet here I am, tempted to take her in my arms again. I can’t let Kylie know that I’m just as confused as her because showing weakness isn’t a move in my arsenal.

“Do you really want to stop?” I ask. Her eyes widen. She catches her bottom lip between her teeth, staring up at me with her beautiful brown eyes.

We pause for a moment as the sounds of the party creep in through the door. I’m sure Veronica isn’t even halfway through all her presents. After all, she invited a considerable amount of people, and she’s going to prolong her time in the limelight for as long as possible.

I see Kylie mentally pulling away, so I decide to change the conversation.