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BILLIONAIRE STUD FARM owner Sean Northwood gave the redhead next to him an incredulous glance. Do you see what I'm seeing?

Isla stepped on her husband's foot under the table and smiled sweetly at his wince. Don't. Jinx. It.

Seated across them, another couple was having almost the exact same silent conversation, with billionaire rancher Devon Montgomery similarly struggling to contain his disbelief.

Although he and the others had been friends since childhood, not once had any of them seen Nicholas Sutherland acting so blatantly protective towards any woman.

Not even Carly , Devon thought, and that girl had been Nick's baby mama.

Harry's eyes widened in alarm when she saw her husband start smirking, and she quickly forestalled him with a pleading shake of her head. Don't ruin it. Please?

Devon grimaced. Damn. He had just been about to make fun of Nicholas, but having Harriet look at him that way left him no choice but to play nice.

Lucky son of a bitch. With their wives' presence ensuring they were on their best behavior, there was only one person left on the table who still had a chance of giving Nicholas hell.

"What was that again about the secret Daniel shared with you?" Logan Hardwall smiled charmingly at Nicholas' wife. "Two words, right? Every time he's trying to avoid PDA, he'd say—-"

"I see." Bee could barely suppress her smile at the way Nicholas rolled his eyes.

There was a moment of silence, with Nicholas' friends exchanging a seemingly significant look. Another second passed, and then the three other men said simultaneously, "I see."

Even though it didn't make a whit of sense, Bee couldn't help bursting into the laughter and so did the two other women.

Nicholas gazed darkly at his friends. "Fuck all of you."

And now, the other men were chuckling, too.

Ah, fuck it. Nicholas gave up trying to keep a straight face, and a slight smile eventually tugged at the corner of his lips.

He could live with everyone having fun at his expense.

Better him than her , he thought, and his gaze flicked towards Tabitha.

She was smiling and talking animatedly to his friends' wives, the loose set of her shoulders telling him that she was relaxed and having fun.

Thank God for his friends, Nicholas thought.

The moment he had introduced her to his friends as his wife, everyone had simply taken it by stride, with the men teasing Tabitha for choosing a ruthless bastard like him while Isla and Harriet readily offered their felicitations and chatted with her nonstop until Tabitha's tension had visibly eased.

Having forgotten today's brunch turned out to be a good thing, after all , Nicholas thought idly.

He would've canceled it if he had remembered, but with this, he was at least able to fulfill another condition in their marriage contract.

Since it had specifically requested Nicholas to introduce Tabitha as his wife to any long-term resident of Evergreen, he couldn't think of anyone better than the people in this room, each of whom he would trust his life with.

When his friends finally left, Nicholas turned to Tabitha, thinking to ask how she was but she beat him to speaking. An uncertain look on her face, she asked haltingly, "Do they know about...how we met?"

Nicholas took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips. "You have nothing to worry about," he said softly. "Sean and Devon are just like us."

Her eyes widened. "Do you mean..."

He nodded.

"You're not kidding?" she asked faintly.

"God's honest truth, ma'am."

Bee had never heard him speak with such a distinctly Texan drawl, and it startled a laugh out of her.

"There it is." He gently traced her lips. "Smiles suit you more than frowns, sweetheart."

She just about turned into jelly at the words, and it seemed as if Nicholas also sensed her inner melting, with the way he was suddenly smirking.

"Too much?" His tone was the very definition of devilish.

Bee tried to play it cool for once. "I have no idea—- Nicholas, no! "

But the deed was already done. She was now seated on his lap, and with the kitchen having only an open doorway, there was every chance Nicholas' boss could walk in on any them, and oh my God , but what if this would have her husband suspended or, even worse, fired?

Nicholas frowned at the sudden look of distress on Tabitha's face. "What's wrong?"

"I just don't think this is appropriate," she said uneasily. "I mean what if your employer—-" She stopped speaking when she saw Nicholas' gaze narrow.

"You know..." His voice was thoughtful. "I have a feeling we've got our wires crossed somehow."

Fearing that he might think her too interfering or presumptuous, she said tentatively, "I really, um, like..." She tried to say the words 'sitting on your lap' but couldn't. "I really, um, enjoy this ," Bee said instead. "I'm just worried that your employer might think you've been skiving off—-"

"Can I ask you a question?" Nicholas interrupted. "What exactly has Daniel told you about my job?"

"You manage a ranch." She paused. "Don't you?"

"And that's it?"

Bee was starting to feel confused. "Was there anything else he should've added?"

"Nothing much..." It was his turn to pause. "Except the fact that I own the ranch as well?"

Bee burst into laughter. "Yeah, right—-"

Nicholas smiled but said nothing.

She stopped laughing. "You're joking."

Nicholas only looked at her.

"You have to be joking."

He said very gently, "I'm not."

"But..." Her heart had started racing, and she was suddenly having difficulties breathing.

"It can't..." Her eyes flew to him in horror.

"I can't do this." She was just ordinary Tabitha Sandler, a nobody who was fine being nobody.

And he was now telling her she had married a man whose ranch was the same size as Rhode Island?

"I can't, I'm sorry, I—-"

"Tabitha."

"I don't want to disappoint you. I don't want to ever make a mistake—-"

"Tabitha." Nicholas' firm voice cut her protestations short. "Look at me."

Panicky brown eyes lifted to his.

"Do I look like a man who doesn't know what he's doing?"

She slowly shook her head.

"Do you think I would have married you," Nicholas lied without hesitation, "if I thought you wouldn't be able to handle being my wife and everything the position entails?"

After one long moment, she shook her head again.

"Then trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about." Because it was true.

"You're the woman Daniel and I chose." She had nothing to worry about.

Bee hastily blinked back tears. "You have such a way with words."

Since it wasn't her who had been tricked into a marriage by his own son.

"Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for choosing me. Just... thank you ."

It wasn't her who had then ended up uttering a thousand lies just to keep the decepti on.

Nicholas' lips brushed over hers, and he whispered, "No, sweetheart. Thank you ."

And it wasn't her , Nicholas thought moodily, who now had no fucking idea about what he really wanted to happen.