Page 120 of The Rancher's Wedding Deception

“Paul, you sly old man.”

“Andie, darling, we simply must have lunch. I’ll have my assistant call yours.”

She didn’t have an assistant.

She wasn’t sure she even had a lunch schedule.

But she smiled and nodded and let Paul guide her through the crowd, his hand warm and steady on the small of her back. The gown he’d chosen for her was a deep emerald silk that hugged her curves in ways that made her blush every time she caught him looking. Which was often. While its neckline wasreassuringly modest—nothing like what she wore during their honeymoon, for sure—the back of the gown, well...

It left little to the imagination, and it certainly had her gulping every so often, with how Paul would caress her bare skin here and there.

“S-Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“You know what I’m talking about.” Her tone was part reproachful, part pleading, but even as she spoke, she was also looking around the ballroom, hoping and praying that even though it was very unlikely—

“She’s not coming,koukla mou.”

Her gaze flew to him guiltily. “W-What—”

“You worry about your aunt,” her husband said dryly, “never mind if she would be the first person to throw a party if we were to have a divorce.”

Oops.

All she could do was smile weakly. “I just...I just feel guilty still. I know how much she’s looked forward to attending this party—”

“Then would you have rather I take your aunt as my date?”

“NO!”

So aghast she was at the idea that she only realized she had gasped the word out loud enough to draw curious glances from the other guests.

Oops.

But then she glanced up, and all Andie could do was make a face upon seeing the possessive satisfaction blazing from her husband’s gray eyes.

“As a reward for being so open about how much you adore me—”

A-Adore?

“I didn’t actually say—”

“You’ll be delighted to know—” But Paul went on speaking as if he hadn’t heard her at all. “—that I spoke to Joyce earlier. She and your mother have made up—”

Another gasp escaped her. She knew right awaythatwas the reason her mother had been acting so weird and suspicious when Andie had asked if she could fly to Texas to meet Paul.

“—AND WE’LL JOIN THEMfor dinner tomorrow night.”

Andie found herself clutching her husband’s arm, feeling like she was about to lose her balance any moment with all the truth bombs he had been dropping every few moments.

“This is so hard to take in...”

“You’ll soon realize that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to your aunt.She’s always been a survivor, and the only person she looks out for is herself. How do you think she managed to stay faithful to my mentor all these years? She knew he’d divorce her the moment she strayed.”

“But what about you?” she asked in a small voice. “What if she was really in love with you—”

“She was.”