Page 3 of The Replacement Wife (New Hope 2)

I gulped my martini. “She is now.”

“So, you don’t think most people are living a lie?”

“Meaning what?”

“In marriage. Family. You don’t think it’s all a show?”

“Like I said, I can’t speak for most people.”

He spoke directly, affirmatively. “But you think you’d be happy under such confined conditions?”

It was a leading question. I played right into it. “I think I could be, yes.”

“Not a skeptic then,” he decided. “An idealist.”

“Is it not the truth you are seeking?”

He leaned back, away from me. Give them space. The further they fall. “You’re good,” he’d said. “I’ll give you that.” I waited while he glanced around the bar before turning his attention back to me. “I don’t know.” I watched as he drummed his fingers on the table. “Somehow, I just don’t see you as the type to be content with that sort of life.”

“You don’t know me.”

He knew me better than I thought.

“Maybe you’re right. But as the Danish folk say, ‘you bake with the flour you have.’?” His eyes were on my legs. I remember that.

“Are you Danish?”

“No, but that’s the point. You can’t be what you’re not.”

“I’d have to be. I’m not that good of a liar.”

He half-heartedly scoffed. “Oh, I’d beg to differ.”

I shook my head. “I keep the emotions real. Maybe not the rest, but the way I feel, I’m not so good at hiding that.”

“In that case, how about a dare?”

“Hmmm,” I said, stalling. For what, I didn’t know. “Those require a lot of trust.” I cocked my head studying him. “I’m not sure I know you well enough for that.”

“Faith,” he countered. “More than trust.”

“Right.”

“Is that a yes?”

I smirked. “It’s a maybe.”

“Have dinner with me.”

“Is that your dare?”

“Not exactly.”

“What is it then?”

His eyes settled on mine. There was no hesitation in what he said next. “It’s an invitation to make the biggest mistake of your life.”

I started to tell him he had no idea how high the bar was set. Instead, I settled on, “sounds promising.”