Page 170 of Dancing for the Minotaur

“Not just any cake—a wedding cake,” Terra told him. “Which is a cake you eat after your wedding ceremony,” she added, trying to explain.

He nodded thoughtfully.

“All right. And what else?”

“Well, we need to look at flowers and invitations. Oh, also we need a wedding dress.”

His eyes moved over her.

“I very much hope this dress is for you and not for me.”

Terra smothered a laugh.

“It’s for me. I promise I won’t make you wear a big white dress. We’ll rent you a tux instead.”

“What is a tux?” he asked.

“A special, spiffy suit that men wear on formal occasions,” she told him. “I bet you’ll look amazing in one…if we can find one in your size. I don’t know if they make tuxes in XXXXXL.”

Taurex went quiet, his golden eyes turned inward. The longer he said nothing, the more embarrassed Terra got. Was he going to think she was trying to trap him into marriage for real?

“Look, I know this sounds ridiculous,” she said quickly. “But if we’re going to fake this thing convincingly, we need to do it right. Don’t forget—we’re trying to keep you out of prison.”

“I appreciate your concern,” he said gravely.

Terra frowned.

“You don’t sound appreciative.”

“Forgive me. I am attempting to understand why avoiding incarceration requires baked goods and fancy clothing.”

Terra burst out laughing and the big Monstrum looked confused.

She covered her mouth with one hand.

“I’m sorry, you just crack me up sometimes.”

He shook his head.

“I guess I still do not understand human legal procedures.”

“It’s not a legal procedure. It’s an appearance thing,” she assured him. “If Detective Ramirez goes sniffing around, we want her to be able to see that we really talked to people about booking a wedding and all the things that go with it.”

“Ah.”

He still looked unconvinced.

Terra sobered.

“Taurex, I mean it. I don’t want to take chances with this.”

He looked at her for a long moment.

Then he said quietly, “I will agree on one condition.”

Terra’s stomach tightened.

“What condition is that?”