Page 86 of Pretender

“How do you do?” she says. Oh, she’s so stiff. Her hand is bony and cold. How the hell did he choose this polished statue over the vivacious woman next to me? I’m selfishly glad he did, though, because it’s me she’s leaning into now, even if it’s fake from her side.

“Are you playing?” I ask them.

“We’ll go after you.”

“Shall we play against each other?”

“What, Aiden, no—” Linnea protests, but I turn and give her a reassuring look.

Trust me.

“Couple against couple?” Henry asks.

“Or one on one?” I suggest. “A short game. Six hoops, first to the peg wins.”

“Um…” Linnea shuffles next to me, but Harriet lets out a sigh of relief.

“It won’t take long, darling,” Henry assures her, and shakes off his grey blazer, handing it to her. “How about we make it interesting?”

“How do you mean? Croquet is pretty interesting in and of itself, isn’t it?”

Henry scoffs and smirks. “Thousand pounds?”

Pocket money.

I shrug. “I’ll do you one better. If you lose … you send an official note to everyone you’ve spread shit about Linnea to and tell them you were wrong and LEAF Design is still the award-winning studio it was before you tore it apart.”

Henry shifts. “And if I win? When I win.”

“Then I will personally write you a recommendation letter to your top three picks.”

He laughs. A hollow, disgusting laugh. It’s so hard to believe Linnea ever fell for this man when I see him like this. When I know what I know about him.

“Fine, let’s just play then,” I say, hoping he’ll do as I want. “For fun, if you’re able to.”

“No, no, I’ll take your wager,” he says, just as I thought.

I turn to Linnea, and her eyes are wide. “Aiden, what are you doing? Were you just joking when we played earlier? Are you some croquet expert after all?”

I shake my head and lean in, pretending to give her a kiss on her cheek, and instead I whisper in her ear. “You are.”

“What?”

“You’re going to play him and win.”

“You’re insane! What if it was a lie?”

“I know it wasn’t, you’re a ninja for sure. Don’t worry. I’ve got one thing I’ll do before you play, but you need to promise me something.”

“What?”

“Have fun beating the shit out of your bastard ex and making him look like an angry little toddler in front of everyone.”

I hand the croquet mallet to Linnea, but when she grabs it, I hold on and pull her flush to me, pinning her against my body. My mouth an inch from hers, her breath is on my skin. I won’t kiss her until I’m sure she really wants to do it again. But I need to give her something.

I plant a soft kiss just on the corner of her mouth, and down her jawline to her ear. “You’re fucking extraordinary.”

She inhales sharply, tilting her head against mine. Pressing myself closer, I kiss her delicate neck before I let her go.