Page 12 of The Wedding Pact

‘Hey. Ida?’

‘Yeah. Raffa?’

‘In the flesh.’

I offer her my hand, but she ignores it and instead opens her arms and makes a come-hither motion with her fingers, a wide grin breaking across her face. ‘Bring it in, boyfriend.’

I freeze for a second. I wasn’t expecting this kind of physicality right off the bat. But then I guess we’re going to be pretending we’re a real couple so I’m going to have to get used to being touched – and touching her.

The thought of this sends another fizzing kind of shiver across my skin.

Again, I wonder what I’ve got myself into here.

Still, nothing I can do about it now that the cogs are fully in motion.

Pressing out a tight smile, I move into her open arms, wrapping my own around her back, but making sure to keep a few inches of distance between our bodies.

She smells great.

Like cinnamon rolls.

‘Thanks again for agreeing to this lunacy,’ I say, stepping away from her the moment it feels polite to do so.

I see she’s still smiling, her eyes shining with mirth. ‘Yeah, it’s not something I ever thought would happen to me, but there you go,’ she says, cocking her head to one side. ‘Life can throw the most bizarre curveballs at you and you can duck and cover, or you can catch them. I’ve been telling myself for a while to say yes to things, even if they scare me. To grab opportunities when they come my way.’ She forms her hands into two tights fists in front of her. ‘That’s how the memorable times happen, right?’

I can’t help but smile at that. ‘Yeah. I guess so. Well, I hope I’m not too scary in person?’ I joke.

‘Nah.’ She bats a hand through the air. ‘I don’t scare easily. And I’ve done my due diligence. Don’t worry about that. Thoroughly checked you out,’ she says, waggling her eyebrows in a way that makes my entire body heat with awareness.

I make myself grin, aware it must look really fucking fake this time. I’m properly on the backfoot by the way I’m physically reacting to her in real life.

This, I was not expecting.

Oh well. I can probably use it to my advantage. We need people to believe we’re attracted to each other, and this way I won’t need to pretend.

I’m suddenly aware that she’s looking at me strangely, as if she was expecting a different reaction to the one I’m giving her.

‘Uh, yeah. Well, good. I want you to feel completely comfortable with this,’ I say.

‘I do, I do,’ she says, though with a bit less confidence than before.

‘I know it’s a bizarre thing to be doing, but I promise you I’ll give you as much space as you need when we’re alone.’

‘I believe you,’ she says, then gives her head a small shake. ‘I just haven’t had my second coffee of the day yet so I’m a bit fuzzyheaded.’ She follows this with a grin.

‘Okay. Well, let’s rectify that right away,’ I say, gesturing to the leather sofa next to us, which is strewn with bright red velvet cushions, then waving to get the attention of one of the hospitality staff.

I wait for Ida to sit down then take the seat one away from her.

‘I’ll have a flat white, please,’ Ida says to the server who arrives to take our drinks order the moment I’ve sat down.

‘I’ll have the same,’ I say.

The server moves away, leaving us shifting a little in our seats – or at least, I am.

When I look up and our eyes lock, she smiles at me, her expression alive with amusement.

It’s weird, after being so comfortable chatting with Ida online, to feel this awkward around her.