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I extend my hand to Harley, and she slips her fingers between mine. “You look like a sea goddess,” I tell her. “My very own Calypso.”
Calypso was the nymph who detained Odysseus for seven years in Homer’s Odyssey, which seems fitting given our situation. Because I feel like Harley has kept my heart prisoner for as long as I have understood the meaning of love.
Harley blushes, turning her head away from me.
“This dress… my God, woman. I can’t stop looking at you. You look beautiful.”
“Wait until you see my wedding gown,” she shoots back, her eyes slowly finding mine.
Before I can answer her, Carl Voss slips through the crowd with his wife on his arm. Showtime. All of this is for him. Nothing more than a spectacle to convince him of our fake love. Well, is it really fake? No, never, at least not for me.
“Nathan,” Carl says, extending his hand for me to shake. “Lovely party. Thank you for inviting us.”
I grip his hand, and he squeezes my fingers into a death grip. For a man in his late sixties, he’s incredibly strong. Men like Carl always have intimidating stares and finger breaking handshakes.
“Thanks for coming.” I slide my arm behind Harley’s back and pull her close. “Your gift is more than generous and much appreciated.”
Harley smiles, leaning into me. “I love Fiji. Thank you.”
“It’s gorgeous.” Sonja gives us a toothy smile. “We honeymooned on the island before you two were even born.” She chuckles and then sips from the flute in her hand. “You make a beautiful couple. I bet you will make adorable children together.”
Children? Lady, we haven’t even had sex yet. Pump the brakes.
“I had my doubts,” Carl says. “Those pictures were…” Please don’t finish that thought. “And your sudden engagement…. That took me by surprise. But after seeing you with Harley, I’m glad I didn’t pull my funding. You two are clearly happy and in love.” He laughs once. “I guess that will teach me not to make assumptions in the future.”
Clearly in love? Are we really that convincing?
Carl slaps his hand on my back. “We have a prior engagement to attend. I hate to leave so soon, but we’ll see you in Nassau next week. Looking forward to the wedding.”
Me too. I can’t wait to make Harley my wife.
After they exit the house, Harley and I let out the breaths we were both holding. I glance around the room. Half of the guests are engaged in conversation, looking less bored than before. Somehow, Callie managed to get most of the women drunk on those ridiculous pink drinks. My coders are chatting with women who hadn’t met Harley until today. She doesn’t know most of the people in this room, partly because she chose to live on the other side of the country. Away from me.
“Treehouse,” I say under my breath, clutching Harley’s fingers. “Now.”
Before Harley can protest, I lead her through the halls and push open the secret door in the guest quarters. The treehouse was once our domain, our little slice of heaven in the sky where we held court. Now that I have my Queen back, I have to make up for lost time. Too many years have passed, wasted on other people. Spent with the wrong people.
On the patio, a group of men are smoking cigars. The men are engaged in conversation about stock prices and the current state of the market, while their women stand at their sides, looking bored. Harley will never be that woman, an armpiece for me to show off to my friends. She’s brilliant, quick-witted, and unapologetically bold—my equal in every way.
To sneak past our guests undetected, I drag Harley by the hand between the tall bushes that line the perimeter of our property like a well-built fort. My father’s estate is over ten acres, with a labyrinth-like maze of hedges that made it easy for me to hide as a child. I used to laugh as my dad searched for me. When I did something stupid, I would run outside and find my usual hiding place until he was too drunk or too busy with work to remember what I did.
“I never thought I’d come back here,” Harley confesses as we turn right, toward the edge of the property.
“I knew it was only a matter of time before you came back to me.”
She blows out a puff of air and groans. “Who says I came back to you?”
“You boarded a plane and then agreed to marry me, did you not?”
“I did it for my dad.”
“No.” I shake my head. “You did it for me.”
Harley sighs.
“Just admit it, baby.”
You love me.
She purses her lips, dead silent. Fine, play it however you want, woman. We both know she stayed in Philly for me. She agreed to the marriage because of me. The only person she’s lying to is herself.
