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“Your brothers don’t know, do they?” I whisper, scared of his answer.
“I’m going to tell them later today. There’s a Friday night dinner at Zander’s place, we will all go, and I’ll introduce you to my family.” He has already planned everything.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” A new fear digs its claws into my aching chest. “This is too much. I’m clearly taking advantage of you on so many levels. Your family will think I’m some sort of cougar or a gold digger.”
“Hey… Hope. Look at me.” He holds my trembling hands and looks right into my eyes. “You are not a cougar. For fuck’s sake, you’re younger than me and you aresonot a gold digger. My family is not like that. Don’t think too much.” He kisses my hands, and my heartbeat goes wild with all these different emotions bombarding my tiny heart. “Let’s sign the papers.”
Zach elegantly signs his name and pushes the page before me. I pick up the pen and with trembling fingers write my name, next to his.
“I’ll have my lawyer and his assistant to sign as witnesses. They are bound by confidentiality.” He straightens the pages and looks back at me. “It’s official. We are married.” He grins his all-familiar, crooked smile and the butterflies in my belly go crazy. “One last thing.”
Zach’s hand slides inside his jacket before he opens his palm.
Jesus!
“We have to seal the deal.” He flips the box open which hasCartierwritten on top and inside is a beautiful engagement ring. An oval sapphire stone surrounded by several small white diamonds which are all held by a band made of silver, maybe platinum, or is it white gold.
I can totally see Zach buying this ring for his fiancée or wife, but I can’t picture myselfeverwith such a ring on my finger. It is far beyond my reach and class.
He takes my trembling hand in his and pushes the ring on my ring finger gently and it sits snug. A perfect fit. I can feel my chest rising and falling when he grins. “Now you are my wife in every sense.”
My mouth dries and I blurt foolishly, “I don’t have a ring for you.”
One of his perfect eyebrows rise up. “Your dad’s ring is at the jeweler for fitting. I’ll have it back in a few hours.”
I look away from his beseeching gaze, and glance back at my hands. “I want you to wear it all the time. M-most of the times,” I correct myself. I don’t want him to wear my ring while he is on the fifth floor. Realization dawns upon me, what this marriage means. I was momentarily hypnotized by Zach and his charms, but this marriage is not for me. It’s a means to an end for him to adopt Ray. “I’m sorry. You…don’t have to do anything.”
“Don’t think about it, Hope.” I’m greeted by Zach’s serious face when I glance back up to him. “I don’t want you to think about all that. It means nothing.”
He knows what’s on my mind. But how can he say it means nothing? It means so much. What kind of wife does that make me?
He kisses my forehead and tears leak through my eyes at his sweet gesture, I quickly wipe them away.
Zach leads me back to the living room where William is removing the leash from Mr. Stanley’s neck. It looks like they just returned from their walk.
“William, Hope and I got married this morning.” Without any preamble, Zach drops the bomb.
And to my surprise, William acknowledges it without missing a beat. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Teager.” If he’s surprised, it doesn’t show. “You are a lucky man, sir.”
“I think so too.” Zach smiles at me and for a moment it all feels so real. I look away from his bewitching gray eyes, they make me forget the reality of our marriage, which would be a real stupid thing to do.
I need to be careful and not get sucked in by Zach’s charms, otherwise I’ll just end up hurting my heart badly.
“Can I offer some celebratory champagne to the newlywed couple?” William stands before us, the smile intact on his face.
“Yes, of course. It does calls for a toast.” As William fills two flutes of champagne, Zach adds, “I would like to take Hope and Ray for lunch. We can share the news with Ray and celebrate.”
“That is a nice idea, sir. Would you also be joining your family for dinner in Cherrywood?”
“Yes. I would like to introduce my new family to everyone.”
“That sounds like a wonderful plan.” William gives us a broad smile.
That sounds like a horrible plan to me. I don’t say it out loud, instead I focus on the strange conversation between these two men.
“Hope, I want to give the news to Gigi and maybe also talk to Dr. Gupta.”
“You want to tell Mom today?” My voice comes out squeaky. Zach shrugs. “What would we tell her? This is not a real marriage.” I look around to find that William has left the room.
