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“Could you get me a glass of orange juice, darling?”
“Of course.”
After he’s settled, I prepare my food. By the time I join him, he’s nearly done eating.
“You should skip the toast,” he states without hesitation, flipping to a different section in the paper as I dip it into the yolk.
I blink hard, freezing before I take a bite. “What do you mean?”
“Do you think you’ll be wedding-ready by March?”
I clear my throat before setting my food down on the plate. “I thought Winnie was coordinating—”
“Notthat. Your body. Will you be ready to wear a dress and be photographed? Our wedding photos will be posted all over the internet.” He finally makes eye contact with me, and I know he’s serious.
“You think I need to lose weight beforehand?” My shaky voice gives away my nervousness, but I can’t help it. I’m a size four, sometimes a six when I’m bloated, but I’ve been petite my entire life. In fact, I’ve struggled so fucking hard to gain, and it’s something I’ve been self-conscious about since I was a scrawny teenager. I hit puberty late, and I didn’t get hips or boobs until I was nearly twenty. Not exactly a magnet for attracting guys when girls my age were rocking double D’s and had perfect asses.
“Doesn’t every bride-to-be stress about being in tip-top shape for their big day? I assumed you’d go on some crazed diet to ensure you’d look your absolute best. It’ll be the event of the year and so many eyes will be on you.”
I’m not sure how I should take his assumption, considering I’ve hardly mentioned the wedding, and I havenevertalked about dieting. If anything, I’d like to be at least ten pounds heavier beforehand so I can fill out the bodice. “Well, to answer your question–yes, my body isready,” I say between clenched teeth, offended. “Most dresses have to be altered after their purchase to fit properly.”
“When do you think you’ll go try some on? I’d love to join you. We can make a day out of it.”
Narrowing my brows, I dive back into my food that’s getting cold. “That’s breaking tradition.”
“Can’t the groom have an opinion on his bride’s gown?”
“You should think I’m beautiful in whatever I pick.”
He flashes a small grin. “Of course I will.”
“I haven’t had time to look, but I suppose since we set the date, I could. I’ll try to schedule something with Katie and Everleigh soon.”
“In that case, why wait until March? Find a dress next weekend and let’s move up the date.”
I nearly choke on the toast I just shoved into my mouth but quickly recover before he notices. “Move it? March only gives us seven months as it is.”
“Yes, but we’ve been engaged for a year and a half. Invites haven’t been sent yet. I’m tired of waiting to make you my wife.” He reaches across the table and takes my hand, then squeezes. “The sooner we get married, the sooner we can have children.”
“Children?” We’ve talked about starting a family but not right away. I was thinking we’d have one kid since Robert is in his mid-forties, but he works so much that he hardly spends time with me, let alone any children we may have.
“I’d like three, maybe four.” He says it so casually I feel like I’m in a dream or maybe a nightmare. Perhaps we should’ve talked about this sooner, but he’s laying so much on me at once I feel like the walls are closing in.
“Excuse me.” I take my plate and stand. “I’m going to shower and get ready for the day.”
As I rinse my dish, Robert comes up behind me and brushes the hair off my neck, then moves it to one shoulder while he massages my muscles.
“Darling, you’re tense,” he whispers, then places a sweet kiss on my cheek. “The longer we ride out this engagement, the more stressed you’ll be. I’ll call Winnie and have her reschedule everything for November. We’ll have a beautiful fall wedding.”
My eyes widen, and I swallow hard.November?“That’s only three months away. Most venues book out at least a year in advance.” It was a miracle we managed to get our dream location for the date we picked. If I remember correctly, they were booked through the rest of the year.
Robert rubs his hands down my arms, then squeezes. “With enough money, I can secure any venue in town. Don’t worry. I understand you were in love with the place we chose, but I’ve already looked into a few others, and they’d be honored to host it for us.”
“You did that without consulting me?” I tilt my head, feeling blindsided.
“Just made a couple of phone calls so we had options.”
“Surely, that’s not enough time to figure out all the details. The decorations, the flowers, the invites, my dress.”
