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I hadn’t.
If marrying Zeke got me custody of Jake, then that was what I’d do. And if marrying Zeke meant that maybe the boundaries that existed before no longer did, then that wasn’t a bad thing either.
Wanting my husband was less complicated than wanting him when he was my boss or my lawyer, right?
“We’re married, Kenzie. You needed a ring,” he replied, cleaning up our plates from dinner. We’d ordered Chinese take-out, and I was happy to eat out of the cartons, but Zeke insisted on plates.
“I might’ve married you at the courthouse, but we’re not having our wedding dinner out of cardboard.”
The memory made me smile.
I’d spent eight years with Stan, and he always shut down any conversation about a ring. At least he did early on in our relationship when I’d wanted one—when I’d wanted a future with him as a family with our son.
“I do everything for this family, Mackenzie. I work—provide for us by saving lives. By working all hours and all shifts so that you can stay home with Jake. Isn’t that enough? What difference does a ring make?”
I’d wanted the fairy tale so badly, I’d believed it for a long time. But eventually, the shimmer wore off, and it became clear that his unwillingness to get married had nothing to do with any fear of commitment and everything to do with how much he liked me being reliant on him—trapped by him, ring or not.
When I left the hospital eight months ago headed to Blooms and not whatever program Stan had wanted, I sent up a silent prayer for the blessing in disguise; had we been married, I knew without a doubt I never would’ve been able to escape his hold.
But Zeke… he’d offered to marry me without a second thought. All so I’d have a sure shot of getting joint custody of Jake. The idea had never even crossed my mind. I’d been willing to go to any lengths—to lie, to fake where I lived, to sell my soul for the appearance of a stable life, but this… marriage to the most selfless man I’d ever known… that wasn’t a sacrifice; it was a temptation.
The ring was simple. A narrow band with a single, solitaire diamond in the center.His grandmother’s.He’d told me so nonchalantly earlier when he’d pulled it from his pocket at the courthouse. I guessed it was supposed to be an explanation for why he had a diamond ring lying around, but all I heard was a man who took helping me so seriously, he was not only marrying me, but giving me his family heirloom to make it seem real.
Of course, I knew it wasn’t real—that it wasn’t going to last.One day, I’d take this ring off and give this man back.But I had time to figure out how to deal with that.
“I always thought it would feel different,” I murmured, resting my elbow on the kitchen counter and watching him wash the dishes.
He’d worn a suit earlier—one I was sure that had been to the courthouse numerous times but never for a reason like this. Meanwhile, I wore the same white dress Callie had loaned me the other week. I’d set it back on her desk last weekend, but she and Reed were away on their honeymoon, so I figured she wouldn’t mind if I wore it again.
It wasn’t fancy, but it was white.
I still had the dress on and Zeke was still in his suit pants, his jacket discarded, and his sleeves rolled to his elbows. I bit my lip, recalling the way those veins on his forearms had pulsed underneath my fingertips as I held onto him that night, his body over mine, driving me to the most incredible peak of pleasure I’d ever felt.
I coughed, covering up the small whimper that almost escaped and took a sip from my water bottle.
“Did you want to marry him?” Zeke asked, his question perceptive enough
I blinked. “No. I mean, yes. When we first met and then had Jake… I thought that was where our relationship was going,” I said, continuing carefully. “Once I realized the kind of person he was, then no. So, it was a good thing he had no intention of asking.”
Zeke hummed low, his eyes flicking to the ring on my finger.
“What about you?” I rolled my bottom lip through my teeth. “Why haven’t you married?”
I knew Zeke was older than me; I didn’t realize until we were at the courthouse filling out paperwork that he was a full ten years older.How had a man like him stayed single all this time?
“Too busy,” he grunted.
“To date?” I asked incredulously.
His eyes flicked to mine and he exhaled. “After what happened to Addy, I needed to be there for her. And then Blooms opened, and I got wrapped up in… everything.”
“What does that mean?” I wondered honestly, and when he gave me a stern look
“It means that Blooms needs me. It’s not fair to have someone else in my life that I can’t give one hundred percent to.”
I swallowed over the lump in my throat, recognizing something familiar about his reason.“I stayed with Stan for so long because I thought it wasn’t fair to Jake for me to leave.”
Zeke shifted his weight, my analogy clearly unsettling him. “It’s not the same.”
