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I’d delayed telling my sisters about the marriage for several reasons; one, I wanted to make sure the paperwork was processed just in case Addy tried to threaten me to undo it, and two, she’d just come back from vacation yesterday, and like Kenzie, I felt this news was better delivered in person.
I was sure Kenzie thought I was holding off because I regretted my decision—that I hadn’t told anyone because I was afraid that would make it real and make it unable to be secretly undone—but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
It already felt real—too damn real.The way she’d become integrated into my personal life was just as effortlessly quick as she’d fit into my professional one. To be fair, I didn’t have much in the way of a personal life, so there wasn’t much to fit into.
“It’ll be okay,” I said, noticing her hesitation.
I reached down and took her hand in mine, the touch sending a ripple of electricity through my system. That had gotten worse over the last four days, too. Simple touches became as dangerous as a single spark in the most dangerous wildfire conditions.
“I don’t want them to hate me,” she said softly, her bottom lip quivering before she slid her tongue over it.
Damn.
“They’re not going to hate you,” I promised.
“We got married and didn’t invite them.”
“And they’ll understand,” I promised again.
Her only response was to continue to stare at me uncertainly.
“Zeke!”Eve waddled down the hallway, a flower crown encircling her head. “You’re here—and Kenzie! Oh, hi!” She pulled Kenz in for a hug first. “So glad you came.”
“Please don’t tell me you brought work to Eve’s birthday party,” Addy drawled, approaching behind our younger sister, her blue hair in a high pony and her younger son, Axel, in her arms.
I gave her a tight smile and hugged her and my nephew before I replied, “I didn’t.”
Addy tipped her head and looked at Kenzie. “What’s going on?” Her eyes narrowed on Kenzie. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Kenzie nodded nervously and without thinking, reached up and adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder.With her left hand.
I saw the second my twin recognized the ring on her finger.
“Zeke…” Addy whipped her head to me, asking the question without saying another word.
I met her hard stare, watching disbelief turn into dismay.
“Addy…” Eve looked between the two of us. “What’s going on?” She rubbed her stomach. “Why do I feel like I’m missing something?”
I reached for my wife’s elbow and carefully maneuvered her arm until our hands were locked. “Kenzie and I are married.”
Eve blinked several times, her expression agape. “You’re joking,” Eve declared with a startled laugh. “Tell me now if you’re joking because I’m eight and a half months pregnant, so unless you want to add labor and delivery to your list of skills, big brother, tell me—”
“I’m not joking,” I interrupted and squeezed Kenzie’s hand. “We got married on Tuesday at the courthouse.”
Eve gasped. And then frowned. And finally—ultimately—smiled. “Congratulations! I didn’t know… didn’t realize…”
“It all happened kind of suddenly,” I said, beginning an explanation I’d run through a million times in my head, but for some reason, my two sisters were more intimidating than any jury or judge I’d ever faced, and right now, I felt no less like I was on trial trying to convince them of the truth than if I’d been standing in the middle of a courtroom.
“Well, yeah, that’s obvious,” Eve balked and then laughed. “How long…”
“There was always something ever since Kenzie moved into Blooms, but I never… we never…”
“Oh, I love a good forbidden love story.” She clapped her hands together.
I picked up later in the story, still feeling Addy’s steely gaze on me like a hot poker, waiting to see how long I could hold out before I flinched. “But once we started working together…”
“So, you decided to get married before even telling us you were in a relationship?” Addy’s firm voice entered the conversation.Betrayed.
