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I suppose I can’t hide the massive rings on my left hand, however.
“Wife?” Todd looks between the both of us. “I never even realized you were seeing someone seriously.”
“Let’s sit,” Kyle says, making it obvious he doesn’t plan to give more details on our relationship.
He almost knocks me over in surprise again when instead of allowing the host to do it, he holds out my chair for me to sit.
It’s only an act.
We’re putting on a show. I have plenty of experience with this.
I square my shoulders and become the show pony that Kyle expects me to be. I’m not worth anything to Kyle if I’m not useful to him. And I need to be worth something in order to keep my niece safe.
That’s what it all comes down to.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Smith,” I say. “And Mrs. Smith,” I include the blonde woman sitting across from me, who I know is Todd’s wife.
“Please, Todd and Amber are fine.” Her smile is genuine.
The rest of the guests are introduced.
“I’m so stunned to learn of your marriage, Kyle,” Amber Smith says.
From his profile, I can see Kyle debate on how to answer her. The stiffness tells me he’s vacillating between telling the woman to mind her damn business and blowing her comment off.
“It was kind of a whirlwind thing,” I interject.
All eyes turn to me.
I take the opportunity to look toward my new husband. I plaster the biggest, brightest smile I can onto my face as I stare into his hazel eyes.
“When love hits there’s no stopping it. Isn’t that right, hun?”
“Right,” he answers.
“When you know you know,” I tell the rest of the table. “We were so ready to spend the rest of our lives together we didn’t want to wait to plan out a whole big wedding.” I look back at Kyle as one of the women at the table audibly swoons.
Kyle’s still staring at me.
“I’m getting butterflies in my stomach remembering you saying your vows,” I lie. That was not a happy moment.
I don’t know if he realizes it but Kyle leans in slightly. I can feel the eyes of our audience on us. Thus, I do something I probably shouldn’t.
Without giving it too much thought, I lift my hands, cup Kyle’s face, and pull his head to meet mine.
The kiss is brief, but still, my body warms.
“I bet that’ll be a wonderful story to tell your children and grandchildren.”
The moment is broken when Kyle starts coughing, presumably from the shock of Amber’s comment.
I clear my throat and hand him a glass of water.
While he takes a sip, I decide to get the topic off of this fake relationship.
“Todd, I would like to take the opportunity to tell you how sad we all at Townsend Industries were to hear about the passing of Anderson James,” I comment on the passing of Righteous Corps.’ co-founder and Todd’s best friend.
Todd clears his throat and sits up, obviously emotional. “Thank you, Riley. And that goes double for the lovely flowers Townsend sent over. Donna, Anderson’s wife, loved them.”
