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I hadn’t shown Otto everything we’d bought the day before. While we’d spent a lot of our time shopping for wedding supplies, the women had also been insistent on getting me some new clothes. That was actually where most of Otto’s cash had gone because his mom had insisted on paying for most of the wedding supplies, including my dress.
I’d balked at the idea of spending Otto’s money on clothes for myself, but the expressions on my companions’ faces had quickly changed my mind. It hadn’t been quite embarrassment or pity, but fit somewhere between the two emotions. After deciding that I really didn’t want Otto to look at me that way, the ladies had been like an invading army in the stores, dividing and conquering the different racks to pick out things for me to try on. I’d ended up hiding some of the things they’d picked at the bottom of the piles of clothes they brought to the fitting rooms—I wasn’t comfortable wearing jeans, no matter how loose they fit—but they’d also grabbed a lot of things they knew I’d be comfortable in.
I was currently wearing one of those things, a plum-colored sweater dress that hit just below my knees. It was snugger around the bodice than I was used to, but it flowed softly over my belly which I liked. Heather had found some maternity tights in one of the small shops we’d stopped in and they were so comfortable that I could’ve cried. No more waistband digging in, they pulled all the way up over my small belly.
I’d put my foot down, literally and figuratively when we’d made our way to the shoe section and only come home with three new pairs—short brown ankle boots, black flats, and short-heeled white pumps with a pointy toe for the wedding that Otto’s cousin Charlie had described asvintage lookingandvery cool.
“Esther!” Heather called from somewhere in the house. “Otto’s here!”
Taking a deep breath, I opened the bathroom door and headed toward the entryway. Spending the day with Otto made me nervous and jittery even though I’d seen him less than twelve hours before as he’d kissed me goodnight. There was something about him that made every electrical impulse in my body fire up like lightning in a storm. I’d felt it that night in the woods, and again, to a lesser degree when he’d shown up at the cabinand while we were at the clubhouse, but it seemed to grow even stronger the longer I was in his presence.
Chemistry. That indefinable thing that I’d never really understood before. We had it. I just hoped it would be enough to get us to the next part. Therealmarriage part.
“Damn,” Otto murmured, smiling as I came into the room. “New dress?”
“I used the cash you gave me,” I blurted, smoothing the dress down for the thousandth time since I’d put it on.
“Money well spent.” He looked me up and down. “You ready to head out?”
“I put your purse on the table by the door,” Heather called from the kitchen. “Have fun, kids!”
“I’m ready,” I replied, fumbling for the purse.
“You got a coat?”
I paused, the purse strap halfway up my shoulder. It was the one thing none of us had thought to buy the day before, and I hated the idea of putting my old ratty jacket over my beautiful new dress.
“No worries,” Otto said with a flick of his hand. He opened up the closet near the door and pulled out a brown canvas coat.
“That’s not mine,” I argued, even as I stepped forward.
“It’s Myla’s,” he replied with a shrug, holding it out so I could slip my arms into it. “She won’t care if you borrow it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
He held my hand as he walked me outside, and I barely kept myself from stumbling when I caught sight of his car.Thecar. The place where the whole mess started.
“I don’t mind ridin’ in the rain,” he said, opening the door for me. “But I figured you’d appreciate the roof more.”
I climbed inside, smiling awkwardly. Once the door was shut, the familiar smell of the space made a hundred memories flashthrough my mind, and not surprisingly, a tingle of arousal hit my midsection.
Like one of Pavlov’s dogs, I snorted quietly and watched as he climbed in beside me.
“Where are we going?”
“First,” he said, turning on the engine. “To get our marriage license. You got your ID?”
I nodded, patting the purse on my lap.
“Good. Then I thought we’d grab some lunch and head back to the house,” he continued, turning around in the driveway. “Sound good?”
“Sure.”
“The enthusiasm is overwhelming,” he teased, but there was an underlying thread of seriousness in it.
Guilt hit me hard. He hadn’t planned for any of this any more than I had. We were in the same boat, Otto and I, trying to figure out how we were supposed to navigate this new normal. He’d been trying, really trying, to put me at ease and I hadn’t done any reciprocating.
