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Xander is blunt and I like that about him. He’s so perfect for Beck and Amelia, and I love the way they fit so seamlessly. I feel the blush stain my cheeks and hate that my complexion is so pale. “No, we’re going to get a divorce, but not yet.”
I’m hoping the second part of my sentence distracts from the first part but realize I’m wrong when Norrie smirks at me. Damn her for being so perceptive.
“Why not yet?”Harrison waves the server away before they can interrupt as he asks the question.
“My parents. My father especially was ecstatic to hear I’d gotten married and is convinced a husband would help me transition through losing him more easily. I haven’t got the heart to tell him it’s all a big lie.”
Linc quirks a brow. “And Carmichael is going along with this?”
“He is.”
“Why?”
I’ve wondered that myself a hundred times. Hudson is getting nothing out of this apart from weekly dates and me at his house for four days a week. It makes no sense because he didn’t even demand sex, which I thought he might, and, honestly, I probably would’ve agreed. But he didn’t.
“Honestly, I don’t know. He said I could tell you guys the truth but that he wants the rest of the world to think this is real and that’s what I need too if I want to sell this to my parents.”
“This sounds suspicious to me.”
I glance at Linc around Lottie and offer him a small smile. “ I get it, I do. And I know you’re trying to look out for the company, but he signed a contract this morning saying he won’t touch Kennedy in the divorce. In fact, he wants nothing from me.”
Lincoln’s frown deepens. “I don’t give a fuck about the company. I’m worried about you. He hurt you so badly, Audrey, and I don’t want to see him do it again.”
My heart seems to tighten in my chest at my cousin’s fierce protectiveness and tears sting my eyes as I blink them back furiously. If I cry now, I won’t stop for the rest of the day. I know because that was how I spent Monday after leaving Hudson in his office. “Thank you, but I won’t let that happen. This is a business arrangement, that’s all.”
Lottie raised her hand as she grinned. “I speak from experience when I say that business arrangements between people who have history and sexual chemistry don’t always end up how you expect.”
“Hey.” Linc tugs her closer to his side, his arms around her waist and Lottie tips her head to gift him with a loving look. “I didn’t mean it ended in a bad way. I wouldn’t change our story because it got us here, but all I’m saying is nothing is ever business when emotions are involved.”
“Well, then, it will be fine because I have no emotions on this playing field.” If I was in church, I would be in flames, for my blatant lie.
“So, you stay married until...” Ryker tails off, not wanting to say the words any more than I do.
“Yes.”
“So, until then, we all act like you’re the last of the deliriously happy couples amongst us?”
“Yes, please.”
I hear a groan from beside me and see Linc bury his head in his wife’s neck. “Do we have to?”
My lips itch in the first genuine smile I’ve felt in days. “Yes, you do. So be nice, or else.”
Linc lifts his head and seems to have a silent conversation with his wife before he nods.
“Fine, I’ll be good.”
I envy the way they can do that. The connection they share is so intense and deep, it’s like they’re one person sometimes. That they found their way back to each other is a miracle to me, but then maybe fate is a thing. Linc fucked up so bad and yet Lottie forgave him. He even gave her the small wedding she wanted with just family and friends last month when he wanted the world and their dog to see them get hitched.
“Okay, now can we eat?”
I grin at Beck, who winks at me, and I love him for making this easier. I know I’ll have a thousand questions to answer at some point but, for now, I can relax.
Lunch is louder than I expected and filled with everyone talking over each other, sharing news and tidbits of gossip. Banter is friendly and sometimes harsh but filled with love and, as I sit back and watch it, I know that I’ll get through whatever life throws my way because I have these people with me every step.
It doesn’t stop the loneliness from wrapping its arms around me though, and I’m reminded of the fact that when I go home tonight it will be to an empty house. Nobody to greet me and pour me a glass of wine or hold me in the dead of night when everything seems hopeless.
“Hey, you want to go shopping with us?”
