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I was lying in the house of the Lord. I could practically feel his disapproving glare upon me. Just thinking it sped up my heart rate, and I sucked in a loud gasp of air as panic shook me.
Calm.
I needed to stay calm.
But how was that even possible when I was playing a part in the biggest deception ever?
Even then, after minutes in front of the crowd, I was still expecting someone to call bullshit on our façade, but no one said anything. It seemed things were going off without a problem. Just as Allison had predicted, the guests and our families were seeing exactly what they wanted to see, accepting me as Allison when I’d presented myself in my sister’s expensive wedding gown. No one questioned our identity, not even our mother.
Then again, who in their right mind would think twins would swap places and finagle someone into marrying the wrong person?
My hand trembled in Wyatt’s, his hold firm and warm against my icy skin. I had barely looked at him. I couldn’t look up at him because I was sure the look on my face would give me away — no doubt about it.
I was too nervous to see his face, but I was aware of him as he towered in front of me. Dark and beautiful, powerful and utterly stunning in his black tux. I didn’t need my glasses to know he looked beyond amazing.
His grasp tightened, and my fingers shook.
Did he suspect?
Oh, my God. What if he did?
Would he say something right here in front of everyone?
Or would he wait until we were alone and demand we have the marriage annulled?
Either way, how would I explain the situation?
I had sworn many years before that I would never trade places with Allison again. It always created unnecessary problems for me. Nothing ever fell back on Allison, which was why she was always willing to swap for me to take a test for her or do some other terrible thing she didn’t want to go through with, but this … this was different. This was a huge commitment. A life-changing event that could potentially ruin many lives.
Again, my fingers shook at the thought of us getting caught.
“Are you okay?” Wyatt whispered for my ears only.
His deep voice soothed me and sent chills down my spine the way it always had. He always had that effect on me.
I nodded and braved a smile at him.
Allison had reneged on her engagement, an action that showed how genuinely selfish she was. But while she could only focus on herself and her happiness, I knew there was a much bigger reason for her to marry Wyatt.
His money and our father.
I turned my attention to the front pew where my mother and father sat and reminded myself why I had allowed Allison to put me in such a deceitful position. Just thinking about it made my stomach lurch once again.
Looking down at my dad as he sat—fragile and broken as cancer wrecked his body at that very moment—I knew I had to set my insecurities aside and do what mattered.
Unlike the man in front of me, my family wasn’t well off. We had nearly lost our home to the doctor bills. Wyatt and his family were wealthy, so Allison was all for marrying him when he had asked.
That was six months ago, and not surprisingly, she had met and fallen in love with a new guy since then. My sister fell in love as often as most people changed their undies. But this time was different. There was no walking away from a wedding that had cost tens of thousands or a booked honeymoon to Bora Bora. But most importantly, there was no walking away from the shared checking account that possibly housed the money that would pay for our father’s treatments.
That might not have meant much to Allison, but it did to me. Our father was everything to me. He was the only person in the world who treated me as Allison’s equal, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.
It was such a screwed-up situation. But I would do anything for my father.
The fact was, I was marrying a man for the wrong reasons, and I was doing so as my twin, but I was also marrying the man I had been in love with since I was a little girl. I knew the first time I laid eyes on him he was all I would ever want, and I had continued to love him, aching and unrequited, even after I found out he and my sister were dating.
I had spent that day crying in my room, sure my heart was breaking inside my chest, but I had pulled through and smiled happily for my sister, even knowing she didn’t deserve him.
I loved Wyatt.
