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“If we’re going to go all in pretending to plan a wedding, I’m going to act like the biggest Bridezilla ever to discourage people from wanting to come. I’ll be so ridiculous, we wouldn’t have to plan a damn thing, and nobody would even know about it because they wouldn’t be there.”
As he laughed again, I figured Ridge was getting enough amusement from me. He reached out and clasped my hand.
“We haven’t settled on the right date.” He looked into my eyes, and he came off as so earnest about it that my heart couldn’t help but flutter.
Needing a minute to collect my thoughts, I moved my gaze toward the town and away from Ridge’s beautiful eyes. And whatever he was trying to mask inside them, because he wasn’t doing as good of a job of that as he thought he was.
The little carnival with the kids running around had me smiling, and the scent of the food booths had my stomach growling. It was another picture-perfect scene that felt like a 1950s sitcom, not the middle of a horror movie.
“Okay, we’ll arbitrarily tell everyone that we’re getting married on the fifth of December. That way, we can have a Christmas honeymoon in Hawaii on one of your golden yachts or something like that.” I waved my hands around as I tried to make light of things.
But Ridge looked a little too satisfied, and he seemed to puff out his chest a bit more.
Naturally, I rolled my eyes at him.
“Fifth of December it is, little wolf.” He kissed my cheek. “But Hawaii’s an overrated honeymoon destination, and I’d much rather take you somewhere with space to run our wolves. For example… a private island named after you.”
Now it was my turn to burst out laughing. What a ludicrous idea. Only he could come up with that as a joke. “Your rich only-childness is once again on display.”
Shaking my head, I stood and prepared to play the role of happy fiancée of the most prominent figure in town. There was no way I’d disappoint Ridge, and I’d weather this small-town event and get back to reality—protecting the unsuspecting small town from the hunters.
Chapter52
Ridge
The sun was up high, making the day hotter as it moved into the afternoon. I wished Tori and I could’ve skipped the town fundraiser altogether and put everything on hold. I wanted to get her alone and tell her about us and our fated mate connection. I hated having it hanging over my head when I wanted to shout from the top of my lungs that she was mine and I was hers. I craved to be officially claimed and have her wearing my mark. I ached for it so deeply that the tension coiled beneath my skin.
While I had no desire to pressure Tori into a human marriage if she didn’t want it, I wasn’t joking about planning our future together. The human marriage didn’t hold as much significance to me, but claiming and marking her was something I had to do. I’d do it in a heartbeat if she let me. Nothing would stop me.
It was clear that Tori was winging it about picking a wedding date. She saw a wedding as entirely unrealistic, only something to sell to the town’s residents. It frustrated me because it had become very real to me very quickly—not so much a future wedding, but my future with her.
It was also harder now because there was a night-and-day difference between the Tori I’d first met and the Tori of now, especially how she acted and reacted toward me. Gone was the frightened, near-feral little wolf who cowered from my touch and avoided me whenever she could. Now, she accepted my care and returned it. There was no way that my feelings were one-sided, and while I couldn’t be more thrilled about that, having her dismiss our future as just another pretense hurt. She talked about saving the town and doing what needed to be done, but it never sounded like staying here was in the cards for her.
When she’d mentioned making a life here to Kyle, I’d wanted to launch my fists into the air. It was a victory, but the talk about our supposed wedding date had made the uncertainty return.
I couldn’t get a read on where Tori stood and what she hoped for in the future.
Once again, I reminded myself that I was jumping to conclusions. Later tonight, when we were alone in the woods and I had her to myself, I’d tell her about our fated mate connection. There were things I needed to take care of first so I could give her my undivided attention tonight. With everything the Greenthornes had piled on me, I felt itchy to get things over and done with. Life was different with a mate consuming my every waking thought. I wouldn’t have it any other way, but learning how to manage it all was a juggling act.
Right now, I had to compose myself and behave like Mayor Blackwood. Then I’d follow Tori around like a lovesick puppy until she allowed me to claim her.
Who was I kidding, though? Even after we claimed each other, I’d still be obsessed with her and following her everywhere.
Clasping her hand tighter, I lifted it to kiss her knuckles as we entered the town square. Tori smiled and looked at me with stars in her eyes. I’d never tire of that look; I’d wage wars for her to always look at me that way. She’d tried to keep her distance for so long, always holding me at arm’s length, but since we’d reconnected after my abduction, she’d stopped hiding herself from me. I doubted she realized she’d even lowered her shields, but I wouldn’t mention it because I needed her now.
“You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be, I guess,” she mumbled.
Smiling at her sarcastic eagerness, I steeled myself for our approach to the event.
As expected, women fawned over Tori’s engagement ring, asked about wedding preparations, and offered tips for all levels of planning a wedding.
I was bombarded with questions about menial mayor stuff or business, even though I tried to keep the conversations light and fun. This was an outing—a fundraiser, after all—and I wanted people to enjoy themselves and appreciate all the hard work Diana had put into the event.
Only a few so far had asked about the actual wedding date, and I had to laugh when Tori exaggerated our plans for the wedding. She wasn’t kidding when she said she was going to play up the Bridezilla act. So far, nobody had caught on. They were ecstatic that the wedding would be happening so soon.
It didn’t take long for people to start anticipating what our wedding would be like. Many likened it to a fairytale, which had me smothering my laughter at Tori’s annoyed look. She hid it as well as she could, but I didn’t miss a thing. She was expressive in a way that most people didn’t catch, but they weren’t her mate.
