Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
He bent down until his eyes were level with mine, and I was momentarily trapped in the abyss of his shining, blue gaze. “Is that so?” he asked in a low voice. “But what if that’s what I want to do?”
“What are you—”
“What if I don’t want to share you with anyone?” His lips pulled upwards at the corners, and his gaze seemed to darken the slightest amount. “What if I do want to monopolise you and keep you all to myself? Then what?”
12
* * *
DELILAH
Ipressed my lips together in a thin line.
How the hell was I supposed to respond to that?
I knew he was just playing along for the sake of the others, but that didn’t mean I was entirely immune to those words. The knowledge that it was all an act didn’t stop that little fizz of something in my stomach, nor did it negate the stir in my heart.
Of course, if anyone ever actually tried to do that to me, I’d smack them clean in the face and break their nose.
But I was only human.
And the thought that I could be so important, so treasured, so special to someone that they wanted to keep me only for themselves?
Phew.
That was a turn-on.
And how the hell was I supposed to cope when that little turn-on was delivered by Fred, of all people?
“Dinner is ready!” Aunt Vi announced from the doorway. “Come through, come through!”
That was another sign something was up.
None of the household staff were around.
This was a good ol’ fashioned family dinner.
Henry helped Nana to her feet and let her link her arm through his, while Mel followed up the rear. Fred stood up before me and offered me his hands, and I stared at them for a second.
“You don’t have to pretend now they’ve gone.” I scooted to the edge of the sofa cushions.
“This is practice,” he said dryly. “So you don’t look like you’re being fed to wolves every time I touch you.”
“Hardy-har-har,” I retorted, slapping my hands into his and letting him pull me to my feet. “Is this not weird to you?”
“A little.” He released my hands and scratched the back of his neck. “I’m glad you’re not big on displays of affection, or this would be really awkward.”
I snorted. “No kidding. Could you imagine if we had to act like your sister and Henry do?”
He visibly shuddered. “That’s too much, even for me, and it doesn’t usually bother me.”
“Well, it bothers me and will do so for the entirety of our marriage,” I said firmly. “So, let’s keep the affection to a minimum, yeah?”
“As you wish, my lady.”
“And don’t ever call me that again.”
“You’ll have to get used to it.” He glanced over at me. “That’s how the staff will refer to you when we’re married. You’ll formally be Lady Coventry, after all.”
“Yeah, I keep forgetting that part.” I tilted my head to one side. “That’ll be weird. I’ve known half the staff here since I was born.”
“They’ll just call you ‘my lady.’ Half of them already consider you my wife.”
Yes.
That had been another side effect of our relationship.
Discovering how many people were in this weird ‘FreDeli’ shipping club that had seemingly been going on for some ten or so years now.
On one hand, I wished that would die. On the other, I had no choice but to respect their dedication to the cause.
Even if I did feel a little guilty that our relationship was actually nothing but a bold-faced lie.
Gosh, they were going to be more heartbroken than us when we broke up.
Maybe this place needed to allocate some of the budget to stocking up on tissues and therapy sessions.
We walked into the formal dining room—my next clue as to the evening’s events—and Fred guided me to the chair to his right, next to the seat reserved for Granny with a little name tag.
This was usually her seat.
I never sat this close to the head of the table.
Were they even trying to hide the hell they were going to put me through tonight?
A spark of discomfort snaked its way down my spine, but I sat down. It was somewhat stiffly, but hey, sitting was sitting.
Aunt Vi’s famous turkey meatballs were brought out by her and Granny, and they both took their respective seats. Aunt Vi was directly opposite me as the current lady of the house, and Granny was next to me, despite being the previous lady of the house.
It was her way of saying she approved.
Not that it was a great surprise to anyone, of course.
Aunt Vi raised her wine glass and looked at me with a warm smile. “To family—both the one chosen for us and the one we choose for ourselves.”
I followed suit with everyone else and echoed the toast, then sipped uncomfortably.
She was one of the few who knew the truth, but that didn’t mean her words weren’t sincere. The Wellingtons and the Peters were bonded through generations of closeness, and even though our families had never been officially joined by marriage, that didn’t mean we weren’t family.