by Reese Ryan
“Everything okay?”
A soft whisper of breath caressed her ear as Galen leaned close to her.
“Just peachy,” she said with a bright smile that she was far from feeling.
His eyes met hers and he stared at her a moment before his face broke into a smile that literally stole the breath from her lungs. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before letting go. She was going to have to be careful around this guy, she told herself as she composed her features and faced the celebrant.
The service was simple. She’d have liked to have said it was honest but she was here under false pretenses. It gave her a moment’s pause when she considered that what she planned to do would not only affect the man she was marrying, but also the little girl, who looked up at him with trust and adoration. Well, she just wouldn’t let anyone, herself included, become too attached; that was all there was to it. And when her in-depth article exposing Alice Horvath for the manipulative and cruel woman she truly was hit the newsstands, no one would be hurt but the woman who’d destroyed Peyton’s father and, in turn, her entire family. Even the baby she’d been forced to give away.
Peyton blinked back the sudden burn in her eyes. Show no weakness. That had been her mantra then and it remained her mantra now.
“Congratulations!” the celebrant announced with warmth and enthusiasm—as if this was a real wedding and as if they were planning a real future together. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Oh, no.
Peyton froze as Galen took both her hands in his and leaned toward her. A sense of inevitability seeped through to her bones as she instinctively closed the final gap between them and allowed his lips to brush hers. Except it was more than a brush—it was an enticement. The gentle press of his mouth against hers sent her pulse thudding out of control, and when she parted her lips—to protest, she would tell herself later—he took advantage and tasted her with a practiced sweep of his tongue. She should have pulled back, she should have ended it, but she didn’t. Instead, like some sappy lovestruck teenager, she leaned even closer and kissed him back as if this was a real marriage and they’d been anticipating this moment for months.
When he withdrew she felt oddly bereft, even shaken. She looked up at him and saw the same kind of expression reflected back at her and instantly knew keeping Galen Horvath—her husband—at arm’s length was going to prove a great deal more challenging than she’d hoped.
“Yay, we’re a family!” Ellie said excitedly as she wrapped her skinny little arms around them both and gave them a big squeeze. “Nothing bad can happen now.”
“Nothing ba—” Peyton started.
“I’ll explain more later. Right now we have some celebrating to do.”
And they did. They took photos with their guests, including a few of her friends from college she’d kept in touch with. The Horvaths had been suitably sympathetic when she’d explained that her mother had died when she was a child and her father was unable to make it for the wedding.
After they were done with the formal photos, they toasted and ate and danced and toasted some more. And with every step perfectly in tune with her new partner, Peyton kept a smile on her face and acted as if this was exactly what she’d wanted all her life.
When the lights dimmed in the reception room and the music slowed to a dreamy romantic number, Galen took her back into his arms and led her out onto the dance floor.
“Don’t you ever get tired?” Peyton teased. “You haven’t been allowed to sit down yet.”
He flashed a brief grin at her before his expression grew more serious. “I wanted to let you know what was behind Ellie’s statement earlier.”
“Do tell,” she encouraged when Galen fell silent.
If she wasn’t mistaken, a shimmer of moisture appeared in his eyes. He tilted his head back slightly and blinked hard before meeting her gaze again. Then he drew a deep breath and his words came in a rush.
“Ellie’s my ward. Her parents died in a car crash at the beginning of the year. They were my best friends.”
Galen’s voice cracked and Peyton was instantly flooded with compassion. She knew what it felt like to have your world ripped apart unexpectedly. But to lose both parents at the same time? That was almost too awful to contemplate. She waited, not wanting to fill the new silence between them with platitudes.
After a couple of minutes he continued. “I think she’s done really well coping with her loss. Often, she’s coped better than me. She’s had grief counseling and we haven’t made any changes to her lifestyle that she wasn’t ready to make. In fact, it was her idea I buy a house in her old neighborhood for us both to live in. She said being at her old family home made her too sad.”
“So you did that?”
“Well, it’s a work in progress. For now we’re staying here in my apartment at the hotel. I hope you can help us choose our home together.”
“Our home together. Right. That’s a big thing to ask when we’ve only just met, don’t you think?”
He nodded. “True, but if we’re going to make our marriage work properly, we need to be living under the same roof, right?” When she didn’t answer, he continued. “Anyway, I thought Ellie and I were doing okay but she blindsided me one day. I found her crying in her room and when I managed to get to the root of the problem it floored me. It wasn’t something I could just throw money at, or tease a smile out of, or distract away.”
“What was it?” she prompted.
“She told me she was terrified about what would happen if I died like her mom and dad. If one day she was completely alone.” He drew in a deep breath and looked around the room at the revelers. His voice was low and intense when he spoke again. “I knew then that I needed to get married, to find a wife who wanted to share Ellie’s life with me. To help her feel secure and loved and needed, the way her parents did. I want to be totally honest with you, Peyton. This marriage didn’t start out in a traditional sense, but I’d like to think we can work together to achieve that eventually. We’ve both come to Match Made in Marriage with the same goal. Finding a life partner. I’m being clear and up-front about my reasons for needing to find a wife. Right now Ellie is the most important person in my world, and I will do whatever I can to make her happy. I need to know you’ll commit to that, too.”
Copyright © 2019 by Dolce Vita Trust
ISBN-13: 9781488046506
Engaging the Enemy
Copyright © 2019 by Roxanne Ravenel
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