more comfortable.”
I’d picked out a pantsuit that bore a similarity to my dress to wear to our wedding reception. Thankfully, everything was in the same building as the staff worked frantically to open the back portion of the room that was cordoned off by a wall of flowers. The beautiful space was a continuation of the wedding theme, but with food, wine, and a deejay who was playing a mix of upbeat dance tunes.
Arjen didn’t give a response, but I noticed one part pride, and another part something I couldn’t decipher when his curious gaze ran over me.
Was Arjen seducing me, or was I paranoid about being married?
7
Mecca
If Arjen didn’t think I saw the way he kept ogling me, he could think again. He was attracted, probably would take me to bed right now, if I allowed it. Handsome and well-built or not, my plan was to keep our marriage what it was, a business arrangement.
If he wanted more, he would have to earn it, and there was no easy way to earn me. I believe he read it in the way I kept fake-smiling at him that I didn’t plan on being the easy-going obeying type of wife he assumed he would get when he was set to marry my cousin. Little did he know, my cousin was no pushover either. Desiree may have been all goo-goo-eyed over Khane, but if he stepped out of line, she would give him a piece of her mind.
She walked up on cue, holding onto Khane’s hand. The two had been joined at the hip since they married. She let his hand go long enough for us to immerse each other in warm hugs and congratulations.
“I told you, Mecca. He can’t keep his eyes off you.” Desiree whispered in my ear before she released me. One side of my lip lifted while flashing her my signature side-eye.
Khane and Arjen were lured away by two older men that appeared to be talking business while Desiree kept nipping at my ear about Arjen.
“Don’t fight it, Mecca. If he wants to have a relationship, give it a chance.”
My cousin believed in romance, and worse, love. She believed there was a special someone for everyone. She had found hers, so she wanted the same for me. As far as I knew, lightning didn’t strike twice in the same place, and fate was a stingy, stuck up bitch that wasn’t keen on issuing out double doses of happiness. However, I enjoyed seeing Desiree smile, so I nodded and rolled my eyes playfully.
“Okay, I won’t fight it.” It wasn’t a total lie since there was a nagging touch of curiosity lingering in the back of my mind of what if. Besides, I doubt anything we did would equate to a romantic relationship.
Patrena walked up and like Desiree, went right to my ear.
“I saw that kiss, and I see where his eyes keep going,” she said, holding our hug so she could tease me about Arjen. I gave her a playful elbow jab that she ignored to keep me linked to the teasing session she was giving me.
We three stood in our huddle talking about of all things, our next spa date. We had found a new spot since Desiree and Patrena had watched our old one get turned into Khane’s slaughterhouse.
In the middle of his conversation with someone, Arjen turned his attention in my direction. His lips were moving, talking to the man in front of him, but his eyes were glued on me. I turned away, no longer interested in playing his seduction game.
An hour later, I had successfully avoided his game until it was time for us to make our grand departure. A chill raced up my back when he placed his hand there to escort me to the gleaming black Maybach waiting to take us home. The car was decorated with white and blue flowers and a cheesy sign in the back window that announced us as, Just Married.
The crowd cheered, and I offered them gracious smiles and dainty waves, not letting on that my husband’s hand sliding ever so slowly down to my lower back was having a strange effect on me that I couldn’t shake.
We silently sipped champagne in the back of the car on the drive home, the bubbles tickling my tongue and popping on the way down. I needed the bubbly to mellow me out and dilute my busy mind. I didn’t want to think. I wanted to get tipsy and sleep,