The Troublemaker - Cathryn Fox Page 0,51
think it’s a good idea to throw an elaborate party, when you two are going to get your marriage…annulled?”
“No actually, I don’t.”
“That settles it then,” she says quickly, the smile on her face and the lift of her chin suggesting she’s very proud of herself. “There will be no annulment.”
I give her a look that suggests she might have just lost her mind. “I can’t stay married, just because I think a party for a ‘fake’ marriage is a bad idea.”
“Stay married because it’s what you want then,” Katee says and tugs on one of her daughter’s braids to play with her. “And enjoy the party. You both deserve that.”
“Wait, it’s not…” With all this coming at me fast, my thoughts begin to spin around in my already rattled brain. “I’m saying there shouldn’t be a party. I don’t even want one. But my parents are insisting. God knows they can’t have my sudden Vegas wedding look bad on them.” I frown and look down. “Cason was kind enough to agree.”
“You need this marriage because of your parents?” Nina asks gently.
“Fake marriage,” I correct. “Well, technically it’s real, and I’m not lying, but it feels like I am, you know.”
“You’re not lying. You guys really did get married,” Katee says. She grins. “And from the happy look on both yours and Cason’s face, it’s really agreeing with you.”
“We’ve been having fun, sure, but maybe what we’re doing is wrong—”
“Marriage is never wrong when two people care for each other, Kinsley. You guys just jumped into it sooner rather than later,” Nina says, and Katee nods in agreement.
“Wait, what.” My hair hits my face as I shake my head so hard, I nearly give myself a concussion. “No, you guys have it all wrong. This isn’t something we planned to do later. It was a mistake. Like a colossal mistake.”
God, I wish it wasn’t.
I lift my head when I hear a noise and spot Cason coming into the kitchen. He puts on a smile but there’s a sag in his shoulders that doesn’t go unnoticed by me. Did he just hear me say marriage isn’t something we planned to do later? That it was a colossal mistake? If so, why would that make him sad? He’s told me where he stands, agreed that it was a mistake, just like him falling into my bed that night was a mistake. He thought he was sleeping with Emily for God’s sake.
“You’re back early. What’s the matter?” Nina asks. “Alyssa putting you guys all to shame?”
“Funny, Neaner-Nearner.” He casts me a quick glance. “The flies are starting to get bad and we’re low on bug spray. I volunteered to come back and get it. Cole said you guys have some,” he says and looks at Nina.
“Then what are you doing over here?” she asks with a smug grin. “Why aren’t you at my house getting it?” She winks at him. “Oh, wait, I know why. You came back here for a quickie.”
He rolls his eyes at his sister, but it lightens the tension inside me. “First, you’re here, aren’t you? Maybe I checked your place and couldn’t find you. Second, I am not talking about my sex life with my little sister, or anyone else.”
“Come on Katee, I think that’s our cue to exit.” They both stand up, and Cason gives little Khloe’s fingers a kiss as she reaches for him. It’s so goddamn adorable, air seizes in my lungs, and love fills my heart. “Come and get it when you’re done doing whatever it is you’re over here for.”
“Go,” Cason says, his gaze trained on me.
She blinks, and teasing like the younger sister she is, she says, “So I’ll see you in about five minutes then?”
He shakes his head and Nina and Katee’s laughter follow them out the door. Once we’re alone, I say, “Did you check her place?”
“No.”
“So, the quickie—” I say, reminding myself that maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up, that maybe this is all about tacos and sex. God, what am I saying? It has to be. If it meant more, he’d want to introduce me to his parents, right?
“I wasn’t coming here for a quickie. I mean it’s not that I don’t want one, or want to be inside you every chance I get, but I just wanted to see you, make sure you got enough sleep after me keeping you up all night, and to make sure your morning was going well.”
My heart leaps in my chest.