Page 159 of Clinically Delicious

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Chapter Twenty-Nine

Cate

Don’t talk.

Just don’t talk.

Sit quietly. Look supportive. Be the perfect wife.

You can do this.

You HAVE to do this.

I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, giving myself what had to be the thousandth pep talk of the morning.

The woman staring back at me looked... subdued. Professional. Like someone who had never told a social worker about her recurring ninja dreams or compared a custody battle to a soufflé.

Gabriel had helped me pick out an outfit last night, a navy-blue dress that hit just below my knees, conservative but not frumpy. Pearl earrings that had belonged to my grandmother. My hair pulled back in a low bun, not a single strand out of place.

I looked like someone who had their life together.

Fake it till you make it, right?

Except you’re already faking a marriage, so really you’re faking-faking it, which is... confusing.

Stop. Focus.

“Cate?” Gabriel’s voice came from the bedroom. “We need to leave in ten minutes.”

“Coming!”

I took one last look in the mirror, smoothing down the dress even though it didn’t need smoothing.

You will not ramble. You will not spiral. You will sit quietly and let Anthony do his job. You will be calm, collected, and completely silent.

Silent as the grave.

Okay, that’s morbid. Stop thinking about graves.

Just... don’t talk.

I walked into the bedroom where Gabriel was adjusting his tie in front of the dresser mirror. He was wearing a charcoal suit that made him look like he’d stepped out of a magazine spread titled “Surgeons Who Could Also Model.”

Focus, Cate. This is not the time to think about how good he looks in a suit. Or how good he looks out of a suit.

STOP.

He turned when he heard me, his eyes doing a quick sweep from my face to my shoes and back again.

“You look perfect,” he said quietly.

“I look terrified.”

“That too.” His mouth curved slightly. “But perfect.”

He crossed to me, his hands settling on my shoulders. “Cate. Listen to me.”

I looked up at him, trying to ignore the way my heart was trying to escape through my ribcage.

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