Page 57 of Earned Husband

“I would’ve loved it, but I’ve been informed that you’re not supposed to see some of what I brought. I thought it was just the groom who wasn’t supposed to see the bride in her dress before the wedding, but apparently, you’re not supposed to see my clothes for some of the engagement events either.”

Understanding spread across her features and she smiled. “My father already warned you, huh?”

I made my eyes comically wide as I nodded. “He was extremely thorough. I’m under strict instructions to comply with every custom and to let myself be guided by your family.”

Still smiling, she shook her head but didn’t counter her father’s instructions or offer to help again. We fell back into a comfortable silence for a minute, both of us just standing there, staring at each other while we tried to adapt to being in the same room again.

It was weird, but I’d spent an entire month imagining what it would feel like to see her again, and now that I was here, I was more certain than ever that I’d made the right decision. I still didn’t have a solid answer from her, though, and at this point, I needed to know if I was putting myself through all this for a reason—or if I should start preparing Basel for the merger to happen another way.

Lifting a hand to squeeze the muscles at my back of my neck, I finally just decided to take the leap. “So, we’re doing this?”

“Yeah.” She paused for only a fraction of a heartbeat before she nodded. “We are.”

“And you’re okay with it?” I asked quietly, not really sure if I would like her answer, but I needed to hear it anyway.

A slow smile appeared on her face, which wasn’t a verbal answer, but a rush of relief spread through me anyway. All the knots that had been tying me up for the entire month released all at once.

Before I could say anything, voices drifted down the hallway and Deja’s eyes widened.

“Oh no.”

I frowned. “What?”

“My aunts.” She hurried to the door, cracked it open, and immediately shut it again. “No. No, no, no, no, no.”

“Deja? What’s happening right now?”

“They’re coming this way.”

“Is that bad? You make them sound like a pack of velociraptors.” I’d read online that engaged couples weren’t supposed to spend time alone together, but I hadn’t really thought that meant we couldn’t be alone at all. Especially in this day and age.

But the look on Deja’s face made it seem like I’d just asked her if water was wet. “Colin.”

“What?”

“If they find me alone in your room, I’m dead.” Her eyes darted around until they landed on the French doors leading to the patio. They were open, letting in a warm breeze—and apparently, letting my fiancée out before we’d even had any real chance to talk. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

As she raced to the door, I sort of drifted along behind her, trying to understand but also just trying to get even a few more seconds with her. “Would it really be that bad if they found you here? It’s not like we’re doing anything inappropriate.”

She turned to shoot me a smile over her shoulder. “The very fact that we’re in the same room, unsupervised, is inappropriate. Think of it as the equivalent to your mom walking in on you naked with a girl in your room when you were about fifteen.”

I arched an eyebrow. “My mom was rarely at home when I was fifteen, but I get the point. It would be bad.”

“Yep. I’m sorry.” She paused for a moment at the doors, turning to look at me properly now. “My family is a lot. I know, but they’re just traditional.”

“How traditional?”

She shrugged and smiled again. “Not so traditional that we can’t go out to dinner like we planned.”

“Are you sure about that?”

She flinched. “No, but I’ll make it happen. Somehow.”

With one last smile, she stepped off the patio into a flowering shrub, but she didn’t get very far before her dress snagged on a branch.

“Crap.” She tugged at it a few times, blowing out a heavy, frustrated breath as she bent over. “Oh, come on.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “Need any help with your graceful exit?”