Page 12 of His Arranged Plus-Size Mate

Marie turned, a skip in her step as she walked away. I turned to Asher. “I didn’t know you did photography.”

He shrugged. “I don’t talk about it much.”

“And the photo at home, are those yours?”

He nodded. “I travel a lot.”

“Oh, Asher!” We both turned as Chelsey spoke up from across the room near the storage room. “Can I have you look at something for me quickly?”

“Of course.” Asher slipped past me and headed toward Cheley. Chelsey gave me a smile. “Hazel, do you want to run and grab our lunch order across the street? It should be ready to pick up.”

I nodded, deciding leaving to clear my head was a good idea. I hurried and grabbed my jacket, slipping out the back door.

I shoved my hands into my pockets as the wind blew. I kept my head down low as I dropped the street and headed down the sidewalk toward the bakery.

I headed inside the bakery and waved at Lily, who was running the register. She had a line of people, so I decided to take a seat in the corner booth while she went through them.

I pulled my phone out and saw a string of texts from Gabriella. She asked how I was and whether I was enjoying the new space. I typed out a quick response and told her I would talk to her tonight so we could catch up.

I placed my phone down and glanced back at the register.

“I can’t believe she married him.” Someone whispered in the booth behind me.

I swallowed, feeling my body tense up.

“Asher! I mean, the man is smoking hot, and he married her. I mean, is he blind? He could bag any woman in this town. There are far hotter women than her here.”

I frowned, biting my lower lip. I felt my face growing hot with embarrassment. I took a slow breath in, and I could feel my leg starting to bounce.

“I heard that it’s arranged. He didn’t even want to marry her. He only did it because he was ordered to. How sad is that? Being told to marry someone.”

“Well, I mean, she’s an overweight witch with no powers. Did anyone think he would do it willingly?”

I looked over toward Lily, and she smiled, pointing to some bags. I pulled myself out of the booth quickly and hurried to the register. I grabbed the food and thanked her, practically running out of the bakery.

I already knew how we looked. Asher was a fit, hot man who could marry any woman he wanted, and I was nobody who weighed more than she should. I knew exactly how we looked together.

I arrived back at the center and found Asher sitting in a swivel chair with Sophia and Whitney sitting with him. They were laughing at something he said, and I watched the way they batted at his arm. My stomach twisted up knowing he could have someone better. But he was stuck with me.

Sophia spotted me and smiled. “Hazel! Oh, and you’re back with the food. Yay!”

“Asher, you have to stay and eat with us.” Whitney quickly added as she got herself up.

Asher looked at me, and I knew he was waiting for me to say something. I nodded. “We have tons of food.”

I brought the food into the small kitchen. Asher stood in the doorway as everyone started grabbing food. Chelsey stopped next to him and said something that made Asher laugh. I realized that everyone was comfortable with him, joking and finding it easy to talk to him. Everyone but me.

“Here,” Jill handed me a sandwich. “Asher, do you like beef or turkey? We always get extra in case someone needs more or has to work late.”

“Beef.” He walked over, stopping next to me as he took the sandwich. “Thanks.”

“So, what are you doing today?” Chelsey asked as she took a seat at the small table we had. Marie and Jill took their sandwiches out since they were having the second lunch shift in case a patient came in.

“I’m just getting out and checking in on a few things that Brandon asked me to. Dropped off a drive for Marie with some photos on it.”

“Oh, did she get the photos back? She has been going on and on about them.”

“They turned out really well.”