Page 29 of Married at Midnight

“Too dramatic. How about this alternative? As friends in the past, we met up again in Las Vegas. Talking all night, we realized we missed each other, and in the spur of the moment decided to get married.”

He laughed. “Most sane people would have only agreed to date, not get married.”

She looked down at the ring on her hand. “We’ve already proven we’re not exactly sane.”

“I suppose so.”

She offered a weak smile. “That we didn’t do things the usual way will be why we separate after only five weeks of marriage. We didn’t really know each other as well as we thought.”

“It’s close to the truth, and simple,” he agreed. His eyes turned serious. “What other things could people ask us that we need to be united on?”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Obviously about children, if we consider conversations we’ve already had with my mom and your grandmother.”

“Your mom asked you about children?”

“She assumed that’s why we got married.”

His smile returned. “Okay, then . . . I want lots. Maybe ten, or why not a full dozen?”

Ellie choked on her own breath. “Not in this lifetime! Two will be plenty since we both have careers. You wouldn’t expect me to give up my livelihood, would you?”

“Two is fine.” He laughed.

A weighted silence had slipped between them again by the time the waiter brought their food.

“What other questions might people ask?” Connor continued when they were alone.

“Where we’ll live? Where are we going on vacation this year since we didn’t have a honeymoon? Did I take your last name? And a million other annoying questions.”

He frowned. “That’s none of their business.”

She shrugged, digging into her beef sukiyaki with a pair of chopsticks. “It doesn’t stop them from asking.” Ellie knew, to the smallest detail, what her goals were in her professional life. She had short-term goals when it came to her Birthday Project. Yearly success goals. A five-year plan. In her personal life she had nothing, and she hadn’t for a very long time.

“I say we just tell them to back off. Both of us refusing to talk about our plans can only work in our favor. It tells people without saying anything that we haven’t thought our relationship through.” He took a long sip of his beer before setting the mug down with a satisfied thump.

“Another way to get them not to even ask questions is to show them we know exactly what we want,” he said.

“What exactly do we want?”

“Each other,” he said with a smile that left her feeling slightly off balance. He pushed back his chair, abandoning his teriyaki beef steak, and headed toward the stage. Her heart nearly froze in her chest when, after consulting the technician at the electronics, Connor took the microphone.

“Before I start, I’d like to dedicate this song to my wife, Ellie. Thanks for the sheet music. It says it all,” Connor said as the music queued.

The screen behind him filled with the words from Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The karaoke words were displayed in big, bold letters, but Connor didn’t look at the prompter or the screen, only at her. With total confidence and conviction, he sang a song about fools rushing in.

An older woman at the table beside her released a sigh, then turned to Ellie. “Hang on to that one, dearie.”

What was he doing? They didn’t need to put on an act for people they didn’t know. But deep inside, a part of her she was unable to deny or control unfurled and started to melt.

Which was precisely the effect he’d intended.

Several other people at tables around her cast appreciative glances that said she was the luckiest person on earth. She had to admit, Connor was a catch—he was smart, successful, considerate, and determined to play his part. Which explained why he was onstage now. The show was only an act to impress everyone around them. So why was it working on her?

Connor sang about falling in love . . . with her.

An indescribable feeling of joy moved through her. God help her, she’d never felt this way before. Not even with Connor in the past. But was the lust and desire he stoked with a simple song worth the pain that would follow when they called it quits?

Could she risk everything, her heart, and definitely her sanity, by allowing the intimacy they’d planned so many years ago?