I enjoyed Tessa’s company, so having a day touring New York sights wasn’t going to be weird. But the night-time arrangements could be. I got us a room that had a hideaway bed in case she was uncomfortable, although she’d have to get used to sharing a room with me once we got home. This wouldn’t work if Maisie told people we slept in different rooms. Even so, I was going to do whatever Tessa needed to feel safe and comfortable.
I opened the door to the lavish suite and watched her as she took in the setting.
“Wow, Dylan … this is …” Her eyes scanned everything from the large windows overlooking New York City to the flowers filling the room with a sweet scent, although not as sweet as hers. “So much. Too much. I get why we need to pretend to have a honeymoon, but no one is going to see us, right? We don’t need all this.”
“Have you ever stayed in a place like this? Been pampered? Had food from a world-renowned chef? Drank expensive champagne?” I took off my coat and tossed it on a chair as I made my way to the champagne.
“No.”
“Is it something you’d like to try?”
She bit her lip as her eyes gleamed. “Well, sure, but—”
“I owe you this. I know this is awkward and difficult. I don’t like the deception much either. This is something I can do to make it fun. We may not have a real honeymoon, but we’re friends, right?”
I hoped I hadn’t fucked that up with this nutty scheme.
“Yes, of course.”
“Then let’s be two friends who live it up in New York for a night.” I popped the cork on the champagne. “If the hotel did what I asked, there are a couple more bottles in the fridge.”
“It must be costing you a fortune.” She approached me, and I felt relieved that she was accepting this.
“I have money. A lot of it, actually. Maybe not like Papa Leo—”
“Oh God, don’t even say that name.” She made a distasteful face.
I smiled because it felt so fucking good to have someone who understood how hard it was to hear Maisie call another man papa. “The point is, I have the money.”
“Even for my school? Because I was thinking that maybe it would be better if I took the year off and was an at-home stepmom. It would help your case—”
Emotion washed through me at her words. That she’d be willing to put her dream aside for me. “You’re amazing, Tessa.”
She shrugged. “It was going to be hard to afford anyway. I’d already accepted that I wouldn’t be able to finish.”
“But you will finish. I have the money. More than enough. Please, let me do that for you. Maisie will be in school when you are, so it won’t be any different than this year.”
“It feels like too much to ask.”
I laughed as I handed her a flute of champagne. “You’re kidding right? I asked you to give up your home to marry me just so I’d improve my case for custody. You’ve given way more than me.”
She looked down into the glass of champagne. “It doesn’t feel like more.”
I watched her for a moment, wondering what she meant. How could it not feel like she’d given so much when she’d basically signed up to a fake marriage with a man who’d taken her virginity so carelessly?
“Trust me, Tessa. If this works, you’ll have saved my life. Maisie is everything.”
She smiled and held her glass up. “To Maisie.”
“To Maisie,” I clicked my glass with hers, and watched her drink the golden bubbly.
Her nose wriggled and her eyes glittered. “Wow, that’s really good.” She reached up and pulled a hair clip from her head and her hair fell around her shoulders. In an instant, I was filled with need and desire to run my fingers through it. A part of me wished we could include the more intimate bits of marriage in this situation, but that was asking too much. I couldn’t touch her when I knew I couldn’t give her what she needed emotionally. Instead, I downed my champagne and poured more. Hopefully it would cool my jets and we’d get through the honeymoon still as friends.
15
Tessa
I wasn’t a woman who needed a champagne life, as it appeared Veronica was. But I couldn’t deny this honeymoon, fake as it was, was nice. The food Dylan had brought up through room service was the best I could remember ever tasting. The champagne was amazing. The room was lush and rich-looking. The view of the city with the lights twinkling was beautiful. Growing up in Brooklyn, I’d spent plenty of time in Manhattan, but never in the lap of luxury.
I’d known Dylan had money, but I hadn’t thought he had money like this. Or that he’d spend it. I wouldn’t say he was a miser, but he was frugal. I suspected Maisie’s college education was already fully-funded. I hoped he wasn’t tapping into that to help me.
“You okay?” Dylan asked me. We’d moved the couch over to the window, turned the lights off in the room, and then looked over the city lights.
“You keep asking how I am,” I said, finishing the last bit of champagne from my third … or was it fourth glass? I was feeling the buzz, but felt completely in control. It was the level of tipsy where I felt warm and content, but not silly.
“This is a lot to ask, and I know it’s a bit awkward,” he replied with the same reasoning he’d been using all night. It was a bit awkward, but I was beginning to think he was projecting his own feelings on me. I wasn’t that weirded out, but maybe he was.
Maybe he was worried I’d tell him I liked him again. “Would it have been less awkward if we hadn’t slept together? I mean, I know it wasn’t that good for you and maybe you’re worried now—” Okay, so maybe
