"I love you, Liv. You haven't changed. So that hasn't changed. Got it?"
I nodded and eased back, legs still stretched across him as I reclined against the corner of the sofa.
"It's still on, then?" I said. "We're getting married?"
He laughed. "Did you think you could get out of it that easily? You're stuck with me. This is just a bump in the road. It'll go away soon enough."
"It better be very soon," I said. "Only a month until the wedding."
He dipped his chin in something that could be taken as a nod.
"We are getting marr
ied next month, right?" I said.
"We'll..." He stretched his arm around me, gathering me in. "We can talk about that later. For now--"
I shrugged out from under his arm and swung my legs off him. "We are getting married next month, right?"
"We're getting married. Absolutely. The timing may need to change, but that's a conversation for tomorrow. Right now, we need to get you out of Chicago."
"Out of Chicago?"
"Of course." He straightened. "This is going to be an absolute media nightmare. Do you remember those reporters hanging out at the dinner tonight? And did you see the ones at the end of the driveway? You need to go someplace safe. Get away from these vultures."
"For my sake? Or yours?"
"For you, of course. To protect you."
"But I can handle it. You know I can handle it. The question is: can you?"
He looked away, shaking his head, saying something about how I shouldn't need to handle it. But all I noticed was how fast he'd looked away.
"You're postponing the wedding," I said.
"I've been advised--"
"You've been what?" I scrambled to my feet. "You've talked to someone about this before me?"
He stood, began to pace. "Neil called when I was trying to get in touch with you. He advised me to postpone the wedding and, honestly, I agree. Can you imagine what kind of circus it would be?"
"You mean what kind of senatorial-dream-killing circus it would be."
His expression hardened. "No, Olivia," he said, barely opening his jaw enough to get the words out. "I'm thinking of you. Of the kind of wedding you deserve--"
"Deserve? Hell, I don't even want a wedding. I'll settle for a justice of the peace. Or Vegas. Let's fly to Vegas and get married."
He hesitated. For a second, I thought he was going to say, Yes, let's do it. Then his face went still, eyes clouding and he reached for me, ignoring my struggles as he pulled me into a hug.
"I love you, Olivia. And I wish we could get married right now. Tonight. But your mother--"
"Which mother?"
The flash of anger again. "Don't pull that, Liv. You know what I mean. I'm not going to start our marriage by upsetting your mother and doing something you'll eventually regret. We're going to wait."
"Until when?"
"I don't know. I have to--"