"I'll pay your rent."
"For the love of—"
She closed her eyes and mouth in obvious frustration and told him what he could do with his offer to cover her rent without saying a word.
"What do you want, Isabel? You didn't find me abhorrent in Vegas, so what's stopping you from exploring this opportunity now?"
Everett watched as she bit her lip again and worried it between her teeth until the flesh turned white. He forced his gaze off the succulent treat and back to her beautiful gray eyes.
"You're not abhorrent. But all of this is just… We'd be crazy to think for even a moment that aprankcould turn into something more."
"What if our mistake wasn't a mistake but fate stepping in?"
She opened her mouth to reply but then closed it without speaking. He wished he could delve into her thoughts. Read her mind and get insight into whatever it was holding her back. Isabel didn’t strike him as a woman reined in by her fears.
"You aren’t the type of man who believes in fate," she said finally.
He wasn't. But there was something different and unique about this situation that he couldn't put a finger on. There was more at work here than happenstance.
"Everett, what would people think?"
"The woman I met in Las Vegas wasn't afraid of what people might think."
She shot him a side look from beneath her lashes.
"She was drunk."
"No, she wasn’t. Neither of us were and you know it."
Her eyes widened. "You're saying subconsciously weknewthat was a fake chapel and did it anyway?"
He chuckled at her horror and shook his head. "I wouldn't go as far as that. I'm simply saying...I've come to realize certain things happen in life whether we're prepared for them or not. Call it what you like, but what if our walking into the wrong chapel is part of our story?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if it hadn't happened, we would've gone our separate ways, slipped back into our lives, and I wouldn't be here now. But it did. And I am," he stated firmly, dipping his head to force her to hold his gaze when she started to look away. "And that crazy story of how we accidentally got married can be the thing we tell people later because it worked out.”
“We don’t know that it would.”
“We don’t know that it won’t. We get to decide how to proceed with the chance we've been given. And the effort we put into making it work."
A spark of hope bloomed inside of him when she seemed to give his statement intense thought. "Isabel—"
"It's just Izzy,” she said with a small shake of her head. “Everyone calls me Izzy."
"Isabel," he said softly again, stroking a hand over her cheek and using his touch to gently lift her face toward his. "I'm not asking for blind devotion. We can take it slow. Just…spend time with me."
"You mean while you're here, u-until we know whether or not I'm pregnant?"
She appeared to think that was a more reasonable request, and since he'd pushed her enough for the day, he knew to take it for a win. "That's a start," he said, refusing to commit to anything short-term when long term was his goal.
"I suppose...I suppose it wouldn't hurt, but my family will get the wrong idea. Then when you leave, I'll be the one dealing with all of the questions after you're gone."
He pondered that for a moment and understood her concern. Though in his case, he couldn't imagine anyone caring enough to question him about his feelings for her. Yet another difference in her family and his. "We'll be as discreet as we can for now."
She shook her head and shot him a frown.
"What?" he asked.