Stefanie lifted her tea both to buy time and to wet her parched throat before admitting, “A few times.”
“I am going to say something very unpopular.”
“Chase and Zach beat you to it,” Stef grumbled.
“I like you two together.”
Not what Stef was expecting to hear. Pen drew a hard line when it came to her clients, and she could be as bullheaded as Zach when it came to doing things her way.
“He’s always watched you. I didn’t think of it before, but now that I’m in the family and I’ve seen him at a few family functions...” Pen nodded as if envisioning one such function now. “Emmett stays in your orbit.”
She sent Penelope an unsure smile. The idea that Stef was newly attracted to Emmett made sense—they’d never spent time together unchaperoned until recently. But what about those times he’d lurked in her periphery, or stepped into her line of vision to scowl...
“I guess I always assumed he was in Chase’s orbit.”
“Yes, but I think that has to do with you. He knows that staying close to the Fergusons comes with the perk of being close to you.”
He’d certainly stayed close by lately. They’d slept in the same bed, had slept together, had shared meals and breakfast and had even given Oscar, the cat, a bath after he darted out the front door and straight into a slushy mud puddle.
But for how long? She’d married him with the stipulation that he could walk away. She doubted he would remain in a marriage that was for show. If he couldn’t make it work with the buxom brunette Sunday, who he easily stayed friends with, Stef wasn’t sure she and Emmett had a chance. They’d never been friends.
“I doubt he’s the forever type, so don’t get your hopes up,” she told her sister-in-law.
Pen let out a pfft sound of disagreement and rested her cup and saucer on the glass coffee table.
“What was that for?”
“You are the one who personally pulled Zach’s head out of his ass when he and I split. How can you say Emmett has no hope?”
“That’s different. Zach’s so obviously in love with you.”
“And I’m in love with him.” Pen’s smile was gooey before vanishing altogether. “Are you in love with Emmett?”
“What? No! How?” Penelope wisely remained silent but Stefanie kept protesting. “I can’t be in love with him. We’ve only been married for thirty-two hours.”
“Yes, but you’ve known him for years.”
“You’re making no sense.” Stef swept aside the conversation with one hand. For one, it was making her uncomfortable, and two, it was...making her uncomfortable. “Advise me how to behave in public with him. That’s what I want to know. That’s all I want to know.”
She didn’t want to entertain an idea that her heart might follow where her body led—that she might stumble and fall into a big pile of “I love you.” She knew how this ended—Emmett and Stef had constructed the end from the beginning.
But Pen wasn’t convinced. “Mmm-hmm.”
Well, Stefanie didn’t need to convince her. She didn’t need to convince anyone of anything. And she certainly didn’t need to entertain the notion that happily-ever-after was in store for her and Emmett.
It wasn’t.
It was as simple as that.