“There is no such thing as too sweet,” he said, popping a fresh strawberry into his mouth. “That’s why I didn’t mind marrying you.” Cooper could’ve totally chosen to regret the words he used, but he enjoyed the way Alice looked away and blushed. That had to be a good sign, right?
“As adorably as this exchange is, I would like to remind you both that when you’re out there, on the resort, you need to be a bit more convincing that you’re in love.”
“Not every couple fawns over each other with PDA,” Alice argued.
“Maybe not,” Cooper cut in. “But I do kinda get what Portia means. Your enemies need to see this as real and true, but who are they going to believe if we’re never seen together? If we never flirt or kiss?”
“Oh,” Portia giggled and clapped her hands together. “Yes, I’m so happy that you’re on my side, Cooper. This is just what I was going to say.”
“So youdidn’torder this breakfast to push us together?” Alice asked.
Portia shook her head, waving off Alice’s words. “No, no. Something much simpler than that. Now, the staff knows that a very large breakfast was sent to the bridal suite. You’re a shifter, Cooper. No doubt that you would need a whole lot of food to replenish your energy after your wedding night.”
Alice rushed to the table and shoved half a piece of toast in her mouth, but Cooper noticed the blush on her cheeks. Just like him, she was overcome with thoughts of what their honeymoon night would be like. He was sure of it. Alice couldn’t meet his eyes, but she kept on shoving more food into her mouth to keep from being able to talk.
Portia was undeterred. “You two need to sell the lie,” she said resolutely, nodding her head along. “You just have to prance around the resort like the honeymooning couple that you are.”
“But why?” Cooper didn’t want to argue, but he wanted the reasons to be plainly stated in front of Alice. She had been through a whole lot in the last few days, and maybe she needed a little nudge in the right direction. After all, it was her life on the line, and he would do everything he could to keep his wife alive. Cooper didn’t give a fuck if they were only together on paper. She was a Dawson. She was his, and that meant something to him.
Cooper would love nothing more than to walk around the resort while holding Alice’s hand, but he thought that maybe his new wife wouldn’t like that as much as he would.
“You two need to do this because we just don’t know if the assassins have infiltrated the resort,” Portia said with a shrug.
Alice narrowed her eyes at the succubus. “I doubt you would even let that happen. Don’t lie to us, Portia. What is this really about?”
“You’ll go snorkeling, you’ll take pictures and bond. This can only be good for your marriage.”
Cooper thought that Portia’s choice of words was quite odd.This can only be good for your marriagedidn’t sound like they were trying to salvage a fake union but nurture a very real one.
“I don’t know if I like this.” Alice’s face made it pretty fucking clear that she didn’t want to go snorkeling with him at all. Cooper tried not to take offense to that, but he took a step toward her.
“What’s not to like? Snorkeling is fun, not to mention that swimming might just work wonders for my arm.” He dramatically rotated the arm that had recently healed. Though his scar couldn’t be seen in his T-shirt, he was sure that Alice could recall it perfectly, given that she had stitched him up and nursed him back to life.
“I have things to do,” she said. “Things that are important like, for example, finding who sent those assassins so I can stop them.”
Cooper shook his head. “The best way to deal with that right now is to pretend we are indeed in love and married. You got hitched to a dragon because it would give you protection. Well, here it is.” He opened his arms wide. “Protection.”
* * *
Cooper wasa little bit surprised that Alice had agreed to get on the sailboat with him. There was a cooler full of food, and they had all of the equipment they would need to make this day a success…those were Portia’s words. Though just what she was hoping would be successful was a mystery to Cooper. At least out on the water, it was easier for them to be themselves. At least, that was true for Alice.
She didn’t seem to be as reserved out on the water. She kept on turning her face toward the sun. With her eyes closed and a small smile, she looked as carefree as she could possibly be. He didn’t think that happened often enough for a lone witch on the run.
If anything, maybe this fake day of honeymoon activities would be a nice break for Alice. Maybe she would let her hair down enough to open up to him. Cooper had a plan, but he wasn’t exactly well-versed in all things romance. His experience left much to be desired, given that he usually only fucked around with women who knew he couldn’t give more than that.
“Do you enjoy being a lone witch?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the horizon, but really, from his peripheral, all he could see was Alice.
“I like it fine,” she replied.
“That didn’t sound like the truth,” he prodded. “Sounds like a repeated line you give to avoid a longer explanation.”
Alice nodded. “Well, look at you. You can see right through me, can’t you?”
“Hardly,” he chuckled. “You’re a hard woman to read. I know you don’t like being all alone, but you do have your reasons.”
She frowned. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because, though I might not know you as well as I would like, I get the sense that your principles are your guiding force in life.”