His eyes sparked. “I like it when you call me that.”
Her face flushed. “Husband? Why?”
“I find it suits me to be your husband,” he answered, leaning over the table to get a better look into her eyes. “Does that shock you as much as my love for candy corn?”
“Pretty much,” she answered with a laugh. How Alice could laugh about such a heartfelt line, she didn’t know, but she suspected it had something to do with her husband. Cooper put her at ease in a way that she just hadn’t thought possible. Not with the life she had led.
They devoured the dip appetizer before moving on to their main course. Cooper had picked a wine to be paired with each course, and when Ocho the imp came to clear away the tortellini plates, he held out his hands. “Gimme, gimme,” he said, moving his fingers in expectation.
“But,” Cooper argued, pulling out a brown paper bag from his back pocket. “These are mine! Do you think we can share?”
“Cooper,” Alice giggled. “You can get more, and unless I’m losing my mind, there is a dessert coming our way.”
Thrice, another imp, was scampering forward with a domed silver tray in his taloned hands. The imp’s movements weren’t very steady, and Alice was scared that he would trip and fall, but in the end, the imp laid the dessert on the table. To no one’s surprise, Thrice held out his hands for a tip.
Cooper sighed dramatically and emptied the whole of the bag into Thrice’s hands, holding back one piece of candy corn, which he popped into his mouth. This made Alice laugh, but Ocho and Thrice exchanged an angry look before disappearing through the service door.
“To be fair, I’ve already given them so much candy to be the waiters for this. I didn’t realize that the tip wasn’t included.”
“You should’ve known. Always read the fine print with imps. Those creatures are ruthless,” Alice laughed along with him. “Now, can I see what the heck you ordered for dessert? I’m dying to know.”
Cooper beamed at her with pride and excitement. He slowly lifted up the dome to reveal a small wedding cake. The fondant was bright white with edible sparkles making the whole thing shine under the ballroom’s kind lights.
Alice blinked back tears. On the very top of the tiny three layers was a small bride and groom that looked every bit like them. The wordsTill Safety Do Us Partwere scripted onto it, and though it could have made her very sad, Alice actually laughed. “Clever,” she pointed out.
“Well, if we turn the cake this way …” He turned it until the writing was hidden. “We can take a picture of us doing the whole cake-cutting thing for pictures.”
This took her by surprise. Was the gesture not meant to be a sweet thing a husband did for his wife? Was it all for show? For their dangerous charade?
“Oh,” she felt herself deflate, and Cooper noticed.
“We need to take some pictures,” he explained when Thrice returned with a camera, apparently under pre-agreed upon command.
“Why?” she asked, but soon, his words sank in. “We need to have some kind of picture from our wedding day or at least our honeymoon.”
Cooper nodded as his cheeks turned red. “Yeah, I’m sorry about this, Alice.”
She waved him off. “Why should you apologize? You’re right; we do need these pictures. I should’ve thought of it before.”
He smiled softly at her. “John was pretty adamant that he needed to have pictures to sell this to the people, but don’t worry. We don’t have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
Alice gulped. There was something she wanted to ask, and it was on the tip of her tongue to ask him, but instead of asking, she took a deep breath and reached over the table to place her hand on his. “You think of everything, and I am very grateful for that. I do feel somewhat safe with you, Cooper.”
His smile widened. “Somewhatsafe? I’ll take that. Maybe one day I can move that needle fromsomewhattodefinitely.”
“Careful,” she whispered. “We don’t know how long we’ll actually be married.”
His face darkened. “We’ll see, won’t we? That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun or enjoy ourselves until that day comes. But let the record show that I will not look forward to the day I have to divorce you.”
She gasped, and before she could stop herself, she reached for his hand again. “Cooper,” her whisper was full of emotion that she didn’t know how to express. It would be too scary to even try; it opened her up to all kinds of hurt.
Suddenly, Portia burst through the door, interrupting them with such intensity Alice nearly fell out of her chair.
TEN
ALICE
Though Portia’s rush entrance might have suggested that she was in a hurry, her pace slowed the second she made her entrance. Alice was sure that she and Cooper made an interesting sight, sitting there together, heads bowed down together in a hushed and intimate conversation.