Chapter 43

Kayla

I froze, looking at the stunned faces around the table. The cupcake was hovering halfway to my mouth, uneaten. Everyone at the table seemed to be looking at me like I’d just committed a sin for trying to eat my dessert.

Most of all, I caught sight of Nicholas out of the corner of my eye. He hadn’t even touched his cupcake yet. Instead, he was looking directly at me, one brow arched and his arms folded across his chest.

Was he waiting for me to feed him my cupcake? Judging me like the others? Silently wishing he’d picked someone more capable of acting to be his temporary wife?

With my cheeks burning, I set the cupcake down and turned to him. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

He shrugged, clearly unfazed, and waved one hand. “It’s just a silly little ritual. You don’t have to do it. I wasn’t even going to eat my cupcake.”

That was a relief, at least. For a moment, I considered taking a bite anyway and saying to hell with the ritual.

But as I glanced around the room, I realized it wasn’t going to be that simple. All the other couples were happily feeding each other their cupcakes, gently kissing frosting off of one another’s noses.

And meanwhile, the guests around our table were watching us expectantly.

“Aw, c’mon!” the woman who had just pointed out my mistake beamed. “It’ll be so cute!”

“Yeah, you should do it!”

“Don’t be shy!”

I averted my gaze, nervously twisting the napkin in my lap. When I finally dared to glance up again, my gaze snagged on the brunette from earlier. She was seated at a nearby table, watching me with a smug expression on her face.

Of course she was watching. Waiting like a vulture waits for roadkill to finally die so it can swoop in and feast.

My eyes darted back to Nicholas, silently pleading with him to just get it over with so we could move on. We couldn’t exactly afford to slip up right now, not with the guild breathing down our necks. He looked at me, then at the cupcake, then back at me again, and seemed to understand what I was implying.

With a quiet sigh, he finally picked up his cupcake. He turned it in his hands like he wasn’t sure what to do with it before holding it out in my direction.

I leaned forward, my cheeks warming ever so slightly under the scrutiny of so many watchful eyes. It wasn’t like this was the first public humiliation I had endured in my life, especially as of late, but that didn’t make it any easier.

My lips just barely brushed the frosting when Nicholas suddenly jerked the cupcake forward.

His attention had drifted—distracted by someone across the room that was calling his name—and the next thing I knew, frosting was smeared across my face in an unholy mess.

The laughter was immediate and deafening. The table erupted into howls of amusement, and even people from nearby tables turned to gawk at the spectacle. I was mortified. Utterly and wholly mortified.

“Oh, for the love of…” I grabbed my napkin, wiping at the sticky frosting that had ruined my makeup. And meanwhile, Nicholas didn’t even notice—he was on his feet, grinning and shaking hands with an old buddy, chatting as if he hadn’t just embarrassed me in front of everyone.

Somewhere behind the noise, I heard the brunette’s lilting voice carry toward me. “He must not love her if he can’t feed her a cupcake…”

That was the final straw. My gaze darted around the room, landing briefly on the other couples who were still enjoying their sweet, romantic cupcake moment. Not a single crumb out of place, and certainly no major frosting fiascos.

I needed some air. And I needed to clean myself up before someone took a picture.

“Excuse me,” I muttered, not bothering to look at Nicholas. My chair scraped against the floor as I stood, the sound somehow louder than all the laughter. Nicholas turned, his eyes widening slightly, but I didn’t wait for his or anyone else’s reaction. I just needed to escape.

Without another word, I hurried away, searching for the bathroom. It felt like everyone’s gazes were on me as I wove through the sea of tables. And when I glanced over my shoulder, the brunette was still staring at me. She looked as smug as ever, no doubt reconsidering my lies from earlier.

Thankfully, the bathroom was mercifully empty. I dropped my napkin onto the marble counter and leaned over the sink, glaring at my reflection in the mirror. The frosting had ruined my makeup, sticky sugar coating my skin. But most of all, my face just looked red and angry.

“Of course,” I hissed under my breath, dabbing furiously at my face with water. I scrubbed as hard as I could, which only made my skin even redder. Once I was finished, I threw the napkin down on the counter with a huff.

The faucet squeaked as I turned it off, still muttering to myself. “Of course I would be the one who’s cursed to marry a playboy who can’t even feed me a damn cupcake without—”

At that moment, the sound of a toilet flushing cut me off, and my blood turned to ice. Slowly, I straightened, my eyes darting to the mirror. One of the stalls behind me creaked open, and out stepped the blonde from earlier—the one who had been with the brunette.

I dared to hope, for the barest moment, that she hadn’t heard me. But that was foolish of me.

Her expression was caught somewhere between amused and incredulous as she met my gaze in the mirror. “You made it out like you two were madly in love earlier. But you’re all talk, aren’t you?” she cooed, tilting her head like a cat toying with its prey.

I forced a laugh, but it came out strained. “I’m kidding,” I said, although I couldn’t fully hide the faint tremor in my voice. “We are in love.”

The blonde’s lips curved into a sly smile, but there was no warmth behind it. “Sure you are.” And before I could say anything else, she turned on her heel and sauntered out of the bathroom.

I exhaled sharply, gripping the edge of the counter. Great. Now I would have to deal with whatever story she decided to spin about that little overheard moment. There was no doubt in my mind that Nicholas’s ex-fling would hear about this and use it to her advantage.

After one last glance in the mirror to ensure I didn’t look like a complete disaster, I squared my shoulders and stepped out into the hallway to search for Nicholas and tell him what had happened. I planned on giving him an earful, too.

Thankfully, the laughter from the banquet hall had died down, replaced by the sound of a slow song that the band was playing. I took a deep breath and rounded the corner, hoping my little debacle had been forgotten already.

To my surprise, Nicholas was waiting for me in the hallway when I turned. He was leaning casually against the wall, his hands tucked into his pockets, and whistling quietly to the tune of the song playing. I grit my teeth, freezing for a moment, before striding quickly toward him.

“Nicholas, you’re such a—”

When he heard the click of my heels approaching, he pushed away from the wall and held one hand out to me.

“Let’s dance,” he said softly, taking my hand before I could protest.