Delta had texted the following day to say that she was okay with Jordan, which was tantamount to a blessing from her best friend. Delta had promised to give Jordan a far easier time on the hen weekend, which had made Abby sigh. Weren’t all the hens meant to make an effort to play super-nice and do everything Abby wanted? Or perhaps that was just a facade, too. Just like her relationship with Marcus’s parents. She was grateful to Jordan for coming in and taking over, but she couldn’t help but think it wasn’t going to fix anything in the long run, was it? She was still going to be Marcus’s wife. His parents were going to have to pretend to like her for years to come.

Marcus’s wife.

Abby shivered. Was that the reaction she was meant to be having, fewer than two weeks away from the big day? Perhaps these were the wedding jitters everybody spoke about.

That was probably it.

She wished she could share her reservations with someone, but she didn’t know who.

She’d kept herself occupied with work. Her mum was taken up being the head of her department. Delta was too wrapped up in herself. And Marcus? He was too busy running around trying to keep everyone happy.

No, this was something Abby had to deal with herself.

What would Jordan say if she knew? Maybe she should talk to her. She must have seen it before. She’d probably have the right thing to tell Abby.

She took a deep breath, pushing the thoughts from her mind. As she did, the scents of the bridal shop wafted into her nostrils. She glanced around, trying to find where it was coming from. Some kind of diffuser? One of those plug-in types? Whatever, it smelled a little chemical-laden. Like the relaxation it was trying to promote was too contrived.

A little like most things wedding-related, as Abby had come to realise ever since she’d said yes to Marcus six months ago.

Was it weird that since that time, they’d had sex twice? Not at all in the past three months? They didn’t live together, so it wasn’t something they could do before work, or have a quickie on the sofa after a chicken-and-mushroom stir-fry.

Since he’d proposed, it was like her body had gone into shutdown. She hadn’t even pleasured herself much. She’d gone into survival mode, only doing the basics. Eat. Sleep. Drink. Work. Survive.

In fact, the only time her body had sprung to life was when she’d met Jordan.

But she was trying to ignore that.

Jordan’s presence made her feel wonky. Skittish. Off-kilter.

Which was ridiculous.

She wasn’t attracted to women.

Most of the time.