“Contract? You signed a contract with the Wedding Belles?”

Audrey groaned and tugged her hand away from his to cover her face with both palms. “I know. I know! I’ve officially lost all touch with reality and control of the situation.”

So have I. He sat back in his chair, tapping his fingers against the table. It didn’t even particularly bother him that they’d spent so much time, energy, and money on their charade. What bothered him was that the further along they got in this game of pretend, the less it was about the wedding, and he was starting to see all too clearly what it could be like after the wedding.

It was increasingly easy to imagine what that life with Audrey would be like.

“Hey,” Clarke said, waiting until she’d lowered her hands so he could see her face. “Did you mean it the other night at dinner? When you said you weren’t planning to get married?”

“Yes,” she said automatically. “If the past year and a half have taught me anything, it’s that while the idea of Prince Charming and happily ever after is pretty great, it’s hardly without risk. And when those things go wrong, they can go really wrong. The thrill of falling in love isn’t worth the risk of ending up on the wrong side of the divorce statistic, or worse, getting your heart shattered.”

Clarke’s brain was humming with protests. What if the marriage’s foundation was on something far more stable than any romantic love? What if it was founded on a lifelong friendship?

Clarke felt an idea forming, one of the better ideas he’d ever had.

He opened his mouth. “Audrey—”

“There’s the happy couple!”

Audrey and Clarke both turned toward the doorway, where a tall, wiry man wearing a mint-green bow tie sashayed over to them, hand outstretched.

“I am so sorry to make you wait,” he said, giving them both a handshake before sitting down at the table beside them. “We had a bit of a frosting emergency. Doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s all hands on deck. Now,” he said, opening an enormous binder, “I have your profile right here, and it says you haven’t yet narrowed down your cake flavors, which is good news for me, as it means we’ll get to sample all of them this afternoon…”

Audrey immediately leaned forward in excitement as Clarke slumped back slightly, tuning out as the exuberant employee droned on about ganache and raspberry coulis.

For the life of him, Clarke couldn’t figure out if he was relieved or disappointed that the man had interrupted what he’d been about to propose to his best friend.

Chapter Twelve

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29