Page 211 of Love Unwritten

“Then why are you nervous?”

“Because I want to trust you, but—”

“But?”

“You may want to tell other people.”

“So long as Nico isn’t affected, you can trust me with anything.”

The finality of his words makes me relax against him. “You promise?”

“I promise.” He kisses my shoulder. “You can count on me.”

My chest constricts painfully. “Okay.”

I focus on the trail for a few moments before I work up the nerve to speak. “Lorenzo has been searching for a fake fiancée.”

“What for?”

I sink against him again. “The election.”

“A small-town mayoral campaign means that much to him?”

I shrug. “I don’t know why, but it does.”

“All right…”

“Willow’s been searching for a while, but they haven’t had any success until now.”

“What changed?”

“Lily.”

Rafael accidentally pulls on the reins. “What?”

“I know. I had a hard time believing it too.” I sneak a quick glance over my shoulder to find his face looking paler than usual.

“Is this a joke?”

I flinch. “Afraid not.”

“I can’t believe she would go through with something like this. Marriage is a huge mistake. Fake or not.”

My heart feels like Rafael rammed a thousand needles through the soft tissue.

Thankfully, he can’t see my face, but I still take a deep breath and clear my pained expression just in case.

I understand his reservations about marrying someone, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. If anything, it feels worse, because the more time we spend together, the more I consider our future.

I don’t want a dead-end relationship. I want a never-ending highway of possibilities, and I want to go on the journey of a lifetime with him.

Give him time to work through his issues.

I understand that dating someone who has countless reasons not to trust someone else isn’t supposed to be easy. We’re going to go through hurdles, and marriage happens to be one of them.

I clear my throat and the tight ball that formed there. “I’m not sure why Lily agreed to this, but according to Willow, Lorenzo has known her for a while.”

He brushes a hand down his face with a curse. “Julian is going to be so pissed when he finds out.”