Page 46 of Hurry Up And Wait

“Excuse me?” she asked, almost looking offended.

I was about to walk away when the look on her face stopped me. “My room.”

“Oh…I assumed…aren’t you sharing a room with me?”

I could feel my eyes bug out. I must have looked like a fucking cartoon character as I stared at her. Was she fucking serious? She thought we’d share a room?

“Why would I share a room with you?” I asked, stepping closer to her. “We just met.”

“I just assumed…I mean, we’re engaged,” she said, her eyes shooting down as she shifted uncomfortably.

“Is that what he told you? That this is all real?”

Her eyes flicked up to mine and her cheeks burned in embarrassment.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered. “Just what exactly did the senator tell you?”

I watched as she struggled to compose herself. It was clear she was thrown off by this new development, and I actually felt bad for her.

“He…he said he needed…well, you needed…a wife,” she said, stumbling over her words.

“Did he, now? And did he tell you that I have a life somewhere else? That this is only temporary?”

The apples of her cheeks grew to an intense red color and she shook her head slightly.

“Let’s make this clear right now, Olivia. The only reason I’m here and going along with this charade is because I need information. The senator knows that. It wasn’t my idea to bring you in, and I’m not actually marrying you. This was all a setup. A fucking sham so he could manipulate me, but it’s not going to work. I will never be his puppet. You got that?”

She gave a jerky nod, visibly shaken by the lies the senator told her. I couldn’t blame her for being upset, but on the other hand, what kind of woman handed herself over to someone she’d never met? Was this about money? Position? I had neither to offer her, and I wasn’t about to start up anything with a woman who didn’t seem to have a mind of her own.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I clearly didn’t understand the full magnitude of what was going on.”

Shit. Tears sparked in her eyes and she quickly brushed them away. This wasn’t her fault. Not entirely, anyway. The senator probably lied his ass off to get her to agree to this.

“Look, if you want out, it’s not too late.”

“It is for me,” she laughed humorlessly. “Contract signed.”

I tensed at her words. “Contract. Do you have a copy of it?”

She nodded.

“I want to see that.”

She hesitated, then seemed to straighten and pull herself together. “I’ll get it for you.”

As she walked away, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. She clearly had no idea how much she was being manipulated by the senator. But I had years of experience with him. I knew better than to take anything with him at face value.

This was going to be a learning curve, one that I had a feeling would not turn out well for either of us.

A knockat my bedroom door had me glancing up from the paperwork I was looking over. The contract was fucking iron clad and she had little hope of getting out of it anytime soon. The problem was, how the hell did he plan on enforcing the contract when I left? Was he going to keep her around, waiting to see if I would give in to his demands? It didn’t make any fucking sense.

Olivia smiled hesitantly at me. “I was just wondering if you wanted a drink.”

“No, I’m good. I’m just going over this contract.”

“Oh,” she frowned. “Did you find anything out?”

“Other than the fact that you’re screwed?”