Satin Princess(44)

Their accents are thick and posh. Upper crust Brits if I ever heard them. Still, they’re simple people, instantly likable and trustworthy. Another reason I picked this place. After everything that’s happened, after all the lies and deceptions and hidden secrets, Jessa needs to see that some people and some places are exactly what they appear to be.

“Well, the pressure is on then! I hope we impress you at dinner tonight,” Margaret says. “We’re having a special meal prepared in your honor.”

“You are?”

“As requested by your husband,” she says, throwing me a fond smile.

Jessa gives a little start when Margaret refers to me as her husband. She seems to be waiting for me to dispute it, but I decide not to. It’s more interesting this way.

And to be completely honest, I like the way it sounds. That I’m Jessa’s husband. That she’s my wife.

After Marina, I didn’t think I cared about that type of thing anymore. But everything is different with Jessa.

Me most of all.

“Come on,” Thomas says, gesturing for us to follow him. “We can walk by the gardens on our way to the house. We’ll take the long route so you can really see everything.”

Jessa falls into step beside Margaret, but she keeps throwing little glances back my way while Thomas and I trail behind them.

As Margaret and Jessa walk a little bit ahead of us, Thomas gives me an approving smile. “She is wonderful. A real beauty.”

“I’m inclined to agree.”

“Reminds me of my Margaret when we were first married. She had the same enthusiasm for new adventures. Of course, our adventure was building up this farm and turning it into a business. I’m sure yours will be just as rewarding.”

I refrain from saying that our adventure will probably be the child that Jessa’s carrying. That’s need-to-know information.

When we arrive at the garden, Jessa’s jaw drops.

“This is a farm,” she gasps. “A proper farm. I pictured raised beds and watering cans. But you have the whole spread. It’s… incredible.”

“Feel free to wander and see what we have to offer,” Margaret says, still grinning proudly at Jessa’s effusive praise.

Jessa wanders up and down the rows, pointing out different things and running her fingers over the greenery like it’s fine silk.

The whole time, I’m content to simply watch her rejoice in beauty.

We spend almost an entire hour walking around the garden before Margaret suggests we head up to the house for some tea and biscuits. Jessa’s face actually falls.

“Don’t worry,” Margaret tells her, noticing the same thing. “We can come out here again later. But I think your handsome husband is bored.”

Jessa rolls her eyes. “Attention span of a gnat, that one.”

The women titter with sneaky glances back at us. Thomas and Margaret link arms and set off for the manor.

I walk up beside Jessa and loop my arm around her waist. Her warmth and her smell hit me simultaneously. My chest throbs and my dick hardens.

“You okay?” I ask, ignoring the fact that she stiffens self-consciously under my touch.

“Of course. This place is amazing. And Margaret and Thomas are the sweetest. But… did you tell them we’re married?” she asks, lowering her voice.

“No.”

“Then why do they—”

“I imagine they just assumed.”

“You didn’t correct them,” she points out.

“Neither did you.”

She frowns. “I… just… I was taken off-guard. You should have corrected them.”

“Scared to be my wife for the day?”

Her expression becomes guarded. “You already have a wife, remember?”

Before I can respond, she quickens her pace and catches up with Margaret and Thomas. Margaret, ever perceptive, starts talking right away to cover over the awkward vibes, pointing out at a patch of emerald green in the distance. I follow behind and listen, brooding.

“… You know that Tom and I were married on that very field? The one just over the hill. Can you see that ash tree over there? We had our first kiss as man and wife right underneath it.”

“Oh, wow,” Jessa gasps. “That is amazing. Like, storybook perfect. How long ago was that?”

“Going on forty-five years now,” she says. “I was nineteen.”

“Nineteen,” Jessa whispers. “That’s really young.”

“When you know, you know,” she says with a little shrug. “The first moment I laid eyes on Thomas, I knew I would marry him.”

“Was it the same for you, Thomas?” Jessa asks, throwing a glance over her shoulder.

“Oh yes,” he says fondly. “She was the prettiest girl in the neighborhood. She was also the loudest. I couldn’t help but fall in love with her. Mostly because she never gave me a choice. But if I’d have known I’d be toiling in manure all day long, I might’ve gone searching elsewhere…”

“Oh, hush,” Margaret laughs, smacking him playfully on the shoulder. “Ignore him. This land has been in my family for five generations. It was actually supposed to go to my older brother, Marius. But he decided to forsake all worldly possessions and become a priest. So the land came to me instead.”