Meadow’s POV:


    Ady hade out of the passenger seat, and she had a shy smile on her face as she leaned back into the car to talk to someone inside–ric..


    She had on a short, tailored dress, chic and business casual. Her dark hair was slicked back into a


    ponytail. And she was pretty.


    Very pretty. The kind that made your stomach twist, even if you had no reason to be jealous.


    I swallowed.


    I knew what this marriage was, and I knew what it wasn’t. But there was nothing that could prep me for


    the hit to my ego when the man that I’d been pining over–no. Horny over–was bringing another woman


    to the house.


    Was she supposed to be my recement? Someone prettier and lessplicated who probably wouldn’t


    even need to be asked if she was ‘ready‘?


    I stood<i>, </i>a bitter taste in my mouth as I prepared to walk back into the house, away from all this.


    But then the driver’s door opened. And it wasn’t ric who stepped out of the car.


    It was Trip, his bodyguard.


    The breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding escaped my lungs. I had never felt this sort of relief before.


    I straightened. I could feel Nova watching me carefully, but she didn’t say anything. And her silence was


    enough.


    The girl spotted us, and waved at us politely while Trip nodded, sunsses sitting on his face even


    though the sun was nearly gone.


    “Oh, damn,” Nova whistled. “That is one hot, burly, sexy…”


    “Nova, you’re drooling all over.” I smirked at her. “Besides, I thought you were staying off bad boys? This


    is ric’s bodyguard.”


    “Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate his beauty,” she murmured, rolling her eyes. “Who’s the girl anyway?”


    We got our answer when the trunk popped open, and the woman reached inside to pull out a rack of garment bags with Trip’s help.


    Brows furrowing in confusion, I walked toward the SUV, Nova trailing closely behind.


    “Uh… Trip? What is…”


    I trailed off as the girl reached for four shoeboxes and boxes that I was sure contained purses.


    Trip turned around to look at me, his voice t as he said, “Mr. Ashford wanted these to be delivered to you.”


    My heart stuttered and I blinked. “These are for me?”


    The woman finally looked at me directly and smiled, polite and professional. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Mrs. Ashford. I’m She, your stylist. Your husband contacted me for the first time when he asked me to fill up your wardrobe.”


    “Oh,” I breathed. “Nice to meet you, She, but I still don’t understand why these dresses are here.”


    “He said you have an event to attend this weekend and asked me to bring a few options.”


    Something fluttered in my chest. I didn’t know if I should melt or scream.


    ‘Damn you, ric. Why would you do something that made me want to crawl inside your skin and nevere out?‘


    “Uh, this is more than just a few,” I murmured, a nervousugh escaping my mouth. “And I already have dresses that haven’t been worn so why-”


    Nova let out a strangled sound. “Oh my god, Meadow, just fucking ept it.”


    A deep chuckle sounded behind me and I turned around, surprised to see Tripugh when I was sure that there was nothing he did but frown and scowl.


    But the moment I looked at him, he sniffed, mouth turning down into the famous scowl–though I could still see the hint of a smile.


    “Shut up, Nova,” I muttered, shooting her a re.


    She only shrugged.


    “Well, if you’ll allow me,” the woman continued. “We’ll take this upstairs to your room.”


    “Oh,” I breathed once again. My excellent vocabry seemed to be doing wonders for me tonight.


    I turned to Nova the second she and Trip were out of earshot. “I don’t know what to fucking do right now.”


    Nova grabbed her drink. “Simple. You go up there, try on the damn dresses, and then you thank whatever cosmic forces are out there for blessing you with a man like ric.”


    I snorted, searching around for my phone. “You’re acting like I just got proposed to.”


    “Yeah, well,” she shrugged. “Might as well, since I wasn’t there when you actually got proposed to.”


    And then we headed into the house, trailing after them. I stared down at my phone, thumbs hovering over


    the keyboard as I thought of the perfect message to send to him.


    Something tugged at my heart. He didn’t have to do this. I didn’t want him to do things like this. Things that would make me…


    Fall for him.


    “They’re just dresses, Meadow,” I whispered under my breath. “Just dresses. Not a love proposal.”


    My stomach churned at that word. Love.


    In my experience? Didn’t end well. But no. No. These were dresses. Nothing special.


    I shook my head, deciding not to send the message anymore, and then I shoved the phone into my back pocket.


    When we got to the bedroom, She had already begun unzipping the garment bags and pulling out fabric that looked oh so expensive and elegant. There was velvet, silk, sequins that shimmered under the light.


    I just stood there, staring.


    Nova let out a low whistle. “Damn, Meds.”


    She turned to face me, a small grin on her face. “Well, this is it, Mrs. Ashford. You can try them on and I’ll drop by first thing tomorrow if you encounter any issues.”


    I smiled back, though it wasn’t really a smile. More of a lip twitch. I was too stimted to smile.


    Or move. “Thank you,” I said to her, shifting my gaze to Trip, who just nodded and strolled out of my room.


    The woman started to follow, but then she doubled back. “Oh, and before I forget, there’s a note for you somewhere…” she trailed off, reaching for a small tote bag that I didn’t even realize was there. “Here it is.”


    She gave me an envelope, onest smile, and then she was out of the room.


    My knees gave out under me instantly, and I fell onto the bed, still stunned. Nova dove for the rack like a kid on Christmas morning.


    She whistled as she looked at the dresses. “Dior, Meadow. This one is fucking Dior. And this one’s…”


    Nova trailed off as she turned to look at me. And then, as though she just noticed the expression on my face, she rushed over to me.


    “Hey, what’s wrong?”


    I swallowed the rock in my throat but it refused to go down. “Nova, I don’t-”


    A soft knock on the already open door cut me off, and Nova and I turned at the same time to see him.


    ric.


    He stood there, leaning one shoulder against the frame. His eyes flicked from the dresses, to Nova, to me sitting on the bed with the unopened envelope in my hand.


    He gave me a look that made my skin prickle, and then, his lips tilted upward in that dangerous smirk of his.


    And then he spoke, voice smooth as butter-


    “Hope I didn’t miss the fitting.”