I looked back toward the glowing vineyard.
Somewhere inside, Mason was probably still trying to save his reception.
I suddenly laughed.
Julian stared at me.
“What?”
“This is ridiculous.”
“It really is.”
“My husband cheated on me with your fiancée.”
“Correct.”
“Then my ex-husband invited me to their wedding specifically to humiliate me.”
“Apparently.”
“So I hired you—her ex-fiancé—to pretend to be my boyfriend.”
Julian nodded slowly.
“That does appear to be what happened.”
I laughed harder.
He started laughing too.
By the time we climbed into the car, I had tears running down my face.
“This has to be the most efficient revenge arrangement in human history,” I said.
Julian started the engine.
“I’d like it noted that my agency did not charge extra for karmic coincidence.”
I expected him to drop me off and disappear.
That would have been reasonable.
Instead, when we reached my apartment, I said,
“I have champagne.”
He looked at me.
“Is this still part of the assignment?”
“I think we’ve exceeded the original scope.”
“Then technically I’m off duty.”
“Is that a yes?”
He smiled.
“Absolutely.”
We sat on my living room floor because neither of us wanted to behave like adults enough to use the couch.
I kicked off my heels.
Julian removed his tie.
We opened the champagne.
For the first hour, we dissected the wedding.
Vanessa dropping the glass.
Mason’s face when he saw Julian.
My “you mailed me directions to the place” line, which Julian insisted deserved an award.
Then the laughter faded.
We started talking about what came before.
The real things.
I told him what Mason had done to my confidence.
How betrayal hadn’t been the worst part.
The worst part had been spending years with a person who could cut me down so calmly that I sometimes believed I deserved it.
Julian understood.
Vanessa had done something similar to him.
“She made me feel boring,” he admitted. “Like wanting a normal life meant I lacked ambition.”
“Mason made me feel ordinary.”
