The Accidental Countess (The Aristocrat Diaries 3)

“Ugh, yes. You’re right. I’m just glad your mum and grandma are doing and have done all the little things like invitations and the centrepieces.”

“The favours, too. They’re more than thrilled to have something to do.”

“And Dad is enjoying handling the catering. I think we just have to sign off the final menu sometime this week.”

“To say this is all happening in less than a month, it’s rather impressive.”

Eva rolled over onto her stomach and looked up at me. “You did say as soon as possible.”

“That’s very true. I figured you’d want it over and done with.”

“Well, I do. I hate weddings, and I rather suspect I won’t enjoy it too much even if it is my own.”

My lips twitched. “The sooner we start, the sooner it’s over.”

“Very true.” She sighed. “You said this morning you wanted to talk about something.”

“Right, yes.” I shifted. “I stopped in Whitborough on my way down, and Alex made some good points when we discussed this. He suggested a break clause.”

Eva raised her eyebrows and propped herself up on her elbows. “A break clause?”

“He raised the point that either of us could meet someone we want to pursue a relationship with, and if that’s the case, we should be able to get out of the deal.”

“I’m not sure that requires a break clause. I’d like to think that either one of us would be understanding of the other’s desire to pursue a real relationship.”

“So would I, but it wasn’t the only scenario we discussed. There’s a chance we simply might not get along and living together would be untenable.”

“I guess,” she said slowly.

“He also pointed out that, at some point, we may want to have a real relationship with one another.”

She raised her eyebrows again—this time, they were even higher, and she snorted. “Unlikely. We know what we’re getting into.”

“I agreed,” I said, only half-lying. “But he rightly pointed out that it could happen, and in the event of it breaking down, we would probably not want to continue with the current arrangement.”

“Well, I do think it’s extremely unlikely, but he’s not wrong. I wouldn’t want to live with someone I’d just broken up with, especially when I know I’d be able to move out immediately.”

“Exactly. There was one other scenario he raised, but I’m not sure I want to say that for fear of jinxing the situation.”

She eyed me speculatively, then slowly moved up to sitting, crossing her legs under her. “What? We need to talk about this stuff, Matthew. If we’re really going to do this, we have to both be fully aware of what’s on the other person’s mind.”

“All right.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “If a pregnancy doesn’t… work out.”

“Ah.”

“Obviously we both know we’re fine to conceive since we did the testing and it came back excellently, but life happens.” I reached over and wrapped my fingers around hers. “Eva, if a miscarriage or something like that happens, I want you to know that you can end it at any point. I would never want you to continue on in a situation that would hurt you more.”

She put her other hand on top of mine and smiled tightly. “You’re right. Things don’t always work out the way you plan. There’s always a chance that something like that could happen.”

“Exactly. While I hope to God it never will, I would feel better knowing that you had the option to put an end to it—whether that be permanently or temporarily.”

Eva paused for a moment before she squeezed my fingers, then took her hands from mine. “I appreciate that. And that you spoke to Alex about it. The emotional ramifications of that is something neither of us considered.”

“Quite the oversight,” I agreed. “We don’t need to list bullet points, but I think the break clause could be a valuable addition to our agreement.”

“Yes, absolutely.” She was silent for a moment. “What of the point about a real relationship? Say, in the unlikely event, that one of us gets feelings for the other—how do we handle it?”

“I’m not sure that needs to be on paper, but I think this will only work if we are completely honest with each other. If we were to develop feelings, I think we should be honest and tell the other person so we can discuss how to move forwards.”

Eva nodded, her ponytail swinging with the action. “Yes, you’re right. In order for this to be successful, honesty is vital.”

“Absolutely.” I smiled over at her. “You know you can still change your mind, don’t you?”

The spark came back to her eye, and her lips tugged up to one side. “No, I can’t. At least not after tomorrow when I’ve chosen the dress.”

“Looks like you’ve got twenty-four hours to run away, then.”

“I can’t run away. You’re in my bedroom, Matthew.”