Best Friend Bride

s side. He needed her, not a wife, and for far more reasons than because it might or might not secure the promotion he’d been working toward. At the same time, as much as he’d denied that his questions were about trust, he was caught in a horrible catch-22. Trust was at the root of it.

Also a trap of his own making. He was predisposed to believe that a woman would string him along until she got tired of him and then she’d break his heart. So he looked for signs of that and pounced the moment he found evidence, when in reality, he’d have to actually give his heart to a woman before it could be broken. And that was what he was struggling to avoid.

Grandfather’s jibsa ushered them into the house and showed them to their rooms. A different member of the staff discreetly saw to their needs and eventually guided Jonas and Viv to where his grandfather sat in the garden outside, enjoying the sunshine. The garden had been started by Jonas’s grandmother, lovingly overseen until her death several years ago. Her essence still flitted among the mugunghwa blooms and bellflowers, and he liked remembering her out here.

His grandfather looked well, considering he’d recently been diagnosed with some precursors to heart disease and had begun rounds of medication to reverse the potential for a heart attack.

“Jonas. Miss Viviana.” Grandfather smiled at them each in turn and Viv bent to kiss his cheek, which made the old man positively beam. “I’m pleased to see you looking well after your flight. It is not an easy one.”

Viv waved that off and took a seat next to Jung-Su on the long stone bench. His grandfather sat on a cushion that was easier on his bones but Viv didn’t seem to notice that she was seated directly on the cold rock ledge. Discreetly, Jonas flicked his fingers at one of the many uniformed servants in his grandfather’s employ, and true to form, the man returned quickly with another cushion for her.

She took it with a smile and resituated herself, still chatting with Grandfather about the flight and her impressions of Korea thus far. Grandfather’s gaze never left her face and Jonas didn’t blame him. She was mesmerizing. Surrounded by the lush tropical beauty of the garden and animated by a subject that clearly intrigued her, she was downright breathtaking. Of course, Jonas was biased. Especially since he hadn’t been able to take a deep breath pretty much since the moment he’d said I do to this woman.

“Jonas. Don’t hover.” Grandfather’s brows came together as he shot a scowl over the head of his new granddaughter-in-law. “Sit with us. Your lovely wife was just telling me about baking cupcakes on the American television show.”

“Yes, she was brilliant,” Jonas acknowledged. But he didn’t sit on the bench. The only open spot was next to Viv and it was entirely too much temptation for his starving body to be that near her.

“Jonas is too kind.” Viv’s nose wrinkled as she shook her head. “The show hasn’t even aired yet.”

“So? I don’t have to see it to know that you killed it.” Plus, she’d told him she’d won, like it was no big deal, when in fact, it was. Though the result was hardly shocking. “Brilliant is an understatement.”

Viv ducked her head but not before he caught the pleased gleam in her eye. He should have told her that already and more than once. Instead, he’d been caught up in his own misery. She deserved to hear how wonderful she was on a continual basis.

“It’s true,” he continued. “She does something special with her recipes. No one else can touch her talent when it comes to baking.”

Grandfather watched them both, his gaze traveling back and forth between them as if taking in a fascinating tennis match. “It’s very telling that you are your wife’s biggest fan.”

Well, maybe so. But what it told, Jonas had no idea. He shrugged. “That’s not a secret.”

“It’s a sign of maturity that I appreciate,” his grandfather said. “For years I have watched you do nothing but work and I worried that you would never have a personal life. Now I see you are truly committed to your wife and I like seeing you happy. It only solidifies my decision to retire early.”

Yeah. Committed described Jonas to a T. Committed to honor. Committed to making himself insane. Committed to the asylum might well be next, especially since his grandfather was so off the mark with his observation. But what was he supposed to do, correct him?

“It’s only fair,” Viv murmured before Jonas could formulate a response. “I’m his biggest fan, as well.”

“Yes, I can see that, too,” Jung-Su said with a laugh.

He could? Jonas glanced at Viv out of the corner of his eye in case there was some kind of sign emanating from her that he’d managed to miss. Except she had her sights firmly fixed on him and caught him eyeing her. Their gazes locked and he couldn’t look away.

“You’re a fan of workaholic, absentee husbands?” he asked with a wry smile of his own. Might as well own his faults in front of God and everyone.

“I’m a fan of your commitment, just like your grandfather said. You do everything with your heart. It’s what I first noticed about you. You came into the shop to get cupcakes for your staff, and every time, I’d ask you ‘What’s the occasion today?’ and you always knew the smallest details. ‘It’s Mrs. Nguyen’s fiftieth birthday’ or ‘Today marks my admin’s fourth anniversary working for me.’ None of my other customers pay attention to stuff like that.”

He shifted uncomfortably. Of course he knew those things. They’d been carefully researched excuses to buy cupcakes so he could see Viv without admitting he was there to see her. Granted, she’d already figured that out and blathered on about it to his parents during their first official married-couple dinner. Why bring that up again now?

“That’s why he’ll make the best CEO of Kim Global,” she said to his grandfather as an aside. “Because he cares about people and cares about doing the right thing. He always keeps his word. His character is above reproach and honestly, that’s why I fell for him.”

That was laying it on a bit thick, but his grandfather just nodded. “Jonas is an honorable man. I’m pleased he’s found a woman who loves him for the right reasons.”

Except it was all fake. Jonas did a double take as Viv nodded, her eyes bright with something that looked a lot like unshed tears. “He’s an easy man to love. My feelings for him have only grown now that we’re married.”

Jonas started to interrupt because...come on. There was playacting and there was outright lying to his grandfather for the sake of supporting Jonas’s bid to become the next CEO. But as one tear slipped from her left eye, she glanced at him and whatever he’d been about to say vanished from his vocabulary. She wasn’t lying.

He swallowed. Viv was in love with him? A band tightened around his lungs as he stared at her, soaking in the admission. It shouldn’t be such a shock. She looked at him like that all the time. But not seconds after saying something so shocking, so provocative out loud. She couldn’t take it back. It was out there, pinging around inside him like an arrow looking for a target.

A servant interrupted them, capturing Grandfather’s attention, and everything fell apart as it became apparent that they were being called for dinner. Jonas took Viv’s hand to help her to her feet as he’d done a hundred times before but her hand in his felt different, heavier somehow as if weighted with implications. She squeezed his hand as if she knew he needed her calming touch.

It was anything but calming. She was in love with him. The revelation bled through him. It was yet another thing that she’d held back from him that changed everything. He worked it over in his mind during dinner, longing to grab her and carry her out of this public room so he could ask her a few pointed questions. But Grandfather talked and talked and talked, and he’d invited a few business associates over as well, men Jonas couldn’t ignore, given that the whole reason he was in Korea was to work through the transition as his grandfather stepped down.