I had my bachelorette party back home. Friends from college and from the dance club and a couple of my relatives were there. We had it at a little resort. Somebody actually rented a stripper.I was extremely embarrassed when the stripper danced for me. I was pushing Sarah to take my seat at the center of the room.“Come on, Brianne! You’re not getting any from your fiancé—why not just have no-strings-attached fun with that cutie?” Sarah asked.“Because I don’t want my other cousins to think that I’m not faithful to Travis!” I argued. But honestly, had I only slept with two men in my life. One was my boyfriend of two years. And I was marrying the other one in a couple of days.“For someone who’s not really in a relationship with your fiancé, you’re pretty damn loyal!”“If you do this, I’ll do anything you want!” I begged her.“Okay, f

When I woke up the next day, my head was resting comfortably on Travis’s shoulder. We had our arms around each other, as if it was a natural thing for us to sleep in the same bed.“Good morning,” I greeted him.He smiled lazily. “Good morning.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead gently.I stretched in bed lazily, and then I stood up and disappeared into the bathroom.We had our breakfast in one of the restaurants of the hotel. We chose a spot overlooking the ocean. It was a beautiful view, and I was almost sorry I hadn’t brought a sketchbook with me.After breakfast, Travis and I decided to swim on the beach. We went kayaking, and then we sunbathed on the shore. There were some couples there, but it wasn’t crowded and was easy enough to mind our own business.We walked on the shoreline just before sunset, our fingers intertwined.“It’s beautiful here,” I said.&ldqu

We got back to our apartment. As soon as we entered, Travis turned to me and said, “It has been a lovely week, Mrs. Cross.”I smiled at him. “It has been.”“Now, we are at a crossroads again,” he said. “I told you I can’t do without my mask. The guy you’ve been with…is far too vulnerable to be able to protect you…keep you safe.”I shook my head. “I don’t believe you!” I said to him. “That guy is more capable of protecting my feelings than anybody else.”He narrowed his eyes. “You have to remember, Brianne. I not only want to protect you,” he said. “There’s a big part of me that also craves you.”I stepped closer to him. “I know what you’re capable of, Travis. I know that guy can protect me, too. You don’t have to put your mask back on. When you told me…you chose to marry me over pursuing the

It was already nine in the evening, and Travis had not returned yet. Each minute I waited for him, I got worried.Had he finally given up on me? Had he finally given in to her? Did he think we were hopeless and that he just had to continue with the original terms of our agreement? While I, on the other hand, had decided to keep him for myself, to go after what I wanted, and what I loved, no matter the consequences?I had food delivered to the room, and I set a candlelight dinner for us. I showered and dressed in an elegant Victoria’s Secret nightdress under my silk robe. I wanted to show a bit of effort to Travis…he deserved it after all I’d done to him.But as each minute passed by, my hopes were going down the drain. It was still his birthday. Maybe he’d decided to have a bit of fun himself. And forget the one person who had caused him pain…me.Eleven in the evening. The food had gotten cold, and the ice in the bucket had

 I lay on Sarah’s couch. I needed time to figure things out. I would have been jumping for joy now if the doctor had said I was one week pregnant. But no—I was seven weeks pregnant, which meant I was already pregnant when Travis and I had consummated our marriage a week ago. If the time she gave me was right, I had already been pregnant before I even married Travis, and I was pretty sure nothing had happened between us on our honeymoon.“Christian?” Sarah asked.“How? I mean, I broke up with him months before I got married.”“What were you doing around October twenty-fifth?”“I was busy preparing for a wedding!” I replied.Sarah took out her organizer and scanned through the dates. “Okay, October twenty-second, we all checked in to the hotel in preparation for your wedding. Are you sure you didn’t see Chris round about that time?”I shook my head. &ldq