Chapter 12 WEDDING NIGHT
Harper stood in front of the king sized bed in Sebastian's room and felt panic rising in her chest. Their wedding night. She was supposed to spend her wedding night in the same bed as Sebastian Colton.
They had discussed this. Sort of. In vague terms that did not actually address the specifics of sleeping arrangements. The contract said they had to maintain the appearance of a real marriage, which meant sharing a bedroom when necessary. But they had not talked about what that actually meant.
"So," Harper said, her voice too high. "This is happening."
Sebastian emerged from the bathroom in pajama pants and a t- shirt, looking as uncomfortable as she felt. "We can make this work. It is just sleeping."
"Right. Just sleeping."
"I will stay on my side. You stay on yours."
"Okay."
They stood on opposite sides of the bed, neither moving. The bed suddenly looked enormous and terrifying at the same time.
"We need a barrier," Harper said suddenly.
"A barrier?"
"Like a pillow wall. To mark the sides. So there is no accidental..." She gestured vaguely. "You know."
"A pillow wall." Sebastian looked like he was trying not to smile. "You want to build a pillow wall in our bed on our wedding night."
"Do you have a better idea?"
"No, actually. A pillow wall sounds perfect."
They gathered every spare pillow from the closet and began constructing a wall down the middle of the bed. It was ridiculous and childish and exactly what Harper needed to feel less terrified about this situation.
"This is the most pathetic wedding night in history," Harper muttered as she positioned another pillow.
"Probably not. I am sure somewhere in history there has been worse."
"Name one."
Sebastian thought for a moment. "I cannot. This is pretty bad."
Despite everything, Harper laughed. The tension broke slightly, and they finished building the wall in more comfortable silence.
"There," Harper said, surveying their work. "The Great Pillow Wall of Seattle. No crossing."
"Understood. My side, your side, and never the two shall meet."
Harper climbed into her side of the bed, acutely aware of Sebastian doing the same on his side. The pillow wall between them was substantial but somehow felt flimsy. She could hear him breathing, and could sense every small movement he made.
"Goodnight," Sebastian said.
"Goodnight."
Harper lay there in the dark, staring at the ceiling. This was her wedding night. She was married. Wearing borrowed pajamas in a borrowed bed with a pillow wall separating her from her husband.
"Harper?" Sebastian's voice came from the other side of the pillows.
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay? With all of this?"
"I do not know. Are you?"
"I do not know either." He was quiet for a moment. "For what it is worth, I am glad it is you. If I had to do this with anyone, I am glad it is you."
Harper felt warmth spread through her chest. "Me too."
"Try to get some sleep. Tomorrow we have brunch with Claire."
"Right. Our first official appearance as a married couple."
"It will be fine. We have been doing pretty well so far."
Harper was not sure about that, but she did not have the energy to argue. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, trying to forget that Sebastian was less than three feet away separated only by pillows.
Sleep came eventually, restless and light.
Harper woke up warm and comfortable, more relaxed than she had been in weeks. Something solid and warm was pressed against her back, an arm wrapped around her waist, breath tickling the back of her neck.
She froze.
Slowly, carefully, Harper opened her eyes. The pillow wall was gone. Completely demolished. Pillows were scattered across the floor, on the nightstand, everywhere except between her and Sebastian.
Because Sebastian was wrapped around her like a vine, holding her close, his face buried in her hair.
Oh no.
Harper's heart started racing. She needed to move, to get out of this situation before Sebastian woke up and things got even more awkward. But his arm was heavy across her waist, and he was holding her tight, and if she was being completely honest with herself, it felt really good.
No. Bad Harper. This was not part of the arrangement.
She tried to ease away slowly, but Sebastian's arm tightened, pulling her closer.
"Do not go," he mumbled, still mostly asleep. "You are warm."
Harper went completely still. "Sebastian. Wake up."
"Five more minutes."
"Sebastian. We have a problem."
"The problem can wait."
"The pillow wall is gone."
That got his attention. Sebastian went rigid behind her, suddenly very awake. His arm left her waist so fast Harper almost missed the warmth.
"Oh God," he said. "I am so sorry. I must have... in my sleep, I did not mean to..."
Harper rolled over to face him. His hair was messy, his expression panicked, and he was pressed as far to his side of the bed as physically possible.
"It is okay," she said, even though her heart was still pounding. "We were both asleep. These things happen."
"I destroyed the pillow wall."
"We probably both did. I could have been the one who started it."
"I am pretty sure it was me. I am a restless sleeper."
They lay there facing each other, the space between them feeling charged and complicated.
"We should probably get up," Harper said. "What time is brunch?"
Sebastian checked his phone. "Eleven. It is nine now."
"I should shower."
"Yeah. Me too."
Neither of them moved.
"Harper?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you sleep okay? Before cuddling?"
Harper felt her face heat. "Yeah. Actually, I did. You?"
"Best sleep I have had in months." Sebastian looked embarrassed. "Which is weird given the circumstances."
"Maybe the pillow wall made us feel safe," Harper suggested, trying to lighten the mood.
"Maybe. Or maybe..." He stopped, seeming to think better of whatever he was going to say.
"Or maybe what?"
"Nothing. We should get ready."
Harper got up first, grabbing her things and heading to the guest bathroom. She stood under the hot water for a long time, trying to process what had just happened.
She had woken up in Sebastian's arms. He had been holding her like she was something precious, something he wanted to keep close. And it felt good. Safe. Right.
This was bad. This was very bad. She could not start thinking of Sebastian as someone who made her feel safe. This was temporary. A business arrangement. In twelve months, they would sign divorce papers and go their separate ways.
Except the more time she spent with him, the harder it was to remember that.
Harper got dressed in jeans and a sweater, casual enough for brunch with Claire but still presentable. When she emerged, Sebastian was in the kitchen making coffee, freshly showered and back in his controlled, buttoned up mode.
"Coffee?" he offered.
"Please."
He poured her a cup, added cream without asking how she liked it, and handed it to her. He had noticed. He had been paying attention.
"We should probably talk about last night," Sebastian said carefully.
"What is there to talk about? We cuddled in our sleep. It happens."
"Does it make you uncomfortable?"
Harper considered lying but decided on honesty. "A little. But not for the reasons you might think."
"What reasons?"
"Because it did not feel wrong. It felt normal. And that scares me." Harper took a sip of her coffee. "This is supposed to be temporary, Sebastian. We cannot start acting like it is real."
"Even though parts of it are starting to feel real?"
"Especially because of that."
Sebastian leaned against the counter, his expression troubled. "So what do we do?"
"I do not know. Maybe we will rebuild the pillow wall tonight. Make it stronger."
"Or maybe we accept that we are two people sharing a bed and sometimes people cuddle in their sleep and it does not have to mean anything."
"Does it mean anything?" Harper asked quietly. "To you?"
Sebastian met her eyes. "I do not know. Maybe. Does it mean anything to you?"
"Maybe."
They stood there in the kitchen, coffee cooling in their hands, both too scared to admit what was becoming increasingly obvious.
Harper's phone buzzed. A text from Claire. "Looking forward to brunch. Cannot wait to hear all about the wedding night."
Harper showed Sebastian the message. "She is going to ask questions."
"Let her. We are newlyweds. We are supposed to be all over each other."
"Are we going to tell her about the pillow wall?"
"Absolutely not. That stays between us."
Harper smiled despite herself. "Our secret pillow wall."
"The most pathetic secret in marriage history."
They finished their coffee in more comfortable silence, and Harper thought maybe they could make this work. Maybe they could navigate the complicated space between fake and real, between contract and feelings, between what they had agreed to and what was actually happening.
At ten forty five, they headed down to meet Claire at a restaurant downtown. In the elevator, Sebastian reached for Harper's hand, lacing their fingers together.
"For appearances," he said quietly.
"Right. Appearances."
But his thumb was doing that thing again, moving in small circles against her palm, and Harper was not sure either of them believed it was just for show anymore.
Claire was already seated when they arrived, looking polished and perfect in a pale blue dress. She stood up to hug them both, her smile knowing.
"Look at you two. How was the wedding night?"
"Fine," Harper said quickly. "Normal."
"Normal?" Claire raised an eyebrow. "That is not very romantic."
"We were tired," Sebastian added. "It has been a long week."
"Uh huh." Claire clearly did not believe them but let it drop. "Well, you look happy. That is what matters."
They ordered food and made small talk, and Harper tried not to think about waking up in Sebastian's arms. But every time he looked at her, every time his hand brushed against hers reaching for the bread basket, she felt that same warmth from this morning.
This was becoming a problem.
After brunch, Claire pulled Harper aside while Sebastian paid the check.
"He is different with you," Claire said. "Softer. More open."
"We are still figuring things out."
"I know. But Harper, be careful. Sebastian has a hard time letting people in. And when he does, he tends to push them away the moment things get too real."
"We have a contract. We both know what this is."
Claire gave her a look that said she saw right through that lie. "Sure you do."
On the drive home, Sebastian was quiet. Harper wanted to ask what he was thinking but was not sure she wanted to know the answer.
When they got back to the penthouse, Sebastian went straight to his office. "I have some work to catch up on. I will be in here for a few hours."
"Okay."
Harper spent the afternoon working on Adriatic renovation plans, but her mind kept wandering to the demolished pillow wall, to Sebastian's arm around her waist, to the way he had said "do not go" in his sleep.
That night, they rebuilt the pillow wall. Neither of them mentioned the morning. They said goodnight and turned off the lights and lay on their separate sides of the bed.
Harper fell asleep determined to stay on her side.
She woke up wrapped in Sebastian's arms again. The pillow wall was destroyed again. And this time, when she tried to move away, Sebastian's arm tightened and he mumbled "stay" and Harper stopped fighting it.
Just for a few more minutes, she told herself. Then she would move.
But those few minutes turned into twenty, and Harper was still there when Sebastian woke up.
"Morning," he said quietly, not moving away this time.
"Morning."
"We really need to stop doing this."
"Yeah. We really do."
Neither of them moved.
"Harper?"
"Yeah?"
"I do not think I want to rebuild the pillow wall tonight."
Harper's heart skipped. "No?"
"No. I sleep better with you close. And I think maybe we should stop pretending that is just a coincidence."
"Sebastian"
"I am not saying we have to figure everything out right now. I am just saying maybe we stop fighting this. Whatever this is."
Harper thought about Claire's warning, about the contract, about all the reasons this was a bad idea. But Sebastian's arms felt so right around her, and she was tired of pretending she did not feel something.
"Okay," she whispered.
"No more pillow wall."
"No more pillow wall."
They stayed like that for another ten minutes before real life intruded and they had to get up. But something had shifted. Some barrier had come down that had nothing to do with pillows.
Harper just hoped they were not making a huge mistake.