"You'll be attending with me," Alexander said, sliding a folder across the breakfast table without looking up. "The International Business Conference. Three days. Since you're my fiancée, your presence is expected."
Alicia stared at the folder, then at him. "Expected, or required?"
"Both." He finally met her eyes, something almost amused flickering there. "Try not to disappoint anyone."
The comment stung more than it should have, and she spent the rest of the morning proving to herself, and to him, that she wouldn't be a liability. Alexander critiqued everything, her posture, her handshake, the way she phrased her sentences when discussing the company's recent expansion.
"You're apologizing with your tone," he said, arms crossed as she rehearsed a greeting in the mirror. "Stop softenin
