I tried not to let Christopher see how shocking I found the revelation that he designed my dream home without ever meeting me.

"You did what?" I asked him, hoping I might have missed some crucial part of the conversation while I was stuck in my own thoughts.

"I designed the house." He looked up at the balcony off the second story and smiled. "I'm an architect, I mean. So I designed the structure. The interior design and fancy finishings were all done by a friend of mine who's a designer. Obviously, she is very good at her job."

I tried to hide the shock on my face. He doesn't need me being rude to him when he looks more nervous than I do.

"Is it that surprising?" he asked me, probably because I was terrible at hiding my feelings.

"I mean... a little, yeah." I laughed in an attempt to hide how awkward I felt. "It's just that we only met minutes ago and you already seem to have a perfect grasp on my tastes, so it's a little surprising."

"Again," he reminded me, "I didn't do the decorating. So I can't be blamed for that."

I laughed at his use of the word 'blamed.'

"Well, thank your friend for me." I couldn't help but smile as I ran my hand along the beautiful outdoor furniture. "Because it's just perfect."

"I will and I'm glad." He held out his hand, offering it to me. "Shall we check out the rest of the house?"

I didn't know where to look, but something about him was making me feel comfortable, and I didn't want the neighbours getting any ideas, so I placed my hand in his and allowed him to lead me through the glass doors and back into the house.

He held onto my hand all the way up the staircase, which was surprisingly wide enough to accommodate us walking side-by-side the whole way up. When we closed in on the top of the stairs, I could already see a small open area with a chair and a lamp — the perfect reading space.

I let my eyes wander around the small reading nook and the guest bedroom that was just through a door beside the bookshelf. We quickly looked into the small room, which was decorated in pale blues and creams, before making our way down the long hallway.

I casually looked into each of the rooms as we walked past — three bedrooms and three bathrooms, all decorated beautifully with a gentle colour scheme. No matter how hard I tried to be interested in the rooms we passed, my eyes just kept returning to the double doors at the end of the hallway.

Christopher, obviously oblivious to my inner struggles, continued his running commentary on the house. "And this is the linen closet," he said, gesturing at the small closet door beside the double doors that had been taunting me since I first caught sight of them.

Finally, Christopher turned his attention to the ever-looming doors at the end of the hall. He didn't have to tell me what was behind it. I knew as well as he did that the master suite was tucked behind those doors. In a normal marriage situation, that would be our bedroom.

But this isn't a normal marriage situation, is it? I don't wanna sleep in the same bed as him! I only met him half an hour ago.

I glanced over at Christopher to notice him biting his lip and looking anywhere but at me. The only thing making the situation less awkward was the fact that we had four other bedrooms. At least we wouldn't have to fight over who got to sleep in the bed.

Christopher looks as nervous as I feel, so I break the silence. "The doorway is very nice." I ran my hands through my hair, trying anything I could think of to calm my anxiety.

He looked at me and furrowed his brow. "The doorway is nice?"

I'm going to die of embarrassment.

I struggled to find the words to explain myself. "I just meant... because you designed the house. I was trying to compliment you and make this a little less awkward." I gestured to the space between us and then contented myself with wringing my hands to avoid looking at him.

He let out a small chuckle and then reached for the brass door knob that stood out against the shiny white door. "May I?" he asked quietly.

Somehow he made me feel calm despite my instincts to be nervous, so I nodded and returned my hand to his, allowing him to lead me through the door. It was only after I stepped through the door that I realized there was no one around to see me refuse his hand.

"Wow." I let out the word in a low gasp. The room was at least twice as large as any I had seen before. My eyes didn't even know where to look as I tried to take it all in. Perhaps because of its size, my focus eventually settled on a large four-poster bed in the center of the room. It must have been at least twice the size of any bed I had ever seen. Maybe they had known we'd be uncomfortable sleeping next to each other because a person could get lost on that bed.

Without thinking, I walked toward the bed, letting my free hand run along the smooth, polished wood of the bedpost. Christopher gently guided me around the end of the bed to the other end of the room until finally we were standing hand-in-hand right in front of some curtains. They were nice enough, but I couldn't figure out why he was staring at them so intently.

"What's your fascination with the curtains?" I let the question slip out, immediately regretting my rudeness. "I mean, they are nice, but there's so much more to see."

His lips barely turned up in a small smile. "They are nice. But it's what's behind them that I'm really looking forward to." Without a second thought, he reached for the curtain with his free hand. "Care to help?"

"Okay." I nodded and reached my own hand out for the curtains. "Let's open them."

And in one small moment, the curtains were flung aside and sunlight flooded the room. Even from where we were standing, I could see a beautiful view of the countryside, the mountains, and the ocean all at once. Before that moment, I hadn't realized it was even possible to have a view of all three.

"Wow," escaped my lips once more as my hand reached out to touch the glass of the door to our balcony. When Christopher didn't respond, I looked over to see him smiling at the mountains. His hand squeezed mine ever so slightly as his eyes flitted to me before returning to the outdoors.

"Did you pick this, too?" I asked, loudly enough for him to hear. On purpose, that time.

"Yeah, I did." He reached his hand up, as though he were going to place it on my shoulder. I tried not to move or show any discomfort, being in full view of nosy neighbour number one's backyard. But he must have noticed, because his hand stopped just above my shoulder. He seemed to study my face before asking, "Do you mind?"

Honestly, I didn't. I could feel myself relax as I shook my head. "No, it's fine."

He pulled me a little closer as his hand rested on my shoulder. We were standing as close as was humanly possible, but the only point of contact between us was where his arm rested gingerly on my shoulder.

"I've always wanted this exact view." He pointed at one of the mountains. "It's a long story so I'll tell you more about that another time. But I scoured the whole city to find this exact spot. I waited for it to go up for sale and fixed the house up just how I wanted it. Then I just had to find someone to share it with."

I couldn't help but feel a deep sadness for both of us. For me, because I was married without my consent. And for him, because he was married to me instead of someone who could appreciate all the work he did to make this house a home and give him the kind of marriage he wanted.

I didn't say anything, though, so we both ended up staring out at the view for several minutes. Despite myself, I felt a tear slip out the corner of my eye. Blinking back the rest of them, I took a deep breath to steady myself. "So, can we go outside or are these just for show?"

"Oh, of course we can go outside," he said, sliding the door open. "After you."

I stepped through the door and onto the large balcony, the scent of spring flowers mixing with the ocean breeze seemed somehow more intense there than they had down in the yard. The view from inside had been breathtaking, but the view from the balcony was incomparable. Unobstructed by the walls of my house, the expanse of the view became abundantly clear.

"I could sit out here forever." I looked at Christopher and smiled, letting him pull me closer to him.

"I'm glad." He looked like he agreed with me about staying here forever. "Because I designed the whole house around this deck."

"Well," I said, taking a step away from him to sit in a nearby chair, "it is one fabulous deck."

He walked over to stand behind me, so I couldn't see what he was looking at when both of our phones rang out with a simultaneous notification.

I pulled my own phone out of my pocket and looked down at the screen to see those two unmistakable words: Match Made.