Richard may have bitten off more than he could chew with his promise to try and love Laney. The way she was teasing him might very well be his downfall but he had brought it upon himself.
She knew what he was like better than most so it was natural she would be shocked when anything changed. He really needed to try harder.
Who could he even turn to about this though? Most of the people he knew were under the impression that he was already in love and he wasn't about to change that. His options for love advice were severely limited.
In the week since they decided to stay together, Richard had tried to be more physically affectionate with his wife but he wasn't sure that was enough. He wasn't very good at that either. He kept getting flustered with the kissing and she kept laughing at him.
It wasn't as if there was an instruction manual on how to make your fake relationship real! If there was, he would study it extensively.
