Page 30 of Lock 'em Down

Taking my shot glass, I turn to her. “Getting married was your idea.”

“I know,” she hisses, her cheeks turning red. “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

I arch an eyebrow. “Proposing to me? I confessed a fucking secret—something no one knows about me—and you gave me the gift I was asking for and then bounced.”

She closes her eyes and exhales. When she opens them, I note the regret rounding out her irises and it makes me feel worse.

“Don’t you dare pity me,” I snap.

Cami sighs. “I’m not. I’m…relating.”

“To what?”

“To you.” She throws a hand in my direction. “I didn’t want you to wake up and be disappointed that you legally tied yourself to me.”

“Why the hell would I be disappointed?” I bite out, my frustration swirling with my confusion. Right now, I don’t feel calm or chill. I feel nervous and a little out of control.

Dammit.

“Because, Leif, I…I make mistakes.”

“Everyone does! We’re human.” Wait a second. “I thought you didn’t do regrets?”

“I don’t regret marrying you,” she admits, soothing my main concern. “But I don’t know how to navigate this next part.”

I shake my head and gesture toward the table our mothers are seated at. “Neither do I. My mom is on a mission and it looks like yours is too.” I hold up my hand when Cami starts to explain. “It doesn’t matter what the reasons are. But if we have any chance of working this out”—I gesture between us—“then we need to come clean. Our moms will give us some space if they know the truth.”

“That we know each other from Vegas?”

Oh, God. I shake my head. “That we’re married,” I remind her. My brothers and friends would die of laughter if they could see me now. Standing here, trying to convince this beautiful woman that a marriage with me is worth a shot.

“Wait…” She pauses to toss back her tequila shot. “I need another,” she tells the bartender.

Snorting, I take my shot as well and smack my lips together. I shake my head when the bartender gestures at my glass. “I’m fine with one, thanks.”

Cami rolls her eyes. “So, you want to…stay married?”

I shrug.

“Why?” She nearly vibrates with frustration. Confusion. Fear. “Why the hell wouldn’t you want an annulment? We have a shot, you know. I looked into it.”

“Oh, did you? Extensively, I bet with your move across the country and your vanishing act.”

Cami laughs—surprising the hell out of me. The musical sound relaxes me some and I find myself grinning back.

“Fine. I barely looked at the requirements, but I thought you’d want to end this as quickly as possible.”

“I’m not most guys, remember?” I say gently. “Cam, I admitted to you that I want stakes. That I want more. That deep down, I want the type of marriage, the type of family and home, that my parents built.”

“I know,” she murmurs.

“Yeah, I may be known as the chill, laid-back dude, but I don’t shirk my commitments. I’ve never been the type of guy who makes promises and breaks them. I made vows to you, Cami. I’m not okay with a divorce when we didn’t even try to make it work.” I pause, searching her face for any expression that will clue me in to her thoughts.

Even though it’s insane that we married without knowing each other for more than a handful of hours, it felt right. Hell, when I confessed my secret, and she offered me a solution—offered me her—I thought she was granting me a gift.

“This is my first time on my own,” she murmurs. “Truly on my own.”

“Okay.”

---