Page 121 of Some Like It Hot

“Ready?” she asks me with a smile, bending down to adjust her shoe.

Her breasts threaten to spill out of her dress.

I make a sound somewhere in the back of my throat, but I don’t say anything.

“I think he’s speechless,” Luna says, clearly amused.

“I have that effect on men.” Elise stands back up. “Are you going to eat that?” She points to the pastry in my hand. “Or can I have it?”

I shove it at her. “You can have it.” Then I take a deep breath. “You look amazing. I appreciate the effort. I kind of thought you’d just wear whatever, not a white dress.”

She swipes her finger through the icing and pops it between her lips and sucks. “Nothing screams fake marriage like getting married in jeans. I don’t think any woman would ever agree to that for her actual wedding day unless she’s drunk in Vegas.”

Elise told Luna the truth about what we’re doing because she didn’t want to lie to her friend. Which I understand. But it’s also complicated. Who do we bring in on our sham marriage? Guilt is starting to claw away at my insides.

“You sure you want to do this? You can still change your mind, Sugar.”

Elise just nods. “Sure, I’m sure.”

It occurs to me I’ve never asked Elise how she feels about marriage. Maybe she thinks it’s an outdated institution. Maybe she’s not interested in marriage for real and that’s why this doesn’t seem like a big deal to her.

I could press the issue and open that discussion now.

Or I could trust that she’s an adult who offered me a solution totally without any pressure from me and I shouldn’t worry about it.

Elise doesn’t do what she doesn’t want to do.

That I do know about her.

I adjust my tie and bend down to take a bite of the pastry still in her hand.

“Blake!” she protests, laughing as she turns to protect her food from further attack. “That was half the sticky bun!”

Relieved that this is going to be okay, I press a hard smack on her lips. “Let’s go get married.”

“Good luck, you crazy kids,” Luna says.

Thirty minutes later, we’re standing in the hallway at the courthouse, waiting for the judge to call us in. We went yesterday right after talking to my grandmother and got the license. Elise is fixing her lipstick with a little mirror, and I’m struggling with the urge to pace back and forth.

I kind of feel like a dick that we haven’t told Simon and Aidan.

But Simon is on a plane to London and Aidan is at work.

Elise didn’t want to bother them when they’re working.

With something apparently as trivial as getting married.

But I also heard Simon and Aidan in Elise’s living room the other night.

They confessed their love for each other.

It was so raw and real that I felt guilty having overheard it. The moment was intended to be private, between the two of them.

Elise didn’t seem surprised.

I wasn’t either. You can see when they look at each other that those feelings go way deeper than sexual chemistry and friendship.

Hell, I’m happy for them. I hope they can work out their relationship in spite of Simon’s planned move back to London.

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