Page 23 of Escape Clause

Hope bit her lip. “Are all Caradonian wedding ceremonies so…”

“Boring and pedantic?” His mouth curved.

She blinked in surprise, and then they both burst into laughter. Krogan had a rich, warm masculine laugh.

They’d just sobered when the officials emerged from their office and scurried away as if they couldn’t leave fast enough.

There go two people who love their jobs. Not.

She looked at Krogan, and they cracked up all over again.

Chapter Twelve

“How did it go?” Vorgol asked, the morning after the wedding ceremony. “Everybody get to the officiant’s office all right?”

“It went better than expected.” Instead of the sense of doom he’d anticipated, he’d returned home feeling almost…happy. The dry, lackluster ceremony had given them something to laugh about. They’d joked about it. He couldn’t remember ever laughing so hard or having someone to share in the amusement.

But the fact that the ceremony had had a funny side didn’t mean it should have been that way. “Are all the weddings like that?”

“Like what? Better than expected?”

“Mind-numbing dull. The officiant seemed bored by his job and was going through the motions.” Given the importance of the weddings, shouldn’t he have been more animated, personable?

Vorgol blinked in surprise, but to the VGG’s credit, he did not voice the obvious—that Krogan wasmerely going through the motions of marrying, so how could he fault the officiant? “With the sudden steep drop in marriages, most of the officiants had to find other work. And many of the officiants were women,” he said.

“I’d wanted the ceremony to be nice for Hope.” She’d been nervous. He’d felt her shaking. When he’d clasped her hand to comfort her, it had been ice-cold. He himself had felt an odd ache in his chest, wishing that he could be a different man, the kind for whom this wouldn’t be a rote exercise, but a meaningful commitment because she deserved that.

She’d seemed tense, but so beautiful, and when the officiant had pronounced them married, she’d looked up at him with a hesitant light in her eyes, her parted pink lips so inviting, he’d almost sealed the moment with a kiss.

But the fizzak assistant had interrupted, jumping in with a demand for a signature on the contract. Were they trying to facilitate weddings or prevent them? The officiant had been more interested in getting out the door by quitting time than creating a memorable experience.

“I’m glad I went through it, so I know what the others are experiencing.” He remembered how joyfulthe other couples had appeared leaving the office.They were thrilled to be getting away from the boring officiant.Fortunately, the uninspiring, monotonous ceremony hadn’t managed to lessen their happiness. The couples had found joy in each other.

He and Hope had found humor.

“Get more personable officiants. Try to hire back some of the ones we lost,” he ordered. “We need people who care, not bureaucrats working off a checklist.”

“Will do.”

“The human brides will tell their family and friends on Terra Nova about their experience. We need them to be complimentary.”

“Now you sound like me,” Vorgol joked before turning serious. “I’m glad you feel this way because now that we have some married couples, I intend to revise the marketing campaign to show happy spouses rather than single men, and I would like you and Hope to be in it.”

“Assuming she’s agreeable, that will be fine. It’s a good idea.” He had nothing to lose. He no longer feared being matched and paired up because it had already happened. And if it would help his people, he was all in.

“Also…I think it would be beneficial if Cosmic Mates hosted a reception for the newlyweds to show our appreciation.”

“And to obtain holograms from the reception to use in marketing?” he asked drily.

“Exactly.”

“You’re always a step ahead, aren’t you?”

Vorgol grinned. “Isn’t that why you selected me as your VGG?”

As the founder and titular head of Cosmic Mates—not to mention one of its trailblazing newlyweds, he would have to attend the reception. He couldn’t not be there. His absence would look bad for the program. But he needed to consult with his wife. “Let me talk to her, ensure she’s amenable before you plan anything. I’ll get back to you.”

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