Page 66 of Down & Dirty

Ronnie: ‘Cause it’s nothing?

Sky: ‘Cause its nunya

Ronnie: Fine. Have fun. But remember to hold Cory’s hand if it’s icy. You don’t want him to fall and break a hip or anything

Sky: You’re a child

Ronnie: In comparison to your boyfriend, that’s true

Cory had gotten us a slot at City Hall the weekend before the holiday. I didn’t ask if he’d used his clout to do that, I just scrambled to get ready. He was set to pick me up for our appointment in ten minutes and I was pacing in my living room. When the knock came—early —I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I was nervous about the wedding, of course, but there was something else that scared me more; I had to tell him Elle knew.

Not strictly out of guilt, though I had plenty of that. But because I wanted her to be there. We needed a witness, and I wanted her to be it. Fake wedding or not, I needed my best friend there when I did this.

I opened the door slowly, forcing a smile onto my face. Not many men in my life made me feel the way Cory did, and when I saw him holding a bouquet of white roses and a bottle of champagne, my whole body felt light. Then I saw the look in his eyes, ardent and bright, and my heart squeezed a little tighter.

“Hello gorgeous,” he said, stepping into the small space.

“Hi,” I squeaked, my nerves on a level ten.

“You ready?” He dropped his eyes to my off-white dress, a pearl-edged band of lace around my waist and a V-cut at my chest that was sexy, but also demure. It was a last-minute snag at a department store, but I thought it looked pretty good. Cory’s appraisal told me I was right. “Jesus,” he sighed, setting the bottle down and scraping a hand along his jaw. “You aren’t playing, huh?”

“Well,” I looked down at myself. “I’m not sure this is what I’d go with if this was for real, but it’ll do.”

His eyes lingered on mine, a tiny smile playing in the curl of his lips. “What would you have, if this was your dream day?”

I laughed, brushing my hands down my skirt. “I wasn’t one of those girls who really dreamt of their wedding day, Cory. I was too much of a tomboy for that.”

“Come on, you had to think about it once or twice.”

“Sure. Maybe something simple. White dahlias and a string band. Nothing fancy though. The most important thing,” I paused, girding myself to get the words out. “Would be to have people there I loved and trusted.”

A shadow fell on his face, knowing that us getting married like this would mean I had none of that.

“Which is why I wanted to Elle to come.”

Cory stiffened. “Today?”

I nodded, swallowing before I got it all out. “I know it’s all fake, but I needed at least one person there that I really knew. Besides you.” I worried I was saying this all wrong, but Cory’s expression was so frozen, I had no idea what he was thinking. “I needed my best friend. So I asked her to meet us there.”

His voice was low, “You already asked her?”

I nodded slowly, watching the pieces fall into place. “She knows about us.”

It might have been shitty timing to drop this on my soon-to-be fake husband, and I really hoped he didn’t change his mind. But if nothing else, we’d been honest with each other up until now, and I had to come clean before we got even more entangled.

“About everything.” He said it as a statement, the truth already on my face.

“Not in the very beginning, but after the fight. I needed someone to talk to.”

Cory was nodding, over and over, processing what I was telling him as his eyes floated around the room. Finally he sighed, saying, “Okay.”

My breath stuttered. “Okay?”

“I get it. And you trust her. So, okay.”

I thought he was stunned. Shocked into a daze or something, but then he smiled at me, a warm unfurling grin that settled my nerves better than coming clean had.

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