Page 19 of For Butter or for Worse
“No, I haven’t told her…yet.” I tack that last word on reluctantly. “But it’s not the same when she isn’t in Willow Cove. Coop is here, and he knows all the people we have to convince that we are happily married.”
“You’re doing a terrible job of it, by the way,” Coop mutters, frowning at each of us in turn. “Do I need to be worried about the two of you strangling each other in the middle of the night? And I don’t mean that as a euphemism.”
I groan. “Why are you still here?”
Shrugging, he starts looking at the sky with disinterest. “Because King is my ride back to Coral Berry. If you want my opinion…”
“I don’t,” I grumble.
“You should show up at the boardwalk together. Half the town probably knows what just went down in the courthouse.”
“Already?” It was so much easier to keep things a secret in New York, where people minded their own business. “Ugh, Ihatesmall towns.”
Maybe I imagine it, but King winces a little before he digs his keys out of his pocket and hands them to Coop. “We’re planning a honeymoon at the end of the season, when everything calms down and we don’t have businesses that needour attention.” He says it in a way that is clear he’s expecting his friend to help spread that explanation for why we’re going back to our day like nothing has happened instead of celebrating our nuptials.
Coop nods. “Fine. Just remember I’ve got an extra cot in the boat house if you need an escape.” He gives King a pointed look, throws another glare toward me, and then climbs into King’s truck and drives off.
And now I feel entirely awkward, which is exactly how a girl wants to feel on her wedding day with her new husband. “So.”
King narrows his eyes. “So.”
“You kissed me.”
“I had to make it look real.”
“Are you going to have to do that a lot?”
“Hopefully not.”
“Agreed.” Honestly, I’m not sure if I say that because I don’t want him to kiss me or because Ido. I did plenty of dating over the last ten years and got my fair share of kisses, but something about King’s kiss is still buzzing around inside of me. I don’t like it. “We should probably lay down some more specific rules when it comes to being out in pub—”
“Is that Royal Kingston I see?” An older woman sashays across the parking lot with the grace of a waddling goose, her gray hair making a valiant effort to escape the braid it’s in. She has a wide smile on her face, but the look in her eyes is anything but friendly. “I just heard the craziest thing about you.”
Before I can even try to remember if I know this woman, King tugs me up against his side and splays his hand at my waist. Goodness, did his hands get bigger too? Heat spreads through me from his fingers to the tip of my nose, and it was already hot outside to begin with. I’m probably beet red right now.
“Mrs. Pinnock,” he says cheerfully. “I’d bet you’re glad to have school over for a few months. What adventures have you and Carl planned for this summer?”
She clucks her tongue at him. “Now now, Royal, you won’t distract me that easily.” Her eyes stray over to me, sliding from my head to my toes and making me burn even warmer. “Who is this delightful little miss?”
She’s clearly asking the question of King, even though her eyes are still fixed on me. It’s like she’s expecting me to stand here in silence, which has never been my style.
I hold out a hand. “Georgie Carp—” I yelp when King’s fingers dig into my side. It’s as much the tickle of it as it is the proximity I haven’t had a chance to process. “Georgie,” I repeat, leaving off my last name. I have no plans to change it, but I can see why it will confuse people if I go around advertising myself asnota Kingston.
“My wife,” King adds. His voice isn’t as strong as it was a second ago. The words seem to fall out of him, and his grip on my waist tightens, making me squirm again.
Mrs. Pinnock’s mouth falls open in a large O as she ignores my outstretched hand entirely. “Your…your wife? Surely not.”
“Surely yes,” I argue, forcing what I hope is a loving smile as I lean into King and look up at him. “At least, I’m hoping it was a marriage license we just signed and not a contract with the devil.”
“I’d never share you with the devil,” King says. More likegrowls. He moves me so I’m directly in front of him now, both arms tucked around me, and then presses a kiss to my neck.
My whole body erupts in goosebumps, and I have to put all my focus into breathing. The old King never pulledthatmove.
“But…” Mrs. Pinnock looks like she wants to both argue against our marriage and call us out for being indecent in public. She waits another moment, during which King leaves a trail of kisses up to my ear, and then she waddles toward the courthouse without another word.
As soon as she’s out of sight, King takes a step away from me and leaves a chilled gap between us. “That was the high school principal, by the way,” he says calmly. “I told you about her before, right? She’ll verify that we really did get married, and then she’ll spread the word that the rumors are true.” How does he look so normal right now? I feel like I might melt into the pavement. “We should really get back. I have to open the surf shack, and Meg doesn’t like being on her own for long.”
Swallowing a huge gulp of air, I hold it in my lungs until my heart stops trying to beat out of my chest. Then I lead the way to my car, telling myself that I’m being ridiculous. There’s no reason for me to have that kind of reaction to the man when he’s only going to be in my life for a few weeks. No matter how attractive he is, he’s never going to be more than a means to an end.
