Page 15 of Roman and Jules
“Cocoa Puffs? Is that what you have at your place?”
“Standard bachelor fare.”
“What happened to warm beer and stale pizza?”
She had officially calmed down. He glanced over at Father Lawrence. “Well, are we going to do this thing or watch her make fun of me?” The man shuffled to get his rings first while Roman picked out a smaller one with a simple design and a delicate band. At least it was somewhat classy. “How much for this?”
She grasped onto his hand. “I like the ringyougave me.”
“I do too,” he said. “…did.”
“Sorry,” she said cheekily, “but you lost it.” Jules switched it back to her thumb again. “I’m just gonna wear it here, okay?”
He enjoyed her sudden show of spirit, and took her hand. She was far more relaxed, and he did his best to keep her mind off what they were doing as he led her to the pulpit at the front of the room. “You heard the lady,” Roman told Lawrence. “She knows what she wants, though frankly, I’m surprised she didn’t go for the tooth ring.”
She burst into a laugh and he counted that as another victory.
On the other hand, Lawrence was a bumbling idiot, and did everything in his power to undo everything Roman had done to cool Jules down. He peered at them. “How long have you known each other?”
“Tonight,” Jules answered shyly, and Roman grimaced as she spilled everything. “We met tonight.”
She didn’t know that this could be fodder for the papers tomorrow, and Roman laughed stiffly. “She’s joking.”
Judging by Lawrence’s hard stare, he believed her story over Roman’s. “The sparks of romance that flame into fiery infernos are snuffed out just as quickly as they begin.”
“Wow, that’s poetic,” Roman said dryly. Good thing this marriage wasn’t real then. “Is this part of the ceremony?”
“Not at all,” Lawrence said. “May I offer one piece of advice?” Jules nodded the same time Roman shook his head. As usual, the officiator took her word over his. “Beware of spoiling your love with passion, my friends,” he said.
Roman fell silent, not knowing how to respond.
“Thank you,” Jules said finally.
“Oh!” Father Lawrence tapped Roman’s shoulder. “He’ll thank you for me.” What was that supposed to mean? “With a gentle kiss,” Lawrence said, nudging him.
“How about you marry us first?” Roman asked.
Lawrence let out a crass laugh. It was the only thing that cracked through his stern exterior. “Well, you’re impatient. I can see by the way that you’re looking at her that I’d better hurry before things get uncomfortable. Get a room. Am I right?”
That did it. Jules snorted out a laugh and hid her face in her hands in embarrassment, her shoulders silently shaking out her mirth. “I am so sorry,” she gasped out. “Yes, Lawrence, you’re so right. You’d better hurry this up.”
Father Lawrence wasn’t amused, but Roman found himself grinning, until the officiator started asking the empty room if there was anyone to object to their nuptials. Obviously he still got paid if a couple changed their minds mid-ceremony.
“Uh—there’s no one in the room,” Roman said after the third attempt. “What are you hoping for? A ghost?” He got a glare from Lawrence for that, though he’d left Ty Bolt’s name unspoken.
Jules, on the other hand, was cracking up. She’d dissolved into pure hysterical lunacy, giggling at every exchange.
“Then with the power vested in me by the state of Nevada, I declare you man and wife.”
“He wasn’t a man before?” Jules asked giddily.
“I guess I wasn’t,” Roman said. She wouldn’t stop snickering, and he blamed the stress of the situation and pushed aside her veil to stop her mouth with a kiss.
Her laugh was cut off, and she surprised him by entwining her arms around his neck as if she’d always belonged with him. Roman’s heart almost came to a stop as he lifted her up to his chest—too easily. It had all been too easy. He’d bought her for a song, but something somber inside him told him that her worth was inestimable. This kiss they shared felt heavy with meaning. It was different from the one in the rain; this time she was his. His wife.For a time. It felt foreign, but at the same time very real, and he gave a groan of reluctance when he pulled from her. He was in serious trouble—he was in danger of falling in lovewith his wife.
He couldn’t tear his gaze from her. Her eyes were closed. When they fluttered open, she stared up at him, breathing through her open mouth.
Roman needed to explain that kiss to her—it held a little more feeling than he’d intended. He cleared his throat. “That was for tradition.”
