Page 7 of Never the Bride
Harrison grabs my hand and holds it in the air between us.
We walk down the aisle, my arm looped through his, headed nowhere, really.
Once in the foyer, he turns to me with a silly grin. “Well, my beautiful bride, we’re in this together now. What’s next?”
I remove my hand from his arm. “Signing the marriage certificate and then never speaking to each other again.”
He frowns. “Sounds like a sad marriage.”
“No, it sounds like the majority of marriages out there.”
The pastor’s wife comes with the paperwork, and once everything is signed and pictures are taken for proof, she hands us a basket wrapped in cellophane.
“What’s this?”
She steps back, next to her husband. “It’s aFirst Night Care Package.”
My mouth gapes as I blink back at them.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Really?” Harrison examines the gift, taking a look at its contents. “Sparkling cider, wine glasses, ooh…”—his eyes widen with excitement—“chocolate-covered strawberries.”
The pastor’s wife points to the basket. “There are also candles, bubble bath, massage oils, a flirty game calledMonogamy,and a book we cowrote called101 Nights of Passion.”
Beside me, Harrison chokes on a laugh then immediately covers his mouth with his hand, pretending like he’s coughing.
Wow.
“Uh…thank you for this.” I hold up the basket as I back toward the exit.
“We’ll put it to good use.” Harrison follows my lead, heading to the door. “Especially those massage oils and the book. By night one hundred and two, we’re going to be pros.”
I grab his arm, pulling him out to the parking lot before he says anything else embarrassing.
Once in the parking lot, he turns to me with a roguish smile. “Call me old-fashioned, but aren’t we skipping a few steps in our relationship? I didn’t know I needed to pack an overnight bag.”
“Very funny.” I shove theFirst Night Care Packageinto his arms. “Here. A souvenir for marrying me.”
“Oh, good. I was secretly hoping for theMonogamygame.”
“I bet you were.” A smile breaks loose over my lips. I can’t help it. “Thank you for doing this today. I know it was a big ask.”
“Nah.” He lifts his shoulders. “It’s just a typical Tuesday afternoon.”
Suddenly, I’m curious about my husband. Where did Sam find this guy?
“Why did you do it?”
“Two hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money to pass up.”
“What are you going to do with the money?”
“Start a business.”
I want to ask what kind of business, but maybe it’s best to leave things as they are. The less we know about each other, the better.
“As soon as I get the first payment from Glen, I’ll transfer the money into your account.”
