Page 18 of Marry Me, Right Now

I looked at Jacob sharply. “You said the house was gorgeous. Why would it need upgrading?”

He smiled as if he knew what I was thinking. “Not

silly trendy redecorating. There are a few old doors and windows that need replacing, and since the patio stones have apparently not weathered well, I may want to replace them before the whole thing collapses, and extend the area another ten feet. Nothing major, nothing wasteful. I promise. Just general upkeep.”

“Okay.” I nodded gravely, then let them go over the rest of the details, signing everything they set in front of me.

I was getting married less than two weeks from today, and earning a million dollars to be a wife. It was completely unreal. All I could do was focus on the tasks at hand, the details, and working hard to do an excellent job. Worrying about what this all meant could be done later.

JACOB

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PLANNING

When we returned to the condo after our quick trip to the lawyer’s, I made some more coffee while Mia went through her notes. There was so much we still had to cover.

“So, Mia, there’s another important thing that we have to both be on board with. We can’t date anyone else until after the marriage is dissolved. Will you be okay with that?”

She began examining her cuticles as if she were trying to distract herself. “That certainly won’t be a problem for me.” Then she looked at me strangely. “But, um, I know that it’s different for guys. Will you be okay for a year?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. The last couple of relationships were, shall we say, rocky.”

She looked over at me as if she were trying to read my face. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “Anything I should know?”

I shook my head sadly. “No. It’s just that women are always pushed on me by my mother, coworkers, friends, and there is hardly ever a spark. And when there was, well, I guess I’ve just had bad luck.” She nodded, so I continued. “They haven’t been nice girls. Everything they did was so that it would look fabulous and pretentious on social media, and they didn’t have a personality of their own. They were difficult, needy, and boring as hell.”

Mia nodded. “You’re also only twenty-eight. I mean, you might still be finding out who you are.”

I shrugged. “Maybe I’m boring too. All I want to do is work, and hang out with my friends. Go to a museum or a show now and then. Travel once a year. That doesn’t sound very exciting, does it?”

She grinned, and I noticed once again how perfect her smile was. “This year is definitely going to be a little more exciting for you, I think. A secret mission, buckets full of lies. Millions of dollars on the line. It’s kind of our own little espionage movie.”

“You’re right,” I laughed. “Our desperate mission.”

She frowned, biting her lip. “We are going to need a really good excuse for why we are getting married so fast.” She looked up at me quickly. “I really don’t want to fake a pregnancy.”

“Oh, hell no. My family would freak. That is seriously frowned upon.”

“Would they kick you out or something?”

“No, but I might be shunned. They might strongly encourage me to move to Europe or something.”

“Damn,” she said. “That’s pretty harsh.”

“Yeah, well, that’s my family. Everything is about appearances. We have to appear perfect, larger than life. We are a beacon of civility amongst the heathens.”

She gave me a very strange look, and I couldn’t help cracking up completely. “Sometimes my mother has too much wine and gets really freaking dramatic.”

“To be honest,” she said softly, “I am pretty terrified about meeting your mother.”

“She’s a nice lady at heart, and no matter what, she’ll be polite to you. Don’t worry, anything negative she has to say will only be said to me behind your back.”

Poor Mia looked positively horrified. “She’s going to hate me, isn’t she?”

“Not necessarily.” I took a sip of my coffee while I contemplated. “If I go on at length about how happy I am, how everything has changed for the better, and how wonderful my life is with you in it, she’ll be happy that I’m happy. She’ll have a lot of questions, of course, but she’ll welcome you to the family. I’ll have lunch with her as soon as possible to pave the way.”

My hand reached out to take hers without even thinking. “Mia, I hope this doesn’t offend you, but a few people might think this is just my first marriage anyway.”

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