Page 62 of Marry Me, Right Now

“Shall I get us another round?” I said, needing a distraction immediately.

“Sure,” she said brightly.

I could tell that Mia was likely near her limit, so I asked the bartender to make hers half strength. He nodded knowingly, putting an extra lime on the edge of one glass to mark it.

When I returned, Mia was laughing. Her long, lovely hair was flying as an older man twirled her around the dance floor. Then I recognized him as one of the stars of a recent superhero movie.

When he saw me appr

oach, he spun her toward me. “Hey there, mate. My wife went to the loo, so I borrowed yours. I love this song.”

He kissed Mia’s hand, then went back to a table where a tall blonde woman was rolling her eyes and laughing at him.

Handing Mia her drink, she couldn’t stop giggling. “That guy looks just like–”

“That was him.”

Her jaw dropped open as she squeaked, “Get out.”

“Sweetheart, you might meet a few rich and famous people around here. Money flocks to money, and people just pop up at places and events all the time. You’ll get used to it.”

“The heck I will,” she laughed, sipping her pink juice.

“I know you’re making a lot of changes in this new life,” I said, serious for a moment. “But that’s one of the good ones, right?”

“There are lots of good things,” she said merrily. “My bedroom has an amazing view, I have all the food and wine I want.” She cocked her head. “I can have my friends over a few times a month, right?”

“Of course,” I said.

“See, that’s awesome,” she continued, “Because a lot of the time we’re all too broke to go out, but everyone has lousy apartments and we’re embarrassed to have each other over sometimes. So we’ll actually probably hang out more often, and somewhere quieter where we can really talk, and that’s amazing and thank you.”

This rum was like truth serum, and I couldn’t resist wanting to make the most of it. “What else do you like about the rich life?”

She stared up at the multicolored lights for a second. “I can really support the arts now. I could go to see more bands, and actually buy their CDs and t-shirts. I can go to plays on opening night and pay full price instead of waiting for tickets on sale. Oh! And I can maybe buy some clothes from Rayanne’s fashion designer sister.”

I set our empty glasses aside, wrapping my arms around her waist as we gently swayed, too tired to really dance anymore. “Is there anything you don’t like?”

She made a face. “A few fussy people make me nervous. I’m terrified that I’m going to make a mistake and embarrass you, but I’m studying really hard.”

I tucked her hair behind her ear. “Sweetie, you’d never embarrass me. What are you studying?”

Mia laughed, and I realized she was officially tipsy. “I’m stalking all of your female friends on social media to see what they wear and where they go and stuff. And the expressions they use. So whenever they’re around, I’m sort of modeling myself after them.” She changed her voice to sound exactly like Logan’s girlfriend Katy. “Like, how could anyone spend three hours in the nail salon? I tell you, they simply must get better people.”

I laughed with her, but then held her face in my hands for a moment. “Mia, I don’t want to change you.”

“It’s the show,” she grinned. “And my job now. I’m playing my part. See? I knew those few acting classes would come in handy. I’m going to play the part of Jacob’s artsy wife, but like, just the right amount of artsy. Just enough to be interesting, not enough to be weird. You know? But with my hair all glossy, and clothing from weird European houses and I still don’t know why a pair of pants needs to come from a house with an ugly logo.”

I realized she was sacrificing much more than I realized, and felt guilty as hell.

We danced slowly for a while longer, then I reluctantly dragged her back to our villa. I figured that she was likely exhausted and I should put her to bed with a glass of water.

As we approached our quaint little building, she began laughing.

“What now?” I grinned.

“Your mother doesn’t really like me. Does that make me a bad girl?”

“You’re a bad girl because you are a naughty little minx. But mother has never approved of any girl I introduced to her.

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