I clasp my hand around hers and give it a gentle squeeze.
“So, we’re staying married, and we’re actually going on a honeymoon?” she asks, smiling. “We can call it a honeymoon now.”
“That sounds good to me.” The woman I’ve been infatuated with for years is now my wife.
What a curveball.
“And don’t worry about my brother. I’ll handle him. He’s a big teddy bear really.”
We both know that’s not true.
When his sister is involved, he’s a big, overbearing grizzly bear.
And he’s going to eat me for his fucking dinner.
Well, my short marriage to the most sensational woman was fun while it lasted.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Erika
Fed, showered, dressed, and looking better than I feel, I’m sitting next to Leon on the sectional sofa in our suite in Las Vegas, looking down the camera as Ash has a full-on malfunction.
“So, let me get this straight. Neither of you remembers queuing at the Marriage Licensing Bureau, picking rings, or getting married?”
“No,” Leon and I reply at the same time.
I feel like I’m at school again, being scolded by my middle school teacher, Miss. Tremblay. I swear that woman had it in for me.
Exasperated, Ash rushes in with, “What the fuck were you both thinking?” he asks, running his hand back and forth across the top of his buzz cut.
I answer, “We weren’t.” That sounds terrible. We were drunk. That’s it.
“Have you contacted Kali to discuss a press release?” Ash asks, shifting his focus to Leon.
“No. What do I need to do that for? I can write a press release, Ash,” Leon replies, sounding pissed.
“You’re too close to this, too emotional and too exposed, and you need someone outside of your organization to write a press announcement, Leon. Someone who will find the right words to appease the press.”
Ash is right. With offices all over North America, Kali Edwards runs the top public relations agency, representing models and sports personalities. It also helps that she’s married to Wade Edwards, the Eagles’ captain and the son of the Edmonton Eagles’ owner, so she understands the game and the sports industry inside and out. She doesn’t read the headlines; she creates them.
“I’ll think about it.” Through a tight jaw, Leon is non-committal about contacting Kali.
“Great.” Relief washes over my brother’s face. “And if you do go ahead with it, which I think you should, you’ll inform them that it was unplanned. Say that you did it for a bet or something.”
“What?” I exclaim. Is he being serious?
Fear grows in Leon’s eyes, as if he thinks he’s going to lose me before we’ve even begun. “No fucking way am I saying that.” Leon supports me on that decision. “That’s not what happened.”
“Well, what the fuck are you going to say then? Because if you’re going to get an annulment when you return from Bora Bora, then it’s really fucking simple.”
“We’re not getting an annulment, Ash.” Anger crawls up my spine, making my skin flush with impatience. What a presumptuous asshole.
There’s a sharp intake of breath before his question tumbles out of his mouth. “What the hell do you mean, you’re not getting an annulment?”
“Because then we wouldn’t be married, and that’s what we both want,” Leon shoots back, firm and unyielding.
“You are fucking kidding me?” He half laughs and half gasps as if in disbelief.
