“Or how about we have some make-up sex?”
CHAPTER 34
DUSTIN
A warm summerbreeze blew over our faces. Winterborne, Phil from Cat’s hospital, her friend Phoebe, Chip, Jenny and I all sat around a big table on the patio at a seafood restaurant in Washington, D.C. as Winterborne finished his story.
“So I say to my boss, ‘you really think this couple is fake? The man admitted to getting dressed up in a bunny suit for his wife, for God sake! And a man who would do that,” he paused. “Is seriously, hopelessly in love—for real.”
I smirked. Cat’s jaw was wide open.“That’sreallyhow you knew we were a real couple?”
Winterborne grinned. “Yes. Well, that and how much he raved about your big brains. That was too silly not to be true.”
I poked her underneath the table.
“You kicked us out of your office for that,” I reminded him.
“Right—but I realized after the fact, if you were faking a marriage, that would have been a damn stupid thing to say. And then I remembered that DeMarco had smashed up against the boards pretty good, so I figured your head was just off a little or whatever.”
Rubbing Cat’s knee, I cleared my throat. “Well, you sure had us nailed. Thanks, everyone here, for believing in us. A toast.”
I looked at Cat. She had a dark emerald green dress tonight, per my request. I had managed to convince her that green was her best color. And in a way, it symbolized our journey as a couple. She had grown, in my mind at least, from the flashy, gorgeous girl in the red dress who I couldn’t take my eyes off of on the elevator, into something evergreen that would last forever, God willing.
I raised my glass. “Misunderstandings happen. I’d like to thank you all for sticking up for us as the second video was making the rounds. True love comes in all shapes, sizes, and time frames. It just so happens that ours was accelerated. And involves bunny costumes. Here here!”
Chip shot me an ‘are you serious?’ look, and Cat began choking on her drink.
I patted her on the back. “You okay, honey?”
She nodded. “Wrong pipe. That’s all.”
“Right,” I winked.
After dinner, we said goodbye to Phil and Winterborne, unlikely allies in our fight for Cat’s visa approval. But after Jackie released the video, Winterborne couldn’t believe we weren’t totally in love after his visit to our house, and he went to bat for us to his higher-ups.
They noted that her citizenship wouldn’t be far off.
Sometimes, you just never know who your allies are, and who your enemies are.
Chip, Phoebe, Jenny, Cat and I headed to a bar on the hill in downtown D.C. We were intent on keeping the party going.
They were also infinitely curious about the true nature of our relationship.
Chip rubbed his forehead as we explained the circumstances of our first meeting. Jenny had the video on her phone, and she pulled it up.
Their jaws dropped.
Mine even did, too.
“So you two had a one night stand in college, and forgot all about it?” He shook his head.
“We both sort of blocked it out of our memory.”
“That is by far the craziest love story I’ve ever heard,” Phoebe added.
With my arm around Cat, I pulled her into me for a kiss. She looked as sexy as the first night, in the red dress.
Cat shrugged. “Fortunately, both of us are crazy. I think if just one of us was crazy, that wouldn’t work. But since we both are, we get along just fine.”
