“Yeah.”
Damn. “Then…what were wecelebrating?”
Justus took my hand again, and I expected him to intertwine my fingers through his. That was the best memory I had of the night before. Other than thekissing.
Instead, he lifted my hand into my own line of sight. Sunlight glinted off something shining onmy…
“Holy crap!” I snatched my hand from him, staring in utter shock at the ring—no,tworings—on my fourth finger. Myringfinger. “Isthat…?”
“It matches mine.” Justus held up his own left hand, where a platinum band encircled his ringfinger.
“We’re married?” The words sounded like nonsense coming from my mouth.Yet…
“You don’t look happy. There wasn’t much of a selection at three in the morning, but we can get you a different one soon, if you want. You can design your own. Titus knows this placethat—”
“How was thereanyselection of wedding rings at three in themorning?”
Justus shrugged. “It’s Las Vegas. There are actually a couple of twenty-four-hour jewelrystores.”
“And we… Wait.” I closed my eyes and the fingers of my right hand found the rings on my left and began twisting them. Now that I’d noticed them, I couldn’tunnotice them. “How did we go from you losing two hundred thousand dollars to us getting married? I still feel like I’m missing a big piece of the puzzlehere.”
“It was for themoney.”
“The money you lost?” How was it possible that the more I learned, the less Iunderstood?
“No, the money I’m going to inherit. I get my first lump sum when I turn twenty-five, or when I get married. Whichever comesfirst.”
“You…!” I opened my eyes, and the glare from the ring made me want to close them again. But I scowled at him instead. “You didn’t tell me that. You said twenty-five. You never saidmarried.”
“I told you last night, Kaci.” He sounded…wounded. “Last night you werehappyaboutthis.”
“Last night I was drunk! Evidently. I can’t even remember—” My focus snapped to the bed, where the tangled mass of covers made me want to cry. “Wedidn’t…?”
Pleasesay wedidn’t.
I wanted toremembermy firsttime.
Justus followed my gaze to the bed. “Oh. No, you were drunk. That wouldn’t have been…” He cleared his throat. “You threw up. Then you fellasleep.”
“Without mypants.”
“You didthatyourself. You were…eager. But then you passedout.”
“Oh my god.” I buried my face in my hands, and the ring felt cold against my scalding cheek. “Alcohol is thedevil.”
“Kaci.” Justus pulled my right hand away from my face and held it, but I kept my eyes squeezed shut. I couldn’t look at him. Not knowing that I’d evidently begged him to sleep with me. To free the poor, man-eating tabby from her virginity. At three in the morning. Drunk on vodka. “Kaci. Look atme.”
Finally, I opened my eyes. But tears filled them almost immediately, blurring hisface.
“Kaci. Oh, please don’t cry. I would never have touched you while you were drunk. No matter what you said you wanted.I—”
“Aaaghhhh!” I pushed him away and stood. “You’re just making it worse. No girl wants to hear that she got married while she was drunk. That she begged for sex, then didn’t even get it. Not that not remembering it would have been anybetter.”
“Wait, you’re mad because Ididn’tsleep withyou?”
“No!” I grabbed my pants from the back of the chair they were hanging from and leaned against the wall while I pulled them on with angry, jerking motions. “And yes. I’m mad about everything, Justus.Allthe things. This is allwrong.”
I was never one of those girls who dreamed about her wedding day. By the time I realized I’d be expected to marry a tom, I already knew that none of them would be interested. I also knew, thanks to Faythe and the glass ceiling she’d shoved her way through, that I wouldn’t be forced into marriage with someone who didn’t loveme.
