“It’sdead.”
“Use my charger. It’s plugged in on thedesk.”
I plugged my phone in, then retrieved my toothbrush from my bag and brushed my teeth while I waited for my cell to accumulate enough of a charge to poweron.
This is no big deal, Kaci. Lots of people did stupid things in Las Vegas. That was why what happened there stayedthere.
When I emerged from the bathroom with my wet toothbrush in its case, Justus had thrown all the empty plastic cups and soda cans into the trash, and my phone screen was litup.
I sank into the desk chair so I could research annulments while it continued to charge. And as it turned out, there were several grounds for having a marriage annulled, one of which seemed to be tailor made for our situation. “Lack of consent!” I shouted as I stood intriumph.
Justus looked up at me from the duffle bag he was digging through. “You consented,Kaci.”
“Yes, but lack of consent includes the lack of mental capacity to consent, and that includes the states of either insanity or intoxication. Both of which could be considered accurate in the case of a drunk eighteen-year-old who marries a guy she hardlyknows.”
“Current behavior aside, you’re perfectly sane. And you weren’t drunk yet when we got married. They wouldn’t have performed the ceremony if you had been.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “The video came through, if you want to see for yourself. I can forward it to you. What’s your emailaddress?”
“Don’t you think that’s an odd question to have to ask your ownwife?”
Justus frowned. “Do you want the video ornot?”
“No.” He wouldn’t offer to send it to me if I looked drunk in the footage, and if it wouldn’t get me out of this marriage, I didn’t want to see myself falling for the guy who used me to get at his inheritanceearly.
I turned back to myphone.
“It won’t work.” Justus pulled a clean shirt over his head, and I tried to pretend I was relieved not to have to look at his chest anymore. “I already looked. Non-consummation isn’t grounds for a legalannulment.”
“Wait…” I kept reading, until a phrase popped out at me. “Yes, it is. There.” I unplugged my phone and handed it tohim.
“That says impotence.” He shoved my phone back at me. “I amnotimpotent.”
“It says we can ask for an annulment if one partner intentionally concealed impotence or an unwillingness toconsummate.”
“I’m perfectly willing to consummate.” He grabbed the hem of his T-shirt. “Should I take this back off? We can consummate this bitch rightnow.”
I plugged my phone back in and rolled my eyes at him. “As romantic asthatsounds,I’mnot willing toconsummate.”
“And I’m not willing to request an annulment over that. You take as much time as you need.” He dropped into the nearest chair and draped his arms over the sides. “When you’re ready, I’ll behere.”
Anger burned like hot coals beneath my skin. “I’m notgoingto be ready, Justus. We arenotstayingmarried!”
“Then divorce me.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Just wait until my inheritance goesthrough.”
“Are you admitting you don’t want to be married to me? That you only did this because of the money? Because that qualifies as fraud or misrepresentation—a perfectly good reason to annul, according to theinternet.”
“No, Kaci. That’s not what I’m saying. I know you don’t want to believe this, but you married me willingly. Sober and in goodcheer.”
“Why would I do that? I hardly knowyou.”
His eyes closed. Then he opened them again and pinned me with a piercing gaze. “Last night, you knew me. And I knew you. Last night, you and I walked down the strip and looked at all the lights. We ate lobster and rack of lamb at Le Cirque—turns out you don’t like lamb. And we talked forhours.”
“You’re saying I married you because you fed me Frenchfood?”
“Just listen. Last night, it was like we fell under some kind of spell. I was here last year for a friend’s bachelor party, but I wasn’t really very impressed with the place. I thought it was smelly, and gaudy, and way over-hyped. But everything looked different when I was with you. Everything was new, and it was allmagical.”
I rolled my eyes. “Anything that isn’t cows and oilwells—”
“—is magical to a girl from the farm.” His smile actually looked nostalgic. “You said that last night too. But my point is that we had fun together. It felt like we could probably have fun together on a regular basis. Last night, spending forever on the beach seemed like not only a possibility, but agood idea. So we did something crazy. Something impulsive. Something that seemed like the only way to get what we both wanted. And webothwanted it, Kaci. That forever on the beach. So we picked out rings and got married. Then we came back here and we drank to celebrate—which turned out to be a mistake—and we kissed for an hour straight—which I will never in my life regret, no matter how this turnsout.
