I stared into her eyes, searching for any sign that she was kidding. She wasn’t. “Now?” I asked.
“Now,” she said.
“Like today?”
“That would be ideal. Yes.”
“You want to run back to Vegas and say ‘I do’ at a drive-thru chapel like every bad romantic comedy I’ve ever mocked?” I chuckled, waiting for thehaha, just kidding.
“Doesn’t have to be a drive-thru,” she said.
I fell back against my hands, mind swirling. “But you’re Juliette Serrant. Don’t you want six months at least to pick a venue, invite three hundred guests, and get the perfect wedding dress? GivePeoplemagazine an exclusive?” I was no stranger to celebrity weddings. Cash and Charlie’s had beenover the top, what with Opal and Ivy, the nation’s favorite jewelry company, footing the bill.
“No. None of that. As a matter of fact, I don’t want any pictures taken, except a couple of selfies on our phones. Don’t want to tell a single person for as long as we can get away with it.” She lifted my hand and looped the stray thread around my ring finger. “I just want it to be you...” She tucked it under, tightening. “And me...” Then she pulled it into a snug knot and smiled. “And, of course, the Elvis impersonator who officiates.”
Could I do this? Did I want to?
My mom would be hurt. Granny might remove me from her will. Cash would tell me I was insane, and Liam—the tool that he was—would heckle me online once the news broke.
But the only thing I actually cared about was this: Juliette Serrant… No, Jules—my Jules—wanted to marry me. Today.
No more getting dumped for Bowen. Or getting catfished on dating apps. Or spending hundreds of dollars on first dates. No more wondering whether to text tonight or play it cool and wait until tomorrow. I’d be eternally yoked with someone.With Jules. For better or for worse. Adios, singlehood. ¡Hasta la vista, baby!
Nothing had ever sounded so freaking good.
I looked at Jules, her expression soft and so full of hope. Yes, she was beautiful, but she was also funny, and brave, and not afraid to be vulnerable.
And our connection…
Suddenly, all my past relationships made sense. They hadn’t failed because I’d tried too hard. They’d failed because I was meant for Jules.
So this is what Bowen felt for Maggie. This is why they had such a hard time staying away from each other.
Though it pained me to give those two any grace, if roleswere reversed, and Bowen had dated Jules, I wouldn’t have been able to stay away from her either.
Jules’s hands pressed against her cheeks. “What do you think? Yes? No? Am I completely insane?”
“Jules, I only have one question.” A massive grin spread across my face. “How fast can you pack up?”
Chapter Eight
JULIETTE
Iwatched Griffin sleep beside me, shirtless, his bare chest rising and falling with each breath, the sheet riding low on his hips, one leg kicked free. He was all muscle, no fat, his body a testament to discipline and grit. A large blob of drool pooled at the corner of his mouth. I lifted my hand to wipe it away, but his hand came up to scratch his cheek. Eye to eye with his gold wedding band, I cussed in my head.
What had I done?
You got married. To a complete stranger.
Right. But why? Had this man slipped something into my water bottle on that hike? Was I having some kind of mental break? Maybe I had a Jekyll-and-Hyde thing going on that no one had told me about.
I’d ask Fallon.
When I’d gotten back to town, Fallon had met me at In-N-Out. While Griffin was in the bathroom, she’d slipped in just long enough to trade phones. I crept out of bed and across to the bathroom, where I’d stowed my cell in my zipped-up makeup bag. Then I padded back and climbed in besideGriffin.
I glanced over just as he smiled in his sleep. I let out a sigh.
He was happy.
