I smiled at him. “Did you really think I’d forget to get you a ring?”
“You didn’t have to,” he uttered.
“Well, I wanted to.” I took his left hand in mine and slid the hammered white gold snugly onto his finger. It was rugged yet understated. Not plain. A plain band wouldn’t do for Luca. It had taken me a while to choose it, and I was pleased with what I’d found.
His fingers curled into his palm. He didn’t even look at his ring. My stomach plummeted with disappointment. I’d really wanted him to like it.
“You are now man and wife.” Judge Hernandez probably had a great smile. I could picture him hanging out with his family, his eyes crinkling when his kids did something funny, looking at his wife dancing in the kitchen as she cooked. But I could only imagine it because it wasn’t on display for Luca and me.
“You can kiss,” he added quickly.
I stepped closer to Luca, and in my heels, I didn’t even have to raise my chin to bring us to the same level. His gaze was locked on my face, sweeping from my eyes to my mouth. I took another step, flattening my palm to his chest. His finger came up to my chin, drawing me in with barely a touch.
His warm breath brushed my lips only a moment before his mouth did. For a few thunderous beats of my heart, we were sealed together, then his lips parted, taking our union slightly deeper.
My fingers curled around his lapel, and Luca dragged his lips from mine, straightening to his full height. It took me longer to snap out of the heat of his kiss. When I did, I smiled at Luca.
“We’re married.”
He nodded once. “We have to sign the papers.”
“Oh, right. Of course.”
The judge cleared his throat. “Would you like me to take pictures of you two?”
Luca said no at the same time I said yes.
I pressed against his chest. “We should. Our parents will probably want to see us all dressed up when we tell them we got married, don’t you think?”
His nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply. “You’re probably right.” He turned to the judge. “Thank you. We’d like a few pictures.”
With the sunset off to the side and views of mountains in the distance, the backdrop couldn’t have been more beautiful. Luca pulled me into his side, cupping my hip in his palm. The judge used Luca’s phone to snap us in several poses, and I could tell this wasn’t his first time taking pictures of newlyweds. It would have been cute and fun if Luca hadn’t been so fricking stiff the whole time.
I patted his middle and tipped my lips to his ear. “Relax, Luca. I’m not going to bite you, and these are my one and only wedding pictures. Try to look like you’re happy to be here.”
He turned, bringing his face a whisper from mine. “Thank you for being here, Saoirse.”
“Of course. You’re my husband.”
His next breath was harsh, and his hold on me went tight. “You’d do anything for your husband?”
“I won’t hide the body, but try me, Luca. I said yes to this. I’ll probably say yes to most things.”
His mouth curved into a near smile.
“Okay, I took about a hundred pictures. We should be good to go,” Judge Hernandez announced. Luca dropped his hold, stepping apart from me. “Let’s make it official.”
We went inside to sign the license, which took barely a minute, then the judge departed without any fanfare. He probably couldn’t wait to get out of this loveless affair.
Or maybe he was just hungry. Judge Hernandez would forever remain a mystery to me.
Luca swiveled around when the door closed, rubbing a spot near his brow with his right hand, his left still curling into a fist. I was pretty sure he hadn’t looked at his ring even once.
“I’m going to get changed,” he announced, barely looking at me. “You should too.”
He swept upstairs without another word.
We’d been married fifteen minutes and I was already wondering if I’d made a huge mistake.
Chapter Twelve
Luca
I found Saoirse in the den an hour later. Curled up on the couch, her legs tucked under her, she seemed vulnerable. Smaller. Out of place. A small wave of guilt hit me at leaving her to fend for herself, but I’d needed that time to get my head on straight again. Otherwise, I might have been a bigger asshole than I already had been.
“We’re heading out at seven.”
She turned away from the TV to raise her eyebrows at me. “Seven?”
“We’re meeting everyone for drinks tonight. Elise and West had something come up and can’t do brunch tomorrow.” I sat down near her, raking my fingers through the side of my hair. “It’s better this way. We’ll get it over with sooner.”
Tonight would begin our announcement tour. We’d planned to drop the news to our friends over brunch tomorrow, giving us time for reality to settle in, but plans had changed.
Saoirse swallowed, her hand flying to her hair then her T-shirt. “I don’t think I’m ready.”
“You are. It’ll be fine.”
“They’re going to have questions, Luca. We haven’t even talked about what we’re going to say.”
“Let’s talk about it now. We have time.”
She squeezed her eyes closed. “I don’t think you understand just how bad I am at lying. It’s going to be a shit show.”
Seeing her freak out soothed me. At least I wasn’t the only one unsettled by what we’d done today, although Saoirse didn’t seem to mind being married. Her sticking point was having to tell other people about it.
Then again, marriage meant nothing to her.
“Did you open the ottoman?” I asked.
Her eyes flew open. “What—？ What are you talking about?”
I nodded toward the ottoman in front of the couch. “Open it and I’ll explain.”
She unfolded her long legs and stretched out her arm, opening the hinged top. Her mouth popped open when she peeked inside.
“Blankets!” She pulled one out and clutched it to her chest. “Were these always here and I missed them?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Someone told me I needed to buy some, so I did.”
Her brow dropped. “But what does this have to do with our story?”
“Everything. We’re going to tell the truth.”
Our friends beat us to the restaurant, which was my fault. Saoirse had been waiting for me by the door by the time I finally got my shit together. In cuffed shorts and a loose T-shirt, she looked drastically different than she had a few hours before, but she’d kept the orchid tucked behind her ear.
It was a constant fucking reminder of what we’d done. Not that I needed it. The metal band around my ring finger and the invisible one around my chest were enough for me to never forget.
The rooftop casual lounge was buzzing but not too crowded. We easily found Elise, Elliot, Weston, and his younger brother, Miles. They’d claimed a corner with padded wicker seats and vintage-style lawn chairs atop Astroturf. The place was designed to look like someone’s backyard. Not my style, but I hadn’t picked it, and Saoirse seemed perfectly pleased with the choice.
None of our friends blinked at Saoirse and me arriving together. In fact, Elise and Miles were in the middle of a game of cornhole, so we barely got more than a wave from them.