18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Adam

When Finn told me Colorado was the easiest state to get married in I thought he was joking.

Early Monday, twenty minutes after arriving at the county’s clerk office, Susie and I have a marriage license. All we had to do was fill out the paperwork, show a photo ID, and the clerk sent us on our way to get our happily-ever-after.

Apparently all we need to do now is decide we’re married and we are. There might be a little bit more to it, but honestly not that much . It’s pretty surreal.

Standing on the steps of the building, staring at the paper in my hand, the reality of what I’m doing hits me. The corner of the paper trembles a bit and I lift my head to glance at Susie.

She looks stunning in a long-sleeved, cream cross-over dress that outlines her curves, and her expression is bewildered.

I wonder if the same expression is on my face when she starts to chuckle nervously. Yup, same expression. Nervous laughter bubbles up and before I know it, the two of us are laughing senselessly.

“What do we do now?” she asks, laughter still in her voice and a wide grin on her face. The wind blows a piece of hair across her eyes and without thinking I reach my hand out and push it behind her ear. Her gaze shifts before saying, “Since apparently all I need to do is say ‘I do’ and I’m Mrs. Adam Daniels.”

I know she’s trying to make light of an awkward situation but her claiming my name as her own has my insides twisted and my tongue tied.

She walks over to me and hooks her arm through mine. “And the world thinks Las Vegas is the easiest place to get married. HA! Little do they know Vegas has nothing on Colorado.”

She beams at me, and my entire body hums. The woman beside me has me so captivated that it’s difficult to tear my eyes away.

My phone buzzes and I reach into my pocket, reluctantly taking my eyes from Susie’s beautiful face. It’s Finn. Answering, I put the call on speaker only to be met by Finn’s overly cheery greeting.

“Good Morning! Who’s ready to get married today?” I glance over at Susie, shaking my head with a smirk, and she lets out a giggle.

“Finn? How is it that I’ve lived in Colorado all my life and didn’t know that getting married was this easy?” I glance over and see that even though she looks composed and beautiful—did I say how stunning she looks?—she’s indeed nervous.

“Is that a yes?” Finn asks.

“That’s a yes,” she responds, a slight quiver in her voice.

Without thinking about what I’m doing I rest my hand on the shoulder nearest to me and gently massage her tight neck. I can feel some of the tension ease under my manipulations. Looking toward her, I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile.

“Is that a yes from you too, Adam?” Finn questions, a teasing tone to his voice. “Or are you going to let your future wife answer for you?”

A wry smile crosses my lips and I glance over at Susie to see her rolling her eyes. “That’s a yes from me too.”

When we called Finn Saturday to tell him that Susie, ‘Amelia,’ said yes, he was a bit worried about how Josh would feel.

“Finn,” Susie said in a stern voice. “I love my brother, but he is not the ruler of my life. I’m a grown adult and can make my own choices. My family will be okay with my decision once I let them know, until then you are keeping my secret, because I asked you to.”

You could hear a pin drop on the other end of the phone.

“Besides, I’m pretty sure that Josh will be way too preoccupied realizing he’s in love with Brie to worry about his little sister.”

“Point taken,” Finn conceded. Then just like an agent, he got down to the business end of the transaction at hand. “So is Monday morning too soon for a wedding?”

And here we are.

“Everything is ready,” Finn informs us. “The officiant, photographer and I will be waiting at the location I just texted.” My phone buzzes and Susie and I look at the picture that pops up. Susie lets out a soft ‘oh’ and I feel my mouth drop. The location is stunning.

Lookout Mountain Park is exactly what the name says it is. You lookout and see mountains as far as the eye can see.

“I think the location is perfect for a wedding, don’t you?” Susie and I stare at the picture without glancing at each other. “We’ll keep it simple: Take a few photos, then Adam can head over to practice, and Susie, I can take you home.”

“I drove,” she tells Finn. “I knew Adam would need to head to practice so we met each other here.”

Finn contacted the Mavericks' organization and let them know that the visa situation was solved. They were relieved to hear the news and sent congratulations. I’ve never had an elopement before, so I’m not sure if that reaction is normal or not.

I was relieved no one asked for details, but I can’t help but wonder what they’ll say once they realize who my bride is.

“Sounds good. I’ll see you two love birds in a bit.” Ending the call in typical Finn humor, he hangs up.

I look over at Susie, feeling suddenly shy. “Are you ready?”

“Let’s do this, husband.” I burst out laughing as she grabs my arm and drags me toward the parking lot.

Sliding out of the Jeep, I see Finn in the distance, standing next to two other people who are talking. One is holding a camera, so the other person must be the officiant.

Susie pulls up next to me and gets out of her car. I walk to the driver’s side and open her door.

“Are you ready for this?” The corner of my mouth lifts and I lean on the top of her door searching her face.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She slides out of the car, smiling radiantly at me. I feel a tug on my heart as I shut the door.

She walks up beside me and I put my hand out to her. She stares at it for a moment, before slipping her much smaller one around mine.

That silent exchange between us feels like a promise. A promise that I want to keep. Even if I’m not sure what that promise exactly is right now.

There’s just something about this woman next to me that brings out the need to protect her.

As we get closer, Finn greets and introduces us to the others before letting the officiant take over.

The ceremony commences but from the very first moment I can’t process what is being said. Susie’s hand is still in mine and her touch is all I can focus on.

When my name is called, I look up in surprise and see everyone staring at me. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

Susie lets out a chuckle and squeezes my hand. “I’m not sure the groom hesitating on ‘I do’ is a good sign.”

“I asked if you, Adam, take Susie to be your wife?” The officiant repeats, humor radiating through his voice.

My gaze lands on Susie’s and for a moment I lose myself in her. Her face is glowing, her eyes are shining and I say the two words that will change my life forever. “I do,” I say softly.

I hear the officiant say something, and I see Susie turn her head in his direction. A softness comes over her face before she looks back at me and says, “I do.”

“You may now kiss the bride,” the officiant says, and I hear someone clapping.

My gaze falls to Susie’s lips and they part slightly. I take a step closer to her, surrounded by the smell of jasmine and lavender, and place my free hand on her waist. My lips are inches from hers when my eyes pop open and I pull back.

“Rings,” I whisper. “We forgot to get rings.” A wide smile crosses her face and she chuckles, right before she touches her lips to mine.

The gentle touch sends tingles down my spine and a bolt of lightning to my heart. My hand on her waist slides to her back and gently pulls her closer. Her body willingly complies while she slides her hand up my arm and around my back.

It takes every ounce of my control not to deepen the kiss and truly make her mine, but we have an audience, and that isn’t what this marriage actually is…yet.

With that in mind I reluctantly pull back and give her a lopsided smile. Her expression is filled with wonder and I lean in to kiss her gently on the forehead.

“Congratulations.” Finn slaps me on the back and kisses Susie on the cheek. “Let me take a picture of the marriage license so I can have my assistant forward this to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services right now.”

I hand Finn the paperwork and look over at Susie. I notice that her hand is trembling. Without hesitation I take it in mine. She looks at it, then at me. A shy smile crosses her lips and she squeezes my hand. A quiet thank you.

“I’ll let you know if I need anything else, but the photographs and license should be enough.”

“Thank you for arranging all of this, Finn,” Susie says. “The location is truly beautiful.”

“You’re welcome.” Finn grins at her, then looks toward me before he turns to the photographer and officiant. He walks off with them, but not before yelling over his shoulder. “I have a good feeling about this…about you two.”

Susie gives my hand a gentle squeeze and my knees buckle.

“Ready to go?” I ask. “Unfortunately, I have to go to practice.”

“How is this marriage ever going to work, Mr. Daniels?” Her eyes dance with humor. “Distracted when you need to say ‘I do’ and then marrying me only to run off.”

“I guess we’ll have to talk about that over dinner tonight, Mrs. Daniels.” Her eyes turn into saucers and her mouth falls as she realizes she needs to move into my house. “Don’t worry, I have a guest room all set up for you.”

Her shoulders relax slightly and she mumbles something to herself.

“Did you just say something about romance novels?” A slight flush creeps up her cheeks as she starts to walk toward her car. I follow her laughing. “Are you going to answer me?”

She turns toward me and walks backwards. “Maybe that will be something we talk about over dinner some time. If you’re lucky that is.”

With that she laughs out loud and turns back to face the parking lot.

I hope to get lucky about a lot of things where she is concerned. The first one is having Susie Owens—Daniels—fall in love with me.