Chapter 18

18

Beau

Two weeks later

We stand outside the town hall in Jackson. Yes, we drove out of town to get hitched as we figured it was the best course of action so we have a chance to tell our families ourselves and not let them overhear it from a local who saw us come out of the registry.

I bought a new pair of dark dress pants online and teamed them with a white collared shirt with a bow tie.

I already polished up my black patent shoes. I even went to the barber yesterday and got a quick trim and tidy to make myself look more presentable, or what I consider a groom should look like. I also had a special gardenia corsage made at the florists which I'm waiting to give her in a little box.

Autumn looks like an absolute vision in a knee length white floaty dress, with long see-through billowy sleeves and a sweet little lace trim. It's more like a fancy summer dress than a wedding gown, but I like that she's gone to the effort to wear white. Her white cowboy boots top it off nicely.

She's curled her hair and pinned each side up with silver slides, her long tresses bobbing down past her shoulders. She's the most stunning sight I've ever seen.

My heart constricts when she approaches and I feel all the blood rush to my ears. I don't deserve her. She's a goddess.

Now's about the time to give her the corsage. It's a white gardenia with some green foliage which I think she's going to love. "You look so beautiful," I say as she smiles almost shyly. "I wanted to give you this because I know how much you love flowers." I open the box and pull out the delicate arrangement.

The sight of it brings a little gasp to her lips and a smile to her face as she looks up at me.

"Beau! It's beautiful." She holds out her wrist so I can fasten it on. "Thank you so much."

I smile, happy that she likes it. "You ready?" I clear my throat, as she links her arm with mine.

She takes a deep breath. "As ready as I'll ever be."

We think we're so damned clever, and in reality, we are. As long as we can keep up the pretense, we'll be fine. We've agreed she'll move into my place while she carries out some of those pesky repairs to her house, and that will be the perfect cover of living together. I know she wants to repaint the whole house, pull up some of the flooring where it's worn away in places, and that dreaded roof replacement which may now be seeing the light of day once her pay dirt comes through. Then there's the fun task of telling our families. I'm not looking forward to that, but it doesn't stop me wanting to charge for the registry and sign those papers.

We're going to drive out to Memphis pronto and meet with her folks and her grandmother, then break the blessed news to them in person. Her mom isn't the easiest lady to get along with, but the marriage papers will be well and truly dry by that time, so there isn't a damn thing she'll be able to do about it. Except cut her off. I guess we have to prepare for every scenario.

I tug Autumn into my side. My nerves are a little on edge; not about what we're doing, but all the other stuff that proceeds after this. We just have to stick to the plan.

Yes, she's cute and I adore her, but she trusts me, so I need to stick to the deal and not fall for her. If we treat it like two friends with a business arrangement, we can't go wrong. I will try my best to pretend all that flirting I've been doing means absolutely nothing.

"Don't be worried, princess. We're gonna be fine. It's just a little piece of paper that says we're legally bound." I say it like it's no big deal, and maybe that's not the right thing to say considering I know Autumn said before she considers marriage very sacred. And it isn't that I don't either, I'm just a little more relaxed about it than she is. "And don't forget, if things go well, we can tell your parents that we will schedule a big wedding later on." I tack that on at the end with a wink.

She laughs quietly. "I love how you say it's just a little piece of paper."

"You know what I mean. It's going to be fine, you'll see."

She smiles and I'm glad she seems more relaxed as we walk up the steps to the administration area. She has nothing to be nervous about, I'll keep her safe.

She keeps her arm linked with mine as we wait for the celebrant in the waiting area.

I'm glad we don't have to wait too long so neither of us have any excuse to back out now.

"You know, we're slightly crazy," she whispers, tugging my hand when it's our turn to say our vows. The celebrant introduces herself as Leonie and leads us into a small room which is impersonal and very bland other than some white daisies with purple heads in a vase on the table. It's nothing like I thought it was going to be; dull drapes, a mahogany desk that's seen better days, a copy of the constitution on the wall that I blatantly ignore, but I quickly remind myself we're in here for one reason only.

I haven't given much thought to my wedding day up until this point. It's just never really been on my radar. But now we're doing it, I can't say that I'm disappointed.

Business transaction. Business transaction. Fucking business transaction!

"Maybe so, but we can be crazy together," I muse.

We both wrote some fake vows and from the second I'm looking down at them, it's over in a blur. The biggest blur. I try to take it all in, but I'm blown away with how quick the vows go and also equally stunned with the vibe coming off Autumn. She seems… happy .

Like really, really happy. She has a glow to her skin and she's smiling, looking at me the whole time. In fact, she doesn't take her eyes off me.

Is it because she's finally getting what she wants with her inheritance? Maybe. But she deserves it and all the good things in life. I'm glad in a way I had something to do with it, even if we did have to fake our marriage.

"By the powers invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Leonie takes a step back. "You may kiss your bride."

I swallow hard. Oh, holy shit. How did I actually forget that part? With all the secret preparations going on — ring buying, ordering my suit, making sure Autumn had a dress in time, and ordering the Gardenia corsage — I never even thought about sealing it with a kiss.

I'm not complaining, it just feels very real, and I don't want Autumn to feel weird about it.

I glance down at her and take a step in. I mean, it's not like we can't kiss in front of Leonie. We have to. Fuck, maybe we should have practiced this. I internally punch myself. Practiced ?

She blinks up at me and touches her hands to my arms, lacing them around my biceps, lifting up onto her toes.

I bend toward her and our lips meet. She's soft and her lips feel full and warm as they brush over mine. I work my mouth slowly as she matches the movement. I'm not even sure if I hear a little sigh escape her throat, but it makes me smile as I pull back slightly to look at her. It's over in a few seconds. It's more than a peck, but it also isn't tonsil hockey either. And my dick kicking in my pants reminds me he's awake and wondering where the action is.

Autumn is smiling too. We both turn to Leonie.

"And just like that," I breathe. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

Leonie smiles kindly. "Good luck to you kids," she says. Maybe she thinks we're going to need it, I don't know.

"Would you mind?" Autumn winces as she waves her phone at Leonie. "Just a quick pic?"

She nods enthusiastically. "Of course, dear."

We pose and Leonie takes a photo of us as I put my arm around her.

"Now let's get one of you looking at each other." She's getting really into it. I hope she asks us to kiss again. To my disappointment, she doesn't.

I wonder if she has a gauge for which couples will make it and which will tank. I also wonder how many marriages of convenience she's made official. Can she sense these things? If she does, she doesn't show it.

Autumn tugs my hand and we head off once we've signed the marriage certificate.

As soon as we're back out on the street, we both turn to each other and just take in what we've done. Her shaking hands cover her face for a moment, it's a mixture of shock and excitement, I think. She's not frowning, so I take that as a good sign.

I tug her hands away. "Wifey, don't hide from me. Tell me what you're thinking."

Her teeth indent her bottom lip as she waves the certificate between us. "We just got hitched!"

"I know, right." I sigh into the warm air. "Nice day for a white wedding. " I sing the last few words as if I'm Billy Idol and she swats a hand in my direction.

"Beau!" She laughs, and it's nice she's being carefree and still looks happy, not that I expect her to have a meltdown at the footsteps of the registry office, but I get it could be overwhelming. I'm having a little moment myself, but it doesn't feel bad. None of it does.

That's the thing. Even this crazy, spontaneous thing feels really good with her.

It's not like she's a stranger, but we're married now. It may just be paper, but it feels like there's a world of difference between being just friends and husband and wife.

"What?"

"I love how calm and cool you're being."

"Is there any point being anything else?" I feel for her hand and link my fingers in hers. "Where to?"

She grips my hand tight, the feeling warms through to my chest. "Be serious."

"I am, Wifey ."

"Am I supposed to be calling you Hubs ?"

"You can if you want to, it has a certain ring to it."

"We're completely crazy, I hope you know that."

"Hey, you suggested it first." I chuckle. "And it's done now, so there's no going back."

"Should we like, go celebrate or something?"

"Exactly my thinking. Surely a celebration drink is in order!" We rented an Airbnb for the night to stay in, just so we could get ready for the wedding and Autumn could do her hair and makeup. And of course, so no one would see us. You never know when someone from Stoney Creek could be stocking up on supplies here in town.

She tugs my arm toward my car while I hold onto the marriage certificate for dear life.

We both know we probably have today to get our stories perfected before we launch our sudden marriage onto our families. I know both sides of our family will be disappointed we ran off and did this in secret, but I'm not afraid of that. Maybe the fact that I'm now married and ‘settling down' will be enough for my family to overlook the fact that they never came to the wedding. Mom was thrilled when I told her we were dating. My brothers were surprised, but happy for me, and Georgia-Blue just grinned and said something about her unparalleled senses being right again.

Of course we will reaffirm the fact we just couldn't wait, in time I'm sure everyone will just get used to it. Georgia will kill me. I'm her twin brother, and I start to feel a little guilty because we're close, but then again, Autumn needed me. So I have to put other people's feelings aside. Even my sister's.

They're gonna have to deal because it's official. I peek down to the gold band on my hand, circling it around with my finger. It shouldn't feel this natural to be married to her. It should feel crazy, and slightly awkward, maybe even weird, considering how quickly this all came about. But it doesn't. None of it feels weird. And Autumn's face is bright and happy, she's beaming, so clearly she's not upset.

It feels as if the girl of my dreams is now my wife. Even if it is fake.

??

We grab some takeout later on and decide to make the most of the room we rented for the night, so I grab a bottle of sparkling wine for us to enjoy and we settle down to celebrate in the evening.

"You know this could be madness or genius," I say as I pour us a glass and we clink them together over the little round dining table we're sharing. I watch the bubbles in my glass settle as Autumn lights a vanilla candle to really set the scene. It's a quaint little place all white with a stone clad fireplace and high ceiling beams, which add a sense of rustic charm. The back deck is expansive and looks out to open farmland where the trees expand for as far as the eye can see. It's a pity we won't be here long enough to enjoy this famous Rockabilly music town. There's also only one bed, but the couch is a foldaway, so I have no doubts that that's where I'll be sleeping tonight.

"Which are you leaning towards?" Autumn asks. She's changed into her comfy sweats now, as have I. My eyes flick down to the gold band she's also wearing on her left hand. I haven't told her that the center stone is a real diamond. Nothing but the best for my girl. Seeing her wearing that wedding band — and the fact she's now my wife — does something to me. It touches something really deep inside me, making me feel excited like I've just hit some kind of crazy, astronomical jackpot. Again, there's that feeling of rightness vibrating all my senses. I mean, this situation is anything but right — so why does it feel so damn good? Why does my heart feel like it's freely open and ready for her?

"Genius." I shrug. "You have to admit this is pretty wild, even for us. Here I was thinking I'd just grow old and gray."

She smiles, taking a sip of wine, before sucking in her bottom lip for a moment. Her contented look; eyes closed, and a faint hum in her throat tells me she's savoring the zesty pink liquid that hints flavors of fresh apple and lime. "Well, here's to our future adventures as husband and wife."

We've agreed to spill to my family over the next couple of days and then to her parents when we drive down there on the weekend. She has a wedding coming up the weekend after that, so we decide we'll head down there Saturday and break the blessed news to them. Then we can start moving Autumn's belongings over, as well as her cat and any other thing she wants to bring with her.

We clean up after dinner and Autumn takes a shower while I dry the dishes and put them away. She comes out in her pajamas, which are a cute light pink silky set. She pulled her hair up high into a ponytail and washed her makeup off. She has very beautiful skin, her complexion a light olive with graceful high cheekbones. She looks just as exquisite fresh faced, and even younger than her thirty-three years.

"You all good, Wifey ?" I've got my hand on the lever for the couch seat that opens to the foldaway, after I just threw all the cushions on the floor.

She smiles. "I'm good, Hubs . What are you doing?"

I pull the handle to the trundle and I maneuver it outward to open the bed up."Making up my bed," I say.

She gives me a pointed look. "Shouldn't we be practicing sleeping together?"

I quirk an eyebrow. Holy shit.

"I mean to sleep," she quickly amends. "Not… Uh… I can put pillows between us if you like?"

No, I wouldn't like that. I want nothing between us. But I don't say what I'm thinking. "It's okay." I swallow my pride. "The couch looks comfy enough."

"You're sure?"

Uh, no. But sleeping in the same bed as Autumn would be torture if I can't touch her. Complete and utter torture. "Uh, huh."

"Okay, Hubs ."

There's that word again. Hubs. I fucking love the way it sounds.

And I can't help but wonder if there is something else there behind those pretty eyes?

Was it just me who felt that shock of electricity when we kissed?

And after a sparkling wine or two, I'm tempted to ask her. But I continue to pull the bed out and get myself sorted for the night. There's extra sheets, blankets and pillows in the hall closet. She comes to help me with the bed.

"Are you sure you want to sleep out here? I mean, I'm not forcing you to come to bed."

I internally groan at her words.

"It's the gentlemanly thing to do." I smirk.

She gives me a small smile. "And here I was thinking that Grayson Bassett was the smooth one."

I chuckle. "I guess you got that wrong, huh?"

I'm a complete wuss. I can't tell her it's for the best. I wouldn't get much sleep knowing she's right there and there's not a damned thing I can do about it.

Business transaction, I recite to myself again. Because that's what it is.

Autumn and I aren't going to stay together; we'll do this for a while and work it out from there. I don't want to think about that right now. I just want to think about what's happening in this moment and enjoy it for what it is. Her being here.

"Thank you, Beauster," she says after I've had my shower and I'm ready for bed. I usually sleep in just my boxers, but for her benefit I put on some longer PJ pants and a t-shirt.

"What for?" I look up into her captivating blue eyes as they pull me in. The same eyes that stood before me claiming her fake love for me. To always be there for me. For richer or poorer. For better or worse. In sickness and in health.

"For this," she says. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate it, how much I appreciate you."

I watch her stretch up onto her toes, and to my own shock and astonishment she kisses me on the cheek.

It's quick, soft, and very warm. It's her touch that does it every time. I realize now that sleeping out here is the smart move because I want her. And I can't have her.

I don't have all the answers right now. Tomorrow is another day. All I know is I'm married.

For tonight I'm just going to revel in the most perfect day of my life.