25. Ashley

25

ASHLEY

“Lee Lee! Look!” Luna spun in a circle in front of me, her dress ballooning out.

Luna was going to be my flower girl, minus the flowers. She basically had the title and a pretty dress. Declan and I were tying the knot in Hank and Skylar’s backyard at sunset. I’d agreed to marry him less than twenty-four hours ago. He’d suggested we go to city hall, but I vetoed that immediately. Even though this was a fake wedding, my sister’s attendance was non-negotiable. Her modified bed rest status meant it was happening in her backyard.

“Wow! You look like a princess!”

“I’m gonna go show Hank!” Luna smiled from ear to ear before I heard her feet pattering down the stairs.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Skylar asked me for the zillionth time.

“Yes,” I lied. I wasn’t totally sure, but even people who were in love had cold feet on their wedding day.

Declan made some really good points. Plus, I’d done some research today, and for thousands of years, marriage had been a business arrangement. The idea of romance being involved was a relatively new concept if you looked at it in the grand scheme of all existence.

I was going to be debt-free. The business and assets that Stella had spent a lifetime supporting, sacrificing, and working to build were going to be in safe hands. I was going to be able to start my program and help kids, although that point wasn’t contingent on me walking down the aisle.

It was ten weeks of my life. People married for love, and they still got divorced. At least I was going into this with my eyes wide open. Declan didn’t love me. I definitely didn’t love him.

So why do I get all giddy and tingly every time I think about him ? I thought.

I ignored it. I wasn’t giddy over him. This was just a very unique situation, and my body was responding accordingly. Obviously, the reason I was feeling this way was because of the extraordinary circumstances. I mean, come on, not only was I getting married today, but in the plot twists of all plot twists, in a very Scooby Doo-esque reveal, I’d found out that my nemesis for the past six months was actually Big—the man I’d been lusting over and obsessing about for the same amount of time. There was a lot for my brain and body to process.

“So you’re going to be married for ten weeks?” Skylar asked for the fifth time as she sat in the armchair with her feet up.

“Yes. After the new year, we will get the wedding annulled.”

Skylar’s lips pursed the way they always did when she did not approve of my life choices. Thankfully, I hadn’t seen that expression very often. This was only the third time. The first was when she’d caught me smoking weed with Jenny when I was thirteen. The second was when I lied to her about going on a school trip when I actually traveled by bus and went to the Coachella festival in California when I was fifteen. And this was number three.

“I know that this isn’t the fairytale love that you and Hank have, but people get married for all sorts of reasons. Green cards. Health insurance. Security. Loneliness. He needs to save his company; I want to be debt-free. It’s a win/win.”

“But do you have to, you know… What about sex?”

I doubted she’d be asking that once she saw him. Hank hadn’t let her come downstairs while all the preparations were happening. She’d been sequestered to her room since she’d be up for the ceremony, so she still hadn’t met my betrothed.

I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t thought about being with him again. Part of me hoped that would be one of the perks. But another part of me thought it would be best to keep the physical part of things separate. I feared if we didn’t, things would become more complicated than my favorite Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin rom-com of the same name.

The kiss on my forehead last night had felt very good. But that had been the only physical contact we’d had. A chaste kiss on the forehead, and then he’d left. This morning, when we met at the county clerk in Savannah to get our wedding license, it was very transactional. Polite. Congenial. Declan hadn’t addressed marital relations in the terms he’d proposed. But he’d made a few statements that hinted at the topic.

“ When we’re married, you’re mine .”

That really didn’t hint at the sex topic, but damn, it was hot. I’d nearly come right there on the spot. It hadn’t been the words he’d said as much as the look in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to throw me over his shoulder, carry me back to his cave, and do very primal things to me.

“ Romance can be negotiated .”

I mean, were we talking candlelight dinners? Slow dances? Long walks on the beach?

“ We’re clearly compatible in some aspects of marriage .”

Did that mean we were going to consummate our marriage? Did he want to consummate our marriage? Did I want to consummate our marriage?

Who was I kidding? Of course, I wanted to. The real question was, would it be a good idea? The one night we’d spent together, I’d woken up in his arms, weepy and overcome with emotion. Six months later, I still hadn’t gotten over the man. Since then, all of the art that had flowed out of me had been about him. Over a dozen pieces from one night inspired by a single muse of misery.

That might be great for my creativity, but it had been torture for my soul. The longing. The desire. The pining. I discovered I did not enjoy being a tortured artist. It was not for me.

It may not even be up to me, though. Declan was going to be gone for ninety percent of our marriage, and we weren’t going to live in the same home even when he was home. We were going to two events together. His Christmas party and Daphne’s wedding. After that, we were done.

“We agreed we aren’t going to see other people,” I told Skylar. “We haven’t talked about whether or not there will be any hanky-panky. But we’ve already had sex, so?—”

“Oh, right. I keep forgetting he’s Big.” She shook her head as she looked down and rubbed her belly. “I have pregnancy brain. And, in fairness, so much has happened in the past twenty-four hours.”

“Knock, knock!”

Skylar and I both looked up and saw Nadia standing in the doorway.

“Hey,” I smiled.

Skylar pushed herself out of the armchair and exhaled. “I’m hungry. Hank can’t keep me locked up here forever. I’m gonna go check on Luna and see how close we are to getting started.”

I nodded as my sister left the bedroom.

Once she was gone, Nadia came in. “First of all, you look absolutely gorgeous! Your booty is bootying!”

“Thanks!”

If there was one thing that my obsession over wanting to be married had come in handy for, it was getting married with less than twenty-four hours’ notice. Three summers ago, while living in San Francisco, I’d picked up this white Oscar de la Renta form-fitting wedding dress with spaghetti straps, a sweetheart neckline, and a thigh-high slit from an estate sale in Pacific Heights. I got it for two hundred dollars—it retailed at over six thousand. It fit me to a T without any alterations. I’d almost thrown it away after Garrett broke up with me, but now I was so happy I’d kept it.

“Second, I got the Bat Signal. What is going on?”

I’d decided I was only inviting Nadia to the secret ceremony. Part of me felt a little guilty not letting Zoe and Daphne know about me getting married, but since I was barely even going to see Declan during our marriage, I really didn’t see the point. Although I trusted my inner circle implicitly, the more people who knew about this, the better chances of an unintentional leak. Since I had to live here after the ten weeks were over, I didn’t want to be the girl who married a billionaire to get out of debt, even though that’s exactly who I was.

“I’m getting married.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

I checked the alarm clock on Skylar’s nightstand. “In about fifteen minutes.”

“Wait. What? To whom? The guy from last night?”

“Yes.”

“The Christian Grey Zaddy?”

“Yes.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“The one with the terms?”

“Yes.

“And you agreed to them?”

“We negotiated.”

“Okay.” She shook her head and rolled her hands backward. “Rewind. I need all the info. Who is he? How did you meet him? What did you negotiate? How did he ask you to marry him? Where is this wedding happening?”

“I met him at the bar the night after I went to my audition for Married by a Matchmaker .”

Nadia’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “He’s not… Is he Big ?”

“Yes.”

“Holy shit!”

“He is also Declan Wolfe.”

Nadia stared at me. Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, then closed as she blinked several times.

“So that’s what it takes to make Nadia Carson speechless,” I teased.

“Declan Wolfe, aka Mr. Stick Up His Ass?”

“Yes.”

“What? How?”

“When I got to Stella’s house yesterday for the launch, Declan was back from his trip, and I saw him for the first time.”

She lifted her hands in the air. “How did you not know what he looked like? You never saw a picture of him before now?”

“No.”

“They don’t have any family pictures in that house?”

“Stella said that after her son, Declan’s dad, passed away, her husband closed up the house. I think he took everything down.”

“Oh, that’s sad.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, wait. What happened? What did you say to him when you saw him? What did he say? Did he know it was you this whole time?”

“Nothing. I was in shock. He was, too. I didn’t say anything. He didn’t say anything, either. He just turned around and went into the office. Then after the launch, I went to give him my letter of resignation, and that’s when he suggested we get married.”

“So you quit, and he said, marry me ?” Nadia’s mouth tilted to a full Cheshire Cat smile. “Damn, that must have been some one-night stand.”

“No, it wasn’t like that. Stella found her late husband’s will, and on Christmas Day, the business and most of their assets will be given to whichever heir is married, and if both of his grandsons are married, then it will go to the oldest, which is Declan.”

“So if he’s not married, then the business goes to the cokehead brother that’s been in rehab?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of fucked-up Succession , royal family, bullshit is that?!”

“That’s what I thought.”

“I will never understand rich people.” She shook her head. “So he wants you to marry him so his brother doesn’t get the business?”

“Yes.”

“Not because he’s in love with you and hasn’t stopped thinking of you all these months?”

“No, in fact, he doesn’t even believe that marriage should be based on love. He thinks marriage is a commitment, an agreement between two people that should not be built on a feeling because feelings are fickle.”

Nadia tilted her head to the side and sucked in a breath, hissing through her teeth. “I mean, he’s not wrong.”

“Yes, he is.”

“He’s not, but whatever.” She waved her hands dismissively. “What are the terms?”

“He wanted me to move to Atlanta, but I’m staying here since Skylar’s having the baby. He’s going to be traveling for the next two months, so it wouldn’t matter anyway. I have to go to his Christmas party, and he’s going to come to Harlan and Daphne’s wedding. But he’s just going as my date. We’re not telling anyone that we’re married except the people here. You know. Jimmy is marrying us.” Hank’s youngest brother owned a tourist boat that people often got married on, so he was ordained and agreed to marry us on the down low. “And then obviously Hank, Skylar, and Luna know, but Lu Lu just thinks it’s a party. Stella, Fred, and Dorothy are coming, but I don’t think Declan told them that our relationship has an expiration date. And that’s it. I’m not going to tell anyone else.”

“So that’s all the terms and conditions?”

“Oh, and we’re not seeing anyone else. He said, ‘ When we’re married, you’re mine .’” I lowered my voice in an attempt to do an impression of Declan’s deep register.

Nadia put the back of her hand to her forehead and fell onto Skylar and Hank’s bed as if she’d fainted. “Holy shit, that’s so hot!” She fanned herself as she sat back up. “I think I just got pregnant. So is that why you said yes?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is that why you said yes to marrying him?” She folded her hands and pleaded, “Please tell me that you did it for that Zaddy D.”

“No, I did not do it for his dick.” I wasn’t even sure I should partake in the Zaddy D.

“Why then, what made you say yes to the dress? I mean, if there were a Miss Hopeless Romantic pageant, you would win the crown, so you signing up to get divorced in ten weeks is not really your style.”

“He’s paying off all my student loans and credit card debt.”

“Oh, wow. Okay, that’s amazing!”

“But that’s not why I said yes.” I took a deep breath. “Do you remember the grant proposal I told you I was working on?”

“The one for the youth arts program?”

“That’s the one. He is going to fund it.”

“He is?”

“Yes. In perpetuity.”

“Damn, girl, he’s got in perpetuity money?”

I nodded.

“So that’s how he got you? He’s going to fund your program if you marry him.”

“No, he got me because he said he’s funding it either way.”

“Oh damn, he is good.” She sighed. “No offense, but he does know that women would pay him to marry them, right?”

“Yes! I said, there are so many women that would happily marry him, and he said, but only one I want to marry .” I imitated his voice again.

Nadia lifted her hands and did a slow clap. “He is good. I swear, if you don’t marry him, I will. Whatever I have to do, I will marry him.”

I laughed even though I wasn’t completely sure if she was kidding or not. Either way, I didn’t like the way I felt when she said it. The thought of her, or any other woman, marrying Declan Wolfe made me want to throw up. But I pushed those feelings down. Because for the next ten weeks, I wouldn’t have to worry about it.

When we were married, he was mine.