“Thank you, Daddy. You look very handsome.”
It was good to see Norah happy and smiling again. And tonight of all nights, it was a good reminder of how important it was to keep things simple with Vivi.
When we arrived at the community center, I knew that the chances of keeping things simple, went from awkward but manageable to totally fucking impossible. Instead of a simple potluck—which I was kicking my own ass for even believing—it was a wedding reception. For me and Vivi.
Obviously.
“Holy crap! Did you know about this?” Shocked green eyes looked up at him, bewildered rather than accusing. “Of course you didn’t but, holy friggin’ crap! Right?”
I smiled and wrapped an arm around her. Together, we watched Norah dart off to the other room where the kids were hanging out for the night. “Right.” I leaned down and whispered. “I guess it’s showtime, Mrs. Boudreaux.”
“Oh god, that sounds so bizarre!” She laughed and when I leaned over to brush a kiss to her cheek, I caught her jaw. Then her neck. “But that makes it feel better. Mmm, better.”
“Oh, look at our two little love birds!” Aunt Mae, which she insisted I call her, strolled up with three of her silver haired friends. “You two look very happy and I, for one, am so glad.” She really did look glad but I could still see the hint of guilt in her eyes and I pulled her in for a hug.
“Stop worrying, Mae. We’re not mad so stop beating yourself up about it. Okay?”
She pulled back and grinned, cupping my face. “You’re a good boy, Nash. I’m happy to have you in my family.”
“Right back atcha, Mae.”
Vivi sidled up to me with a smile as she wrapped an arm around my waist. “We haven’t told Norah yet, Mae. It’s kind of hard to explain so if we could tone this all down a bit?”
“Oh we can’t do that, Viviana, not when everyone worked so hard to put this night together in secret. You can’t imagine how hard it was to keep this off the gossip wire.”
Vivi snorted. “I think I can imagine. It sounds what I imagine heaven is like. Or other towns,” she joked. “Where are the drinks? There have to be drinks.”
“There’s a bar set up right beside the food but don’t touch anything yet, we’ll say a few words before we all eat.” Mae’s brows dipped in confusion but she kept her smile in place. “Go on and enjoy this night. Imbibe. Dance. Be in love.”
“You heard the woman,” I told Vivi with a grin. “Let’s go imbibe and dance.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” She held her hand out and I grabbed it, making a big show of twirling her to my side as we ambled over to the bar. “Champagne, ice cold please.”
She turned to me, cleavage on full display in a rose colored dress that made her skin look like white silk. It was strapless, giving the impression that at any moment I could be treated to a vision of her naked breasts. “What? Do I have something in my teeth?”
“You haven’t eaten anything, have you?” She snickered and rolled her eyes. “Are you worried about Norah?”
“A little.” I figured she deserved honesty since she was perceptive enough to ask. “I just don’t like lying to her and this, it’s a big fucking lie.”
“We’ll figure this out, Nash. And we can agree right now to make sure we do what’s best for Norah. Deal?” She held her hand out adorably, waiting proudly for me to accept it.
“Sure. Deal.” I took her hand and held it, letting my thumb rest over her racing pulse. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight, Vivi?”
“No,” she blushed. “But it’s always nice to hear.”
“Well, you do. Hell, you look good enough to eat,” I told her, my voice near a growl.
“Is that one of the perks of marriage?”
And just like that my cock was hard and I wanted her. Bad. So fucking bad I could taste it. So bad I didn’t give a damn about the party, I wanted to find a dark quiet corner and work Vivi over until she made those sexy noises I couldn’t resist. “Might be.”
She leaned in close, so close our lips were nearly touching. Nearly. Mae’s voice sounding through the speakers being the only thing that could have pulled us apart in that moment. “Excuse me everybody, I just want to say a few words to my favorite niece and her new husband.”
Cheers sounded all around us and for a second, it felt like high school all over again only this time, Vivi was right beside me instead of on the periphery. “Can you believe all this is for us?”
Hell no, I couldn’t. “Smile and wave and look at me like I’m the man of your dreams.”
She smiled and waved, leaning in close. “He’d have a body just like yours so that’s pretty easy.” I choked on my next breath at her words but damn, they had my body hotter than it was outside.
“We have some very exciting news for our newlyweds. Your friends, neighbors, and loved ones have come together to give you love birds a proper honeymoon!”
“What?” Vivi whispered, this time the shock was genuine and maybe she was a little scared.
“It’s nothing fancy so don’t get your hopes up, but there’s a great little B&B about two hours from here and the honeymoon suite is waiting for you…for four full days!”
“Holy shit,” she whispered again and this time, I had to agree.
Everyone in the community center continued to clap and beam smiles at us before someone, I’m pretty sure it was Zeke, yelled very loudly, “Kiss!” Then the room began to chant it and I did the only thing I could in the situation. I grabbed Vivi by the waist, pulled her close and dipped her over my arm, putting on a hell of a show before I kissed her so long and so hard and so fucking good that I got lost in it.
Lost in kissing my wife.
Who would have ever thought it?
“We can’t go. Can we?” As tempting as it was to leave Norah with Aunt Mae for a few days and have some alone time—adult alone time—with Vivi, it also seemed a little wrong.
Vivi looked deep in thought and I wondered if she was having the same moral dilemma that I was. “I think we have to go or tell the town the truth.”
I sure wasn’t ready to do that. “I can’t tell if I’m agreeing because you’re right or because agreeing means four full days and nights with you.” She had me so twisted up I couldn’t tell a good decision from a bad one and the worst thing was, I didn’t give a damn.
She shrugged and stepped closer but not too close because Norah was upstairs in her room and prone to interrupting them at a moment’s notice. “Neither sound like a very bad reason to these ears.”
“So, a honeymoon for us. Paid for by the town.”
Vivi sat up in bed and put her hands on either side of my face. “It’s not like we can give it back, not without a whole lot of hurt feelings. So we go. Have fun and think. And plot.”
“Plot?” I wondered what was going on inside that pretty little head of hers.
“Yeah. Didn’t you think it was weird both Della and Dallas were there tonight when they were both out of town? Maddie said Della was in California.”
Yeah, I’d spotted Dallas about five minutes after we entered the community center and both father and daughter McInnis had avoided both of us all night. “It’s weirder they didn’t stop by to offer their congratulations.”
Big green eyes showed shock and then amusement. “They didn’t!” She burst out laughing. “Don’t we sound like a pair of old folks, upset because some young’uns didn’t show proper southern etiquette!” She fell back against the light blue sofa, shoulders shaking with laughter.
“Speak for yourself. I’m hip as hell.” She froze for half a second before more laughter erupted out of her. I would’ve been mad if her laughter wasn’t so contagious, forcing a laugh out of me.
“You lose cool points for ‘hip as hell,’ gramps.”
“And you lose cool points because you’re a writer and it never even occurred to you that the town is engaging in a little bit of matchmaking.” I dropped down on the sofa beside her and folded my arms o
ver my chest while her face turned red with embarrassment.
Then amusement as she doubled over, laughing her ass off with her forehead resting on her knees. “I can’t believe it never even crossed my mind!” She laughed until her laughter fell silent and only her shaking body confirmed she hadn’t stopped breathing. “You’re right. I definitely lose cool points but I’ll get them back.”
“So, we’re going on our honeymoon?”
She arched those fiery brows that looked just a little bit like devil’s horns and her lips quirked into a sexy lip-biting smile. “You gonna carry me over the threshold?”
“Every time we get back to our room,” I promised.
Vivi licked her lips and I groaned, making her smile grow even bigger. Just like the monster in my pants. “What will you tell Norah?”
I’d been thinking about it for past two days and the answer was easier than I thought. “The truth. Mostly. She doesn’t really need to know all the sex parts but I also think she knows more than I want her to.”
“Small towns,” she said in commiseration. “What does she know?”
“That we kiss and her friend at day camp, Sally, says that grownups never ‘just kiss.’”
“I am both shocked and impressed at the knowledge of eight-year-olds. But if you want, I can be here when you talk to her.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “Why not? I don’t embarrass easily and I’m a girl.”
“Not quite a girl.” She shivered at my words and her green eyes darkened. “You’re distracting.”
“Thanks.” Vivi leaned in close and grabbed my face as her lips crashed down. The kiss was hot as hell right from the start and then she was in my lap, her heat pressed against my hardness. She moaned into my mouth and I held her tight and let her devour my mouth. It never took long for things to spiral out of control where Vivi was concerned and though I should be worried, I wasn’t.
Not yet.
Her tongue slicked across my bottom lip, nipping it hard. My hands gripped her ass, loving how soft and feminine she felt against me. When her hips started to grind against me and my cock reached for her I knew I would have to be the one to pull back because she wouldn’t. Couldn’t. “Vivi.”
“Your mouth tastes so good,” she said, her voice breathless and sexy, skin flushed and that pouty mouth looked hungry for another taste.
“Temptress,” I growled in her ear, and she giggled. “No time like the present.” I smacked her ass, making her squeal as she climbed off my lap.
“Now?”
“Well, we leave in a couple days and I need to give her a few days to get used to this. Make sure she’s okay.”
She hit me with that heart stopping smile that made a man feel like he could do anything. “You’re a good dad, Nash. Norah is lucky to have you.”
“Let’s see if you think so in a few minutes. Norah!”
A few moments later, the patter of little feet pounded down the stairs and into the living room. “Yeah, Daddy?”
“Come have a seat, Norah. We need to talk.” She climbed up on the sofa and sat in the small space between me and Vivi.
“Let’s talk, Daddy.”
My lips twitched at the way she crossed her legs at the ankle even though they barely passed the sofa cushions. “Okay. You know that potluck we went to a few days ago?”
Norah nodded, a small smile slowly spreading across her face. “The one ‘cause you and Vivi are a couple now? Sally said that’s what the party was for.”
“Sally has a big mouth,” Vivi murmured behind Norah.
“That’s true, the party was for me and Vivi but not how you think.” I took a deep breath and then another. And then another. How did a man tell his daughter he’d accidentally gotten married? My gaze slid to Vivi and she began to stroke Norah’s black curls.
“Remember at the Solstice Celebration when we helped Aunt Mae with her ritual?” Norah nodded and her curls fell around her shoulders. “Well, Aunt Mae made a mistake and instead of the prosperity ritual she…well, she married us.”
The small gasp of breath was her only response. For a long moment. Too long. “You got married? Without me?”
“Norah, it wasn’t on purpose.” Arms crossed and her bottom lip stuck out a mile long, she was projecting the perfect image of a little girl in the early stages of a tantrum.
“I wanted to be a flower girl. Can you get married again?” Her blue eyes were so earnest I couldn’t stop a half-chuckle from escaping.
“You want us to get married again just so you can be a flower girl?” The head bob came immediately as did the smile. “That sounds about right.”
“Will you move here, Vivi? Will we move to Vivi’s house? Can I have a room at Vivi’s house, anyway?”
“Slow down, kiddo. We haven’t got all the details figured out yet but when we do, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Promise?” She held her pinky up with a stubborn expression on her face that I knew well.
Vivi, not to be out done, hooked her pinky with Norah’s. “Absolutely. When your dad and I know, then we’ll let you know. Deal?”
“Okay, you got a deal, Vivi.”
“Then come on over and we’ll hug on it.”
With an adorable head tilt, she looked up at Vivi. “Can we do that?”
“We’re women, we can do whatever we want.” The look on Vivi’s face when she wrapped her arms around Norah stole my breath. It was the look, the feeling that I’d wished her own mother had felt for her. And now she had it.
And the woman was already my wife.
Vivi
“This place is fantastic!” After taking three hours to make a two hour trip on what I was referring to as the scenic route, we arrived at an adorable plantation style home run by two sisters. Mabel and Genie were five foot nothing with big gray bouffants and they smelled like sugar and vanilla. They showed us to our room and promised to make themselves scarce until it was time to get started on supper.
“It’s like a time warp but in the best possible way.” Nash’s blue gaze tracked around the honeymoon suite. Shades of blue and rose dotted the room, the duvet in the bedroom similar but not identical to the upholstery in the rest of the suite. “And this bed is perfection.”
“I can’t argue with that.” I burrowed deeper against Nash, inhaling his intoxicating scent. “We could probably have sex in three different spots on this bad boy and still never overlap.”
“You’re thinking of sexual gymnastics,” he asked with a tease in his voice and a heated glint in his eye.
“No. I’m already planning them.” I hadn’t stopped thinking about anything but having his thick length fill me up since his fingers had brought me to orgasm on the drive to the B&B. But I had a burning sensation to know more about Nash.
“Can I ask you a question?” He looked so nervous I had to wonder what the hell he could possibly ask that had him so worried. Instead, I nodded and waited. “Where did all these curves come from? I remember you being more slender in high school.”
My lips curled up instinctively. “It’s been a long time since high school, Nash.”
“And the years have been mighty kind to you, Vivi.” His hands roamed over my hips and slid up my waist. “So?”
“Short answer is, I was just a late bloomer. Longer answer is, I woke up one day with bigger boobs and hips and it had nothing to do with the freshman 15.” It had taken some time to get used to the new curves and even longer to get used to the attention that came with it.
“You never came home during college, or if you did I never saw you.”
“I came home but not much. Dad was always traveling so he would stop in and see me when he was coming or going and Aunt Mae would put me up for a few days here and there.”
“Why?” The feel of his big hands, leaving streaks of fire along my skin, made it hard to think.
“At first, I was embarrassed about graduation night and I was sure you told everyone about it.”
�
�I wouldn’t. I didn’t.”
“I know. You weren’t ever like that but rejection has a way of coloring things. After that, it was just easier not to come home so often. And cheaper.”
“Because of one little crush?” I nodded, feeling a stirring of a different kind take hold of me. Low in my belly, warmth spread with every pass of Nash’s hand on my bare skin. “If it makes you feel better, I’m pretty sure I have a crush on you now.”
“Yeah?” That was good because I was sure the crush had returned with the fervor of adult longing. “Because I kind of like the sound of that.” A lot. Probably too much but as I climbed his big, strong, too masculine body, the only thing I could think about was pleasure. The pleasure I always found in his arms. With his body engulfing mine until I only existed because of him. It was a heady sensation. Intoxicating, even.
I sank down onto his erection and kept my gaze on him as I rocked us slowly to orgasm. I couldn’t look away from those blue eyes as they darkened and intensified with passion. My personal favorite was when they went liquid black, like the river at night. Dark and dangerous but too exciting to resist. His hands branded my hips as he grasped me tight, holding me right where he wanted me so he could hear me scream his name.
I gave Nash exactly what he wanted, because I was too weak, too powerless to do anything else. We’d been on our honeymoon for just a few hours and already, I could feel trouble nipping at my heels.
Nash began to thrust up into me, harder and deeper, sending shivers down my spine and skittering over my overheated flesh. I couldn’t get enough and he seemed to have the codes to maximizing my pleasure because just as my orgasm was winding down, he flipped our positions and pounded into me like his life depended on it. The muscles tightened in his neck, his shoulder muscled, bunched and flexed with every thrust and I was completely fascinated by his body as it transformed in pleasure.
He wasn’t the only one transformed. By the time my third orgasm and his second had ended, I was feeling a little raw. A touch too vulnerable.
I was feeling too much.
Too much for an accidental wife.
Accidentally On Purpose: An Accidental Marriage Boxset Page 12