by Lauren Wood
“Yeah pretty much.”
“Then you should celebrate. I think I have a way.”
She smiled at me and told me that I had a twinkle in my eye.
“I had a feeling I know what you’re talking about.”
“And?”
“Let's do it. I am not saying that we're going to go all the way, but we can definitely go out and have some fun. Are you up for it, with no guarantee that it will end the way you want it to?”
I told her that I was, but the truth was I wasn't sure. Either way, I was going to get a little bit more time with Deirdre and that seemed to be exactly what I needed. I was just going to have to convince her about the rest of it later.
After decided what we wanted to do, we both agreed to go see some shows. Danny told me that he had never been here before as a tourist and he wanted to see the town that way. I had been done that route a couple of times and I told him that I would show him around.
It was getting late so after one of the shows got done, we started to walk the strip. There was so much to see and not a lot of time to see it. The next morning, I was going to be on the gameshow and I was most likely never going to see Danny again. While I had told him that we shouldn't be together in a sexual way, the truth was that I thought we should. This was my last night of freedom. There was no telling who I was going to marry tomorrow, and he could be hideous. This might be the last chance I have to get some decent sex before it started.
Part of the agreement was that I couldn’t cheat on my new husband. So that may mean a year without sex if he was as bad as my mind made him out to be. It wasn’t something that I was really looking forward to.
“Why don’t we get out of here and get a drink?”
He looked around the strip and asked me where I wanted to go.
“I have a room not that far from here. Why don’t we go there? The gameshow is paying for a really nice suite at the top of the Bellagio. I think you’ll like the view. If you want to be a tourist, you can see it all from there. It’s on the thirty-second floor.”
He agreed and then smiled. I had a feeling that we were going to get in trouble, but Danny was right. I had one more night and I wanted to spend it having fun. Danny was fun, and I was about to find out just how much fun he was.
Chapter 64
The next morning
Deirdre
I was freaking out. I woke up in a bed that was my own temporarily, but it was not empty. There was a guy in it and even though the sun wasn’t even up yet, I grabbed my clothes and took off. That meant that I got dressed right by the door in the dark and used the bathroom down in the lobby to make myself presentable.
In a few minutes, I was going to be at the studio where I would get hair, makeup and a dress that was supposed to make me the belle of the ball. To get married. To a stranger. Those small little details were rather large in the grand scheme of things and I didn’t know what to think. It felt like there was something else that was pulling me back now, beyond common sense. The one night with a relative stranger the night before, had turned out rather well. I knew it wasn’t going to be like that again. How could it? What I had with Danny had been special and didn’t seem repeatable.
When I got to the place where the taping and the wedding were supposed to be, I was starting to really hit a peak of anxiety that I hadn’t ever felt before. The whole thing was closing in on me and before long, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I stood outside of the door, trying to catch my breath. I finally got into a crouch with my back against the wall. Could I really do this? Could I really get married?
The questions didn’t have answers, and something came over me and the moment of panic passed. I didn’t have to do this. It was my choice, so I could back out at any time. If I didn’t like who it was at the altar, I could just walk away. Anytime that I wanted to. Marriage was just a piece of paper after all, especially in this situation.
Standing back up, I tried my best to catch my breath and I know that there was a part of me that wanted to go back to the hotel and be with Danny. But I had to go through with this. The money would go to good use to start my restaurant, so I had to keep my eye on the plan. I had to.
Walking through the doors was literally one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do. I kept telling myself that I didn't have to go through with it, but if I was ever going to get the restaurant that I always thought about and dreamed about, I was going to need a start-up fund. I wasn't going to make that bartending, no matter how many extra shifts I work. This was the best way. Even selling art wasn’t going to give me what I had to have to get the loan. This was the only way.
“I can see by your shifty eyes, that you're here for Runaway Bride?”
It was a fair statement and I smiled at the short, curly-haired assistant that introduced himself. He said his name was Ken and I had to admit that he was literally the opposite of what came to mind when I heard that particular name that was compared to a doll. He was very short and dumpy and though he had a nice smile, that was about the only thing he had going for him.
I followed him through a maze of hallways and I tried to collect myself. This was going to be fine. It was one year and then I could capture all the dreams that I had. They were big and that meant that I was going to have to find some big money. It was just that simple.
He took me into a room with several other women that were getting their hair and makeup done. I was put into a makeup chair and I realized then that I was the last one there. I looked around at the other women. We were actually competing in a way, there was supposed to be challenges and such, but at least I wasn't going through this alone. Every other person in this room with me, was going to do the same thing. It was crazy, and it was reckless, but at least I wasn't the only one.
I sat back in the chair and was introduced to Maria. She was going to do my hair, while the chatty one named Christian was going to do my makeup. Between the two of them, I couldn't really move or talk for the next hour and it gave my mind plenty of time to build it all up in my head.
The time came quickly and before I knew it, my name was being called. Not knowing what to expect, I tried to calm myself. There would be an aisle and a priest and a groom at the end of it all. A stranger that I was supposed to marry.
When I got to the end of the aisle, my mystery man is going to turn around and we are going to get married. It was nerve-wracking, but I’d signed up for this and I wanted to see it through. I wanted this restaurant just that much.
So, I was trying to tell myself that everything was going to be okay. I pulled myself together and listened through the third rendition of the familiar song. This time it was for me. It was time for another wedding and I still couldn't believe that it was going to be my wedding.
When I got to the double doors that were going to open into the ceremony room, my hands were sweaty, and my eyes started darting around. In some ways, I think I was looking for a way out, like an animal that suddenly needed to break free.
“Are you ready?”
I nodded at the older women with the headset and asked me a second time, because I didn't answer her the first time. The first time I couldn't hear her over the beating of my heart.
“I am as ready as I think I'm ever going to be.”
Isn’t that the truth?
“We go in thirty.”
I silently agreed and waited for the doors to open. I had been told what to do expect, but it was going to be something else altogether. This is really happening. I was really getting married.
She counted to three slowly and then opened the doors. I waited a half a moment before stepping out into the lavishly decorated ceremony room. It was set-up like a fairy tale wedding and I couldn't think of how it could be any more perfect than it was.
“Wow.”
The woman with the headset smiled and told me to go. I didn't even realize that I had stopped a few steps in. There were people on both sides of the aisle. I didn't even recognize any of them. I didn't recognize anyone in the room and it
all started to sink again. I was getting married to a complete stranger. Who the hell does that?
Walking towards the priest and the man that had his back to me, I tried to calm my nerves. I told myself that this wasn't the end of the world. It was a marriage that didn't mean anything and as soon as I got my money, I was going to get out. What was one year really?
All the calming things that I told myself didn't matter once I got in front of the priest and the mystery man turned around. He wasn't a stranger at all. I had met him before, not that long ago.
“Danny?”
I couldn't even say the words out loud. No sound came out and all I ended up doing was standing there with my mouth open.
What the hell was Danny doing here?
Chapter 65
Danny
The look on her face was almost worth all the trouble that I had to go through to get here. When I found out she had left, it was about seven in the morning and it took another hour for me to find out where she was going to be and then another half an hour for me to talk my way into the gameshow that she was going to be on. Luck would have it that one of the guys backed out, so I agreed to do it as long as I got to marry Deirdre.
Now she was staring back at me and I had a feeling that she wasn’t as comfortable marrying me, as she was a complete stranger. I had already known her body in every way that was possible the night before and I wasn't willing to give up so quickly. I know that it wouldn't have taken much to walk away from her, because I had done it so many times before. But I didn't want to walk away from Deirdre. There was something about her that I couldn't forget and the taste of her was still at my lips.
That priest looked at us like he wasn't sure what to say next and I wasn't sure either. I didn't want her to say anything out loud, because it might spoil the gameshow. We weren't supposed to know each other. I just told them that I have seen her, and I thought she was pretty. That I'd be afraid to get set up with some ugly chick.
“Are we ready?”
The priest looked from me to Deirdre and I was holding my breath to see what she was going to say. I know that I was ready, but I wasn't sure if she was.
“I am ready when you are. Deirdre?”
I took her hand and looked into her eyes when I asked her the question if she wanted to marry me or not.
“Do you want to marry me Deirdre?”
She wasn’t sure. I couldn’t see it in her face and everyone was waiting for her to answer. I could see the concern in her eyes and I wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay.
“Do you want to go talk really quick?”
Deirdre agreed, but I knew that she wasn’t going to snap out of it quite as much as I would have liked her to. It was a lot to take in and we walked out of the room for a moment.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just. What the hell Danny?”
“It was a spur of the moment thing Deirdre. I am sorry if this came as a shock.”
“No, you’re not.”
I was about to agree with her when I saw someone with a headset coming into the hallway where we were. They were rushing us because they had more weddings to film.
“Are you guys going to do this or what?”
I turned to Deirdre to see what she wanted. She just nodded her head and started to walk back into the place. I wish I knew what was on her mind, but she wasn’t meeting my gaze.
It didn’t matter, not really. I was going to make this work. I had to.
I followed my wife-to-be into the ceremony room and we went back to take our places at the front of the aisle by the priest. He was still curious by the way he looked at us, but we gave him no answers.
Chapter 66
Deirdre
I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t believe that he had done this, and I wasn’t sure how he had. Why was he part of the gameshow now? Was he the whole time? Was this fate, coincidence, something else? My head was practically spinning, and I didn't know what to say. Did I want to marry Danny? I was willing to marry a complete stranger, but why then was I unsure with Danny?
Part of me knew that it was because I had some sort of feelings for him. What had happened between us last night was incredible. I don't know if it was because it was me and him or if it was because I thought it was going to be the last time, I had sex for a year. That idea was already going out the window when I looked up at Danny. I still trembled a little bit inside when I was close to him. Can I really be married to somebody like that?
Yes. The answer came to me without me having to say a word. I already knew the answer.
I could literally hear a collective sigh through the people that were there to witness the weddings. For a moment there, I didn't know if I was going to say yes and then I waited for Danny to do the same. He didn't seem to have any qualms about saying yes and I had to know how everything had changed so suddenly. Before I could really get an idea of what was actually going on, the priest said that we were now man and wife and that Danny should kiss the bride.
He came towards me and I had the same butterflies in my stomach that I did the night before. I can't remember ever feeling this way before meeting Danny. There were so many questions going through my head right now and I didn't know how to deal with it, but I didn't have time to think because he was coming towards me about to plant a kiss on me.
His lips were gentle and insisting, all the same time. I could hear sounds behind us from the crowd that was gathered, because the kiss lasted longer than it should have. It wasn’t a kiss between strangers, it was something more intimate and more familiar. There was no way that I would be able to kiss a guy like this, if I had just met him.
I had a feeling that people were going to talk about this kiss. When I pulled away, he was smiling at me in that stupid way that he did the night before.
“I think we are supposed to walk back down the aisle now. You know, hand in hand. As husband and wife.”
I just shook my head because I couldn't believe that we were doing this. Or rather that it was already done. I was married now. I was married to Danny. There was so many things to be said about that and it was almost impossible for me to walk straight as we went back the way we came. Now he had my arm and was hoping to steer me, but to keep me up right as well. I don't know if I would have made it out of the little chapel set-up if he wouldn’t have been there.
While we went out between the double doors that I had went through not even ten minutes before, there was another bride waiting. She looked nervous and I could tell that seeing Danny helped her calm down a little bit. Danny was a very handsome man and any woman would be lucky to have him as a groom. I knew a little bit more about him, so it was unsettling for me. I knew how good he was in bed and how he could flip his tongue faster than anything I thought was possible. I knew what I was getting.
“Good luck.”
The other bride smiled at me and I watched her walk through the doors. I knew exactly how she felt because I'd been there not too long ago. It seemed like eons now, but it hadn't been long at all.
I started to say something to Danny, but he stopped me.
“You can ask me all the questions you want once we get in the limo. Right now, would not be the time to talk about this.”
“Talk about us?”
He waved me off and told me that he would answer all of my questions when we were in the vehicle and ready to leave.
“We have a whole year to have this discussion Deirdre. Let's just get to the hotel before you give it away and we’re disqualified.”
I didn't really know what he was talking about, but a little bit of peace and quiet wasn't going to hurt anything when my head felt like it was going to explode. I definitely had a lot to think about and we were at the hotel before I knew it. All of the jitters that I thought I was going to feel were still there in a way, but it was different now. It wasn't the fear of the unknown, but the fear of what I already knew. I knew that men like Danny were dangerous. They could make a girl feel
like they were in love.
Chapter 67
Danny
When we got up to the room, it looked like Deirdre was going to explode. She had a lot to say and I knew that she would. I had tricked her. It was just that simple. When I realized that she was really talking about getting married and after the time we had together, there was no way that I was going to let her slip through my fingers. It had been something that was done without much rational thought, but that didn't change the fact that this is what I wanted.
“Okay look, I know you have a lot of questions to ask me, so why don't we have a couple of drinks and talk about this rationally?”
“Are you trying to get me liquored up, so that you can take advantage of me later?”
“I don't have to get you liquored up to take advantage of you. From what I remember last night, you had no problem giving me exactly what I wanted. And then some.”
I probably shouldn't have said that last part because now she was giving me this dirty ass look. Sometimes my mouth really did override my ass and I was going to have to work on that. It was safe to say that I had never been in a real relationship before. I had never lived with anybody before and the very idea of its kind of freaked me out. Then to think that I was going to spend the rest of my life with one person was unreal to me. It seemed impossible or at the very least, miserable.
But then I met Deirdre and all of that changed, because I can honestly see myself with her for a very long time to come. She was perfect for me in so many ways and when I found her gone this morning, reading her note to say goodbye, I knew that I didn’t want that feeling to go away. If I couldn’t make it work with Deirdre, then I wasn’t meant to be married at all. It was just that cut and dry for me.