“Yes, Kat, I really want to get married.”
“In a towel?”
His head tipped back, and he let out a deep laugh. “Maybe I’ll put some clothes on.”
My thoughts raced. “But where?”
“There are tons of places in Vegas.”
“Is it safe to go out there?”
He nodded. “I think so, if we’re quick about this.”
A quickie marriage in Vegas? I almost laughed because we would be just one in a million who came to Vegas and got married. Some of the numbness faded with the acknowledgment of how…common it was to do this.
To get married.
My heart did a backflip.
“If you’re not ready, that’s okay. We don’t need to do this,” he said, his eyes meeting mine. “I’m not going to be upset if you don’t feel it’s the right time, but I am going to ask one more time. You don’t even have to say no. Just don’t say anything. Okay?” He took a little breath. “Will you make me the luckiest bastard on Earth and marry me, Katy Swartz?”
My breath shuddered. Tension rolled through my entire body. I’d imagined a proposal being very different than this. It never involved a towel, and I’d have a long engagement, plan a wedding, and have family and friends witness the moment, but…
But I was in love with Daemon. And like he’d said, I’d be in love with him tomorrow and twenty years from now. That was never going to change. The emotions were complex, but the answer was simple.
I took a breath, and it felt like the first breath I’d ever taken. “Yes.”
He stared at me in wonder. “Yes?”
I nodded vigorously, like a seal. “Yes. I will marry you. Today. Tomorrow. Whenever.”
In the blink of an eye, he was standing, and I was captured in his strong embrace. His arms were tight around me, my feet several inches off the floor, and his mouth was on mine. That kiss was more a stake of claim than any marriage certificate could be.
I came up for air, clutching his shoulders. He’d started to glow a beautiful soft white as he stared back at me with a look of awe in his expression. I smiled. “Well, let’s get this show on the road.”
…
I wouldn’t let Kat change her shirt. I had a fondness for it. After all, it was the first shirt I’d seen her in, and I thought it was fitting.
Feeling like I might have just climbed Mount Everest in a second, I quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt. Okay. Maybe not quickly. I kept getting distracted with Kat’s lips, because those lips had said yes, which made them suddenly something I couldn’t stop touching.
They were swollen by the time we made it downstairs. Still early, only Lyla was up. I had no qualms about asking her to borrow a car, because I didn’t want Kat to hoof it into Vegas. Lyla easily gave up her keys to a Jag, which I traded in for a Volkswagen I saw in the garage, along with two more cars she owned. My fingers itched to get behind the wheel of a Jag, but that would draw way too much attention.
I honestly didn’t think we’d run into any problems. The last place Daedalus would be looking for us would be at a place we could get married, but I took the same appearance of the guy I’d used in the motel, and we found a floppy sun hat and glasses for Katy.
“I look like a fake celebrity,” she said, staring at herself in the side mirror. She twisted toward me. “And you’re kind of hot.”
I snorted. “I’m not sure if I should be bothered by that.”
She giggled. “You know, Dee is going to kill us.”
We’d decided not to tell anyone. Mainly because Matthew would probably object, Dee would freak out, and, honestly, we wanted to do this alone. It was our moment. Our little slice of pie that we weren’t sharing.
“She’ll get over it,” I said, knowing that was doubtful. Dee would probably kill me for not being able to take part. Coasting the VW out of the driveway and down the access road, I reached over and patted Kat’s thigh. “Serious moment, okay? When all of this crap is settled, if you want the big wedding and all that jazz, I’ll make it work. You just need to tell me.”
She took off her oversize sunglasses. “Big weddings cost a lot of money.”
“And I have a lot of money stashed away. Enough to make sure we have nothing to worry about until we figure out what we’re doing, so more than enough to cover a wedding.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want the big wedding. I just want you.”
I almost stopped the VW right there and crawled all over her. “Just keep it in mind for later if you change your mind.” I wanted to give her everything—the ring that weighed her finger down and the wedding to end all weddings. Neither was feasible right now—and, I had to admit, I was turned on by the fact she didn’t seem to care about either of those things.
Okay. I was almost always turned on by her, but that was beside the point.
“You know where I want to get married? Married. Wow. I can’t believe I just said that. Anyway,” Kat said, her eyes lighting up under the brim of her hat. “I want to do the little church—the one everyone goes to Vegas to get married at.”
It took me a moment. “You mean The Little White Wedding Chapel? The one in
Kat laughed. “It’s sad that’s how you know the church, but yes. I think there are a couple of them in Vegas. And it should be perfect. I doubt they require much but the fee and an ID.”
I shot her a grin. “If that’s what you want, you got it.”
It didn’t take us long to get into Vegas and to stop at one of the tourist vendors. Kat hopped out and grabbed a handful of brochures. One of them was about the chapel. Apparently impromptu weddings were a big theme. Duh.
We had to get a marriage license.
She frowned. “I don’t want to do it under our fake names.”
“Neither do I.” I pulled up in front of the courthouse, letting the engine run. “But it’s too risky to use our real names. Besides, we’ll need the marriage license under our useable ID. You and I will always know the difference.”
She nodded and grabbed the door handle, but her fingers slipped off. “You’re right. Well, let’s do this.”
“Hey.” I stopped her. “You’re sure, right? You want this?”
She faced me. “I’m positive. I want this. I’m just nervous.” Leaning in, she tipped her head to the side and kissed me. The edge of her hat brushed my cheek. “I love you. This…this feels right.”
Air punched from my lungs. “It does.”
Sixty dollars later, we had a marriage license in hand, and we were en route to the chapel on the Boulevard. Since our fake IDs were under the images of our real selves, I’d have to change back over once we pulled into the parking lot.
The whole drive, I kept an eye out for anyone suspicious. The problem with that was that everyone looked suspicious to me at the moment. Even as early as it was, the streets were teeming with tourists and people heading to work. I knew there could be implants anywhere, but I doubted there’d be one dressed as Elvis or hidden in a chapel.
Kat squeezed my arm when the sign for the chapel came into view. The heart on the side was a nice, gaudy touch. “The Little White Wedding Chapel isn’t so little,” she said as I turned into the parking lot.
I parked the car, and as I pulled the keys out of the ignition, I slid back into the form Kat was accustomed to.
An amused smile lit her face. “Better.”
“I thought the other guy was hot?”
“Not as hot as you.” She patted my knee, then pulled back. “I’ve got the license.”
Turning to the window, I almost couldn’t believe that we were here. Not that I was having second thoughts or anything, but I couldn’t believe we were actually doing this, that in an hour or so, we’d be man and wife.
