“When’s the wedding?” he asked.
“The long weekend,” Jonas said.
“That soon! But what about the wedding band?”
Jonas did not often find himself in situations where he was not in control, where he was caught off-balance, but this seemed to be spinning out of his control. Sam fetched the matching band for the ring and showed it to them.
Jonas found himself nodding that they’d take that, too, and the ring was put it in a box and handed to him.
Sam wagged a stern finger at him. “Don’t put that on her finger until you’ve said your vows. It’s bad luck. If it doesn’t fit properly, bring it back then.”
Jonas found himself nodding like an obedient schoolboy. He needed to remind himself that second ring was never going on her finger.
Unless they decided to see where this would take them. He could feel his heart beating unreasonably.
“Have you got your license? You should run over to the town hall and get it here. It’s just on the corner over there. There’s never a lineup. One more thing off the list.”
“I’m sure they’re not open Saturdays,” Jonas said uncomfortably.
“Yup! Yup, they are. Closed Sundays and Mondays.”
Krissy shot him a look that said they weren’t going to get a license! They stepped out of the store and checked on Chance. He was snoring in the back seat.
Jonas rocked back on his heels and looked down the street.
It had all become a bit too serious for him. Even his own thoughts were veering into deep into uncharted territory. He needed to get this back to a light place, a place where he was comfortable, where they both were aware it was just a game they were playing. It was supposed to be fun!
Then a plan hatching—and maybe feeling a little pressured by Sam, who was watching expectantly from the window—he took her hand and headed for the town hall.
“We are not going to the town hall,” Krissy told Jonas firmly, trying to extricate her hand. “That’s taking it all too far. It’s going to be awful enough when you return the rings.”
“I’m not returning the rings.”
“Of course you are! What use would you have for a ring like this? And the wedding band?”
“None whatsoever. You can keep it.”
“Wh-what?”
“I get the car. There should be something in it for you.”
“I’m not keeping a ring from a phony engagement,” she said. “And I certainly don’t want a fake wedding band.”
“The band itself is not fake,” he pointed out.
“I deduced that from the price.”
“You can have them made into something else, then,” he said, dismissing it.
“We are absolutely not going to the town hall!”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SUDDENLY IT FELT imperative to Jonas to get Krissy into that town hall to apply for a marriage license.
Not to make it more real, but to make it less so, an essential piece of an elaborate—but fun—stunt.
“Why not?” he said persuasively. “It’s just a piece of paper. It’s a marriage license, not a marriage. Just think if I can show Theresa and Mike a marriage license. It’s the coup de grâce!”
“Coup de grâce is actually a French term that translates to killing blow.”
Who knew things like that? She did. This wonderfully complex, smart, sweet, sexy woman, who was wearing his ring. On her engagement finger.
He had to keep the scam part of this exercise in the forefront. But hadn’t it moved out of that territory last night? Hadn’t he just been thinking they could take it beyond the weekend reunion—after he’d won the bet—and see where it went?
He was never confused! He was not going to let confusion rule now, not this late in his life.
He was keeping his eye on the prize! But his eyes moved to her.
His hand in hers was a mistake. He loved touching her casually like this, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Come to that, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
How was that possible? He was on the town hall steps, about to fill out paperwork for a life commitment, and it felt natural. And good.
He let go of her hand as if it had burned him. He thrust his own offending hand deep into his pocket.
“You’re right,” he said, coming to his senses. “This is taking it too far, even for me, master of the elaborate prank.”
He felt an uneasy awareness that the prize did not feel like his car, no matter how hard he tried to make that the focus.
The prize felt like her.
* * *
Krissy frowned at Jonas’s sudden uncertainty. It seemed very unlike him. For the first time since she had met him, he seemed a little off. Uneasy. Distracted. No doubt the cost of that excursion in the jewelry store had caught him a bit by surprise.
“No,” she said firmly, “Let’s go get the license. You’re right—it’s just a piece of paper. And if it will help convince your family, it’s a good return on your investment in this.”
She held up the ring. It caught the light and winked at her and made her heart do a delicious flip-flop.
Silly as it was, she felt totally different since he’d put that ring on her finger. Not just connected to Jonas, but alive. Bold. Aware of life sizzling with the potential for surprises, for delight, for amazement.
At the best of times, life was all just a game, wasn’t it? Why not just enjoy it?
“I’m prepared to earn the ring,” she told him decisively. “How much was it, again? The whole ‘Now you need a wedding band’ thing distracted me.”
He didn’t say anything, still looking warily up the steps.
“I’ll start earning it right now,” she decided. “I will play the part of your absolutely besotted betrothed. I’ll reprise my queen role.”
“You sucked at being the queen.”
She pretended offense. “I could tone it down a notch. Princess.”
“Would I have to be a prince?”
“Let’s not get carried away. A frog will do.”
She was relieved when he smiled and shrugged his shoulders as
