“Ah, yes, consummate the wedding?” I lift my brows and give her a sly smile. “Piper, has this all been a ruse to get in my pants? While I appreciate the effort, you didn’t need to go to this extent.” I wink at her.
Piper huffs out an angry breath. “No. Can you be serious for one minute, Ambrose?”
Piper isn’t a laid-back person. I wouldn’t say she’s high strung, but she’s constantly on edge. Yet the clip of her tone surprises me.
“Can we at least sit down and maybe have some champagne?”
There’s a basket of goodies sitting on a low geometric table in the sunken living room. It’s full of romantic items like massage oil, bath products, and chocolates.
“It’s not even noon.” Piper’s face screws up in the most adorable frown, like she’s afraid of getting in trouble.
“It’s vacation rules. Who cares what day or time it is? There are no rules except the ones we make for ourselves.”
Piper stares at the bottle of champagne for a long second. “Yeah, fine, whatever. Make my glass extra full.”
She flops onto the couch, looking exhausted, but also somehow like an elegant lady plucked out of time. Her red hair drapes over the back of the white couch, offering a stunning contrast. When I pop the champagne, she jumps, but takes herfull glass without protest. I fill up my own and clink our glasses together. She looks at me warily.
“Congratulations, Mrs. Roth.”
Piper’s mouth snaps open and then shuts. “We don’t have to… I don’t need to take your name.”
“I would never force it. You can keep your name.” I’m saying the right thing, but there’s a sense of wrongness to the words. She’s my wife, for whatever damn reason, and I want her to have my name. Maiden knows it’s done me no good.
“I would love to get rid of my last name. That’s not what I mean.”
I sit down on the couch across from Piper, sensing she needs space as she downs half of her champagne. They didn’t exactly have a meal on the plane, and I’m starting to wonder when the last time she ate was. There’s a tablet on the table. I pull up the menu and send an order in for a selection of sandwiches and breakfast foods, because why not?
“Are you ready to tell me what this is all about?” I sip my champagne much more slowly. I don’t actually like champagne, but the bottle is open, and I don’t feel like getting up to find something else.
Piper fills up her glass again and drinks it down before she unsteadily sets the empty flute on the glass tabletop. She rubs her hands over her thighs and gnaws on the corner of her mouth.
“I can’t tell you yet.” Her cheeks flame red. She inhales deeply, cringing as she spits out a rapid-fire stream of words. “I need you to have sex with me so that we can finalize the wedding.”
A surprising burst of heat lances through my gut. Piper is a beautiful woman, for all her timidness. “We’re not in Regency England, Piper. No one’s going to force us to annul our marriage if we don’t prove that we’ve slept together.”
Piper covers her eyes with her hand, her thumb and middle finger pressing into her temples. “It’s the ownership piece of things. Like a transfer of…” Piper abruptly stops talking, bending at the waist and groaning. I don’t bother walking around the table. I step right over the top, setting my drink aside and dropping to my knees in front of her.
“What is it? Is this your curse?” I don’t know what Piper’s curse is. She could sneeze out butterflies for all I know, but something about this is not natural.
“No,” she rasps out. “But I can’t tell you yet. We have to complete the binding of this union. I’m sorry, I should’ve told you before I brought you all the way out here, before I had you marry me.” Tears swim in Piper’s eyes as she looks at me, pain contorting her face.
I stroke her hair, and she leans into the touch.
“It’s not a hardship, Piper, but I don’t like that you feel forced to do this.”
“You’re the one being forced,” she says through gritted teeth.
I laugh. “Trust me, this is not a problem.”
Her teeth sink into her bottom lip, and her eyes search my face for the lie, but I’m telling the truth. Piper is beautiful, soft, and lush. I’ve thought about her naked more than once. The only reason I’ve stayed away is because our friends have bonded for eternity. Besides, I’m not really boyfriend material. I’m not husband material either, but here we are. In the past, I never stuck around after I slept with someone. That put Piper in the off-limits category. Whatever is going on with her now, though, puts everything right back on the table.
I slide my hand from her knee up her thigh. Piper swallows, her pale throat bobbing with the motion.
“You can still say no. Get out of this,” Piper murmurs.
“Thank you for checking for consent, but we’re good here, Piper.” I stand up and hold out my hand. “You can say no, too. Whatever this is, I’ll protect you, whether we’re married or not.”
Piper tips her head back, her eyes peering into my soul as she looks at me. She slides her fingers into my waiting ones and sparks of warmth flare out from the touch. There’s something so remarkable in her quiet presence.
