I rolled back over to look at the gorgeous woman sleeping beside me.Ishould be freaking out right now, or at least trying to figure out how to get out of this mess, butIfoundIhonestly didn’t care.
Her red hair was spread all over my pillow, and while the covers were pulled up pretty high,Isuspected she was naked underneath the sheets, just asIwas.
Not wanting to wake her,Imoved carefully out of the bed to go to the bathroom.Onmy way there,Iwalked by my small armchair in my room, whereInoticed what looked like photographs.Itwas too dark to see them clearly, soIswiped them and took them into the bathroom with me.
AsIwalked into the bathroom and closed the door,Iturned on the light—which nearly blinded me—to see my face andAce’sstaring back at me from the photos.Therewas no wedding dress or veil or anything else that signified that it was our wedding, as we were both in our regular clothes we had been wearing yesterday.ButanElvisimpersonator stood behind us, along with a womanIdidn’t know, as we smiled for the camera.
In one photo,Iwas dipping her back for a kiss.Anotherhad us in a tight embrace, smiles on our faces.Theone thing all of these photos had in common was how happy we looked in all of them.
Moments of what had happened last night slowly started to come back to me, though a lot of it was blurry or vague in my mind.
Memories of me telling herIfelt a connection to her and wanted to make a go of it with her—even though she was moving toCaliforniaat the end of the week.Anothermemory ofAceagreeing to try the long-distance thing with me for a little while to see how it goes.Wemade plans to meet up next week once she got settled into her new place.Itwas only a four-hour drive, so we figured we could take turns going back and forth for a bit.
Then an odd bit of jealousy raged in me about men who would see her onTVand want her.Inmy drunk mind,Icame up with a plan outside the bar on how to remedy that—marry her.
As we walked out of the bar and headed for the taxi pickup spot two blocks away, we walked right by a wedding chapel, andIwent for it.Weboth laughed at the stupidity of it, but then she agreed.Shedidn’t want to get a dress, insisting that if it was meant to be, it shouldn’t matter what clothes we were wearing.Iliked that, butIneeded to get her a ring.Somethingto show people she was mine.
One perk ofLasVegaswas that, chances were, right next to a wedding chapel, there would be a 24/7 jewelry store.Ididn’t make much on my police salary, soIwas limited on whatIcould get.
I bought her a beautiful ring with diamonds and rubies all around it to match her red hair.Itwas a simple band, no large center stone, butIfiguredIcould add that later whenIsaved up enough.
Under the photos was the marriage license.Thechapel had a limo that took us straight to theClarkCountymarriage license bureau, thankfully just before the doors closed at midnight.
With the photos in my hand,Imade my way back to my bedroom after a quick pitstop to the kitchen for some glasses of water and pain meds, since we would need them in the morning for the inevitable hangover.
Deciding to go with my gut on this,Idecided to try to convinceAceto stay married and see if we could make it work.Ifound thatIwanted that very much.
I slid back into the bed and pulled her body snug up against mine.Shemumbled and rolled into me.Herbody then went stiff, andIlooked down to see a pair of sleepy eyes on me.Shesmiled up at me, and that solidified thatIwould definitely be working to convince her to stay married.
“Good morning, wife,”Imuttered to her softly.
It took her a few seconds to register whatIsaid before her brow wrinkled in confusion.Ireached down and grabbed her left hand and brought it up closer to her face, turning it so she could see the ring.
Her face went from confused to shocked to aware and recognition relatively quickly.
“I thought that was just a dreamIhad,” she said softly in a groggy voice.
“Nope,”Ireplied, holding up my left hand for her to see.
I explained everythingIremembered to her, thoughIadmitted some parts were a bit hazy.Shefilled in a few parts that she remembered, too, and we had a good, but nervous, chuckle at what had happened.
ThenItook the conversation to a more serious direction—telling herIwanted to try it out.Iwanted to see if we could make the long distance work if we could.Sheseemed hesitant, butIfelt likeIpresented a good enough case to at least give it a try.
ThenIpresented her with my next argument that we should give it a go by devouring her body and showing her how good a chemistry we had together.
Regardless of whether or notthatwas what sealed the deal, it worked.Sheagreed to try it out with me, andIfelt genuinely happy—the happiestIhad felt since before my mother died.
* * *
Two days after we got married,Iwas still on cloud nine.Acehad spent her days whileIwas at work packing up her things to move.Atnight, she stayed with me.
Going back to work had not been fun, but there was empathy and sympathy all around from the department on what had happened with the trial.Ididn’t find myself reeling in depression as much asI’dthoughtIwould have been, butIknewAcehad a lot to do with that.
Manny, on the other hand, was still taking it pretty hard.HisbrotherHectorwas about to come home on leave in a few weeks, and he was going to take some time off to spend with him, away from here.Theywere going to go toLakeMead, stay in a cabin, and fish.Heneeded that, andIimagined his brother likely did too.Mannyhad said he was on a top-secret black ops mission and was knee deep in some pretty intense shit.Afishing trip would be good for both of them.
I put in a request to take some time off as well, but mine was to go helpAcemove.Iwanted to help her get settled and spend some time with her before she started her new job, even though she thought that wasn’t needed.
“You don’t need to help me move,Archer.That’swhat a moving company is for,” she told me.
