6. Delaney
CHAPTER SIX
delaney
B LAKE AND I ARRIVED at the courthouse separately, as two people getting married to satisfy an inheritance clause would. I found him leaning against a marble archway that branched off the atrium just inside the courthouse’s main entrance. And goddamn, he really was unfairly handsome.
It had always been a fact that I’d known, that I’d been aware of in the back of my head. Just like how newborn babies have the fastest heartbeat. Or that cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally.
Blake London was an attractive man.
But that fact felt a little bit different today as I took him in while he waited for me to show up so we could get married. He stood there, the picture of nonchalance with his hands shucked in his pockets and his shoulder resting against marble. And yet, he didn’t even have a hair out of place. His McDreamy waves were sculpted perfectly on his head, and his crisp, black suit had been tailored precisely to his fit physique.
My stomach flipped in a mix of emotions I didn’t dare try to unpack. Not right now.
As though Blake could sense my gaze, he straightened, head swiveling to find me just inside the door. Something flickered in his eyes before he masked it and strode toward me with a wave, acting like this was the most natural thing in the world. Like we were meeting up for drinks after work or getting together to study for a final exam.
To an extent, it did feel natural. And to be completely honest, I had thought about this moment before.
The marriage clause was fresh on my mind when I initially met Blake in the front of a lecture hall, looking as solitary as I was at the time. He’d seemed kind of perfect for the role: an equally driven partner who had similar career goals to me.
But then I got to know Blake more and realized his goals in life were not, in fact, the same as mine. Because they went beyond a career. He came from a big, loving family, and he wanted a big, loving family. It made sense, something I was sure many people with normal, healthy upbringings could relate to.
Unfortunately, I was not one of them.
I was raised in the same fashion a prized thoroughbred mare might have been. Except I did possess enough autonomy to select not to join the race when it came down to it, and the disappointment that caused was likely as traumatic to me as it was to my family. My dad had been raised in a supremely traditional sense. He was born to manage money, whatever that really meant, and he’d found a wife who’d liked the idea of marrying into that money. My parents’ partnership was as superficial as they came, and if what they had was love, I didn’t want it.
The only scraps of tenderness my parents possessed were reserved for Bryan, but I wouldn’t change that for the world. It was the least they could do.
So no, I’d never wanted to follow a traditional path the way that Blake did. We were two best friends aligned in every way except that one. At some point, I’d always known our lifestyles would split and go down different roads. He wanted a wife, a family, and I’d never really wanted a husband. And yet, for some reason, we’d still somehow ended up together in a courthouse.
“I’m looking for a blonde girl in a white dress. Said she wanted to get married today,” Blake teased with a crooked smile as he walked up. “Maybe you’ve seen her?”
I gave Blake a shaky smile. The last week had flown by, and it was hard to wrap my head around the fact that we were really here. It should feel rushed or rash. It should feel uncertain. But the truth was…it didn’t. Standing here with Blake seemed like the only logical conclusion at this point.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t a little nervous, though.
“Don’t get too disappointed, but you’re lookin’ at her,” I muttered beneath my breath.
Blake’s demeanor immediately shifted as he sensed my anxiety. He reached out to grab my hand and squeezed it.
“Never, Lane.” His gaze lowered, slowly taking me in. My cheeks heated with the attention, even though I knew he was eyeing me up for show, trying to drive home the point that I wasn’t the disappointment I felt like. When his eyes lifted to my face again, he held my gaze, even though it seemed to pain him slightly to do so. The slight clench of his jaw didn’t go unnoticed as he dropped my hand and took a single step back. But his words were sincere when he said, “I could never be disappointed to see you. You look amazing.”
I couldn’t handle Blake’s intensity, not today, so I dropped my focus to my shoes for a moment, clicking the pumps together while I got my shit figured out.
“Thank you. It’s my debutante dress.” I smoothed my hands over the silky fabric, which cinched around my waist with a tiny bow detailing before flaring in an A-line fashion, stopping halfway between my knees and feet. “But I altered it enough that I doubt anyone could tell.” I cocked my head to the side as I studied the dress. “In fact, I actually kind of like it now.”
I gave a half-hearted laugh before looking up to see Blake wearing a funny expression as he watched me.
“What?”
“I’m just thinking it’s too bad you don’t love it. You should love your wedding dress, Delaney.”
“Well, it’s not, you know, a real wedding. So whatever works, right?”
I smiled at him, but Blake’s features grew tight.
“Right.” He gave a tight nod. “Whatever works.”
I forced an even brighter grin onto my face as I held out my hand for him to take. “Wanna go get married?”
His expression softened as he shook his head, hiding a slight grin. He took my hand and said, “Yeah. Let’s go get married.”
We walked together through the courthouse, my heels clacking on the marble floors as we made our way to the correct room, following the directions they’d given us when we’d made the appointment.
And then there was no looking back. Everything moved in a whirlwind around me, and before I knew it, I was standing before a judge with Blake across from me. The elderly officiant was saying words that would tie us together, at least for the next year, and asking us to exchange rings.
My pulse had been hammering since I’d walked in to see Blake waiting for me, but now it was racing as Blake pulled a ring out of his pocket. And then it stopped. My heart, the thing that kept me alive, that organ I’d spent years of my life studying, halted. Because the ring that Blake presented to me was the most extraordinary piece of jewelry I’d ever seen in my entire life.
There was something about it so perfect, so precious, that I couldn’t hold back my gasp. It echoed through the courtroom, making the judge chuckle in delight, and I slapped a hand over my mouth, slightly horrified that I’d let that slip.
When I looked up at Blake, an unrestrained grin spread over his face, one that told me he felt damn good about shocking me, trying to best me as usual.
Well, I’d give it to him this time. The wedding band I’d gotten him was nice but nothing compared to the extravagance of the ring he slowly slid onto my finger. I marveled at how perfectly it fit, at how confident Blake seemed as he pushed the band into place, at how lucky I was in this moment. And not just because of the ring.
“Blake,” I said, my voice a mix of admonishment and awe. I had no idea where he had gotten a vintage sapphire and diamond-encrusted ring, but it was too much. Way too much. “Blake, I can’t?—”
“Shh,” he murmured, his voice brushing against my senses like velvet. Soft and smooth. “You think anyone would believe I wouldn’t get my wife a ring as stunning as she was?”
He winked at me before shooting a glance at the judge as if to remind me that we were being watched.
I cleared my throat and nodded as I pulled out his wedding band from the hidden pocket in my dress. He let me slide it on his finger, smiling as I fumbled with slightly shaky fingers.
I’d been the one who’d been preparing for a fake marriage for years, but for some reason, he was the one who was so calm and collected about it, even though this had only been his reality for all of a week.
Especially when the judge told Blake he could kiss the bride, aka me , and Blake didn’t even blink in response. Meanwhile, panic bubbled up inside me because while I’d thought of the dress and the ring and the marriage license, I had not given one single thought to the very real possibility that this could happen. Which was ridiculous, as evidenced by how Blake leaned in, clearly prepared to seal our marriage with a kiss.
People kissed at weddings.
I wasn’t sure why this hadn’t crossed my mind before, but now it was the only thing in it as Blake’s palm slid across my cheek, cupping my face and angling it up toward his.
“Hey,” he breathed, and the sound of his voice instantly put me at ease.
“Hey.” I blinked up, our eyes meeting in a moment of mutual understanding. What that understanding was, I couldn’t really pinpoint. But I felt it. I felt him , and I leaned into his touch, letting him guide us closer together.
“I’m going to kiss you now.” His words were a low murmur brushed across my lips, and my body reacted on autopilot, seeking the kiss. Suddenly wanting the kiss. We were so close, and the proximity was intoxicating in a way I didn’t understand but didn’t care to.
“Okay?” he checked when I didn’t reply, and I barely nodded before Blake’s mouth slanted over mine, capturing it.
A feverish need flooded my senses in a way I never imagined possible as Blake kissed me. His tongue swept into my mouth as if that was where it belonged, tangling with mine in a way that made it seem like he’d always wanted to do this, like he’d always wanted to taste me.
I groaned, which should have embarrassed me, but instead, I instinctively wound my arms around his neck, pulling us closer, needing us to be closer. Blake broke the kiss, but only for a moment, only to brush his lips over mine in such a tender caress, one that completely contrasted with the way he swore gruffly under his breath and the way he dove back in for a deep, unrestrained kiss a second later, dipping me back with a dramatic flair.
When he tipped me up again and broke the kiss, we were both breathless. The kiss hadn’t been long, but it had been inexplicable and unexpected, and Blake’s rough breaths against my lips caused an unbidden desire to pool in my gut until he moved away. Disappointment bloomed inside me, and I frowned with confusion that got swept away as Blake’s mouth trailed to my ear.
“Figured we’d need the practice if we have to be convincing newlyweds for a year,” he said, his husky voice making my skin pebble with the awareness of him. It sent a jolt of heat through my body that I desperately wanted more of. But Blake pulled away, and then I felt adrift.
“I think we’re gonna nail it,” I somehow managed to whisper in response.
He leaned back, and there was something I didn’t expect to see in his face—a wretched sort of despair that he quickly blinked away, masking it with a light smile, the twinkle in his eye returning. He took a deliberate step backward while simultaneously grabbing my hand, keeping me at arm’s length.
“I think you’re right.”
There was something off about him, but when he said those words, I couldn’t detect anything that wasn’t just…Blake.
My best friend.
My husband.
His grin grew as it was announced that, on this random Tuesday afternoon in the last week of April, we were now Mr. and Mrs. London.