Chapter 12
QUINN
I’d never spent a lot of time daydreaming about my wedding.
As a little girl, I’d never played dress-up with a makeshift veil on my head crafted out of a dish towel and pretended to be a bride.
But even if I had, I definitely wouldn’t have imagined Ford McKenzie as my groom.
Nor, in my wildest dreams, would I have imagined him strolling up the steps of Bayhaven town hall toward me and looking obscene in his dark gray suit pants, white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to display his drool-worthy forearms, all topped off with a freaking vest.
Looking good had never been Ford’s problem. It was effortless for him, much like everything else, regardless of whether he was wearing his usual uniform of a T-shirt and jeans or his actual uniform at the firehouse.
But this? This was downright unfair.
Especially when the memory of our kiss still bubbled under my skin, haunting me every single second since I’d walked out the doors of One Night Stan’s.
“Did you wear this hoping for a better kiss than last night’s?” he asked as he came to a stop directly in front of me, his voice a low rumble that absolutely scrambled my insides.
“What?” I shook my head, forcing myself out of my Ford stupor, and glanced down at my outfit.
I wasn’t wearing anything special. Just an old white sundress covered with tiny lavender flowers that I’d pulled straight from my closet because I wasn’t going to buy something new for this farce. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“I didn’t say there was anything wrong with it.” He allowed his gaze to sweep over me from head to toe, his thumb brushing a slow path across his bottom lip as he looked his fill.
That simple move drew my attention to his mouth, which was the last thing I needed, considering the reminders of what he’d done to me with it last night had been stomping around in my brain like a marching band since it’d happened.
“But I also can’t promise I’m not going to take full advantage of that first kiss with you as my wife.” He lifted his eyes to mine as he said the last two words, his gaze heated, and there was no good explanation for the way my stomach dipped and swooped like I was on a roller coaster.
This was Ford . The guy who practically subsisted on one-night stands. Whatever we had between us wasn’t going to change that. And no matter what kind of feelings he managed to bring out in me on top of the ever-present desire to strangle him, I needed to remember that.
The reason I was here—the entire purpose behind my going through with this insane plan in the first place—was for the clinic. To realize my dream and to become the doctor the people of Starlight Cove needed and deserved. One they could count on.
“You ready?” he asked, tipping his head toward the town hall doors.
I absolutely was not.
This was, without a doubt, the dumbest thing I had ever done in my life.
Which, granted, wasn’t all that difficult to accomplish, considering my history of never stepping even a toe off the safe path.
But I was determined to see this through.
Once I made up my mind, I was locked in.
I planted my feet like a tree and refused to budge. This would be no different.
I just had to keep reminding myself that this was only a means to an end. There would be nothing permanent about my marriage to Ford.
I took a deep inhale before blowing it out slowly. “As I’ll ever be.”
In Maine, there was no waiting period to receive a marriage license, and I didn’t know if that was a good or a bad thing.
It made everything easier for us, but how many other fake couples had made an appointment for a false wedding just like we had?
Had filled out the same paperwork, walked the same steps down the empty corridor, stood in front of the same judge with no intention of their vows being real at all?
It took six minutes. Three hundred and sixty seconds until, suddenly, I stood facing Ford, about to become his wife. Everything up until now had been a blur, just a low hum of voices in the back of my mind. But, as if my brain knew this was the important part, it tuned in as the judge spoke.
“The contract of marriage is not to be entered into lightly, but thoughtfully and seriously and with a deep realization of its obligations and responsibilities. If anyone can show just cause why this couple should not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”
She paused for a brief moment, but since the two people standing in as witnesses were town employees who didn’t know us from Adam, we were in the clear.
The judge turned toward Ford. “Ford, will you take Quinn to be your wedded wife, to love her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her, forsaking all others, for so long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” he said without hesitation.
“Quinn.” She turned to me with a smile. “Will you take Ford to be your wedded husband, to love him, comfort him, honor him, and keep him, forsaking all others, for so long as you both shall live?”
I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience when I responded on autopilot, “I do.”
Ford seemed to have no such hang-ups as he looked down at me with a grin and waggled his eyebrows. Meanwhile, I was attempting to swallow down this lump of nerves that had lodged itself in my throat.
“Please join hands and repeat after me,” the judge said. “I, Ford McKenzie, take you, Quinn Cartwright, as my lawfully wedded wife. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live.”
Ford must’ve read the look on my face as the pure terror I was feeling, because he squeezed my hands twice and tipped his lips up into a smirk.
“I, Ford McKenzie, take you, Quinn Cartwright, as my lawfully wedded wife. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you—and get you as many late-night emotional support coffees as you need so you don’t turn into an insufferable harpy—for as long as we both shall live. ”
At his words, I pressed my lips into a thin line, meeting the amusement in his eyes with a glare of my own. Oh, he wanted to play? I could play.
The judge chuckled under her breath before turning her attention to me. “Now, Quinn, please repeat after me. I, Quinn Cartwright, take you, Ford McKenzie, as my lawfully wedded husband. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live.”
“I, Quinn Cartwright, take you, Ford McKenzie, as my lawfully wedded husband. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you—and keep you humble by handing you your ass at every possible opportunity—for as long as we both shall live.”
Instead of irritating him like I’d hoped, my words only seemed to make Ford’s smirk grow wider, turning into a full-blown grin.
“Did you bring rings to exchange?” the judge asked.
It was one thing we hadn’t talked about, so I wouldn’t have been surprised if he hadn’t remembered this part, but I reached into my dress pocket to pull out the ring I’d purchased for him. “I have one.”
“Got it,” Ford said at the same time, holding up what looked like a plastic-wrapped package.
I tried to get a better look at what he had in his hands, but he just stared at me with a cocked brow while he ripped open the package and pulled out whatever was inside.
“Perfect,” the judge said. “Ford, please place the ring on Quinn’s finger and repeat, with this ring, I thee wed.”
I glanced down when Ford took my left hand in his, distracted momentarily by the gentle way he held it, his callused fingertips lightly tickling my palm. The soft touch stunned me so much it took me a minute to notice the gigantic ring he held, topped with a huge rock.
Made of candy.
It was a ring pop, green and gaudy. I used to love those when I was a kid but probably hadn’t had one in twenty years.
“With this ring, I thee wed,” he said, his eyes locked on mine as he slid the massive candy ring on my finger.
Then, softer and just for me, he said, “Your real one is coming, but I didn’t want to show up without anything.
I didn’t know how to make a ring out of watermelon Jolly Ranchers, so I figured a watermelon ring pop was a good substitute. ”
It took a moment for his words to register, but when they finally did, my mouth dropped open in shock. In high school, I had practically lived on watermelon Jolly Ranchers. They were my favorite study snack, and I was never without them, no matter where I was. But how did he—
“Quinn, please place the ring on Ford’s finger and repeat, with this ring, I thee wed.”
I swallowed and held his left hand, not even trying to hide the questions swimming in my eyes as they searched his for answers I wasn’t going to get. “With this ring, I thee wed,” I murmured, sliding the black band on to Ford’s finger, grateful I’d guessed his size correctly.
Ford dropped his gaze to where I pushed the ring on to his finger, his brows lifting. “Silicone?”
I couldn’t read anything from the tone of his voice, so I just shrugged. “I know it’s not very expensive, but they’re supposed to be the best option for firefighters.”
He continued to stare at me without saying a word, his gaze weighted and heavy, and I shifted under his scrutiny. I had no idea what he was thinking and couldn’t read anything in his stare. All I knew was my stomach was a swarming mass of riotous butterflies, and I didn’t know why.
“Now the good part—the kiss,” the judge said with a wink.
Oh shit .
Would it be weird to refuse to kiss the groom? Probably. But after what had happened last night, I honestly didn’t trust myself around Ford. Not with these butterflies running rampant inside me.
I’d assumed he would be a good kisser, especially given his extensive experience. But I hadn’t been expecting that . From the moment he’d delved his fingers into my hair and cupped my face, covering my lips with his own, my body had come alive in a way it never had before.
The judge continued, “Inasmuch as Quinn and Ford have consented together in wedlock and pledged their vows to each other, by the authority vested in me by the state of Maine, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Ford, you may kiss your bride.”
Time slowed then as Ford stepped into me and lifted his hands to my face.
He slid his fingers around my nape, his thumbs pressing lightly under my jaw to tip my face up toward his.
Then he leaned down until his lips hovered just over mine and said, “No take backs now, wife. Just remember I warned you…”
I didn’t have a second to think—hell, I didn’t even have a second to breathe —before his mouth descended on mine.
This kiss was slower than the one last night.
Softer, sweeter…and yet not any tamer. Without thought, I reached up and gripped his forearms, opening my mouth to his seeking tongue and tasting him all over again.
I’d had kisses before. Most of them less than mediocre, but there were a few good contenders in the mix.
But there had never been anything like this… Never anyone like Ford.
He kissed me like I was the only person in the world. Like I was oxygen and he was gasping for breath. Like I was a feast in the middle of a desert.
He kissed me like I was actually his wife.
And I had no idea what to do with that.