CHAPTER 15 ALEXIS
After a sexy, long morning shower together that lasts so long we actually run out of hot water, we get dressed and head into town for our marriage license.
Carmel’s City Hall is a quaint little craftsman building in the heart of downtown with a shingled roof that looks more like a little house than a government building.
We climb up the steps and head inside to get the paperwork rolling, and when we turn it in to the little old lady behind the desk, she eyes me up and down.
My identification has my given name on it, Caroline A. Bodega, though she narrows her eyes a little as if she thinks she recognize me but isn’t really sure.
We pay the extra fee for the private certificate that the state of California offers, so nobody will know our business but us.
We’ll tell the rest of the world when we’re good and ready to make the announcement, and not a moment before.
We escape unscathed, and we’ve secured the first step in actually getting married.
Caroline A. Bodega and Daniel J. Brewer are set to become husband and wife as long as they do it in the next ninety days before the certificate expires.
We go back to the store in the village where I saw the dress I can’t stop thinking about, and I grab my size off the rack and head into the dressing room.
That’s right.
Alexis Bodega is buying a wedding dress off the rack.
It’s not a name brand, instead hand-sewn by a local seamstress, and it’s not even a wedding dress. It’s a floor-length, long-sleeve gown that has a white floral pattern sewn over a blush champagne-colored lace.
When I slip it on in the dressing room and step back to look in the mirror, it’s simply breathtaking.
It’s romantic and dreamy, and it’s perfect to set the vibe for what I want out of my wedding day.
It’s not chiffon and silk, that’s for damn sure.
It’s simple and elegant, and it’s just right for us.
I head up to the register to pay with some of the cash Danny handed me before I walked in.
It’s weird having to borrow money from someone else when I’ve spent my entire adult life with plenty of money to spare.
It’s a strange reminder that we should probably sign some sort of agreement going into this, but I don’t want to. Danny doesn’t need my money any more than I need his.
I know nobody ever goes into a marriage expecting it to end, but I really believe we’re going to make this last forever.
And so I decide I won’t bring it up at all.
The woman behind the register asks, “What event are you wearing this to?”
“My wedding,” I say softly.
“Oh, congratulations. It’s just stunning.”
I offer a small smile as she sets the gown into a garment bag, and then I head outside to meet Danny, my smile wide as we check another task off of our to do list.
We make love yet again once we’re back at the house, and then we sit on the rooftop deck and relax as we watch the sunset, holding hands and smiling as we talk softly.
We make a plan to try a local bar and grill for dinner, and it’s just before we’re about to head inside to get ready for dinner when Danny says, “I think we need to talk about something.”
I glance over at him, and he looks a little nervous. “What is it?”
“Do, uh…should we—” He cuts himself off, and he draws in a breath. “Do we need to have some sort of agreement about assets?” He doesn’t mention the word prenup, though I know exactly what he means.
“I wasn’t going to bring it up if you weren’t,” I admit.
He presses his lips together. “I really and truly believe we’re going to make this work, Alexis.
I really do. But I had to live through the fight when my parents ended things, and they didn’t really even have that many assets.
And now my sister. It’s just easier if the plans are all laid out in advance, you know?
And I wouldn’t bring it up if we were like my parents, or if we were like Anna and Chris, but the fact is…
we’re not. You’re Alexis Bodega. You’ve got a fortune behind you.
An entire empire. And I’ve got a big money contract, too, and it would be unrealistic and maybe even irresponsible not to at least have something in writing to protect those things. ”
I nod. “Okay. I think you’re probably right. But do we just…” I trail off. “I don’t know. Sign something for now that says all pre-marital property and assets will remain individual property during and after the marriage.”
He nods. “You’re good at this.”
“Well, it’s not my first prenup,” I joke, which garners a small chuckle from Danny, though it’s really not all that funny.
“That works for me. Let’s add something in that we can revisit it at a later date with a lawyer.”
“Sounds good.” I stand to go inside and get some paper, and I return a few beats later with the pad I found in the kitchen. I spell out what we just said, and we both sign and date the paper. “I’ll keep this in my purse for safe-keeping.”
He takes a picture of it on his phone. “Good enough,” he says. He wrinkles his nose. “That felt…wrong. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“It’s what our lawyers each would’ve told us to do, and I want you to know that I’m not offended in any way that we did it.”
“Okay. Then we should probably have sex to get that image out of my head before we go to dinner.”
I laugh. “You are greedy, Mr. Brewer.”
“Oh, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet, babe.”
I giggle, and I scamper over toward the stairs to head back inside. He catches me as I get to the second step, and he pulls me into his arms and he presses his lips to mine, the awkwardness of that conversation already gone.
We’re still on the stairs when he reaches down the front of my jeans and sinks a finger right inside me.
“Oh God!” I yell, and he starts finger-fucking me right there.
I reach down and rub his cock on the outside of his jeans, and he thrusts into my hand.
It’s hot and sexy and a little forbidden doing this out here on this rooftop, knowing we could be seen by a nosy neighbor at any point, but I don’t even care.
In fact, somehow that makes it even hotter.
Just the mere thought of what he’s doing to me has me seeing stars already, and I fall apart when he slides his finger out and starts to rub my clit.
I reach into his jeans just as I start to come, and I grip onto his cock. There isn’t much room to move my fist, but I slide it up and down as best I can, gripping on harder and harder as my body pulses its way through a hot climax.
His mouth is on mine, our tongues battering together as he doesn’t stop rubbing away at me even though my body is coming down from the high already, and he shoves his fingers back inside me.
Oh my God. I think I’m going to come again. He pushes me right up to the edge as if he can feel me getting closer and closer and closer to exploding a second time, and then it all just…stops.
“What the hell?” I murmur.
He pulls his hand from my jeans and raises a brow. “You can wait to finish that one until I decide it’s time.”
My jaw drops. “Excuse me?”
He raises both brows. “You heard me.”
I run my hand down his shaft and cup his balls in my hand. “You sure you want to do that when I quite literally have you by the balls?”
“God, I love you,” he murmurs, and his lips crash down to mine.
I let go of his balls. I wouldn’t really hurt him, but I was trying to make a point.
The ache is sharp between my thighs, and I have a feeling it will be until I’m able to come—whenever he decides it’s time.
It really is just one adventure after another with this guy.