Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The ride in the service elevator was not what Lacey had expected when she signed up to join her fake rock star boyfriend in Las Vegas.
Scratch that. He was her fiancé. Soon to be her husband.
Butterflies filled her stomach. Husband . Her inner child, that little girl who had mainlined fairy tales like they were vital to her survival, was celebrating. The pragmatic, adult side of her brain reminded her that this marriage wasn’t real and Sam was doing her a gigantic favor.
It wasn’t the romantic proposal she’d dreamed of, but at least this time when a man offered to marry her for her money, he wasn’t planning on using it for himself.
When her money problems had started, her ex-boyfriend Jace—the cause of all those money problems—had suggested they get married to access her inheritance. In the same breath as “this will solve your problem,” he talked about how it could fund studio time and equipment and clothes for his music career.
At least Sam was being altruistic. As soon as she could, she would release him from their sham marriage. She loved him, and she wanted to be his wife, but not like this. Not out of pity.
The elevator doors opened, and their small entourage, which had grown to include two members of hotel security, a concierge, and two bellhops to manage their bags, exited into the corridor.
Sam’s suite was at the end of the hallway. The last time Lacey had been in a hotel room that large and fancy was with Sam in Barcelona, but she hadn’t gotten to properly appreciate the accommodations because she was too busy appreciating his body.
The suite had a living room, dedicated bedroom, and a luxurious bathroom with a tub so large Lacey wanted to weep because she would actually be able to fit in it. It was spacious enough she could probably wedge Sam in there too.
The team of people who’d brought them to their room filed out, and John Paul offered to take Daisy for a walk. Sam quickly agreed.
“Outsourcing my job already?” Lacey joked. Humor was her best defense against the rising tide of nerves.
“Trying to get you alone,” Sam said as he curled a hand around the back of her neck.
There was a knock at the door.
Sam growled. “Fuck.”
He stalked across the room and peered through the peephole. More obscenities graced his lips as he yanked open the door.
“Fairy godmother, present and reporting for duty.”
“We literally just got here. How did you know?”
Jenna Fox breezed past Sam into the suite. Lacey’s eyes widened. In her wildest dreams, she never would have allowed herself to even hope that Jenna Fox would say hello to her, let alone help her get ready for her wedding.
But Jenna didn’t say hello. She wrapped Lacey in a tight, surprisingly strong hug.
“I’m so excited to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Lacey laughed nervously, gingerly hugging Jenna in return. “So my name and the fact that I exist?”
Jenna looked over her shoulder at Sam. “It’s like she knows you.” She grasped Lacey by the shoulders and held her at arm’s length, studying her closely. “Okay, I can make this work. How long do I have?”
“How long do you need?” Sam asked, plucking a few grapes from the fruit tray on the dining table.
“Ideally? All day. But I think I can have her vow-ready in two hours.”
Sam coughed, choking on a grape. “Two hours? What takes two hours?”
Jenna ticked items off on her fingers. “Hair, makeup, picking a dress, nails…”
“I don’t need all that,” Lacey insisted, feeling more like a burden than ever. “I just don’t want to get married in this.” She gestured to her outfit.
“Look, I understand that Sam is rushing you down the aisle before you change your mind about him, but you should feel special. You should feel bridal .” Jenna linked her arm with Lacey’s and tugged her toward the door. “Sam, we’ll meet you at the venue. Text me when you pick one.”
“Wait, what? Why?” Sam followed them toward the door. “Why are we meeting at the venue?”
“Because you’re not supposed to see the bride before the wedding.” Jenna opened the door and pushed Lacey through. She smiled at Sam and wiggled her fingers at him. “Bye, love you, see you later.” She pulled the door closed before he could object. “Come on. I’m just down the hall. ”
“You really don’t have to go to all this trouble,” Lacey said as Jenna hurried them to her room.
“This isn’t that much trouble.” Jenna touched the keycard to the door and pushed it open. “I’ve known Sam forever. He’s basically my little brother, which makes you my sister-in-law, and that means you deserve the best.” She dropped her keycard onto the first flat surface she saw. “Unfortunately, Sam gave me very little notice, so you’re going to get the good enough treatment.”
“Good enough is great.”
Jenna’s room looked like Sam’s except it had clothes everywhere, including a rolling rack of dresses by the window, and a small team of people setting up for hair and makeup. Jenna dragged Lacey over to the rack of dresses and began pulling options.
“Do you have any kind of specific vibe you were thinking of?”
“You really didn’t need to do all of this?—”
“The dresses are all options I didn’t go with for tonight and the glam squad was already booked.” Jenna frowned at the rack of dresses. “I don’t have anything super bridal. No white. Nothing long…Unless you want a suit. Do you want a suit? There’s one here somewhere. I just felt it made me look too much like I was running for Congress.”
Jenna Fox was a force of nature, and Lacey gave up trying to resist her efforts to make magic happen. When would she ever get this kind of opportunity again? To have one of her all-time favorite artists fussing and fawning over her? Likely never.
“Short and sparkly,” she said, and Jenna got to work.
Sam paced the lobby of the wedding chapel, checking the clock continuously because the minutes were passing in hours while he waited for Lacey to show up for their wedding.
John Paul had gone above and beyond the call of duty and found a chapel that had two consecutive time slots available so they could ensure some form of privacy for their wedding. Then he’d gone to the hotel florist and purchased a pre-made rose and baby’s breath crown meant for a person, but he’d tied it around Daisy’s neck so she could look pretty for the wedding, too.
That man was going to receive a hefty bonus at the end of the weekend.
Sam’s clothes felt too tight. The black suit was custom, so it fit him perfectly, but even with the neck of his black shirt open to his sternum, he felt like he couldn’t breathe correctly. He tugged on the cuff of the jacket, then rubbed his thumb over the black floral embroidery that started there and traveled up his arms.
Where was Lacey?
Were they lost? Stuck in traffic? Had she changed her mind and was hiding under Jenna’s bed?
The chapel wouldn’t let him check in for the ceremony until Lacey arrived, so he had nothing to do but pace and wait.
The door opened, and Jenna swept in, wearing a metallic gold two-piece ensemble that made her look like a goddess from ancient mythology. The slit on the skirt went dangerously high up her thigh, and Sam hoped the top was reinforced with tape underneath because if she sneezed too hard there could be a wardrobe malfunction.
“Sorry!” she said, holding up her hands. “My hair and makeup took longer than I expected.”
“Is this the bride?” the receptionist asked, putting some paperwork on the counter.
Jenna burst out laughing. “Oh, god, no. Absolutely not. No, no, no.”
Sam glared. “Okay, it’s not that funny.”
“The bride?” the receptionist prompted.
The door opened again, and Lacey entered. Time stopped for Sam. Her blonde hair was styled into a low bun with a few loose pieces framing her beautiful face. Then there was her dress. It was short, hitting roughly mid-thigh, putting Lacey’s glorious legs on full display, and so sparkly that she shimmered like a diamond. The beading was silver, but when the sunlight from the windows hit it, a pattern on the side—it was either a butterfly or a flower, he couldn’t quite tell—became an iridescent purple pink. The sweetheart neckline gave the optical illusion of cleavage, and Sam wanted to kiss her bare shoulders.
She couldn’t be real. She was too perfect. It was like she was a fairy plucked from a magical forest. She should be cavorting with unicorns, not marrying him.
“I’m going to assume from the stunned look on your face that I did good,” Jenna said, and Sam blinked a few times to restart his brain.
“Um, yeah. You did good. Real good.”
Brilliant use of words, Sam.
“If I could have the bride and groom over here, we can go over the details for the ceremony,” the receptionist said.
Sam met Lacey at the desk and put a hand on her lower back as the receptionist explained the ceremony to them. It was a maximum of fifteen minutes, if they wanted to use their own vows they needed to be two hundred words or less, and their officiant could do religious or non-religious.
“Non- religious,” they said at the same time. The receptionist marked the choice on their form.
“Would you like to say your own vows? ”
“We don’t have anything prepared,” Lacey said. “A simple ceremony is fine.”
The receptionist ran her finger down her checklist. “Would you like to hold your rings, would you like your officiant to hold your rings, or would you like your witness to hold your rings?”
Sam’s heart skipped a beat and a wave of cold washed over his body. Rings. He’d forgotten about rings.
“Fuck,” Sam muttered.
“It’s fine,” Lacey reassured him, which only served to make him feel worse. He should’ve gotten her a ring. She deserved a ring.
“I’ve got this!” Jenna declared. “This will be fairy godmothering at its finest.” She peered over the top of the counter, looking at the desk below. “Can I borrow some Post-it notes?”
The receptionist handed her the stack.
“I used to do this instead of paying attention in math. Let’s make that D in Pre-Algebra worth it.”
Sam and Lacey exchanged a look, and Sam shrugged.
“I need to check your marriage license and your identification,” the receptionist said.
John Paul produced the manila envelope with their marriage license and handed it to Sam, who handed it to the receptionist along with his driver’s license. Lacey handed over her driver’s license, and the receptionist did some checks.
“Would you like to go by Samwise or something different for the ceremony?”
Sam shut his eyes and braced himself.
“Your name is Samwise ?” Lacey gasped.
“My dad is a big Tolkien fan. He hoped I would be loyal, brave, and kind.”
Lacey pressed a kiss to his cheek. “He got his wish.”
Sam put on a stoic face, even though internally he was a pile of goo. “Sam is fine.”
“After your ceremony, you’ll sign your license, along with your witness and the officiant, and then we will mail it in for you for filing. After about ten days, you can order a certified marriage certificate as proof of marriage.” She handed back their driver’s licenses. “I will go inform your officiant you’re about ready to start.”
“Thank you,” Sam said as she went into a back room.
“Wow. This is really real,” Lacey murmured.
Sam kissed her forehead. “It is. Sorry about the rings. I didn’t think about it.”
She leaned into him and closed her eyes. “It’s fine. I don’t need one.”
The receptionist came back with two people in tow, a short, squat woman wearing black, and a tall, skinny man with a camera.
“This is Janette, your officiant, and Kieran, your photographer.”
Janette smiled, her apple cheeks rosy. “Sam, Lacey, it’s wonderful to meet you. If the groom and guests follow me to the chapel, we can get started.”
Sam, Jenna, and Daisy headed to the chapel with Janette and Kieran. John Paul would remain in the lobby to monitor the area for unwanted guests.
“Wait!” Lacey shouted, and hurried as fast as she could in her heels to catch up. “I don’t need a processional. Let’s just do this together.”
“You’re the boss—I mean bride,” Janette said with a twinkle in her kind eyes.
Lacey took Sam’s hand and squeezed it tightly. He squeezed hers in return.
Together. They’d do this together.
The chapel was small and starkly white. It held six rows of short pews, three on each side of an aisle with a red carpet, and then a fake flower arch at the end. Janette walked ahead of them down the aisle, and Jenna took a seat in the front pew. Daisy trotted alongside Sam, confused but happy by her family walk.
Sam and Lacey stopped in front of Janette and faced each other, hands clasped together, and Daisy obediently sat at their feet, her face raised to watch.
“Sam, Lacey,” Janette began and a profound sense of calm fell over Sam like a warm blanket, “today you embark on one of life’s greatest journeys. Today you’ve chosen to knit your lives together and become your own family. Marriage is not always easy, but when undertaken with the curious combination of seriousness and joy, it is wholly worth the effort. Are you ready to begin?”
“Yes,” Sam said and Lacey nodded.
“Lacey, we’ll begin with you. Say, ‘Sam, today I join my life with yours, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.’”
“Sam,” Lacey began softly, and squeezed his hands, “today I join my life with yours, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.”
“I promise to be a thoughtful and considerate partner, to celebrate your accomplishments and to help shoulder your burdens.”
“I promise to be a thoughtful and considerate partner, to celebrate your accomplishments and to help shoulder your burdens.”
“Now, Sam?—”
“I remember,” Sam said. “Lacey, today I join my life with yours, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. I promise to be a thoughtful and considerate partner, to celebrate your accomplishments and to help shoulder your burdens.” He paused, and glanced at Janette. “Can I go off-script a little?”
“It’s your wedding.”
Sam looked deep into Lacey’s eyes. “It is my joy to be your husband. Asking you to marry me was the easiest decision I’ve ever made.”
Tears welled up in Lacey’s eyes and her bottom lip quivered. She swallowed hard and mouthed, “Thank you.”
“Lacey, do you take Sam to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Janette asked.
“I do,” Lacey whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek.
“Sam, do you take Lacey to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
Solemnly, Sam answered, “I do.”
“Do we have the rings?” Janette asked, looking between the couple, who looked at Jenna.
Jenna proudly held up two paper rings crafted out of neon pink Post-it notes. “We do!”
Janette pursed her lips to keep from laughing, and nodded. She motioned for Jenna to bring them up to the front. Jenna practically skipped and presented them to the officiant with an unnecessary amount of flair before taking her seat again.
“These, um, rings are a symbol of your devotion. The circle is unending, like your love. Place them on each other’s fingers—left hand, as a reminder.”
Lacey took one of the paper rings and gingerly pushed it onto Sam’s ring finger, and he did the same, his touch lingering as he savored the moment.
“Sam and Lacey, by the power vested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
An excited smile bloomed on Lacey’s face and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him soundly before he had the chance to make the first move. Sam curled his arms around her body, so happy he thought he’d explode like a firework, and dipped her. Faintly he heard Jenna cheer and Daisy bounced, unsure what the fuss was about but happy to be included.
A bridal fanfare erupted from the chapel speakers and they walked out past Kieran, who was taking photos as fast as his shutter allowed. In the lobby, they signed their marriage license and Jenna signed as their witness, and then it was done, all neat and legal.
“What time is it?” Jenna asked, looking around for the clock. “Oh shit. We need to go or Inger is going to murder us.”
Sam looked at the clock. 3:15. It was, without traffic, about a fifteen-minute drive back to the venue. The red carpet had started fifteen minutes ago. They’d make the red carpet, but there was a chance a chunk of the journalists would already be in the press room writing their stories. Sam was okay with that; less people to talk to. Inger, his publicist, would have a fit.
“I’ll see you back at the hotel?” Lacey asked.
Jenna’s head whirled around. “What? No. You’re coming with us, aren’t you? Aren’t you Sam’s date?”
Lacey blushed, and Sam did too because he knew what was coming next. “He never asked me.”
“Sam!” Jenna shouted.
His defense was weak. “It was hard enough to get her to come.”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “Lacey, love, you can be my date. It will be less depressing to have you sitting next to me than a seat filler or a Z-lister.”
“What happened to Houston?” Sam asked as they headed for the cars. Maybe it was his fault for assuming, but he thought Jenna’s fiancée would be there. He would’ve sworn he remembered her saying he would be.
Jenna shrugged. “His plans changed, and he couldn’t make it.”
If by some miracle they made it down the aisle, Sam was going to stand up and object.
“What about Daisy?” Lacey asked.
Sam and Jenna both stopped walking and stared at each other, the mutual panic palpable.
John Paul interjected, “Can I make a suggestion? Sam, you take Daisy on the red carpet. When you’re ready to go inside, I can take her back to the hotel and get her settled for the night.”
Sam liked the idea. Daisy would be a huge hit and a great distraction. He’d seem charming with a dog as his date.
“John Paul, I think you might be a genius,” Sam said.