Chapter 23
Amanda
S o, that’s the story of how my fake marriage led to a very real love affair, which, in turn, led to a real marriage.
Although I supposed it was more complicated than all of that. It was more of a case of very real desire turned into physical carnality and surprising intimacy, turned into the fakest of sham marriages, turned into real love, turned into eternal matrimony. Or something like that.
I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Once Evan proposed to me, he and I went through a ton of discussions about what we wanted out of things this time around. Not just what we expected of each other, but what we wanted out of the ceremony, specifically.
Evan, being Mr. Billionaire, of course, wanted to go over the top. I have to admit that some of his ideas were kind of tempting. I mean, who doesn’t want to get married on the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris?
He’d offered to do many other things, and they just grew more outlandish as he went. Don’t get me wrong. I adored his enthusiasm, I wanted to relish the way he took so much time and care to make sure I had the wedding of my dreams.
I let him prattle on about it a bit longer than I had to, just because I enjoyed it so much. I think he was suggesting we take a ride into space and get married in zero gravity when I told him what I really wanted.
He listened to me intently, his big, warm hands cupped over my own. I saw his brows arch high on his forehead as I went on, telling him exactly what would make me happiest.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I am in a position to literally offer you any type of wedding ceremony you choose.”
“I know, sweetie, but the fact of the matter is if you really want to prove you want to give me what I ask for, then let’s just go with my idea, okay? I know it’s not as grandiose as you’re used to—”
He mashed his lips on top of my own and kissed me hard and deep. I knew then that I was going to get exactly the kind of wedding ceremony I wanted. Not just the kind that I wanted, but the kind that I knew we both needed.
My first wedding featured hundreds of guests and cost millions of dollars. Our second wedding was somewhat different, to say the least. The fake wedding was a much larger affair than the real one.
Instead of riding in a stretched limo, we rode in an SUV, with Evan driving it himself. Autumn’s golden-brown gown draped the rolling countryside hills as we drove along a winding road. The boughs of the trees arched overhead, limbs tingling like the hands of lovers. The sun in the sky had that moderated light it gets in the fall, the sky a perfect azure hue. I loved the smell of the crisp autumn air. It made me want to get cuddly and fostered a feeling of intimacy.
I glanced over at my husband-to-be… again. He noticed my attention and turned a smile my way. I brushed my fingers through my hair and smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle out of my sheath wedding dress. Unlike the ludicrously baubled-out gown I wore for our fake wedding, this one had a simpler design. It was still beautiful, though. The best way I could describe the dress was that I felt more like ‘me’ wearing it than the other one.
I supposed that after so much fakery and deceit and putting on airs for the press, I was ready for something real. The dress had a sleeker look to it, which was pretty much in style at the time, anyway.
I knew, we both knew, in fact, that there was a taboo about the groom seeing the bride until the moment she walked out in her wedding dress. We did that once before, and it was performative in the extreme. Now it didn’t seem to matter.
Evan and I no longer stood on pretense. Everything was real now. And real was good. Real was the best. I wanted things to be real between us for the rest of our lives. It was so much better, not having to pretend.
But what was even better was I didn’t have to worry. I knew how Evan felt about me. I didn’t have to doubt that his love and affection were a performance for the cameras. He showed me affection because he wanted to. Because he loved me.
The SUV came around a bend in the forest-shrouded road. My eyes lit up when I saw the chapel sitting on the hill. The chapel featured a round stained-glass window that caught the sun in the most brilliant way. Its colors splashed onto the nearby stream, making it appear as a ribbon of rainbow rather than water.
“Oh, honey,” I said with a wistful sigh. “It’s so beautiful!”
“I knew you’d love it.”
I turned to him and kissed his cheek as we rolled up to a stop in front of the chapel.
“You always know what I like.”
“That’s because I pay attention,” he said.
“Now,” I said. I smiled to show I wasn’t bitter about it.
I kissed him deeply. He pulled me into his embrace, and God help me, but I wanted to just hike up my dress and sit on his cock right then and there. I felt like that a lot around him now. Our passion only got even hotter since we stopped with the pretenses.
We broke apart when the chapel door opened and the wedding planner appeared. She, the minister, and a string quartet were the only ones present beside us.
After the insane number of people at our fake wedding, most of whom I’d never even met before, I wanted something more intimate for our real wedding. Something romantic that I could look back on for the rest of my life and think, ‘Yes, that was perfect. That was real.’
“I’m just glad you learned that you’re an incredible woman who deserves love.”
I looked over at Evan sharply. “You’ve really changed.”
“Not so much. I was just thinking that since I’ve adopted more humane practices at work, productivity has soared through the roof.” He shook his head and sighed. “I used to think that pushing people, which made them constantly afraid they might be replaced or left behind, got the best out of them. I know so much better now.”
He looked me dead in the eyes, and I melted a little at how his handsome face seemed to glow with affection.
“I have you to thank for that. And I can never repay you that debt.”
We kissed again, and the wedding planner laughed.
“You’re not supposed to be doing that yet,” she challenged.
“On the contrary, we’re supposed to be doing this all the time,” I said.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Evan replied.
The wedding planner gave me my bouquet. It was nothing short of breathtaking. It had been constructed of wildflowers for a more natural look, but that only made it even more unique and beautiful than a store-bought one of genetically modified, arranged flowers would have been .
I inhaled deeply and sighed. The wind seemed to sigh too, as it went through the limbs of the trees. The golden-brown leaves still clinging to the skeletal limbs rustled in a pleasant susurrus.
We stepped inside the chapel. I loved the rustic look of it. It had the feel of a place where good things happened rather than a trap spewing fire and brimstone. I kissed Evan again and then we parted briefly. He took up his position at the altar as the wedding planner helped me don my veil and a few finishing touches on my appearance.
The string quartet started playing March of the Bride, and I wore a smile of uncontained happiness as I strode up toward the altar. Evan’s handsome face split in the goofiest, purest smile I’d ever seen him make. His icy facade cracked and revealed the real person underneath, and that person I loved more than anyone else on the face of the earth.
I took his hands at the altar. The minister said a few words, his face warm and smiling.
“One of my happiest duties is to see two people who truly love each other joined in matrimony. I can tell just by looking at the two of you that you have what it takes to make it. And before you ask, no, I do not say that to every couple.”
We both laughed gently, and then I read my vows.
“Evan, I love you because of the man you are. Not because of your money, or your success in business. I think that you probably already know this, but I wanted to restate it. I want you to understand that the person you are now is the real you. Not the icy bastard you thought you had to be.”
He smiled and squeezed my hand.
“I vow to love you, forever and always.”
Evan’s eyes glowed with affection. As he spoke his own vows, his voice dropped into a reverent tone barely above a whisper.
“Amanda, when I first saw you, I think I knew then that you were the one. I just tried to talk myself out of it. That was dumb.”
I laughed, and so did the minister.
“You’ve shown me that showing emotion and being kind aren’t weaknesses. They’re strengths. I’ve learned what love really is. It’s not just a feeling, it’s an action. It’s something you do every day. All day. All the time. And I vow to love you all the time, through the good times and the bad.”
The minister actually got choked up. He had to clear his throat a couple of times before he could ask if Evan had the ring. As for me, I was openly weeping, though not sobbing. It was tears of happiness, not pain.
He slid the ring on my finger, and then we kissed more deeply, more passionately, and for a lot longer than we ever had before.
The minister declared it a new record.
My first thought as we left the chapel as husband and wife was simple. No way was this going to end like our last wedding night.
This time, nobody was getting any sleep.