Chapter 11
PENNY
Ready?
That was the ultimate question, wasn’t it?
As Penny stared at the Vegas chapel, she knew there was no going back after she took this step. More than anything, she knew in her heart of hearts that she wasn’t going to want a divorce. She didn’t take marriage lightly.
Penny hadn’t always been driven by reason. Once upon a time, she’d been the first one to recommend she and her friends do something spontaneous. Those were some of her happiest memories.
They were also the likely culprit for what she was considering right now.
What she’d been considering since the moment Royce presented the idea to her.
She glanced up at him again. There was nothing in his behavior that sent up red flags.
Not the kind that made her want to run. He’d been courteous and respectful of her time and space.
He’d withheld the truth of his surname, and while she didn’t love that, she understood it a little better now with everything going on between their families.
Maybe the bigger question was whether or not she wanted this.
The answer came faster than she would have expected.
It was immediate.
“Yes,” she said aloud.
There wasn’t even an ounce of hesitation in her voice, and the excitement in Royce’s eyes was contagious.
He swept her into his arms and kissed her like they were already married. It was fueled by his excitement, all warmth and anticipation. It spoke of the promises they were about to make and the life waiting on the other side of them.
For one dizzying second, she could almost see it. Quiet moments under the stars. Family barbecues. Their kids running around with Royce’s blue eyes and her stubborn streak. A future built one day at a time, not because it made sense to everyone else, but because they chose it together.
Her connection to Royce was an explosion of everything good the world had to offer and set her off balance in the best possible way. She wrapped her free arm around his neck to steady herself while holding the small bouquet out to the side.
If there was anything in this world that could have convinced her she was making the right decision, it was this moment.
She might not know Royce as well as she ought to. But they had the rest of their lives to figure it out.
Heck, if people in arranged marriages could fall in love after the fact, so could she.
Except she was growing increasingly suspicious that her feelings of love were well on their way already.
“Ahem.”
They broke apart at the sound of someone clearing his throat. Penny’s cheeks heated when she caught sight of a grinning officiant. The man glanced from Royce to Penny and back.
“You are aware you’re supposed to save that kiss until after the ‘I do’s,’ right?” He winked at Penny. “It’s lovely to see two people who are so obviously happy.”
Penny shot a look at Royce, finding his eyes warm with affection and his boyish charm shining beneath it all. She ducked her head and hid her smile behind her bouquet.
In this moment, she could see that he had feelings for her too. This wasn’t some ploy to mess with her. It wasn’t a game.
Royce wanted this.
The officiant apparently didn’t care to wait for a verbal response. He turned his attention once more to Penny. “Are we waiting on anyone to walk you down the aisle?”
Her stomach dipped.
She knew this was going to be a difficult part of her future regardless of whether she eloped or had a big wedding planned back home. Her father was gone. He’d never be able to walk her down the aisle. At the moment, she couldn’t even think about who would have taken his place.
One of her brothers, maybe?
Royce came to her rescue in the way only he could. “We’re starting this marriage the way we plan to live it. Together. I’ll walk her down the aisle.”
Penny could feel his gaze on her, but her emotions were too tangled for her to meet it. Royce wasn’t perfect. She knew that.
But maybe that was part of why this felt real.
He was flawed. So was she. And somehow, standing here with him, she knew she was right where she was supposed to be.
Nodding, the officiant gestured toward the aisle. “Right this way.”
Royce tugged her to a stop for a moment and faced her. His eyes swept over her features, and he brushed his fingertips along her cheek. “You are so beautiful.”
She scoffed, but he cupped her face in his hands with such heartbreaking seriousness in his eyes that the sound died quickly.
“We’re going to walk down that aisle,” he said, “and if there’s one thing I want you to know, it’s that I want this more than anything I’ve ever wanted. I want you.”
Her breath caught in her chest.
Breathing was nearly impossible when he stared at her the way he was right now. She could feel the truth in every word he spoke, and the way her heart reacted to him made it hard to think about anything else.
Royce seemed to be searching for something in her expression, and when he apparently found it, he smiled.
“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you’re happy, Penny. Not because I think that’s mine to control, but because your happiness matters to me. I want to spend my life proving that we can build something good together.”
She let out a laugh, finally managing to catch her breath. “I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to say your vows up there.” Penny tilted her head toward the end of the aisle where the officiant waited.
His eyes shone with amusement. “I just wanted to share this moment with you and you alone. I didn’t want you to have any doubts that I’m choosing us. If you haven’t noticed, the way we’re going about this is a little unorthodox.”
Penny giggled. “Yeah, I noticed.”
Boy, she loved the way he smiled. It flooded his face with warmth and sunshine. She could bask in the glow of the man standing before her.
It was in that moment she realized something extraordinary.
There was no nausea.
No anxiety.
Right here, in this moment, all she wanted was to be with Royce Meyers.
Without thinking, she slipped a free hand behind his neck and kissed him. Her lips crashed over his, and she hoped he could feel everything she wasn’t sure she could find the words to say yet. She hadn’t had a chance to come up with her own vows.
But this?
Maybe this would be enough for now.
The officiant chuckled, bringing her back to the present, and they turned to face him.
Music played, and they walked together toward the man who would pronounce them husband and wife.
Light filtered into the hotel suite, and Penny blinked against the rays that filled the room. She sat up in bed and pulled the covers up to her chest. After the ceremony, they’d gone to a restaurant to celebrate, and then they’d come back to the hotel.
Her skin warmed at the memories of the night before. The way Royce had been gentle and sweet. The way he’d treated her like someone precious, not something claimed.
That had her gaze drifting to her side, where the bed was empty.
Penny’s thoughts were still in a daze, running over everything that had occurred since she’d agreed to come to Nevada with Royce. But then reality set in, and her heart lurched.
The bed was empty.
She reached out with one shaking hand and dragged it along the sheets.
They were cool to the touch.
That familiar panic rose in her chest. There were no other sounds in the hotel suite. He wasn’t in the bathroom. He wasn’t watching television in the separate sitting space. At first glance, she didn’t see anything that belonged to him.
His suit from last night was gone too.
Nausea reared its ugly head, and dizziness hit her hard.
This couldn’t be happening.
She’d felt it. The connection they’d had couldn’t be faked. He wouldn’t have married her only for it to be one big mistake, right? He wasn’t cruel.
No.
Royce was better than that.
Unless the reality of their choices had come crashing down on him like they were for her in this moment.
That could make a man flee, couldn’t it?
She was going to be sick.
Tossing aside the comforter, she scrambled to the bathroom and lost the contents of her stomach immediately. She couldn’t think clearly enough to make plans. What was she supposed to do? Call one of her brothers and expect them to bail her out? What was her uncle going to think?
A sick sense of dread replaced the anxiety.
What about her mother?
She rested her forehead against her arm on the edge of the toilet seat.
How could she have let herself get so far ahead of reason? What had gotten into her?
At that moment, the door to the hotel room opened.
Her head snapped up.
Then she felt his presence in the bathroom doorway.
“Hey, dream girl,” he said, his voice warm but tinged with caution. “Are you feeling sick?”
The sound of plastic bags being placed on the ground was followed quickly by his footsteps into the tiled bathroom. She twisted just enough to look up at him.
He was wearing the suit from last night. That explained why his clothes hadn’t been out. She hadn’t noticed his luggage, but it was possible he’d tucked it away in the closet.
“Royce?”
“Yeah?” He crouched beside her and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. “You feel a little warm. Are you sick?”
The concern in his face only deepened the longer he watched her.
A surprised laugh burst from her chest. “No. I’m… You…” She swallowed, suddenly embarrassed by the panic that had overtaken her. “You left.”
Three deep grooves lined between his brows. “I got us some breakfast. You were out cold when I got up, and I thought it’d be nice to have something ready for you to eat before we get our day started.”
She blinked. “You got us breakfast?”
His easy smile was back. “Of course I did. You’re my wife, Penny. That means I get to take care of you.”
Get to. He gets to take care of me.
The words raced through her head over and over. Royce hadn’t abandoned her. He was still here. He was still committed.
Penny did her best to shove at the guilt that came with her overreaction. She’d married him because she believed, somewhere in her gut and her heart, that this could be right. Then at the first sign of something going wrong, she’d spiraled.
She stared up at him in awe. “I’m glad you came back.”
Confusion marred his perfect features, but before he could ask her what she meant—because he clearly had only gone out for breakfast—she shook her head. Then she held out her hand, and he helped her to her feet.
“Just nerves,” she insisted. “My body has a hard time coping with change.”
Embarrassment heated her face, and she looked down at her bare feet. If he hadn’t figured out she was a mess by now, this would be the nail in that coffin.
He hooked a finger beneath her chin and tilted it upward before brushing a light kiss to her lips. “I love you the way you are, beautiful. You don’t have to hide any parts of yourself from me. Got it?”
She nodded just as he pulled her into his chest for a hug. She buried her face into his neck and breathed in deeply, letting his now familiar scent comfort her. It quelled the unease in her stomach, and she could finally relax the tension coiled so tight in her chest.
Penny might not fully understand Royce’s love yet.
But she was beginning to trust it.
And maybe, sooner than she expected, she’d be brave enough to offer him all of hers.