Page 17 of Just One: Box Set

Chapter Six

J ackie’s fingers absently rubbed her temple as Carter’s words echoed in her ears, sending her spiraling further into disbelief.

She lifted her gaze from the glinting gold ring on her finger, eyes locked on him as he stood naked, fresh from the shower, the steam still curling from his skin.

Water droplets traced the lines of his toned muscles, down his broad shoulders and chiseled abs, making him look like some kind of mirage.

The sight of him—confident, bare, and undeniably gorgeous—only heightened the absurdity of his statement.

Wifey? Did he really just call her that?

She must have heard wrong. Her heart hammered as she let her gaze drift from his devilish smirk to the ring on her finger again, cold and heavy with meaning she hadn’t been ready to accept.

Married? Her? To him? Panic surged through her, but it collided headlong with a searing pulse of desire she couldn’t deny.

The reality of the situation was almost too much to process—especially with him standing there, looking like temptation incarnate, making her body burn with need despite the confusion clouding her mind.

“Oh. My. God,” Jackie groaned, her voice laced with panic as she began pacing the room, unable to sit still in the face of what was unfolding.

“We’re married. We’re married! ” Her voice cracked as she dropped onto the edge of the bed, burying her face in her hands.

“What the hell happened last night? Were we that drunk? I don’t even remember seeing you… What did I do?”

“Calm down,” Carter said, his voice soothing despite the chaos swirling between them. He sat beside her, his bare leg brushing against hers. “You were pretty wasted when I found you. You said you needed to forget someone and wanted to marry whoever would help you do it.”

Jackie’s stomach flipped at the realization. “You,” she whispered, fragments of the night coming back like flashes of a dream. “Wait… it was you? The guy at the bar… it was you the whole time?”

Carter nodded, his smirk softening. “Yeah, it was me.”

The name “Hugo” flickered in the haze of her memory, and Jackie narrowed her eyes. “Who the hell is Hugo?”

He chuckled, his gaze warm with amusement. “That’s my middle name,” he explained, retrieving a crumpled piece of paper from the table and handing it to her.

Jackie blinked down at the temporary marriage license, her breath catching.

Carter Hugo Brown. And right next to his name—her own.

The enormity of it hit her like a freight train.

“You heard everything I said, didn’t you?

” she groaned, flopping back onto the bed in a mixture of embarrassment and disbelief.

“We have to undo this. I can’t be married to you.

Carter—Hugo—whatever I’m supposed to call you. ”

Carter leaned in closer, his voice tender as he cupped her cheek, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“Jackie, I know last night was crazy, but I need you to understand something. This isn’t just about last night.

I’ve been in love with you for longer than I want to admit.

The truth is, I was scared, scared of what that meant for me and the person I was with. But Mandy saw it long before I did.”

Jackie’s breath hitched. “You… you were in love with me?” she asked, her voice small and disbelieving.

Carter’s thumb traced the line of her jaw, his eyes soft with something she’d never seen from him before.

“I am in love with you, Jackie. I planned on telling you this weekend, beg for your forgiveness for everything. But when you told me last night that you needed to forget about me, I couldn’t let you marry some random guy. I had to do something.”

She closed her eyes, letting his words settle in her mind.

Part of her wanted to fight it, to call it all some drunken mistake.

But another part of her—the one that had been aching for him for so long—knew better.

If she was being honest, Carter had saved her from the worst mistake of her life.

No random fling could heal what had been broken inside her.

“So… you married me instead,” she murmured, opening her eyes to meet his. “You did this just to stop me from being with someone else?”

“No,” he said firmly, shaking his head. “I married you because I love you. Marrying you wasn’t a mistake. I gave you the choice to walk away from the chapel, but you wanted this. You chose me, and I’m not letting you forget that.”

Before she could respond, her phone buzzed across the floor, shattering the intimate moment. Carter groaned, rolling off the bed to grab it for her.

“Here,” he said, stretching the charging cord toward her. “I’m pretty sure Harley’s freaking out since you hung up so suddenly..”

Jackie put Harley on speaker. “Please tell me you haven’t been kidnaped,” Harley’s voice filled the room, laced with concern. “You can’t just fucking hang up like that when I don’t know where they hell you are.”

Jackie laughed, though it was more of a nervous chuckle. “No, I haven’t been kidnapped, but I did something incredibly dumb.”

“You… do something dumb? Say it ain’t so Jackie.”

Biting her lip, Jackie couldn’t suppress the grin spreading across her face. “Harley… I’m serious. I—got married.”

“Did you just say you got married?” Harley’s shriek echoed through the room, causing both Jackie and Carter to exchange amused glances.

“And it gets better,” Jackie added, leaning into Carter’s warmth. “I might’ve been a little too drunk last night, and now… well, now I’m married to Carter.”

Harley gasped. “Carter. You fucking married Carter?”

A moment later, Archer’s voice broke through. “Carter, tell me you didn’t take advantage of her while she was drunk?”

Jackie knew the conversation needed redirecting, so she jumped in. “Actually, it was all me. I was drunk, practically blind without my contacts, and told Carter I needed to marry someone to forget about him.”

“And Carter, you just happened to be there?” Archer’s tone held a note of disbelief.

Carter sighed. “I was looking out for her. She was trashed at the bar, and when she told me how much I’d hurt her, I couldn’t let her marry a stranger. When she kissed me, I knew I couldn’t let her go.”

“Well, as much as I want to hear the full story, we’re leaving in an hour,” Archer said. “Think you two can make it to breakfast to share the details?”

Carter smirked, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “We’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

He tossed Jackie’s phone onto the table and grabbed her hand, pulling her up from the bed. “You need a shower.”

Laughing, Jackie wrapped her legs around him as he lifted her, the towel slipping from his waist. “Carter… what are you doing?”

“Showering with my wife,” he said with a grin, carrying her toward the bathroom.

“You already showered,” she teased, tightening her grip on his neck.

“Not with you,” he growled, his lips brushing against her neck as they stepped into the bathroom.

Jackie giggled, wiggling out of his grip just long enough to grab her toothbrush.

As she scrubbed her mouth, she watched Carter twist the shower handle, steam billowing up around them.

He moved behind her, catching her off guard as he spun her toward the mirror, his lips crashing onto hers before she could protest.

“Say you’re mine forever,” he murmured against her lips, his hands gripping her waist possessively.

She raised her hand, showing him the ring that now felt like an extension of herself. “Kind of hard to deny that now.”

Without another word, Carter scooped her into his arms and stepped into the warm spray of the shower.

The heat of the water was nothing compared to the fire igniting between them as his body pressed hers against the cool tile wall.

Her legs wrapped around him, and in one smooth thrust, he was inside her, sending a shudder of pleasure through her body.

“Carter… condom,” she gasped, her voice breathless.

“We’ve already done this four times without a single one. I’m not stopping now,” he growled, his hips moving with a rhythm that drove her wild.

“Shit,” she whispered, her body trembling with pleasure. “I’m on the pill, but what if?—”

“Then we’ll figure it out,” he rasped, thrusting deeper, his voice thick with lust. “But I swear to God, Jackie, the thought of you carrying my baby makes me harder.”

“Carter,” she moaned, her body tightening around him as her orgasm built with every thrust.

“Not God, baby. Just your husband,” he groaned, driving into her with unrelenting intensity.

As the water cascaded over them, cooling their overheated skin, Jackie leaned her head against Carter’s chest, her heart still racing from the intensity of their connection.

The weight of what had just happened—of what had been happening—finally started to settle over her.

She was married. To Carter. The man she had been secretly in love with for so long, and now he was hers.

Not just for the moment—but forever, if they were to believe the promise made on the spur of a drunken night.

Carter’s arms tightened around her, pulling her closer as if he sensed the flood of thoughts running through her mind. His fingers trailed lazily up and down her back, a small, grounding gesture that made her feel safe in this strange, unexpected reality.

“You okay?” he asked softly, his voice breaking the gentle silence of the steamy bathroom.

Jackie tilted her head back to look at him, her lips curling into a small, reluctant smile. “Yeah,” she whispered. “Just… wrapping my head around everything.”

His thumb brushed over her cheek, wiping away a stray drop of water. “I know this is a lot to take in, but… we’ll figure it out together.”

The sincerity in his voice melted any remaining doubts that had been swirling in her chest. She realized then that despite the craziness of the situation, this wasn’t some fleeting Vegas mistake.

Carter wasn’t just going to walk away. He was serious—about her, about their future, about them.

Her heart swelled, and a quiet warmth settled over her.

“I guess we’re really doing this,” Jackie said with a playful smirk, her fingers tracing the edge of the gold band on his finger. “You and me.”

Carter grinned, the mischief in his eyes returning as he leaned in to kiss the top of her head. “Hell yeah, we are. Mrs. Brown.”

She laughed, the sound light and free, feeling some of the weight of the situation lift. “Mrs. Brown,” she repeated, testing it on her tongue. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

“I think you’ll like it,” Carter teased, his voice low and smooth as he pressed his lips to her ear, his breath hot against her skin. “Especially when I get to remind you every chance I get that you’re mine.”

Jackie’s body shivered at his words, the familiar pulse of desire flaring to life again in her belly. She met his gaze, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “Is that so?” she whispered, her voice daring as she ran her fingers down his chest.

Carter’s grin widened, and before she could say anything more, he scooped her up in his arms and stepped out of the shower. “Come on,” he said, his tone playful but firm. “We’ve got breakfast with Harley and Archer in…” He glanced at the bathroom clock. “Fifteen minutes.”

Jackie squeaked as he set her down on the cool bathroom tile. “Fifteen minutes? I barely have enough time to get dressed!” she exclaimed, her earlier contentment now mixed with a small wave of panic.

“You’re beautiful as you are,” Carter said, handing her a fluffy towel with a wink. “But if you insist on putting clothes on, I guess I’ll allow it.”

She rolled her eyes but smiled as she wrapped herself in the towel, feeling the warmth from their earlier passion still lingering in her limbs.

“You’re impossible,” she muttered as she padded out of the bathroom and began rifling through his suitcase for something that wasn’t too ridiculous for her to wear.

Carter followed her, throwing on a pair of boxers and jeans in record time, then leaned against the doorframe, watching her with a lazy grin as she tried to tame her hair in the small hotel mirror. “You know,” he said, his voice thoughtful. “I’m kind of looking forward to this breakfast.”

Jackie paused, glancing at him through the mirror. “Why’s that?”

“Because I get to sit across from Harley and Archer, and when they look at you, I get to know that you’re mine.” He crossed the room, standing behind her, his eyes meeting hers in the reflection. “And trust me, I’m going to enjoy every second of that.”

Her heart skipped a beat at the possessive edge in his voice, the look in his eyes sending another rush of heat through her. She turned around, unable to resist the pull of his magnetic presence. “You really don’t mind all the craziness that comes with me, do you?”

Carter cupped her face in his hands, his expression softening. “Jackie, I love your crazy. It’s part of who you are, and it’s part of why I fell in love with you. So, no—I don’t mind. I want it all.”

Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them back, refusing to let herself get too emotional. Instead, she smiled and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “Okay,” she whispered, pulling back just enough to meet his gaze. “Let’s go show them how crazy we really are.