Page 60 of Overruled
Dani
Ten months later
“Thank you so much again, Ms. Pierce,” Mrs. Lyndon says with tearful eyes. “I feel like I can finally relax.”
“The hard part is over,” I assure her, people filing out of the courtroom around us. “We’ll talk next week and get everything finalized, okay? Go celebrate tonight with your daughters.”
“I will,” she says happily. “We’ll talk soon.”
I pat her shoulder, letting her go find her daughters in the crowd.
Mrs. Lyndon’s husband is an abusive piece of shit, and seeing him ordered to pay out a healthy alimony and child support while losing any rights to custody is a sweet victory that I’ll definitely be celebrating.
I make sure to give him a smug smile when I pass his still-fuming form spitting venom at his lawyer. Almost feel sorry for the guy.
The lawyer, not Mr. Lyndon, mind you.
I blow out a breath when I step out of the courtroom doors, happy to put this day behind me and go home to hopefully a very large glass of wine and Ezra’s cooking.
Six months after moving in, and I still rarely cook.
Ezra jokes that it’s my own personal stance against the patriarchy.
I let Ezra joke about whatever the hell he wants as long as he keeps cooking.
Speaking of.
“Hey there, boss,” a familiar voice calls.
He’s still just as smug looking as the first day I met him—that stupid face and body are still lethal distractions, just welcome ones now. He is my idiot, after all.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in court right now?”
He holds out his hand, tugging me into his side when I take it. “They asked for a continuance.” He kisses my cheek. “So we got out early.”
“And you just couldn’t wait another second to see me, huh?”
“You know I’m greedy for you, Sour Patch,” he chuckles.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here. You can drive me home. I need a bath and a glass of wine.”
“Long day?”
“It’s definitely been a Monday.”
He tucks a stray piece of hair that’s escaped my ponytail behind my ear. “June is supposed to be the season of weddings, not divorces.”
“You’d think,” I huff. “Are you ready to go?”
“Do you mind if I drop off these documents on the fifth floor first?”
I notice the manila envelope in his hand. “Sure, that’s fine. Is that for the Franklin case?”
“No, this is something new that came in.”
He winds his fingers through mine as he leads me to the elevators, and I lean into him when we settle against the back wall. It’s almost funny, the drastic difference between this moment and my first memories of sharing elevators with Ezra, and I smile at the thought.
Ezra notices. “What?”
“I used to hate how pretty you were,” I muse.
“Were? You don’t think I’m still pretty?”
I roll my eyes. “I think you know you are.”
“Don’t scare me like that,” he mock scoffs. “You know how fragile my ego is.”
“About as fragile as it is small,” I snort.
He laughs, turning to kiss my temple.
“Is your mom coming over this weekend?”
“Mm-hmm. I invited your parental unit too.”
“Wow, the whole unit? What’s the occasion?”
“Do I need one?”
“For a party?” I laugh through my nose. “No, not usually.”
“I’d invite Vera and Nate, but I heard they’re staying another week.”
I make a face. “They’ve already been there for three weeks. Is it a honeymoon or a sabbatical?”
“God. Them eloping was not on my bingo card.”
“If you recall, it was on mine.”
“Yeah, yeah. You haven’t let me forget it.”
The elevator doors slide open to the fifth floor, and Ezra keeps his hand wrapped around mine as we move through the wide hall that leads to the county clerk’s office. “What case was this for again?”
“I didn’t say it was for a case,” he answers cryptically.
I cock my head at him. “What’s it for then?”
He doesn’t answer right away, just flashes me that light-up-a-room grin, tugging me forward until we’re outside the county clerk’s door.
“Ezra, what’s going on?”
“It’s June,” he says.
My nose wrinkles. “Yeah?”
“And tomorrow is a random Tuesday.”
“Are you having a stroke right now?”
He holds out his envelope, gesturing at it with a tilt of his head until I take it from him. I slide it out of his fingers, still thinking he’s hit his head or something until I crack it open.
Then all of the air leaves my lungs in a rush.
“Ezra, what…?”
“Did you know in the state of Texas, the seventy-two-hour waiting period to file a marriage license can be waived by a judge?”
I swallow around the growing lump in my throat, running my fingers over the embossed letters of the thick cardstock reading Marriage Certificate across the front.
“Ezra, what is this?”
“I know a guy,” he says with a grin.
Ezra reaches out to open the envelope, and there, sitting on top of a blank certificate waiting for two signatures, is a diamond ring. He picks it up with nimble fingers, gently taking my left hand and holding it while my right still clutches the envelope, trembling slightly.
“So?” He holds the ring inches from my fingers. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Ezra…are you sure?”
He grins. “As sure as I am that you’re going to say yes.”
“You are so fucking sure of yourself,” I can’t help but laugh, even if it is a little manic.
He slides the ring on my finger like it’s a foregone conclusion, bringing it to his mouth and brushing his lips there. “You love that about me.”
“No idea why,” I answer wryly.
“You still haven’t actually answered me.”
“Sounds like I don’t have much choice.”
His lips curl. “Well, you can always object.”
“Something tells me I’d be overruled.”
He pulls me close, the folder flattening between us and his lips hovering over mine. “Absolutely, Ms. Pierce.”
I can feel my own mouth curving, the smile forming there so big it almost hurts, my eyes watering as my chest swells.
“Well?” His lips brush against mine in a barely there kiss. “What do you say?”
I wrap one arm around his neck. “I’m sure I can pencil you in.”
“I would expect nothing less, Sour Patch.”
I slant my mouth against his, laughing. “That’s going to be Mrs. Sour Patch to you.”
“I’ll call you whatever you want, Dani,” he hums against my lips. “As long as I can call you mine.”
And as it turns out, I’m absolutely fine with that agreement. No one is more surprised than me by that realization.
Fucking Ezra Hart.
I never even stood a chance.