Page 11 of The Last Love Story (Baker Girls #3)

CHAPTER NINE

JUSTIN

I’m worried I might’ve broken Jade. She’s standing there blinking at me like that’s the only way she can communicate.

“Married,” she croaks.

Good, a word.

“I know it’s a lot, but it seemed like an obvious solution.”

“Obvious?”

Her voice is still high-pitched and choppy, and my confidence wanes slightly.

When I came up with it, I thought I was brilliant.

Then I thought about it and toned it down a smidge, but I still thought it was smart.

It’s a big deal, sure, but watching Jade’s face right now, I’m realizing maybe the idea is a little more unhinged than I thought.

“I’m a romance narrator and you’re a romance author. We both know people have gotten married in books for a lot dumber reasons than this.”

“Those are… books.”

“Right.”

“Fiction!” she yells, turning on her heel and pacing like a caged animal.

It’s a good thing we’re having this conversation in private.

Still, she hasn’t outright refused me, so I’m not giving up hope.

“Married!” she yells.

“Yes. Didn’t we already cover that part?”

She stops and spins to face me, eyes wide. “No. We did not cover that part. How would that even work? We live states away from each other. Call me crazy, but I think most healthy marriages involve being in the same state, preferably the same town, and usually the same house!”

My lips pull flat. I forgot I didn’t tell her where I was planning on moving yesterday. The conversation quickly turned to other things, and I was so focused on finding a solution to her insurance problem that I never even thought to look up how far Ida is from… what did she say? Woods Junction?

I hold my hands up as I approach her, well aware anything I say right now might spook her, and that’s the last thing I want.

Fuck, I’m offering to do this to help her, but I want to do this. It won’t just be a bruise to my ego if she says no. Another part of me will feel it too.

I rub one hand over my chest.

Why is this so important to me?

“We didn’t get to talk about this yet, but I mentioned yesterday that I was planning to move.”

Her brow scrunches. “You mentioned that. But you didn’t mention you meant moving in with me.”

Oh, I like sassy Jade.

“I was planning to move to Ida. One of my friends lives there and loves it.”

“Ida? Ida, New York? As in twenty-two minutes from me?”

“Well, I didn’t know that until right now, so I’ll have to take your word for it, but yes. And if you don’t want to do this, then that’s still my plan.”

She stares at me for a long moment.

“I don’t even have two bedrooms,” she says, like she’s just realizing that for the first time. “Well, I do. But one is tiny and mostly just storage for all my books.”

My stupid ass takes her lack of rebuttal as a win, and I lean into our playfulness again.

“Only one bed. One of my favorite tropes.”

“I have a couch,” she says flatly.

“And yet the two people almost always end up sharing a bed for some reason or another.”

“Justin!” She throws her hands up in exasperation.

Dick, do not get hard right now. Do you hear me?

“I like when you say my name like that.”

“Like you’re clinically insane?”

But then a smile ghosts her face, and something inside me relaxes. She’s going to agree to this.

“How would this work?” she asks, voice soft.

“Well, I could move in with you or you could move in with me in Ida. The apartment might be bigger?—”

She shakes her head. “Maybe, but I like my apartment, and I own it. Own the building it’s in. It’s close to my dad, and I love Woods Junction. But I meant before that. When would we get married and would you even be able to add me to your insurance before my surgery? It’s in a week.”

“Well, we’re in Vegas. Pretty much the city of the quickie marriage. They actually have a little chapel here at the hotel. And I already checked on the insurance stuff. I can add you right away and coverage is effective from the date we get married.”

My cheeks warm, but I ignore it, watching Jade for any tiny indication of what she’s thinking.

She swallows hard, then meets my eyes, her beautiful bronze ones shimmering with emotion .

“Are you sure you’re okay with this? I stand to gain a lot more from it than you. You’re uprooting your whole life?—”

“I’m doing that anyway. Everything’s packed. It’s just a matter of where I ship it.”

Her eyes drift to the ground. “Are you sure you want to waste your first marriage on me?”

Without thinking, I step forward and grab her chin, lifting her gaze back to me. “Nothing involving you would ever be a waste.”

My heart pounds unsteadily.

Marrying her could never be a waste. But I also don’t want this to be my first wedding. I want it to be my only wedding.

That’s fucked, but so am I.

We’re not even married yet, and I’m already catching feelings for my fake wife.

“Okay.”

My gaze drifts to her soft pink lips. “Okay?”

“Yes.” She pushes out of my grasp, head held high. “But we’re going to write out a contract. You’re doing this to help me, but I don’t want to take advantage of you. I want you to get something out of this too.”

She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s giving me more than she realizes. She’s giving me a chance.

“I think that’s everything,” Jade says.

She’s sitting on my bed with a Bluetooth keyboard and my tablet on her lap, typing out the few key important points she wanted to cover.

I’ve been standing at the end of the bed because sitting down on my bed with her seems like a bad idea. Especially for my dick. He won’t care why we’re in bed together, and he’ll make a mess of the situation.

“You should read over it.”

She stands up and hands me the tablet, and I skim the words in the document. It’s some legal form she found online that we could customize and download when we’re done.

It lists the date of our marriage, then a few bullet points.

Bride will be added to the groom’s insurance.

Groom will move into bride’s residence.

Bride and groom will be responsible for all individual finances and share household expenses.

Should the marriage end for any reason, neither party will be entitled to any assets or physical property currently held by the other party.

Contract may be added to or adjusted, if needed, and re-signed by both parties.

“Looks good to me.” I pull the stylus from the holder on the side. “I think we can both sign.”

She takes the tablet and the stylus from me, but pauses with her hand in the air. “Wait, we didn’t put an end date on here.”

“An end date?”

“Yeah. We should have an agreed upon length of time for when we’ll separate and then divorce.”

“No,” I growl.

She leans back and stares at me, eyes narrowed. “No? Why not?”

Shit. That came too forcefully.

“I don’t want to specify a timeframe because I don’t want you to feel rushed. Whenever we decide is the right time, it’ll be natural. It’s—no hard dates. That’s a deal-breaker for me.”

I fold my arms over my chest like that’s the end of the conversation .

She arches a perfectly sculpted brow, then smiles and shakes her head.

“Whatever you say, growly.”

She quickly signs her name, then hands it to me. When I’m finished, I pass it back, and she hits a few more buttons.

“Done. I’ll email you a copy.”

I don’t fucking need one, but whatever makes her happy.

“Okay.”

“So, what comes next?”

“Chapel’s already booked for Sunday morning at ten.”

“You booked it before you even asked me?”

I shrug innocently. “I wasn’t sure how busy it would be.”

“Mhm. Sunday morning. Sunday morning? I need to find a dress! I mean, I have a couple of casual ones with me, and one nicer one, but it’s black and slinky, which is not wedding vibes.

I don’t care if it’s a quickie wedding. If it’s the only one I ever end up having, I want to feel like a Disney Princess. ”

“A Disney Princess, huh?”

She gives me an adorable glare.

“They’re where my lore started. They’re the reason I’m an author.

I wanted to be one. Beautiful flowers, magic animals, a library the size of a football stadium.

Maybe their lives were hard at times, but they fought through and they always ended up with a man who wanted to care for them.

One who would fight off monsters or his own inner demons.

Being a Disney Princess is the ultimate fantasy.

Life goals. Maybe this isn’t my fairytale happily ever after, but I still want to feel like a fairytale princess for a day. ”

My heart squeezes at her words. I want her to have that fairytale wedding. I dig out my phone and search for wedding dress shops. A bunch come up within a half hour from us.

“There are a ton to choose from.”

She vehemently shakes her head. “That doesn’t matter. Finding a cute plus size wedding dress off the rack? That’s next to impossible. Maybe I can find something online and pay to get here overnight?— ”

“Hold on. One of these specializes in plus size dresses and their website says they have off the rack options available in all sizes. But I’ll check some of the other ones too and send you a list, so you can do that tomorrow morning. And I’ll handle the rings.”

Her shoulders soften. “Thank you. But shouldn’t I get your ring?”

“Nope.”

“But you’re already?—”

I pin her with a look. “Have you not realized that I’m a romantic too? This is something I want to do, so let me do it. Let me have my fun.”

She gives a little headshake. “Okay. But… this is crazy. I still don’t understand why you’re doing all this.”

Walking over to her, I pull her in for a hug, partly because I want one, but mostly because I’m hoping it’ll settle her worry. That she’ll remember how it feels when we touch. “Because you need help, and I want to be the one to help you. Simple as that.”

She leans back and looks up at me, then smiles. “Okay.”

Leaning down, I press a kiss to her forehead. “When do you need to get ready for the mixer?”

Her eyes flare and she whips her head around to look at the clock.

“Now! I need to get ready now.” She pushes out of my arms and heads for the door.

“Jade?”

She turns back with her hand on the doorknob. “Yeah?”

“Wear the black dress tonight.”

Her eyes widen, heat settling in them, then with a wicked smile, she leaves.

I let out a long breath and flop backward on the bed.

I am so screwed.