Vixen in Vegas (Sinful Novellas) (24 page)

We woke early and headed out as soon as we were ready. There was an espresso bar and pastry shop that had everything we needed to fuel up for our departure. I decided to go for a hot chocolate because…I love them. Then I also added a chocolate croissant because…you can never have too much chocolate. My fake husband opted for a coffee and a bagel.

“Boring,” I joked.

“I don’t want to throw my senses into shock first thing in the morning,” he kidded. Still, it left me wondering and analyzing every one of our meals together. Were there dietary restrictions I was completely unaware of? Would he even tell me if there were? I was beginning to doubt it.

Then, before I could think myself into a funk, it was time to meet our ride and begin a ten hour long day on the Death Valley tour. Luckily, the bulk of that time would be spent inside the Jeep in air-conditioned comfort with stops for photos as we wished. Not one to dilly-dally, I was eager to get it started, especially since I had so much more going on than just the photos. My mind was positively reeling. He sensed it, too.

“What’s going on with you, Sin? You seem distant and distracted,” he commented as he ran his thumb over my and that he had intertwined with his.

“Just thinking,” I lied, “trying to get my head in the game.” With that I snuggled closer to him in the hope that if he couldn’t see my face, he wouldn’t be able to see through me.

After a while longer, we reached the perfect spot. “Do you want to walk around and take photos here?” Our driver asked me. He was in on the surprise. Because of his knowledge of the area, I had asked him to find me a perfect spot. After glancing about, I was confident he had.

Nodding, I grabbed my bag and a bunch of snacks that we brought with us. We walked a distance away from the Jeep. I started taking pictures, trying to capture images of the area and maybe even build up my courage just a little bit. This had me a nervous wreck.

Then I took a breath, calmed down, and gave myself a mental pep talk. It was time. I had to let myself be more vulnerable than ever before. It was time for me to be stripped bare in the truest sense. This was the only way I could have a chance at achieving all my dreams.

Slowly, I set my camera back in the bag. I knew that Ben was looking at me, wondering what I was thinking, what was going on with me. Finally, I was ready to let him know.

Walking over to him, I grabbed both of his hands in mine. “Listen, I may have never gone to college, but I never felt the need. I have always been extremely happy and successful. Until recently when I discovered that my life has been based on a lie. With that in mind, let me tell you what I know is true.” I stopped and took a deep breath.

“I know that
I love you
, Benjamin Everly. And I have discovered that when you love someone, you do things you never thought you’d do and you want things you’ve never wanted before.” I looked down for a moment. This was so much bigger than I thought it was going to be. “You made me realize that I was mistaking being comfortable, with being happy.”

Looking up into his eyes, I knew that he was touched by what I was saying. “This started out as make believe, but over time you made me believe it could be real. I…” I shook my head. “I don’t want to be your fake wife. I want to be your real wife and I want
you
to be my real husband. I want you and me forever, not for now, and not for as long as possible.” I started sniffling. “I want you to want to do something you never thought you’d do: take a chance, try the treatment. Don’t settle for being temporarily comfortably only to give up a lifetime of happiness. Do that, and I’ll do something I never thought I’d do: I’ll stop running and marry you.”

I stepped back and exhaled. His silence was killing me. “Don’t face death alone. Pick me, Ben. Choose to fight. Love me and be loved in return.”

That was when I dropped to one knee. I pulled out a Tiffany’s box. Hey, that’s what they had at The Bellagio…Tiffany’s. I opened the box and exposed the band I had selected for him. That alone should speak volumes. “Marry me, Ben. Marry me, and have someone to live for who lives for you, too.”

“Get up,” he urged while his voice caught in his throat. “Please, Sin.” He grabbed my upper arms and helped pull me to a standing position. He took a few breaths. I could feel him shaking. It did nothing to build confidence or hope that he would agree to my terms. So I waited, patiently, and as still as a frightened bunny. “Of course, I’ll marry you, my crazy girl.” He hauled my body up against his.

“And you’ll try the treatment?” I asked hesitantly.

“You’ll stick around…forever?” He asked by way of reply.

“’Til death,” I swore.

He wrapped himself around me even more tightly. “Then, I will.” He leaned over me and placed his lips against mine. I could feel the heat of his breath coming out in short bursts. There were tears in his eyes and one or two had escaped the corners only to drip down his face.

“Oh, Ben,” I said in surprise. “Is it the sun, dust, what?” I wiped his face with my hands.

“It’s tears, Sin. It’s okay to cry, especially when you’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been.” He kissed me harder now.

I had never been happier either. This man. Our life. One future. I could have cried then, but I figured I should wait, make my tears count. With that, I grabbed his hand, snatched up my bag, and dragged him back to the jeep. “We need to head back to the hotel,” I told the driver.

“We just barely started the tour,” the driver said.

“Well, we have some really important business to take care of,” I explained.

Ben raised his eyebrows at me. “What do we have to do?” He asked.

Smiling, I said, “We’re getting married tomorrow.”

His eyes grew wide. “So soon?”

“You know me. What? I was going to wait until Saturday? Nah. Let’s just do this.” Then I leaned back and tucked my head under his chin while letting out a blissful sigh. This was right. I knew it. Now, we just had to do it.

“Babe,” Ben said quietly. “Tomorrow, huh?”

“Yeah.” Then I sat up. “Yeah, tomorrow at sunset.” I giggled at the idea that I was about to get married. “And we’d better make our calls.”

Smiling widely, he asked, “Who are we calling?”

“Well, I thought we better call our witnesses. I want Jolie to be here. And I’m betting your would never do this without Brenda.” I chuckled as I imagined how the conversation with my BFF was going to go. “Wanna listen in?” I asked Ben. “I mean we’re practically married so you must get spousal privileges or something.”

Without waiting for his agreement, I dialed Jolie and put her on speakerphone. It rang twice before she answered. “What up, bitch?”

Laughing at the horrified look on Ben’s face, I replied. “I need you to come to Vegas. We’re getting married tomorrow.” I tried to sound all calm about it, but let’s face it, nobody thought I’d ever say those words.

“Oh my god! He proposed and you didn’t tell me?” She screamed into the phone.

“Noooo,” I explained. “He proposed
last
time.
I proposed
this
time. And it literally just happened.”

“Of course you proposed.” She sighed. “So what do you want me to wear? And when do I need to be there?”

So we went over the details together, the three of us, such as they were. I knew right where we should get married. “Ben, we’re not chapel people,” I told him, “we’re more of the outdoor wedding types, right?”

“Absolutely,” Ben agreed. “Did you want to get married by the pool?” I shook my head. “The lake?” Again, I declined. Smirking, he asked, “Is it possible you already have a place in mind?”

Clearing my throat, I started to explain while Jolie laughed in the background. She was used to my theatrics and really enjoyed them when they didn’t mess up her life. “So, we got engaged while we were in Death Valley. I think there is only one place that could compete with that for our wedding.”

“Really? And what’s that?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Valley of Fire, of course.” I crossed my arms over my chest and dared him to find a flaw in my idea. “Listen, I always said that I’d get married when hell froze over. This seems like a logical venue.”

Jolie piped up from the speaker. “I
love
that idea.”

Nodding Ben agreed. “I love it, too.”

“Can I wear red?” She asked. “I mean scarlet flaming red!” She sounded giddy.

“Absolutely. And I’ll ask Brenda if she wants to wear orange or melon…something like that.” I leaned back happily. “What do you think?”

Ben pulled me closer to his side. “I think she’ll love that idea.”

“One last thing, Jolie,” I said before ending the call. “We’re staying at The Bellagio this time. The suite is booked under Ben Everly. And we’re in the Grand Lakeview Suite. You’re staying with us.”

After the call, I looked at Ben. “Time to call your sister, “ I said. “She has to be here. And she’ll need to bring your passport. We’ll head to Italy from here.”

He looked at me for a moment. “So you really meant it, huh?” He asked quietly.

“Every bit of it,” I replied. “You and me. We’re in it together.” Then I remembered something I wanted us to discuss. “Oh, and I want a pre-nup. Now call your sister.”

“Why would you want a pre-nup?” He asked seriously.

“Because I don’t care about your money. I care about you. And it will make Brenda feel better. She is probably half convinced that I’m just in it for the cash.”

“But you’re not. And that is precisely why we aren’t having one.” He said seriously. I started to object, but the minute I opened my mouth he hit the button to call his sister.

She sounded wary for a bit, worried over how quickly we were getting married. Finally, in exasperation, I looked at Ben and grabbed the phone. He looked at me in surprise. “You’re doing it all wrong, “ I explained. Then I started speaking to her.

“The wedding isn’t going to be anything as lavish as the kind you throw. I’m just not organized enough to pull something like that off,” I explained while looking Ben in the eye and daring him to object.

“Well, I’m sure it will be just fine,” she said.

“Oh, and can you wear orange?” I asked sweetly. “We’re getting married in the Valley of Fire. I think it would look spectacular for the pictures and then I’ll know what kind of bouquet to order you.

“Yes, I can do that,” she said, still sounding stiff.

I suspected there were really only two things I could say to warm her to this idea. So, taking a deep breath…I talked to her about them. “First, I want you to know that I asked for a pre-nup and your brother refused me.” I could hear her gasp in the background. “And finally, can you please bring his passport with you?”

Looking at Ben, I directed, “Tell her where it is.”

Sighing, he rolled his eyes. “It’s in the top desk drawer of my home office,” he said.

Then I continued our conversation. “We’re going to honeymoon in Italy and then check in to the clinic in Switzerland. Do you mind holding down the winery while we do this?”

My words were met with sobs.

“One sniffle for ‘yes.’ Two for ‘no’ and then we can plan accordingly,” I teased.

One sniffle later, we said our goodbyes. “See you tomorrow. You’ll be staying with us at The Bellagio. Love you,” Ben said sincerely.

That made it official. Everyone who needed to know and was invited had been. Now the ceremony was just superfluous.

He looked at me. I looked at him. “We’re getting married,” he said.

“Yes, we are. And I can’t wait.” I meant it, too.

By the time we returned to The Bellagio, I had set up a meeting with catering. We decided to create a really special kind of wedding day. Even though we were marrying on the small scale…maybe even the microscopic scale, we wanted to do it in a manner that was completely reflective of our style.

“Do we have a style?” Ben joked as we spoke with the caterer.

“Well, I have style. You can piggy back on mine.” I beamed at him.

We ordered not one, but two cakes. We couldn’t decide which flavor we liked better, so determined that one could be the groom’s cake, the other the wedding cake. “You just want an excuse to eat loads of cake,” he said accusingly while wearing a smirk.

“Maybe I do and maybe I do,” I admitted.

There were all kinds of touches that we wanted…special moments, a photographer to capture our memories. We wanted music…our own unique vows. We even planned the food for the entire wedding day.

We had one more day to ourselves before Jolie and Brenda descended upon us. What we agreed on implicitly was that we wanted everything planned out and organized before they arrived. We wanted to make sure that we could relax and enjoy when our guests arrived.

“Let’s go shopping,” Ben said. “We have to buy you a wedding band, an engagement ring, clothes…”

“Wait,” I argued, “I have a ring.”

“I’m buying you a real wedding band.” He stood as we left the meeting.

I looked up at him sadly. “What’s wrong with the ones I have?” I held them close. I hadn’t taken them off since he placed them on my finger.