“Your wife?” Joe echoed, eyes going wide. “When did that happen?”
“Yesterday when Winter got into town,” Christopher replied, dropping his arm to lace his fingers through mine.
“Huh.” Joe’s brows went up, and then he shrugged. “If you’d told any of us you were getting married, we could’ve moved shit around on the schedule so you didn’t have to come in today. I’m sure Steven wouldn’t have minded checking on the batch of Solstice Ale for you. I know it’s almost ready to untap, but I’m sure he could have handled it for you.”
Glancing up at Christopher, I echoed, “Solstice Ale?”
“Holly Jolly Brewery is mine, too,” he answered with a shrug of his broad shoulders.
“It’s in the building behind us,” Joe explained, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “He has quite the setup back there with enough tanks to brew four flavors at a time and a fuck ton of barrels and kegs. He even does ciders, if that’s more your thing.”
Considering my age, I didn’t have much experience with drinking. “I’m not sure what I’d like.”
“I’m sure we can find something you’ll like,” he offered, pulling down a stack of shot glasses and lining them up in a row. “Your husband has won more than a few awards for his recipes.”
“I have plenty of stuff she can try when we get back home.” Christopher tugged on my hand to lead me toward the back. “You need to get shit in order so you’re ready when we open in less than an hour.”
Joe smiled at the gruff order and nodded. “Sure thing, boss.”
We walked through the kitchen, and Christopher introduced me as his wife to the two men prepping food. When we passed a waitress in the break room, he did it again. We found Steven working in the brewery area, and he offered to keep an eye on the tanks after congratulating us on our marriage.
The last straw was when we left the brewery to head back into the pub and passed a group of elderly gentlemen walking out the back door of the city center. They called out a greeting to Christopher and were all smiles when he wished them a good morning and added, “This is my wife, Winter.”
I finally lost my patience with the big silent guy who only seemed talkative when it came to telling everyone I was his wife. Once the men were out of earshot, I planted my hands on my hips and glared up at him. “Why do you insist on calling me your wife in front of everyone? As a man of few words, I’d think you’d want to keep your personal business to yourself. Especially since you’ll get more questions about our annulment later if you keep blabbing about our marriage now. I get that you might need to explain to your employees about us”—I waved my hand in a big circle—“but now you’re literally telling random people on the street that we’re married.”
“There can’t be an annulment after last night, sugar.” With only nine words, he managed to blow my mind. Somehow, I’d managed to gloss over that important little fact until he pointed it out.
7
Christopher
Winter’s jaw dropped, and she stared up at me, her blue eyes blinking rapidly. “But...um..” She stopped and shook her head as though to clear away the cobwebs. “We’re going to get a divorce?”
Rage like I’d never experienced before flooded me. “Abso-fucking-lutely not!” I nearly shouted. My anger wasn’t directed at Winter; it was the thought of losing her that had me flipping the fuck out.
Winter’s gaze bounced around us, and her cheeks turned pink. There was no one around, so her color faded, and she returned her confused eyes to me. “You said this was temporary.”
I cupped her plump angel cheeks in my hands and lost myself in her clear, blue eyes. “In name only took the train out of town after it dropped you off. I married you, made love to you, and am doing my damnedest to put my kid inside you. There will be no annulment. There will be no divorce.”
A hopeful gleam entered Winter’s bright eyes, and her red lips curled upward, but she still seemed hesitant. “You want to stay married?”
“Not want, sugar. You’re not leaving. We are staying married. It’s non-negotiable.”
“I—”
Whatever Winter had been about to say was cut off when the door to the pub swung open, startling us both. Lincoln strolled out, and a shit-eating grin split his face when he spotted us.
“Am I interrupting?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Winter and I spoke at the same time. I knew she was trying to be polite, but I didn’t give a damn about being nice to anyone but Winter and my mom. I dropped my hands from her face, and I slipped my arm around her waist, pulling her possessively into my side.