Saving the Bride

ChapterEight

Beckett

“Are you sure about this?” I ask as we walk into the club.

“Yeah, I trust Zuri, and she told me this would work.”

The club’s back kitchen is being renovated, and while that’s going on, I’ve got crews in here replacing some of the older floors and repainting the walls. It was time for an update anyway since it’s going to pass to the new owner this week.

Felipe and I talked about it, and we both agreed once we were married, we’d sell this place off. He still had stock in our company, but I ran things as a managing partner. I brought on Burt a few years ago and he’s in position now to buy us out and keep things going. I told him that I’d make sure the place was back in working order before that happened, but the deal should close by the end of the week.

I’ve still got more money than I could spend in several lifetimes, and I want nothing more than to spend those days spoiling my Emma and making her dreams come true. That is, if we can convince this investigator that we’re legit.

As soon as we’re inside, we see him sitting at the bar with a bottle of water and looking around. We walk over to him, and when we’re close enough, he stands up and shakes our hands.

“I’m Ted Portman. I’m here to check on the validity of your recent nuptials.” He looks at Emma skeptically, and I already want to kick this guy in the dick.

“Thanks for meeting us here, Ted,” I say, not bothering to call him by his last name. I can be polite, but only so much if he’s going to talk down to my wife.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever interviewed a couple in a bar before.” He laughs at his own joke as the three of us take a seat at a nearby table.

“We thought it would be fun for you to see where we met,” Emma says as she takes my hand. “And parking on campus is a nightmare.”

“You’re right about that,” Ted agrees as he takes out a notebook and a pen. “So I’m here to evaluate your relationship and ask a few questions. Afterwards you’ll be required to come to my office and take a knowledge assessment on how well you two know each other.”

“That won’t be a problem,” I say, and Emma squeezes my hand.

“I’m sure that you’re aware if you fail the test you’ll be convicted of a felony, and your wife will be deported?” Ted asks me, and I feel my hackles rise.

“Did Zuri tell you how we met?” Emma interrupts, and Ted reluctantly looks at her.

“No,” he says flatly.

“Like I said, it was here, but it was a funny story. You see, my best friend was upset, and I thought that taking her out to dance away her sadness would make her feel better.” Ted doesn’t make a sound as Emma keeps going. “This guy she’d been in love with since she was a kid bet his friends that he could sleep with her, and of course she found out and was devastated.”

“Go on.” Ted narrows his eyes, but he looks interested as Emma keeps talking.

“But it turns out that he only did it to keep his friends from going after her, because really he’d been in love with her since he was a kid too. So when he went crazy looking for my best friend, they tracked us down here and then he and Beckett marched onto the dance floor, and that’s when we met.”

“Is this true?” Ted looks at me, and I nod in confirmation.

“I took one look at my husband, and I knew he was the one. Then when he kissed me?” She sighs as she shakes her head. “I was a goner.” Emma shrugs and beams at Ted. “Beckett was a good guy that was helping his friend make things right. That’s the kind of man he is. He would do anything for someone in need, but especially a woman. I just happened to be the bonus that night he wasn’t expecting.”

Hearing her say it all out loud sounds right. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her, including stalking her on a dance floor and kissing her like a crazy man.

“You’re more than I ever expected,” I say and bring her hand to my mouth and kiss the back of it. “I’m a lucky man.”

“We’re happy to take any tests you need to help prove we’re the real deal.” Emma pulls some papers out of her purse and slides them across the table. “I was able to get a couple of testimonials printed before we got here, just in case you needed them for documentation.”

“You did?” Ted takes the papers, and his eyes widen when he sees the name on the first page.

“Of course, you’ll see the king and queen have nothing but glowing remarks to say about their adopted son Beckett, and even Prince Felipe had time to write up a few things. Oh, I must have forgotten to mention that my best friend is soon to be River’s bride. You know how royalty can be.”

“Did you not know Felipe Andora was a founding member of this club?” I say, just to add a little icing on the cake.

Emma is sugary sweet with her words, but the threat of all those powerful names is like a hammer beating nail after nail into Ted’s coffin.

“Um, I’ll, um, take these with me,” he says, straightening the papers and tucking them into his bag. “If there happens to be a follow-up call or—”