Neighbor Dearest

“There’s nothing lame about you saying you can’t wait another day to marry me. You are the most unintentionally romantic person I have ever met.”

“That’s a good way of putting it.”

“Will we tell people?”

“I think we should keep it to ourselves. You can tell Jade. I’ll probably tell Ty. But we’ll keep it on the down low. We’ll still have the big wedding in the near future. You deserve that.”

“Who’s gonna marry us?”

“I’ll take care of those details. I was thinking Santa Cruz Beach at sunset. The forecast looks nice. It’s gonna be warmer than usual for this time of year. What do you think?”

“I think that’s perfect.”

“You just need to worry about two things. One…buy a white dress that will make me want to rip it off of you later that night. Between you and me, that just means any white dress. And two…take some time off tomorrow so we can get our marriage license in time for Saturday.”

“I feel so sneaky doing it like this, but there’s also something really exciting about the whole thing.”

“We’re good at sneaking around. It’s what we do.”

“You’re right about that, except usually it has to do with you corrupting me, not making me an honest woman.”

He flashed a devilish smile. “So, we have a date, Mrs. Hennessey?”

“We have a date.”***“We’re here to apply for a marriage license,” Damien said.

We’d just arrived at the county clerk’s office. The woman at the desk looked less than amused when Damien began kissing my neck as we waited for her to gather the paperwork. We looked like two horny kids. She had no idea how serious our lives had been as of late.

He took one look at the form and said, “Oh, shit.”

“What?”

“I just realized you’re about to see my middle name. They make me enter it here.”

“Were you seriously never gonna tell me?”

“Probably would’ve told you eventually, but it’s been too damn fun keeping you wondering, Chelsea Deanna.”

“You go first. Put your name down,” I said.

With bated breath, I watched every stroke of the pen as he wrote it: Damien Homer Hennessey.

“Homer?”

He nodded without taking his eyes off the paper. “Homer.”

I chuckled. “Homer…as in—”

“Simpson. Yup. Homer Simpson. The Simpsons show had just started airing around the time I was born. My father was a huge fan. So, he decided that out of all the names in the world he could’ve given me for my middle name, Homer was it.”

“Your mother went along with it?”

“You see how crazy about him she is. He could have sold her on anything.” He clicked the pen and gave it to me. “You know what, though?”

“What?”

“It could always be worse.”

“How so?”

“Tyler got Bart.”

City Hall echoed with the sounds of our laughter. An elderly couple walked by, giving us a dirty look for disturbing the peace.

Damien smiled impishly over at them and proudly proclaimed, “We’re getting hitched.”

When they continued to stare at us funny, Damien looked at me and said, “I can’t believe Daddy gave us his blessing.” He turned to them, pulling me into his side and joked, “She’s my stepsister.”

The couple walked away, looking mortified.***Damien was intentionally keeping me in the dark about his plans for the beach ceremony.

My one mission was to find that perfect dress on Friday afternoon. I ended up hitting one local wedding boutique that had a lot to choose from. Since there wasn’t a great deal of time to go from place to place, I vowed to make a decision there. The dress I finally chose was a very unconventional style, but it fit me better than any of them.

It was technically a gown but had four thigh-high slits, two in the front and two in the back. The frock was revealing yet whimsical with a few large strategically placed flowers sewn atop the strapless bodice. The bottom material was sheer, so you could see my legs right through it. It reminded of something a sexy fairy would wear. The fact that it showed off a lot of leg seemed appropriate for a beach setting.

When I texted a picture to Jade from the store, she immediately called me.

“Damien is going to lose it! That dress is hot.”

“You think so?”

“I really do. It’s so gorgeous on you. You need to wear your hair down with beachy waves.” She was silent for a bit then it sounded like she was starting to get choked up.

“Are you crying, Jade?”

“Maybe a little.”

“You know we’re gonna have another wedding, right? You’ll be my maid of honor, standing right behind me.”

“I know. That’s not why I’m crying.” She paused. “I’m just so happy for you. And I think this is just about the most wildly romantic thing I’ve ever heard of—two people just getting married for the simple reason that they can’t wait any longer and keeping it an intimate experience.”