Marry Me Now: An Arranged Marriage Collection

“Those what?”

“Do you live in the real world or just your rich bubble?” I elbow him and roll my eyes.

“Little from column A, little from column B…” he replies.

“Okay, people can get certificates to perform weddings online. You can hire them for cheap. Let’s say we got one of them—”

“So not Vegas?” he cuts in.

I snort. “You think the justice of the peace isn’t a good enough tale for the grandkids, but Vegas is? How cliché is that?”

“We could’ve gone somewhere fun in Vegas. Maybe one of those drive-through chapels.”

I roll my eyes. “I like my idea better. Online minister guy marries us on the beach.”

“Why the beach?” He tilts his head, genuinely curious, it seems.

“Because it’s romantic as hell, duh. And because if you dip your toes in the surf while you’re doing it, it’s like getting married between worlds, halfway between the land and the sea…” I drift off, staring into space a little, and he smirks at me.

“Someone’s a closet romantic.”

“When did you figure that out, sometime around our third re-watch of Ten Things I Hate About You?”

“I’m only watching it for Heath Ledger, dunno about you.”

I laugh and elbow him again, and we dissolve into easy banter. For a while, it’s easy to forget what this trip means. Where we’re headed. All the unanswered questions waiting on the other side. But then it’s time to board our plane, and the worry comes rushing right back as we walk through the priority boarding lane (of course) and into our crazy nice seats. He’s right—they really do recline all the way back. I didn’t even know seats on airplanes had that option!

I am definitely going to be ruined for budget airlines after this trip. But for now, I take advantage of the luxury and bundle myself into one of the blankets (is it just me or are these nicer in first class too? Fuzzier somehow?) and curl up beside Jasper, reaching out to catch his hand as we prepare for takeoff. His wedding ring digs into my finger, the band cool and solid, and I stroke it without thinking, unconscious.

Jut then, a small toy crashes down in the aisle next to me, and I hear a wail start up. I glance over to find a toddler in the seat a row over, kicking his little chubby legs and pointing at the toy he’s dropped, a little red sports car. I flash him a reassuring smile and lean down to grab it for him, quickly handing it over to stave off any farther freak-outs.

“You know, my husband and I build cars like this one,” I tell him as I pass it back to him, trying that word on for size. Husband.

His mother smiles at me gratefully, and the little boy accepts the toy with huge eyes, too busy staring at me now to remember the car. “Really?” he asks. “That’s a job you can do?”

“Of course. But the cars we make are people-sized.” I wink at him. “Even more fun.”

He spins to his mother, eyes still huge. “Mommy, I want to do that when I grow up!”

When I settle back into my seat and reach for Jasper’s hand again, I notice that for the first time since we got onto this flight, he’s actually smiling. “What?” I ask, accusatory.

He just laughs. “Nothing, nothing.” He squeezes my hand, tight enough that the wedding band presses against my skin. “Just… You said husband.”

“Figured we’d better start practicing now, no?” I lift a brow.

He, in turn, raises my hand to his lips. He kisses my fingers, one after the other, eyes locked on mine. “I don’t think I’ll need a reminder,” he says. “I rather like calling you wife.”

My stomach does a happy flip then, and not just because we’ve taxied to the end of the runway and finally begun takeoff.

11

Jasper

Showtime, I think as the prearranged car Dad sent for us pulls up in front of the resort. Between all of our family members, we’ve practically booked up this entire island, let alone this whole resort. But my gaze darts right to my father first and foremost, standing front and center with an arm around my mother’s shoulders, watching our car pull in.

He arrived on an earlier flight. I took this later one on purpose, to delay as long as possible the moment when he and Dee meet. I’ve been enjoying having her all to myself, this secret partner-in-crime. Now, it’s all about to come to a head. And this girl who I picked especially to piss him off, to make him think she won’t fit in…

She’s turning into the one I want him to like best. That moment on the plane, hearing her call me her husband so casually while she passed that little boy his toy, laughing and talking with him… That made it hit home. I want that with her. I want a family with her. I want her.

“You ready for this?” Dee squeezes my fingertips, pulling me back to the present, like she can sense what I’m thinking.

She’s always able to do that. I cast her a tiny sideways smile. “Ready as I’ll ever be. But what about you? You’re the one about to face the firing squad.”

She bursts into laughter. “You keep saying family is everything, and then you talk about them like they’re the scariest thing on the planet.”

“Who says they can’t be both?” I flash her a wry smile, and then the valet is there, opening our car doors, and we climb out to face the music. “Dad,” I call over the top of the car, hoping to catch his attention first.

But his eyes have locked onto Dee already. I watch him and Mom do a once-over. She’s dressed in sweatpants and an oversized hoodie, but then, we did just fly 10 hours to get here. Surely they can’t blame her for that.

“Mom, Dad.” I smoothly step between them for the introductions. “I’d like to introduce Dee. My wife.”

My mother’s eyes widen, and she shoots my father a sideways glare that nobody for a mile around could miss. “I thought you were joking, Antoine.”

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this,” my father replies, his poker face on-point as he smiles and extends a hand to Dee. “It’s so lovely to meet you.”

“Great to meet you too!” She goes for the hug before she notices his extended hand instead, and drops her arms, face flushed, to shake his hand. “And you too, Mrs. Quint.” She offers a hand to my mother, who stares between Dee, me and my father like she’s utterly bewildered by this turn of events.

I wonder how much my father told her. If he shared his little stipulation with her about promoting me to CEO. If she knows he’s responsible for the sudden wife appearance.

“Please, call me Kara.” Finally, she takes Dee’s hand and squeezes her fingers, just once, in the signature weird handshake my mother always does to throw businessmen off. They never know quite what to do when she doesn’t try to pump their arm off shaking hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, although I do wish my son had introduced you sooner.” She flashes me a pointed glare. “Perhaps we could have properly celebrated your nuptials as a family, rather than hearing about it second-hand through a secretary.”

My ears go red. “Mom, I—”

“It was my idea, Mrs. Quint,” Dee interrupts, blurting out the words. Then she winces in apology. “I mean, Kara. I just… I don’t have any family left, and I’d always loved the idea of eloping. It’s so romantic, don’t you think? We went to the beach for it, and had one of those ministers from… um… online…” Her practiced recital of our wedding story dies on her lips at my mother’s cool, silent stare.

Her lack of words says far more than anything Mom could say.

“That sounds lovely,” Dad butts in, and none of us miss the subtle way he taps Mom’s shoulder with his fingertips.

“Yes, quite lovely. I’m so sorry that we couldn’t be there for it,” Mom replies. “But I’m glad you both enjoyed it.”

“How did you meet?” Dad asks, cutting straight past the wedding topic. Damn. I should have guessed this would hurt Mom’s feelings, not being invited to her only son’s elopement. What a tangled mess we’ve made here. Maybe she’ll forgive me someday, when I explain what all this was really about.

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“Oh, uh…” I cast Dee a glance.

She bursts into laughter. “Well, it was pretty damn strange, actually, I was…”

Mom’s eyebrows shoot higher at the word damn, and Dee flushes all over again.

“She’s one of our interns,” interrupts another voice. All four of us turn to find Greg at our elbows, having finished putting the poor resort staff through their paces organizing my relatives’ rooms and bags. “Jasper was taken with her on the first day, when she came to introduce herself at the water cooler.” He flashes me a reassuring, I’ve got this smile.