Sin City Baby

“I can’t do this,” I said.

I must’ve said it a lot louder than I’d intended because the room slowly quieted down as Michael’s eyes whipped up to mine.

At least I had his fucking attention now.

“What?” he asked.

“I can’t do this,” I said as tears crested my eyes. “I can’t marry you.”

Gasps ricocheted across the room as I began to backpedal toward the door. People were beginning to murmur as I heard a chair scrape along the floor. I turned, ready to make a run for it with the boots that covered my numbing feet.

But I felt a pressure on my upper arm as my body was whipped around.

“You can’t marry me?” Michael asked. “Since when?”

“Since I watched you take that waitress’s number,” I said.

“She didn’t hand me her number,” he said. “She handed me her email address.”

“For what? Does she have some sort of case she needs help with? Were you having a consultation with her when you were staring at her tits?”

“I would advise you to keep your voice down unless you want this whole room thinking there’s going to be no wedding tomorrow,” he said.

“Michael, there isn’t,” I said. “We aren’t right for this. We aren’t right for each other.”

“You’re calling off the damn wedding? After all I did for you? All the money I spent flying you to and from this wretched state? The funeral I planned at your side? Have I not shown myself to be a devoted man?”

“You called me stupid ten minutes ago, and you’ve hardly acknowledged my presence all night.”

“Because everyone is here, Katie, and you act like it’s your show. This is for both of us. This is our wedding, not only yours. People didn’t fly in just to see you. They came to see me, too. And I’m not ignoring them because my bride-to-be is pissed that the spotlight isn’t on her all the time.”

“I don’t need the damn spotlight on me. You know it. Is it too much to ask that my husband-to-be acknowledge me?” I asked.

“You were like that all through college, but I leveled you out. I was the one that stood by your side while you were off partying. I was the one that held your hair back when you got sick. I was the one that kept checking in on you until you could plant your feet firmly on the floor like a woman should do. That was me, Katie. Because I loved you.”

His words hit me like a punch in the gut.

Loved?

“Past tense?”

“Katie, if you walk away from this, you’ll regret it. You’ll never find another man like me. You're an idiot if you can’t see what’s in front of you.”

“Idiot and stupid all in one night. Must be my lucky day,” I said breathlessly.

“Take a deep breath, Katie. Did you have a beer at that bar? How many did you have?”

“I’m not drunk. I’m not on my period. And I’m not anything else you wish to blame my outbursts on. You want me to be some perfect little trophy wife that doesn’t give a shit whose tits you stare at or whose number you get. Well, I’m done. I’m done with your controlling ways, and I’m done with you blaming everything on me. You can let the room know that the wedding is off.”

“And who in the world is going to reimburse their tickets? Because I sure as hell am not,” he said.

“We’ll take care of it.”

I turned around and saw Dylan standing behind me. He walked up beside me with a grin on his face and a devilish glint in his eye.

“Should anyone feel the need to be reimbursed for anything, O'Conner Ranch Resorts will take care of it,” Dylan said.

“I’m not talking about the damn dinner,” Michael said. “I’m talking about the airplane tickets.”