First comes love.
Then comes marriage.
Then comes a-
Unfortunately, life is not a checklist, and there's no white picket fences and baby carriages. After a failed long and stable relationship, Arryn Rivera tries her hand at online dating and gets mo...
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Arryn focused on his mouth because after he said the word married, all she heard was 'blah-blah-blah-family and blah-blah-job and blah-blah-blah.' Her lip reading attempt failed, so she blinked a few times to break the spell and concentrated on listening.
Moving into his beautiful house was supposed to be punishment? Was the man insane? Forget being an unemployed, homeless pedestrian, his offer couldn't come at a better time. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"
"My sister and I will be here in the morning to discuss the wedding ceremony."
Arryn's brows knit. "I thought we'd go to City Hall."
"No. My family has waited a long time for me to find someone, and I won't rob them of a celebration."
"But...this won't be a real marriage, right?" She had to ask. Pretty sure that during all that blah-blah-blah, he'd covered the union strictly for show, but she'd been so shocked that she might have missed something. Normally, she'd call out his idea for being as harebrained as the one that led to her being pregnant, but she bit her tongue. She wasn't terribly excited about being forced into a sham marriage but given where she was at the moment and the lies she told, maybe she owed him that.
"It will be to them."
Now she got it. For as long as the marriage lasted, she'd have to perform in a way that'd put the Stepford Wives to shame. She could do that. A formal wedding couldn't be so bad. She'd always dreamed of Papi walking her down the aisle. That'd make him happy, too. Without knowing the circumstances, seeing her married to the baby's father would be the highlight of his life.
"Okay. Come early."
"We'll be here by eight." Her new fiancé rose, and she followed him to the front door, then watched until he disappeared in the fog.
Married. He wanted to marry her. She shoved the door closed, and Yennefer came from the back room. "I tried to hear what he was saying, but couldn't. I figured you'd scream if you needed help. I even had your old softball bat ready in case I needed to fight him with it. It's not a frying pan, but it would've made due. What did he want?"
Almost unable to believe what just happened, Arryn leaned against the door as her mind tried to catch up. The circumstances might not be great. She could have a chance to find a new job and put aside some money for a car without being homeless or moving in with one of her parents. "He's making me marry him."
Her personal fortune teller strangled at the remark then recovered and wheezed the words out. "He what? Holy shit. The Tarot said nothing about him proposing."
Proposed? Arryn held up her hand. "I wouldn't exactly call it a proposal. More of a commandment."
Her friend stepped forward and cupped Arryn's elbow. "Why don't you come sit over here and tell me everything."
