Charley was supposed to be there, and while he understood her commitment to her career, the selfish part of him was pissed she’d chosen a bunch of librarians over him.
And if that was all that had gone wrong between them, he wouldn’t be stuck in this unshakable, black mood.
But the truth was…her job had nothing to do with this distance between them. Charley had driven that point home a few hours earlier when she texted to say she wasn’t going to make it until the weekend.
She was stalling, avoiding him.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
Colm frowned, concern in his eyes. “Shit, man. What’s wrong? You’ve been quiet ever since we sat down. I thought you were still brooding over the loss, on missing out on the Stanley Cup Finals. But…it’s something else, isn’t it?”
Alex snorted, realizing he hadn’t felt bad about that last game of the playoffs since the night of the wedding.
Charley had erased that depression within minutes.
“I’ve forgotten about the game.”
Colm’s eyes widened. “No way. Now I’m really starting to worry.”
“You know I traveled to Vegas for my friend’s wedding,” I started.
Colm nodded.
“I eloped.”
Colm closed his eyes and shook his head. “Fuck. Are you serious right now? How many goddamn times have I told you not to take one step inside a wedding chapel without a prenup. How bad is it?” Then he blanched. “Jesus. Tell me you didn’t marry a stripper. Or a hooker.”
Alex scowled. “Give me some credit, asshole. Of course not. I married Charley.”
Colm didn’t move for a full minute, and he was confused by his friend’s sudden silence until he said, “A man?”
Despite his misery, Alex laughed. “No. Not a man. Charley is a nickname for Charlotte. She’s been my kid sister’s best friend since birth.”
Colm leaned back and blew out a long, relieved breath. “Thank God. I mean…not that there’s anything wrong with you marrying a guy, a couple of my uncles and cousins have. It’s just…I started thinking I was the worst friend in history not to, well, know which way you were swinging. I can usually tell.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Your friend status is fine. Her name is Charley Matthews and I—”
“Wait. You married the author of Tomboy Tess?”
“How the hell do you know about those books?” Alex asked, shocked.
“My cousin Lochlan’s adopted daughters are crazy about them. I got them the whole series for Christmas this year. Hey, do you think Charley would sign them for Jenny and Chloe?”
“I’m sure she—” Alex stopped abruptly, annoyed. “I take it back. You’re a shitty friend. Can we talk about my problem right now, then schedule your author signing?”
Colm grinned. “Damn. You really are out of sorts. Fine. Take it easy. Let the lawyer sort this out. Here’s the deal. There are two types of marriages. A void one and a voidable one. Void means the marriage was never valid to begin with. I assume you had a marriage license?”
Alex had brought it with him because he knew he needed Colm’s advice on what to do next. He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and handed it to his lawyer.
Colm studied it. “This is legit. So…it’s a valid marriage. Were either of you under duress when you said I do?”
Alex shook his head, then gave him a sheepish grin. “Does drunk count?”
“Actually it does. Falls under the heading of temporary lack of capacity, and we could use that as grounds for filing for an annulment, but we’re going to have to move fast though. How difficult is Charley going to make this?”
“Difficult?” Alex asked.
“Is she as anxious to get out of the marriage as you, or are we going to have to come up with some sort of settlement to buy her off?”
Alex frowned, Colm’s comment pissing him off. “Charley isn’t like that. She’s not a gold digger.”
His response came out too heated, too angry.
Colm leaned back in his chair, studying Alex’s face too closely for his comfort.
The silence at the table lingered until Colm suddenly sat up. “Wait a minute. Do you want an annulment?”
Alex shook his head.
Not a second’s hesitation.
He’d avoided the subject of dissolving their marriage with Charley as much as possible last week because, with each passing day, it only became clearer that they were good together.
No.
Better than that.
They were perfect.
Or they had been.
Until she’d said those three little words.
Alex couldn’t begin to count the number of women who’d told him they loved him in the past. And he was pretty sure none of them had meant it, the words driven either by sexual lust or a lust for his money and fame.
Charley had meant them.
And…dammit…he loved her too.
All of those thoughts had drifted through his head as they lay there in the grass in his parents’ backyard.
But before he could admit his feelings to her, there’d been that goddamned knee-jerk reaction. The Alex Stone stone wall that popped up in the face of any sort of real emotion made an appearance, and before he could tear it back down, Charley had seen it.
And before he could backtrack, before he could confess he felt the same way, Bella had shown up.
After that, he hadn’t found a way to get them back to that moment. They’d been surrounded by their families and then, back at her apartment, it hadn’t felt right.
If he’d said I love you to her then, she wouldn’t have believed him. She would have assumed he was saying it just to ease the tension between them.
Or worse, she would have put it in the same category she’d put their date to the wedding—assuming his words and actions were born of pity.
Which was ridiculous.
“I’m in love with her.”
The second the words were out, it felt as if someone had popped a balloon. All the air flew from his lungs, his chest burned, his heart raced, his stomach ached.
“Fuck,” Alex muttered. “Is love supposed to make you feel like shit? I feel like I’m dying here, man.”
Colm smiled and patted his arm. “Yep. That’s how you know it’s the real deal. Kelli took me down hard and I’m not even trying to get up anymore.”
Alex grimaced, even though he was happy his friend had found true love with a woman he’d sworn for years was his arch nemesis.
“That’s not helpful,” Alex muttered.
“Tough,” Colm said. “You’re on my shit list right now. First, you ignored all my good advice about prenups, and secondly, I’ve never even heard of this Charley, the woman who did the impossible and brought Alex ‘I’m never fucking getting married’ Stone to his knees. It’s clear you’ve known her forever.”
“I’ve told you about her. She was the tomboy on my hockey team, growing up.”
Colm’s mouth actually fell open. “The one who gave you a fat lip before homecoming? The one you called a brute?”
Before Alex could reply, Colm fell apart, laughing his ass off.
Alex was torn between punching him and cracking up himself.