Nicole’s voice was icy. “Your time starts now, Mr. Connors.”
“You’ll regret this someday, Megan,” he shouted.
“You keep telling yourself that.”
He stomped up the steps and toward the entrance to the gardens.
Bart appeared at the edge of the group, panting. “What happened?”
Knickers ignored her husband and turned her attention to Josh. “Mr. McMillan.”
He lifted his chin, shivering in his wet suit and trying not to feel like a grade school boy sent to the principal’s office. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“How long have you known my daughter?”
“Four days.”
“Four days?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You met on the plane?”
“Yes.”
“And you just got married?”
“Yes.”
Megan pulled free from Noah’s hold. “Mom, I can explain.”
“You can explain why you told me this man was Jay Connors.”
She hesitated, looking over at Josh. He nodded his encouragement.
Taking a deep breath, Megan turned toward her mother. “I broke up with Jay six weeks ago, and I was afraid to tell you.”
“Why?” her mother demanded. “Do you really think I would want you to marry a man who would cheat on you?”
Megan looked torn. “You kept telling me how much the wedding cost and that you couldn’t get refunds.”
The fury in her mother’s face dissolved into sorrow and her shoulders sagged. “You really think I’m that much of a monster?”
Megan started to say something but kept her mouth shut.
“So you chose to marry a stranger rather than tell me your fiancé cheated on you?”
“We’re not married. It wasn’t real.”
Josh cringed. Things were about to get uglier. As if that were possible. He took several steps toward her and out of the fountain, water dripping from his hair onto his face. “Meggie, we are.”
Confusion wrinkled her brow. “We are what?”
His eyes pleaded with hers. “We’re married.”
She blinked. “What?”
“The marriage license got mailed in. We can’t get it back.”
“What? How?”
Libby held up her hand, a sheepish look washing over her face. “Me.”
“And me.” Noah stepped up next to her, as if presenting himself for punishment.
“Josh didn’t know anything about it,” Libby said. “We had just told him when Jay showed up.”
Josh knew he had to take control. “It doesn’t matter. As far as I’m concerned, this wedding couldn’t be any more real. I’m glad they mailed it in, but they should have consulted us first.” He searched Megan’s face, hoping to get a read on how she felt, but it remained expressionless. He decided to go for broke and took several steps toward Knickers, his hand extended as he presented his case. “I love her. I’ve never met anyone like her before, and I know it’s crazy. I know it. But it’s right, too.”
Knickers watched him for several seconds before turning to Megan. “We can get this annulled.”
“What?” Josh asked in panic. Noah and Libby voiced their own protests, too, but he was too distraught to register what they said.
Megan gasped. “You would do that?”
“Of course I would do that.” Her no-nonsense countenance had returned, and she was ready to take charge once again. “You’re not stuck with this. I’ll take care of it.”
Megan looked between Josh and her mother and took a deep breath. “What if I want to be stuck with this?”
Josh leaned over his knees, weak from relief. “Oh, thank God,” he mumbled under his breath.
Knickers eyes widened. “Why on earth would you want that, Megan?”
“Because I love him.”
“How? You hardly know him.”
“I don’t know. I just do.”
“So you’re married to Josh McMillan?”
She gave him a bright smile that sucked his breath away. “Yes, I suppose I am.”
Epilogue
Two months later, Megan McMillan pushed open her apartment door, terrified she was too late. “Josh!”
“In the bedroom.”
She shut the door behind her and dropped her purse on the entry table before she hurried down the hall. Josh was bent over a suitcase, zipping it closed.
“I got tied up at work, and I thought I missed you.” Her voice broke and she felt ridiculous. He might be flying to Kansas City, but she’d see him in two days.
Josh stood upright and turned to her, the look in his eyes making her tingle from head to toe. How could he always look at her with such wonder, as though he were seeing her for the first time?
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. When he lifted his head, he smoothed the hair back from her face, searching her eyes. “I think I should postpone my trip and leave when you can get away on Wednesday.”
“No, don’t be ridiculous,” she said, more for her benefit than his. “You have to be there tomorrow for the big meeting with the new investor. It was your idea to merge your business with my father’s. You have to be there to oversee everything.”
“You’re more important than some business meeting, Megan. Besides, Noah can take care of it.”
She snorted. “Noah? He can barely feed and clothe himself.”
“He’ll be there anyway. He’s flying with me.”
That was news to her. “Why? He hates business meetings.”
“I have a feeling it has something to do with Libby.”
“What? But she’s still with Mitch.”
He kissed her again, taking her breath away, along with all thoughts of Noah and Libby. Her knees weakened and he wrapped an arm around her back, holding her to his chest. “I really think I should postpone this trip,” he whispered huskily into her ear. “I’m not sure I can be away from you for two days. The longest we’ve been apart is twelve hours.”
She looked up at him and forced a smile. “Some people like Blair would find that nauseating.”
“Good thing we’re not like that.”
She looked down at his chest and smoothed several imaginary wrinkles from his shirt. “No.” She forced her voice to sound firm. “You need to go, and I can’t come with you today because of my meeting tomorrow. I’ll fly in on Wednesday for Blair’s wedding weekend like we planned.”
He sighed and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. “Being responsible sucks.”
She laughed. “I couldn’t agree more.”
“I’ll stay with your parents until I pick you up from the airport; then we’re staying in a hotel. Because after being away from you two nights, I can’t promise to be quiet in bed.”
He kissed her again, making her wish she had time to strip off both their clothes.
“Do me a favor,” he murmured against her lips.
“Anything,” she sighed.
“If some man sits by you on the plane and offers to stand in as my proxy, refuse.”
She gave him an ornery grin. “I don’t recall having any say in the matter the first time.” She laughed. “But I couldn’t imagine my life any other way.”