HisMarriageBargain (6 page)

Tony needed to hurry up with the pictures already.

They had better things to do.

* * * * *

Sammi draped his arm over Autumn’s chair and leaned back.
Their two-person wedding party had grown to twelve—those six who’d been part of
the wedding ceremony, plus Eleri and Mary’s husbands and another couple on
their honeymoon who’d joined them after learning they’d just tied the knot.
Their meal was well underway and the wine flowed freely. But he wasn’t
drinking. Already a tremor was running through his hands. Alcohol was the last
thing he needed, but he didn’t want to break up their happy group.

“Tell me, Sammi, how does a Persian Jew have a German name?”
David asked, arm draped around his wife’s shoulders and his third wineglass in
hand.

Sammi glanced at Autumn, all aglow, maybe from their wedding
or the ongoing festivities. “That’s actually a really great story. My father’s
mother was a teenager when her family went to Jerusalem. She got lost from her
parents and hid in a spice merchant’s wash closet. This young man comes in to
relieve himself and there’s a woman in there. He sees she’s scared, introduces
himself.

“Neither speak the same language, they can only piece
together a few Hebrew words so they realize they’re both Jewish. What do Jewish
people do? They go to the temple. So he takes her hand and together they go to
the temple, but along the way her shoe breaks. The young man picks up her shoe,
gives her his and they continue along their way.

“By the time they get to the temple, there’s people
following them. They don’t know what’s going on, but everyone’s happy so they
keep going. They arrive at the temple and the rabbis are all talking at once,
they’re trying to give them wine, and they are both very confused. As it turns
out shoes are very important in business proceedings, sometimes betrothals, and
the young man found himself accidentally engaged to a young woman he couldn’t
understand.

“Well, they found their families, they were even staying in
the same hotel, and over the next few weeks during their stay, they fell in
love. And the young man moved to Iran for a girl he barely knew. And he bought
her a new pair of shoes for every day of their engagement.” Sammi grinned,
recalling how his father would tell the story with excessive gesturing. His
grandparents had remained in Iran, so Sammi had never met them before they
passed away, but he knew them through his father’s stories.

“Makes me want to get engaged all over again.” Eleri leaned
forward, swirling her wine and sighing dreamily.

“I think I’m full up on weddings for a few months.” The
honeymooning bride shook her head and gave her groom a meaningful look.

“It was great to do—once,” her groom agreed.

An elderly woman in a tropical print dress was headed their
way as fast as she could pop her cane out there.

Autumn leaned against Sammi’s side, fitting perfectly to
him. “Incoming,” she whispered.

“Who got married?” the elderly woman asked. She gripped the
back of Tony’s chair and glanced around the table.

“That would be us,” Sammi replied, giving Autumn a squeeze.

Autumn peeked at him from the corner of her eye and smiled.
He wondered if she smiled from the sense of adventure or something more
personal. The kiss under the
chuppah
had knocked him off the high road.
He needed to get some better perspective. This was not a marriage founded on
love or even romance. Asking for Autumn’s affections was not part of the
bargain.

“Congratulations.” The woman glanced at Autumn. It was hard
to tell if she meant it or not.

“Thank you,” Autumn replied.

“You can always tell when a wife has a good husband. You can
see it on her face. Looks like you’re a good catch.” She winked, either at
Autumn or himself, Sammi couldn’t tell. It was an absurd gesture considering
the refined way the woman carried herself. He wanted to laugh, but resisted.
“Have a bottle of champagne on me, and a bit of advice. ‘Sorry’ isn’t a verb.
Don’t expect it to fix things for you.”

No one spoke for a beat.

Sammi sat forward. “Thank you, ma’am, we appreciate your
generosity.”

“It’s not my generosity I’m offering.” She grinned then and
Sammi felt as if he were playing chicken with a cobra. “Good evening.”

As abruptly as she’d inserted herself, the woman left.

The honeymooning bride was the first to speak. “That
was…odd.”

“I think she means her husband is paying for our champagne,”
Autumn translated.

A server appeared with an ice bucket and the proffered gift
from their sage well-wisher. The chatter between the guests rose while they
were each poured a glass of the bubbling liquid. Truth be told, champagne was
one of his least favorite beverages, but some occasions called for it.

Sammi lifted his glass. “To always knowing when to ask for
forgiveness.”

“And knowing what blowjobs are for,” the honeymooning bride
chimed in.

“Hear, hear.” Autumn lifted her glass higher and the two
brides laughed.

“To never going to bed with a disagreement on the table,”
David added. His poor wife had spent the majority of dinner blushing furiously
from the candid conversation of the honeymooners. It was telling when Autumn
and the hotel help were classier than the guests, but they were harmless.

“
L’chaim
,” Sammi interjected before the toast got
ridiculously long.

Everyone clinked glasses and sipped. Or at least most
sipped. The two brides chugged theirs in some sort of private drinking contest.

The other groom leaned across the table and crooked his
finger at Sammi. “We were thinking about going to a club down the beach.
Interested?”

Sammi flexed his hand under the table.

“You’ve got to come with us,” the bride squealed.

“Oh, that sounds like fun.” Autumn squeezed his thigh.
Inwardly Sammi groaned. “I think I’m going to pass though. That 2:00 a.m.
wake-up this morning is killing me. Maybe some other time? We’re going to be
here for a few days.”

“One drink. Come for one drink.” The honeymooning bride
leaned forward so far her breasts almost fell out the front of her dress.

“I’m about to pass out right here on my wedding night.”
Autumn tossed her hair over her shoulder and laughed.

“I think we’re going to have to go.” Eleri’s husband pulled
her chair out for her. “It was a lovely wedding. Blessings on both of you.”

“Eleri, you were my angel today.” Autumn slid out from her
chair and hugged the woman and her husband in turn. “Thank you so much for
being here tonight too.”

Sammi turned in his seat, loath to get to his feet yet.
They’d taken pictures for an age and his muscles felt weak.

“We’re going to go too.” Mary and her husband rose, giving
Autumn hugs and circling the table to shake his hand.

“Thank you for helping put this together,” Sammi said to the
two women.

“Not a problem, that’s what we do,” Mary replied with a
smile.

“I think that’s our cue to bid everyone a good night.” David
glanced at his wife, who nodded.

They said more goodbyes, Autumn hugging everyone at least
twice. In half a day she’d managed to make lifelong friends. He didn’t know how
she did it.

Sammi pushed his chair back and listened to the honeymooning
bride whine at Autumn again. He’d get up. In a minute.

As the last of their guests wound their way through the
tables of the open-air restaurant, Autumn spun to face him. She’d ditched the
veil and flowers but she was still the picture of beauty. How she’d put it all
together so fast was extraordinary. The credit card bill would probably show
the motivating factor for a lot of it, but it had been worth it.

“So.” Autumn sauntered the few paces to his side and sat
down on his lap.

He shifted so he could hold on to her better. “So what?”

“Are you happy?” She curled her arms around his neck, her
lower lip pinched between her teeth.

“Hell, yes. Words cannot describe how happy I am—” A yawn
sideswiped him and he scrambled to cover his mouth.

“Don’t do that. I’ve been able to resist yawning!” Autumn
covered her mouth and shook her head as a yawn took her.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs.” He patted her hip.

They got to their feet slowly and Autumn took his hand. It
was late. In a handful of hours they would have been up for a full day and
night. It was just too much.

“How are you feeling?” Autumn asked as they walked under the
covered path from the restaurant into the hotel.

“I think I overdid it today. My muscles are really
fatigued.” It was hard to say those words, to admit he wasn’t fine, but it
wasn’t as if she were unaware of his condition.

“Did you try the bathtub? There are massaging jets or
something in there. I didn’t know what all the knobs and buttons did.”

“Oh, they have one of those in the room?” That was a really
good idea.

“Yeah. It’s big enough for like, six people. You could have
two three-ways at once.”

“Or a full-on orgy.”

Autumn giggled. “Great, now our tub grosses me out.”

“Whatever. I’ll toss you in it.” He’d spoken the threat off
the cuff, but now that he thought about it…

No, can’t go there.

Autumn gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I might.” But he wouldn’t. Down that path lay temptation.

They rode up the elevator in amicable silence, hands still
clasped. It felt good to hold on to her.

“When did you have time to get a ring?” He held up his left
hand and examined the band.

“Don’t give me too much credit. It was a quick department
store buy. It’s not fancy or anything.” Though Autumn wore a smile she glanced
away down the hall as they walked toward their suite.

“It doesn’t have to be fancy. I like it. What’s it made out
of?”

“Titanium, I think.”

“Hey.” He stopped and pulled her around to face him. “I’m
serious. I wasn’t expecting you to do any of this. If we’d gotten married in
jeans with no rings, I’d still be happy. I really dig the ring. All of it. You
did an amazing job.”

The way her chin thrust forward made him think of a petulant
child, except when Autumn did it she was cute. “It wouldn’t have been a real
wedding without rings.”

“I’m glad you got me a ring so this was a real wedding.” He
couldn’t help it. He laughed and she glared at him. The fiercer her stare
became, the harder he laughed until he was doubled over.

“It’s not funny.” She slapped his shoulder. A tremor of
laughter in her voice betrayed her.

A door opened behind them and a man snapped out, “Keep it
down. Some people are trying to sleep.”

Sammi glanced over his shoulder and waved at the robe-clad
gentleman. “Sorry.”

“Come on,” Autumn whispered. She pulled him down the hall
toward their suite.

He let them into the room and paused.

A trail of red rose petals started just past the door and
continued into the room, curving to the left toward the bedroom.

“What is this?” Autumn followed the path.

Shit.

The staff must have done this.

Candles dotted the suite here and there, giving it a
romantic glow. The doors to the balcony had been opened so the breeze was
fresh, perfumed with flowers.

Sammi followed in her wake. Another time, this would have
been the start to a romantic night. He would have swept her off her feet,
peeled the dress off her to the tune of waves hitting the beach before making
love to her for hours. That was not this reality.

This situation was headed to awkwardness, which he’d wanted
to avoid.

“Wow. Sammi, come look at this.”

He stepped into the bedroom, which had been tidied up in his
absence. A heart made out of red-wrapped chocolates and rose petals stood out
against the white duvet. Candles again sat on every available surface.

“Wow,” he said for lack of something better.

Autumn picked up a piece of the chocolate and began
unwrapping it. “It’s nice. A little over the top, but nice.”

What do I say?

“There’s got to be something wrong with me, because while
this is pretty and all, who do they think is going to have to pick it up? I
mean, if we were coming in here to bone on our wedding night we’d have to stop
to clean the room.” She shook her head and began brushing the decorations off
the bed. “You still want to see if the tub will help?”

“Uh—sure.”

She’s amazing.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Would it help if I gave you a massage? Or do you want to be
left alone?”

Autumn was so innocent in her concern and his mind went
straight to the gutter. Her hands, massaging his cock, gripping his shoulders.

Probably not a good idea.

“Sure.” Though what he was agreeing to, Sammi wasn’t
certain. Let Autumn interpret it how she liked.

Autumn glanced over her shoulder and smiled. There wasn’t a
glimpse of the temptress or flirt he’d seen her dish out on guys she’d dated or
had a fling with. It was different, and he liked being on the receiving end.

Though the bath sounded like a good idea, he didn’t know if
he could stay awake that long. Autumn dusted the last of the petals off the bed
and deposited them on a nightstand. She stood straight into his arms. They
twined around each other, hugging close.

“Thank you,” he muttered into her hair.

“You’re welcome.” She hugged him back.

Barefoot, she fit perfectly under his chin. He squeezed her
a little tighter before letting her go.

“I’ll get the bath going.”

Sammi sank down on the edge of the bed. He’d get his things
together in a moment.

One of the things he liked about this resort was the quality
of the mattresses. They were just right for him.

He flopped back and stared up at the ceiling.

He’d get up.