“Why do I have to bring a dish if you’re already bringing one?” I turned to Vivi so she could look at the shirt I just changed into. We’d been at it for at least thirty minutes and if not for her smile and spectacular cleavage, I probably would have given up.

She scrunched up her nose and shook her head at the shirt. “Because the rule is each household brings a dish. Try the blue one.”

“Bullshit.” I kept my gaze on her as I took off the green shirt and balled it up before tossing it on the bed. The look in her eyes had my cock swelling behind my zipper. “Eyes up here, cupcake.”

She grinned even as her cheeks pinkened but her gaze was brazen as it slowly raked up my body before landing on my eyes. “Just enjoying all of your dedication to physical fitness, that’s all.”

“Yeah?” She nodded, gaze dipping below my eyes for only a second. “Impressive willpower.”

“Thanks. I honed it by not murdering my so called friends from business school. I have a newfound appreciation for just how hard that is.”

I couldn’t help but laugh even though I knew she was being honest. “So.”

“So? The blue shirt?”

“Tired of the view?”

“Not even a little bit, but we kind of have someplace to be and a little girl getting ready down the hall. But if you’re game…” She moved to stand, and I reached for the blue shirt.

“All right, you made your point, Vixen.” She glared at me, and I laughed. “I mean, Vivi.”

“Smartass. We’re just going to be the happy couple tonight, right?”

“Seeing as the town lawyers are mysteriously absent, yeah.” She didn’t seem upset about it which shouldn’t have felt so good, but dammit it did.

“I’m glad you said that because I’m eager to see how high the baby pool gets.” This town had grown crazier over the summer or maybe Vivi brought it out of all of us. I didn’t know which was true but her smile made me forget why I should care.

“Baby pool? You can’t just say baby pool and then zone out!”

“On the town Facebook page. Apparently, there were bets about how long it would take us to get together, intimately. It’s still going because no one has confirmation.” The shock on her face matched my own when I saw it with my own eyes. “And you might be surprised to learn that some people have already lost the baby pool.”

She sucked in a breath. “Are you serious? Jealous bitches,” she muttered, and I laughed. “Put that blue shirt on and let’s go, Boudreaux.”

It took me about fifteen minutes to get dressed, find my shoes and make sure all the doors and windows were locked. Belle Musique was a small town with very little crime, but when it came to Norah I refused to risk it. “Hey ladies, it’s a potluck not the prom!”

“Daddy, don’t be silly. We’re pretty aren’t we?”

I turned with a wide grin. “You’re both very beautiful.” Norah twirled around in her denim skirt and butterfly leggings with a black t-shirt and matching shoes. “Norah, you look adorable.”

“Thank you, Daddy. You look very handsome.”

It was good to see Norah happy and smiling again. And tonight of all nights, it was a good reminder of how important it was to keep things simple with Vivi.

When we arrived at the community center, I knew that the chances of keeping things simple, went from awkward but manageable to totally fucking impossible. Instead of a simple potluck—which I was kicking my own ass for even believing—it was a wedding reception. For me and Vivi.

Obviously.

“Holy crap! Did you know about this?” Shocked green eyes looked up at him, bewildered rather than accusing. “Of course you didn’t but, holy friggin’ crap! Right?”

I smiled and wrapped an arm around her. Together, we watched Norah dart off to the other room where the kids were hanging out for the night. “Right.” I leaned down and whispered. “I guess it’s showtime, Mrs. Boudreaux.”

“Oh god, that sounds so bizarre!” She laughed and when I leaned over to brush a kiss to her cheek, I caught her jaw. Then her neck. “But that makes it feel better. Mmm, better.”

“Oh, look at our two little love birds!” Aunt Mae, which she insisted I call her, strolled up with three of her silver haired friends. “You two look very happy and I, for one, am so glad.” She really did look glad but I could still see the hint of guilt in her eyes and I pulled her in for a hug.

“Stop worrying, Mae. We’re not mad so stop beating yourself up about it. Okay?”

She pulled back and grinned, cupping my face. “You’re a good boy, Nash. I’m happy to have you in my family.”

“Right back atcha, Mae.”

Vivi sidled up to me with a smile as she wrapped an arm around my waist. “We haven’t told Norah yet, Mae. It’s kind of hard to explain so if we could tone this all down a bit?”

“Oh we can’t do that, Viviana, not when everyone worked so hard to put this night together in secret. You can’t imagine how hard it was to keep this off the gossip wire.”

Vivi snorted. “I think I can imagine. It sounds what I imagine heaven is like. Or other towns,” she joked. “Where are the drinks? There have to be drinks.”

“There’s a bar set up right beside the food but don’t touch anything yet, we’ll say a few words before we all eat.” Mae’s brows dipped in confusion but she kept her smile in place. “Go on and enjoy this night. Imbibe. Dance. Be in love.”

“You heard the woman,” I told Vivi with a grin. “Let’s go imbibe and dance.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” She held her hand out and I grabbed it, making a big show of twirling her to my side as we ambled over to the bar. “Champagne, ice cold please.”

She turned to me, cleavage on full display in a rose colored dress that made her skin look like white silk. It was strapless, giving the impression that at any moment I could be treated to a vision of her naked breasts. “What? Do I have something in my teeth?”

“You haven’t eaten anything, have you?” She snickered and rolled her eyes. “Are you worried about Norah?”

“A little.” I figured she deserved honesty since she was perceptive enough to ask. “I just don’t like lying to her and this, it’s a big fucking lie.”

“We’ll figure this out, Nash. And we can agree right now to make sure we do what’s best for Norah. Deal?” She held her hand out adorably, waiting proudly for me to accept it.

“Sure. Deal.” I took her hand and held it, letting my thumb rest over her racing pulse. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight, Vivi?”

“No,” she blushed. “But it’s always nice to hear.”

“Well, you do. Hell, you look good enough to eat,” I told her, my voice near a growl.

“Is that one of the perks of marriage?”

And just like that my cock was hard and I wanted her. Bad. So fucking bad I could taste it. So bad I didn’t give a damn about the party, I wanted to find a dark quiet corner and work Vivi over until she made those sexy noises I couldn’t resist. “Might be.”

She leaned in close, so close our lips were nearly touching. Nearly. Mae’s voice sounding through the speakers being the only thing that could have pulled us apart in that moment. “Excuse me everybody, I just want to say a few words to my favorite niece and her new husband.”

Cheers sounded all around us and for a second, it felt like high school all over again only this time, Vivi was right beside me instead of on the periphery. “Can you believe all this is for us?”

Hell no, I couldn’t. “Smile and wave and look at me like I’m the man of your dreams.”

She smiled and waved, leaning in close. “He’d have a body just like yours so that’s pretty easy.” I choked on my next breath at her words but damn, they had my body hotter than it was outside.

“We have some very exciting news for our newlyweds. Your friends, neighbors, and loved ones have come together to give you love birds a proper honeymoon!”

“What?” Vivi whispered, this time the shock was genuine and maybe she was a little scared.

“It’s nothing fancy so don’t get your hopes up, but there’s a great little B&B about two hours from here and the honeymoon suite is waiting for you…for four full days!”

“Holy shit,” she whispered again and this time, I had to agree.

Everyone in the community center continued to clap and beam smiles at us before someone, I’m pretty sure it was Zeke, yelled very loudly, “Kiss!” Then the room began to chant it and I did the only thing I could in the situation. I grabbed Vivi by the waist, pulled her close and dipped her over my arm, putting on a hell of a show before I kissed her so long and so hard and so fucking good that I got lost in it.

Lost in kissing my wife.

Who would have ever thought it?

“We can’t go. Can we?” As tempting as it was to leave Norah with Aunt Mae for a few days and have some alone time—adult alone time—with Vivi, it also seemed a little wrong.

Vivi looked deep in thought and I wondered if she was having the same moral dilemma that I was. “I think we have to go or tell the town the truth.”

I sure wasn’t ready to do that. “I can’t tell if I’m agreeing because you’re right or because agreeing means four full days and nights with you.” She had me so twisted up I couldn’t tell a good decision from a bad one and the worst thing was, I didn’t give a damn.

She shrugged and stepped closer but not too close because Norah was upstairs in her room and prone to interrupting them at a moment’s notice. “Neither sound like a very bad reason to these ears.”

“So, a honeymoon for us. Paid for by the town.”

Vivi sat up in bed and put her hands on either side of my face. “It’s not like we can give it back, not without a whole lot of hurt feelings. So we go. Have fun and think. And plot.”

“Plot?” I wondered what was going on inside that pretty little head of hers.

“Yeah. Didn’t you think it was weird both Della and Dallas were there tonight when they were both out of town? Maddie said Della was in California.”

Yeah, I’d spotted Dallas about five minutes after we entered the community center and both father and daughter McInnis had avoided both of us all night. “It’s weirder they didn’t stop by to offer their congratulations.”

Big green eyes showed shock and then amusement. “They didn’t!” She burst out laughing. “Don’t we sound like a pair of old folks, upset because some young’uns didn’t show proper southern etiquette!” She fell back against the light blue sofa, shoulders shaking with laughter.

“Speak for yourself. I’m hip as hell.” She froze for half a second before more laughter erupted out of her. I would’ve been mad if her laughter wasn’t so contagious, forcing a laugh out of me.

“You lose cool points for ‘hip as hell,’ gramps.”

“And you lose cool points because you’re a writer and it never even occurred to you that the town is engaging in a little bit of matchmaking.” I dropped down on the sofa beside her and folded my arms over my chest while her face turned red with embarrassment.

Then amusement as she doubled over, laughing her ass off with her forehead resting on her knees. “I can’t believe it never even crossed my mind!” She laughed until her laughter fell silent and only her shaking body confirmed she hadn’t stopped breathing. “You’re right. I definitely lose cool points but I’ll get them back.”

“So, we’re going on our honeymoon?”

She arched those fiery brows that looked just a little bit like devil’s horns and her lips quirked into a sexy lip-biting smile. “You gonna carry me over the threshold?”

“Every time we get back to our room,” I promised.

Vivi licked her lips and I groaned, making her smile grow even bigger. Just like the monster in my pants. “What will you tell Norah?”

I’d been thinking about it for past two days and the answer was easier than I thought. “The truth. Mostly. She doesn’t really need to know all the sex parts but I also think she knows more than I want her to.”

“Small towns,” she said in commiseration. “What does she know?”

“That we kiss and her friend at day camp, Sally, says that grownups never ‘just kiss.’”

“I am both shocked and impressed at the knowledge of eight-year-olds. But if you want, I can be here when you talk to her.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded. “Why not? I don’t embarrass easily and I’m a girl.”

“Not quite a girl.” She shivered at my words and her green eyes darkened. “You’re distracting.”

“Thanks.” Vivi leaned in close and grabbed my face as her lips crashed down. The kiss was hot as hell right from the start and then she was in my lap, her heat pressed against my hardness. She moaned into my mouth and I held her tight and let her devour my mouth. It never took long for things to spiral out of control where Vivi was concerned and though I should be worried, I wasn’t.

Not yet.

Her tongue slicked across my bottom lip, nipping it hard. My hands gripped her ass, loving how soft and feminine she felt against me. When her hips started to grind against me and my cock reached for her I knew I would have to be the one to pull back because she wouldn’t. Couldn’t. “Vivi.”

“Your mouth tastes so good,” she said, her voice breathless and sexy, skin flushed and that pouty mouth looked hungry for another taste.

“Temptress,” I growled in her ear, and she giggled. “No time like the present.” I smacked her ass, making her squeal as she climbed off my lap.

“Now?”

“Well, we leave in a couple days and I need to give her a few days to get used to this. Make sure she’s okay.”

She hit me with that heart stopping smile that made a man feel like he could do anything. “You’re a good dad, Nash. Norah is lucky to have you.”

“Let’s see if you think so in a few minutes. Norah!”

A few moments later, the patter of little feet pounded down the stairs and into the living room. “Yeah, Daddy?”

“Come have a seat, Norah. We need to talk.” She climbed up on the sofa and sat in the small space between me and Vivi.

“Let’s talk, Daddy.”

My lips twitched at the way she crossed her legs at the ankle even though they barely passed the sofa cushions. “Okay. You know that potluck we went to a few days ago?”

Norah nodded, a small smile slowly spreading across her face. “The one ‘cause you and Vivi are a couple now? Sally said that’s what the party was for.”

“Sally has a big mouth,” Vivi murmured behind Norah.

“That’s true, the party was for me and Vivi but not how you think.” I took a deep breath and then another. And then another. How did a man tell his daughter he’d accidentally gotten married? My gaze slid to Vivi and she began to stroke Norah’s black curls.

“Remember at the Solstice Celebration when we helped Aunt Mae with her ritual?” Norah nodded and her curls fell around her shoulders. “Well, Aunt Mae made a mistake and instead of the prosperity ritual she…well, she married us.”

The small gasp of breath was her only response. For a long moment. Too long. “You got married? Without me?”

“Norah, it wasn’t on purpose.” Arms crossed and her bottom lip stuck out a mile long, she was projecting the perfect image of a little girl in the early stages of a tantrum.

“I wanted to be a flower girl. Can you get married again?” Her blue eyes were so earnest I couldn’t stop a half-chuckle from escaping.

“You want us to get married again just so you can be a flower girl?” The head bob came immediately as did the smile. “That sounds about right.”

“Will you move here, Vivi? Will we move to Vivi’s house? Can I have a room at Vivi’s house, anyway?”

“Slow down, kiddo. We haven’t got all the details figured out yet but when we do, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Promise?” She held her pinky up with a stubborn expression on her face that I knew well.

Vivi, not to be out done, hooked her pinky with Norah’s. “Absolutely. When your dad and I know, then we’ll let you know. Deal?”

“Okay, you got a deal, Vivi.”

“Then come on over and we’ll hug on it.”

With an adorable head tilt, she looked up at Vivi. “Can we do that?”

“We’re women, we can do whatever we want.” The look on Vivi’s face when she wrapped her arms around Norah stole my breath. It was the look, the feeling that I’d wished her own mother had felt for her. And now she had it.

And the woman was already my wife.