Chapter 6
Marissa barley made it back into town with enough time to get ready for the masquerade ball. Scott had suggested that they cancel, but this was actually one of the few functions that she enjoyed. “I love the whole idea of the masks and over the top dresses. I know it’s silly but it’s one of the few fundraisers I like,” she’d explained from the airport.
“Okay, then we’ll go. Text me when you’re almost ready and I’ll come pick you up, it won’t be the end of the world if we’re late,” he said, then added, “I’ve missed you.”
She gave the words a second to wash pleasantly over her, then said, “I’ve missed you too. I’ve, um, also been thinking about the wedding. Maybe we could do something different, it’s not that far to Las Vegas.”
“You want to get married in Las Vegas? I didn’t quite picture that as your dream wedding,” Scott said, getting worried. The last thing he’d expected was her to want to go to Las Vegas to get married.
Calling his dad had been easy, it had been a relatively brief conversation since their relationship had always been strained, but he’d said a few of the things he’d had on his mind. His father had been responsive to him, but they’d kept it short. The next phone call he’d made hadn’t been that easy.
In the brief time he’d been at the ranch in Colorado, one thing had become clear, Sabrina, who had married his oldest cousin Garrett, was the undisputed head of the family. If he was going to make amends with the family, she was the one to approach first. Plus, she was the only woman he knew who might be able to help him pull off a last minute wedding.
Sabrina was understandably distant at first, but once he’d convinced her that he wasn’t the same mess that he’d been only a few months earlier, she reluctantly agreed to help him. Of course, only after she made him tell her the whole story, including the fact that he might actually love Marissa. That was all it took for Sabrina to be all in, there was nothing she loved more than a good romance and a real life one was even better.
“You can’t tell anyone why we’re getting married. Marissa insists that it be kept a secret, I’m not sure why,” Scott said to Sabrina once all the plans were in place.
“I hate keeping secrets, but I’ll do it this time. Scott, I have to tell you, if I didn’t know better I would say that you’re not the same man you were a few months ago,” Sabrina said, even more convinced that love could change a person for the better.
“I don’t know what to tell you, except that it’s been freeing to have all my responsibilities removed,” he said, wondering about the change himself.
“Well, I hope it all works out. We’ll see you in a few days. Now, I just have to go convince my husband that this is the right thing to do,” she said with a sigh.
He’d really wanted the wedding to be a surprise, but if he had to tell her he would. Sabrina had worked too hard to cancel on her now. But just as he was about to tell Marissa what he’d done, she put his fears to rest.
“I’m not thrilled with the idea, but it’s better than the courthouse,” she said, wistfully.
“How about we talk about this tonight when we’re together?” he said. “I have one more errand to run before I pick you up and it might take a while.”
Marissa was disappointed that he didn’t jump on her idea to have the wedding some place a little nicer, but she heard the boarding call for her flight and had to hang up. Once she was seated on the plane, it occurred to her that she was perfectly capable of making plans if she wanted to. There was no reason she couldn’t have what she wanted. She’d always made things happen on her own before it shouldn’t be any different now.
Felling much better, she put on her headphones and some music determined to get some sleep on the flight. She slept soundly, dreams of Scott filtering through her head. It had only been three days since she’d seen him, but it felt like a lifetime. As hard to believe as it was, he’d become a huge part of her life in just a few weeks. When she awoke, the plane was just beginning its descent. Watching Los Angeles come into focus, she began to get excited for the night to come.
She never went to these things without a date, but tonight felt different somehow. Maybe it was because for the first time in a long time she was going with someone who she was attracted to and involved with. When she thought about the dress that was hanging in her closet, she couldn’t help but smile. Scott wouldn’t be able to breathe when he saw her in it. She’d been planning this night differently, but plans changed; however, her dress hadn’t.
Scott pulled up to Marissa’s house right on time. He’d been pacing the floor at his increasingly empty house for almost an hour before she called to say she was almost ready. Patting the ring in his pocket, he couldn’t help but smiling. He had a speech about embracing the marriage and seeing if maybe they could actually make it work all planned in his head. Asking her to marry him before they went through the ceremony seemed like the right thing to do and he was going to do it tonight because tomorrow they were getting married.
He was surprised when the housekeeper let him in. She didn’t usually answer the door, but when he looked up the stairs he understood why. Marissa was standing at the top of the stairs in a dress that made his mouth hang open. It was black and covered with sequins, but most alluring of all was the amount of skin that was showing, just enough to tease his imagination. Sucking in a deep breath, he watched her walk down the stairs, every move calculated to drive him crazy.
“If you’re trying to drive me crazy, that dress is just perfect,” he said when she got to the bottom step and took the hand he held out for her. “I’m going to need a stick with a sharp point to keep the men away from you tonight. You look amazing.”
Marissa couldn’t help but laugh, her body sizzling with desire. “You look pretty good yourself,” she said, letting him help her with her wrap. “Are you ready for this?”
“Definitely,” he said, taking her arm and leading her to the car.
When they got to the ball, it didn’t take Scott long to realize that although all the other women in the room were dressed much like Marissa, she managed to outshine them all. The looks of jealousy from the women that followed in her wake made him understand why she didn’t really like these people.
Of course, the way the men looked at her was much different. Unconsciously, he put his hand on Marissa’s back as they crossed the room to the bar, a clear statement of who she was with that night. Marissa seem oblivious to the commotion she was causing, smiling and greeting people as they passed. Scott was both amused and proud to be with her that night, but those feelings only lasted for a little while.
They hadn’t been standing with their drinks for more than a minute or two before a man came over and asked Marissa to dance. She glanced at Scott who nodded his head yes, knowing that introductions would come after. But after almost forty-five minutes of Marissa dancing with one man after another, while he stood holding her drink, he’d had enough.
The next time she came over, dragging another young handsome man with her, he was polite but cut off the conversation and pulled her out onto the balcony. “I was hoping I might have a few minutes of your time, Marissa,” he said, clearly annoyed with her.
“I’m sorry, Scott. Why didn’t you say something sooner? Do you want to dance?” she asked, surprised by his reaction. He’d told her that he didn’t like to dance, but she’d never dreamed that he wouldn’t want her to.
“I don’t really like to dance,” he said, still pouting. “Besides I couldn’t have asked you if I wanted to with all those men hanging around you.”
Marissa suddenly understood what was happening. “You’re jealous,” she said, kissing him on the cheek.
“I’m not jealous. But if we’re supposed to be in some kind of whirlwind romance, shouldn’t you be hanging on me and not those other guys?”
“I wasn’t hanging on them, I was dancing with them,” she said, getting angry. “But I won’t do it anymore if it bothers you that much. Come inside with me and let’s dance, maybe it won’t be as bad as you remember.”
Scott knew that he was behaving badly, but the last thing he’d expected was to have to vie for Marissa’s attention tonight, after all he had an engagement ring in his pocket. The jealousy was a new thing for him as well, he’d never been jealous like that before. Finding himself wanting to punch each and every one of those guys had left him shocked. It was such a raw and instinctive feeling that it had taken him a minute to get himself under control the first time he’d watched her spinning around the dance floor in another man’s arms.
“Okay, but I’ll probably step on your feet,” he said, taking her arm as they walked back inside.
They danced every dance together until the intermission, Scott surprised to find that he liked to dance when it was with Marissa. With her body pressed up against his, they glided around the dance floor, lost in a world of their own. All too soon, the music stopped and it was time for the meal that would be the dividing point of the evening. After dinner, the older crowd would go home while the younger crowd would continue on well into the morning hours.
Marissa excused herself to go to the bathroom before dinner, which was not an easy feat in the dress she was wearing. It took longer than she’d expected, but when she rushed over to where she’d left Scott, he was occupied talking to Misty. She slowed down as she approached them, noticing that Misty was hanging all over Scott and not liking it one little bit.
When she walked up, Misty didn’t remove herself from Scott. If anything, she gripped him even harder. “Oh, hi, Marissa. I saw your date standing over here by himself again and thought I’d come over and keep him company,” she said, putting a definite accent on the word again.
“Well, that’s awfully nice of you, Misty, but as you can see I’m back now,” Marissa said, ,practically snarling at Misty.
“I have a wonderful idea, why don’t you too come sit with me at dinner? I’d love to hear more about you, Scott. It’s so rare we get new blood around here. You don’t mind do you, Marissa, or were you hoping to keep him to yourself?” Misty purred at Scott, ignoring Marissa and the nasty looks she was shooting her.
Scott let himself be led off by Misty, a part of him unsure how to stop it from happening and another part thinking that it wouldn’t hurt Marissa to be a little jealous, then she’d see how it felt. But dinner hadn’t even been served when he knew that he’d made a mistake. Not only was Misty trying to feel him up under the table, Marissa was well aware of what was going on. When she pleaded a headache and asked him to take her home, he’d gladly given up his meal to get away from Misty.
He knew that Marissa was fighting back tears, and she had every reason to be upset, but every time he opened his mouth to say something, nothing came out. He just didn’t know what to say to her. He’d made a huge mistake and didn’t know how to fix it. Finally, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop.
“I’m sorry, I had no idea she was that bad. I just wanted to make you jealous,” he tried to explain, but realized that he’d just made things worse.
“That’s supposed to make me feel better? You wanted to make me jealous because you were? I wasn’t trying to make you jealous, and as soon as I knew you were, I stopped. You just spent all that time letting the one person I hate most in the world feel you up in front of all my friends. Let go of me, I want to go home.” Marissa just managed to get the words out without breaking into tears.
Scott couldn’t think of any intelligent response to that, so he simply followed her to the car and helped her in. They drove in uncomfortable silence to her house, neither able to break the divide that had come between them. When he parked the car and felt the ring in his pocket, he knew that he’d screwed up badly and that only telling her the truth would fix things.
He got out of the car and helped her out, then said, “Let’s talk for a few minutes, please.”
“Okay, but you really hurt me tonight,” she said, leaning up against the front door and crossing her arms over her chest.
He stood facing her, looking at her for a long time, then took a deep breath. “I’m not very good at this, it’s all kind of new to me. I didn’t think about what I was doing and when I realized what a mistake I’d made it was too late,” he said, tipping her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “I’m sorry I hurt you, that’s the last thing I wanted to do.”
He waited for her to respond to him, but she didn’t know what to say, this whole thing was happening so fast. It was one thing when it was a forced marriage that she’d just have to endure for a year, but now she’d let herself care and that had allowed her to get hurt. But looking into Scott’s eyes, she could see that his words were genuine and began to forgive him.
Scott waited for Marissa to reply, his heart beating a staccato rhythm in his chest. When long minutes had elapsed, he cupped her face with his hands and said, “I really like you, Marissa. I know this whole thing started out as something we were forced to do, but I think we might actually have a chance of making this work. I was stupid and jealous tonight, but I promise I won’t ever let it happen again.”
To his relief, she smiled up at him and said, “There’s nothing to be jealous of, you know. Those guys are just friends, I’ve dated a few but nothing serious.”
Scott felt that flare of jealousy again but tramped it firmly in place. “I’ll try not to be jealous, but I know that every one of those guys would be perfectly happy to be more than just your friend.”
“That’s ridiculous, I’ve known most of them for my entire life and they certainly aren’t into my, uh, curvy figure. You saw their dates, they wouldn’t ever think of me that way. I’m just the fun friend who’s always good for a laugh.”
“I’m not going to fight with you about this, but I have news for you, those guys would be at your feet if you snapped your fingers. If they were so hot for their dates, then why were they all hanging around you?” he asked, stroking her face with his fingers making goose bumps erupt on her arms.
“I think you’re wrong, but you’re right, it’s not worth fighting about. Before long, we’ll be married,” she said, trying to make a joke.
“Speaking of the wedding, I’ve arranged something for tomorrow,” he said, hoping she’d be open to the suggestion after their fight.
Marissa was surprised but pleased that Scott had done something about their wedding, “You planned something for tomorrow?” she said, unable to hide her surprise.
“Well, I didn’t want to get married at city hall either,” he said. “So, pack a bag and your wedding dress and be ready in the morning. Our flight leaves at noon. I assume you have a dress.”
“I’m a woman, of course I have a dress,” she said, glad that she’d had one made while she was out of town. It wasn’t a traditional wedding dress, but it was perfect for anything Scott had planned.
Scott growled in his throat and pulled her tightly against him, “You are definitely a woman and I’m looking forward to tomorrow night,” he said, then lowered his mouth to hers, his relief at their having survived their first fight evident in the gentle kiss he gave her.
By the time Scott left her that night, she was so exhausted from the emotion of the day that she could do little more than peel off her dress and take off her makeup before collapsing into an exhausted sleep. As she drifted off, it occurred to her that tomorrow was her wedding day and there would be no one there who cared about her. Her father certainly wouldn’t be there to give her away.
It hurt to think what their relationship had come to, but she had so much hurt and anger built up that she didn’t know if she’d ever have a normal relationship with him. But Scott’s words were still echoing in her mind. He wanted to actually try and make the marriage work, which sounded great until she realized that she’d have to tell him about her charity. But if she was truly committed to him, she’d have to tell him, it was too much a part of her life not to.
There was a huge risk that he’d put a stop to her going into the dangerous places she did, but really what could he do to stop her if she refused to stop? Only her identity getting out would stop her and she felt sure that he wouldn’t do that to her. It would be a real test of her trust to tell him and that was very scary. Not sure she was ready for that, she decided that there was plenty of time to tell him before her next scheduled visit.
The next morning, she packed a bag and zipped her dress into a garment bag, her hands shaking when she carefully folded the skimpy lingerie she’d picked up for the wedding night. She hadn’t been sure that she was going to take it, but now that they were going to treat this as the real thing no way was she leaving it behind. It was far more risqué than anything else she’d ever owned. The garter and silk stockings had taken some practice, but even she could see how great she looked with them on.
When Scott picked her up, she was more than ready to go, her nerves strung so tight she thought her head would explode. As he walked next to her, he took her hand and gave it a squeeze, then said, “Relax, I think you’re going to be pleased, don’t look like it’s the end of the world.”
“I’m just so nervous, I know it’s stupid, but...” She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.
Scott stopped and set her bag down. “Come here,” he said and pulled her into his arms. “We can still back out of this and just go down to city hall if you want. I don’t want this to be something you have to get through.”
Marissa rested her head on his chest and listened to his heart beating steadily in his chest, a reassuring sound that calmed her immediately. He smelled good and he was rubbing her back, releasing the tension in her muscles. “I’m okay, I want to do it this way,” she finally said, taking a deep breath. “It’s an adventure.”