One signature that should have taken ten minutes max to get through, turned out to be a lot longer than anticipated. Apparently, they had a minor change of heart and wanted to make a couple additions to the contract.

I had to calm Kevin down enough because he’d wanted to say fuck it and throw away the contract. But he’d just gotten promoted at his marketing firm, and I knew he’d regret it later.

“This is your big deal you were bringing to the table with your promotion. Come on. We have time. Don’t throw this away.”

He’d reluctantly given in and left to sit in on a phone call. I hated it because it was with Jean. She was nice enough and seemed to keep it mostly professional, but I noticed the looks, the extra touches to the sleeve of his suit. My jaw clenched hard just thinking about it. My mind couldn’t help but wonder if she kept him there longer than necessary just to spend more time with him. It’d been over an hour since he’d left.

I sat on the loveseat in his office, my flowing white skirt a stark contrast to the black leather. I brought my phone to life and checked the time. Two-seventeen. The courthouse closed at four and I was grateful I’d pushed him to take me with him. His office was much closer to the courthouse than our apartment.

The door flew open, and Kevin strode in with his white sleeves rolled up on his strong, tan forearms that flexed when he pushed them through his dark hair.

The door slammed closed behind him and he paced a few times before stopping to look at me.

“I’m so sorry, Ana. We’re still waiting for them to agree to the contract. As soon as they do, they’ll let me know.”

I hated seeing him like this. So frustrated and defeated.

“It’s going to work out, Kev.” I infused strength in my voice. In truth, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but I wasn’t ready to give up hope yet. He just needed something to keep him positive. And I knew just the thing to do.

My skirt rustled, drawing his eye, as I began bunching it in my fists.

“Maybe I can give you a distraction. Keep your mind off of Jean and the wait.” I stared up at him from my spot on the couch, leaning back and spreading my legs a little. His jaw clenched when I arched my back, pushing my breasts up.

He locked the door before he began stalking toward me with a smirk, and my heart kicked up in my chest. “Are you jealous, Anabelle?”

“No.”

Once he was in front of me, my skirt had cleared my knees and he used his foot to kick my feet apart, making me spread my legs before he dropped to his knees. His palms landed on my thighs, urging them wider as he pushed the skirt up to my waist, not letting his eyes stray from my core.

“I find it sexy that you’re territorial.” His eyes flicked to mine. “But don’t lie to me again. Now take your panties off.” His command was low and hard, and my pussy clenched in response.

“I’m still not fucking you yet.”

His eyes flicked to mine, hard and unyielding. “Take the fucking panties off, Anabelle.”

Lifting my hips, I hooked my fingers in the lace and began tugging them down. He let me take them off before pocketing them and urging my thighs wide again.

My breaths came fast and hard, unable to hold back the blush from the way he stared at my exposed opening. His fingers dug into the tender flesh making me whimper from the bruising strength. He dropped his head to my inner thigh by my knee and began biting hard, sucking the tender skin into his mouth, leaving marks in his wake.

Slowly, he worked his way up my leg, making me more and more wet with each stinging bite, with each mark he left behind.

One long finger dragged from my opening to circle my clit, making my hips jump. “Look at how wet this cunt is.” He brought the finger to his mouth and licked the moisture off. “I’m going to eat your pussy and make you hold in all your cries. You won’t be allowed to cover your mouth as I pinch your nipples, clamping them between my fingers. So, you better not scream if you don’t want the entire office to know that you’re a slut who loves pain.”

Part of me wanted to be loud, to let Jean know that Kevin was mine and no amount of swoony looks would sway him. My whole body trembled in anticipation when his head lowered. I could feel his breaths against the wetness coating my lips, waiting for the feel of his tongue on me, when the doorknob rattled, and a knock came at the door. My whole body froze, grateful Kevin had had the foresight to lock the door.

“Harding, open up. I got the forms.”

Kevin placed a soft kiss on my pussy before pulling back. He rearranged my dress back to normal and I did my best to look like I wasn’t burning from the inside out.

Another of his co-workers, Jeremy, pushed in as soon as Kevin unlocked the door and I refused to make eye-contact with him.

“Sorry about this shit-show, man. Just need you to look it over and sign here.” Kevin scanned the documents and then scribbled across the last page.

“We done?”

“Yup.” Kevin shook his hand and off Jeremy went.

When Kevin turned to me, his eyes scanned me from top to bottom and I knew he was trying to decide if we could pick up where we left off. I looked at the time again and saw it was two-thirty-two. “Not enough time.” I stood and walked to him, kissing his neck. “Tonight.”

We grabbed our things and rushed to the car. He peeled out onto the street from the garage. We’d managed to make it six blocks before we hit a complete stand-still.

“What the fuck is going on?” Kevin almost shouted.

I sat up and looked around, but everything seemed to be stopped. People ahead of us were out of their cars and trying to see what was happening. Other cars had already driven up behind us. We were stuck.

After thirty minutes, Kevin pulled out his phone and opened google to see if he could find anything about what was causing the stand-still. “Apparently, a damn dairy truck t-boned another truck, causing more cars to pile up behind it. This happened two hours ago. We could have missed it entirely if I hadn’t needed to come in.”

“Do you think they have ice-cream on that truck? Maybe I could walk up and get us some cookies ‘n’ cream.” I tried to make light of the situation, but he wasn’t having it.

“Fuck.” Kevin hit the wheel and looked like he was ready to explode.

I reached my hand across the console and grabbed his hand from the steering wheel, letting my pinky softly link with his. I wanted to anchor him to help him calm down. Just like he did for me. I began talking to take his mind off the situation.

“I’ll never forget the first time you touched me. Or at least the first time it meant more than just a helping hand.” We’d been on his roof, under a blanket after he’d had a breakup with his girlfriend.

His jaw relaxed a little and he chuckled. “You’d just told me I was your best friend.”

“I had.” I hadn’t meant to say it at the time, but the smile he’d had afterward settled in my chest and made me want to say it over and over again, just to see his happiness. “When your pinky touched mine, it was like my whole body lit on fire. Like everything felt a million times more right than anything ever had in my life.” I smiled at the memory. “Just from a single touch.”

“You almost burned me to the ground with some of your simple touches.”

I laughed. “Oh yeah? Which ones?”

“All the times we played chicken in the pool tested my patience. Fuck, you were hot in that bikini.”

“You didn’t look too bad yourself. I remember that summer, you really grew into your lanky body. Who knew you’d only end up sexier now?”

“I only get better from here on out.”

“God, I hope so.” I let my head fall back dramatically on the seat. “I would hate to be stuck with someone who hit their peak at seventeen.”

His laugh filled the car before he lifted my hand and kissed each finger, never letting go of my pinky.

“Each summer, the swimsuits got smaller and smaller and it took everything I had not to pin you down. I would imagine tying your hands together with the top.”

“Why didn’t you?” It was such an easy question to ask now.

“Well, I was scared shitless by that need, and you were my best friend. I didn’t want to chance that.”

How easy it was to forget where we’d come from. Kevin and I felt natural being together. We always had in one way or another, but sometimes I forgot—or blanked out—how hard it was to get to where we were. All the fears, doubts, and questions. The insecurities and mistakes. I wanted to erase all the bad times and years apart between us, but never would because it brought us to where were now.

“Good thing we finally did chance it. Now you can tie me up with my bikini any time. Maybe even in Jamaica.”

A rumble came from his chest, and he was pulling me toward him when a horn honked behind us. We jerked apart and looked forward to find traffic moving again.

“Thank god,” Kevin said, putting the car in drive.

Even though traffic was moving, it was still slow. My heart raced with each minute that ticked by, bringing us closer to four.

We had to make it, a chant repeated in my head. Maybe if I said it enough, it would happen.

We had to make it. We had to make it. We had to make it.

I needed today to be the day when I became Kevin’s wife. I didn’t want to wait anymore.

We reached the parking lot with five minutes to spare. Kevin paid for parking and we ran across the street and into the building. Not taking a chance, we skipped the elevator and took the stairs. My skirt swished around me with each lunging step we took, getting closer to the deadline.

Bursting through the door, we each tried to catch our breaths, hand in hand. I looked to the clock and saw it was three-fifty-seven. Shit. My eyes met the secretary’s as she stared at us from behind thick-rimmed glasses.

“We—” Kevin tried to speak through his panting. “We need to get married today. Now.”

“I’m so sorry, sir. We close in less than five—”

Just then a large man came out of a door on the left, and took in the situation with raised eyebrows.

“Are you the judge?” Kevin asked.

“Um, yes,” he answered hesitantly.

“We need to get married today.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that—”

“Listen. I get it. It’s almost closing time and a Friday. You want to go home, and rules are rules. But do you see this woman right here.” He gestured to me standing there, my hand still linked with his. “She’s the love of my life and I’ve waited more than ten years to have her, and I can’t wait another day—another minute. I need you to please, please, find it in you to please take the time to marry us today. She’s my best friend, and frankly, I may die without having her as my wife another day.”

I looked down to hide the sheen of tears burning my eyes. Silence stretched in the room, and I prepared myself for the denial, squeezing Kevin’s hand for support.

Getting married at the courthouse had been a nice idea. I’d worn the pretty dress and called it my wedding dress. I’d imagined our wedding night all day, but just like our big wedding, this one was just hitting one speed bump after another. Destiny or whatever the hell it was, was doing its best to hold us back. Swallowing the lump trying to choke me, I had already let my shoulders drop and began to turn toward the door.

“Well, you better save your speech for your vows. I can squeeze you in.”