Ryan
When I put the tux on in my hotel room that morning, I actually felt the same nerves I imagined I would feel if I were marrying someone in a normal situation. Then I remembered that it was just for show, and though it was legally binding, it wasn’t real. That calmed me down, for a minute, but as soon as I stepped back up there to the altar, the nerves came flooding back to me. I knew there was no backing out, not anymore. I had signed the contract, filmed my intro, and now I was standing front and center in a room full of strangers, including a huge film crew, about to say ‘I do’ to a girl I’d never met and knew nothing about.
I looked up as an older woman, maybe in her late fifties, was escorted down the aisle. She was statuesque and absolutely beautiful. She walked up to the front and smiled at me, taking my hand in hers. She leaned up and kissed my cheek, looking up at me with the most striking green eyes I had ever seen.
“Hello, I’m Carolyn, mother of the bride,” she smiled.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” I replied. “I’m Ryan, Ryan Carson.”
She nodded and winked, turning and walking to her seat. I wasn’t expecting the mother to be that gorgeous, and I felt that it was a good sign that my bride was going to be beautiful too. At least if she was hot I could get through it by sleeping in the same bed as her every night. Hopefully she wasn’t a horrid witch, something I had been worried about, since I’d been secretly told she was an actress. An actress from LA only brought one kind of woman to my mind — spoiled.
Everyone chattered quietly around us, and it was strange to me that the audience was a group of people we didn’t know, instead of friends and family. At the same time, it would be hard to keep my friends and family quiet if they knew this was all for some TV show. Suddenly, the room quieted, and the pastor stepped forward, lifting his hands. Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” started to play, and everyone rose from their seats. I stood up straight and took a deep breath as the doors at the back of the hall began to open.
The light was bright behind the woman standing there, her white dress hugging every single one of her delicious curves. Her face was covered by a thick lace veil, and her long dark hair cascaded over her shoulders in big curls. Everyone oohed and awed as the cameras spun around her, taking pictures from all directions. In her hands she clutched a bouquet of red roses, with a blue ribbon tied around the stems.
I squinted, a halo of light cascaded behind her, shadowing the little bit I could make out of her face. I may not have been able to tell what she looked like, but I could see that she had one killer body. She looked taller than I expected but as she stepped I could see heels of matching blue satin, and realized she was petite, and much shorter than me. Hopefully her face would match the rest of her and the journey through this reality show wouldn’t be as bad as I thought it might be.
When she reached the front of the altar I could smell her lavender perfume and I noticed her hands shaking slightly. I could tell she was just as nervous as I was. I reached forward with a smile and lifted her veil, taken aback by how absolutely stunning she was. She looked up at me with big brown eyes, her long thick eyelashes batting at me. Her lips were pouty, and I instantly felt like I wanted to kiss them. I had never experienced that kind of raw need before, not with any woman. I shook it off, figuring it was the excitement of the moment. Taking her hand, we turned to the pastor.
“We are gathered here today to join this man, Ryan Carson, with this woman, Mira Dixon, in holy matrimony,” the pastor began, as everyone sat down behind us.
The pastor went through the ceremony, reading passages specifically selected by the production company. It would have been an amazing wedding for two people who actually loved each other. For me, I just had a challenging time paying attention. My eyes kept being drawn to her perfect lips and flawless skin. When the pastor had finished, and our vows had been said, we turned to each other once more.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” he smiled.
I stepped forward and leaned down, wrapping my arm around her waist and picking her up. She gasped, and everyone giggled and laughed. I smiled at her, leaning in and whispering.
“All for the show, right?”
I pressed my lips hard against hers, shocked by the instantaneous heat and sexual tension that blossomed between us out of nowhere. I could feel her almost relax into me for a moment before pulling back and putting on a fake smile. I set her down on her feet and we turned, waving at the crowd, the cameras zooming in on us. That was it, I was hitched! Married to a woman I really hadn’t met yet, whose name I only learned thirty minutes ago. We were perfect strangers heading into a life of cameras, fake love and an unknown future.
We continued the fabricated event by heading into the ballroom next door and celebrating with our false friends and family, going through the motions for the camera. We all had a nice dinner, we cut the cake and shared a piece of it while the microphone hovered above our heads, just out of the frame of the camera. This was all so insane to me, like I was a kid playing dress-up with the girls.
We had our first dance, which was awkward as hell, though I didn’t mind having her pressed against me like that. I didn’t even know what to say, and the best part to me was the fact that there were gifts on the back table with nothing more than empty boxes inside. It was like putting on a play or a murder-mystery where no one was killed, and we were both grieving the loss of our freedom and dignity. She was a beautiful girl, and so far seemed very sweet. She definitely knew how to make the crowd smile. Her dress was gorgeous and gave me a sneak peek of what was underneath. I wondered if we would be consummating this union, or if that was completely out of the question. The one thing I did know was that she made me nervous and I couldn’t quite figure out why.
“This is really nice,” she said, looking out over the party. “I don’t know a single person, except my mom.”
“I feel like a doll being made to play dress up,” I chuckled.
“In really expensive outfits,” she smiled, looking down at the table.
That was about the extent of our conversation for the entire evening. Both of us were incredibly nervous and neither of us really knew what to say to each other, plus the cameras were constantly in our faces. Luckily, at that moment there was no mic, since we weren’t allowed to talk about the fakeness of the wedding in front of people there. I glanced over at her as she smiled and waved at her mother who was sitting at one of the front tables. I was really glad that she was attractive, and though I didn’t want to sound like a completely shallow bastard, it would have been bothersome to struggle through this with someone I wasn’t remotely attracted to. I figured it wouldn’t be so bad seeing her every day, and I could occupy my time by trying to get in her pants and flirt with her.
“I think we’re being summoned,” she said, nodding at Evelyn waving from the back door.
We stood up and walked to the back where they told us we would be leaving. Mira quickly went back to her mother and leaned in, giving her a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. She looked almost worried to leave her mom, which I found odd, yet I also understood this was an incredibly uncomfortable situation. She was probably just nervous to start the next leg of the adventure, or so I called it, and briefly wondered what she thought.
We jumped into the limo out front and waved at all the ‘friends’ who ran out throwing rice as we pulled off. The car took us outside the city and up a large drive to a gated property. As we moved forward, the house came into sight, and I raised an eyebrow at the huge house we’d apparently be occupying for the next six months. It was a large and beautiful mansion, the lawn immaculate, with a big fountain in the center of the drive. When we got out, I extended my hand, helping Mira up the stairs. For the camera’s sake, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her over the threshold, feeling the heat of her body against me.
The cameras shut off for a bit, so we could change our clothes upstairs. There were outfits hanging in the bedroom for us, hers a silken nightgown with a matching robe and mine a pair of silk pajamas. I sighed at the sight of them as she went into the bathroom to change, and I changed right there in the large bedroom. When she came out I couldn’t help but stare at her, she looked absolutely beautiful.
“Shall we have some champagne?” I asked. “I think I saw like nine bottles on the counter downstairs.”
“Sure,” she smiled.
The cameras filmed me opening a bottle of champagne, then the both of us gulping down our first glass. After that, they were done filming for the evening. We continued to drink though, and I could tell the bubbly was loosening her up because she became chatty. I on the other hand, didn’t have much to say.
“Who would really live in a place like this?” she laughed, looking around. “I mean, I guess there are plenty of people who would or do, but I couldn’t imagine. I don’t like cleaning our small house. I would hate dusting this place.”
“It is pretty big,” I said, looking up at the large ceiling. “So, I have a question.”
“All right,” she said, watching me lean closer. “Since you are now technically my wife, and me your husband, and we have to sleep in the same bed anyway, would it be out of the question to make this marriage the real deal?”
“For now, yes,” she said, taking a big sip of her drink, but she smiled at me. “We don’t actually know each other, and we’re in this for the money. I’m not interested in making this any more complicated than it needs to be.”
I nodded and leaned back, deciding to let it go. She needed time, I could see that, all of it was so much to take in. I couldn’t really be upset, I probably would have reacted the same way in her position. Of course, I wasn’t in her position and I could feel my body trying to draw her closer. I wanted her, it had been six hours since I met her, but I wanted her more than anyone I’d ever wanted in my life. If she didn’t come around it was going to be a painful six months.