Axl knew he was being ridiculous. It was stupid as fuck to be going over to Leighton’s hotel room just so he could rest his hand on her hip while they both slept. Never had he been the guy who needed to share a bed with someone.

In fact, just the opposite.

But there was something about the fact that there was an expiration date on their relationship that made him want to steal every moment he could with her. With any other woman he had dated this would have never occurred to him. His unwillingness to see one girlfriend after his work shifts had actually resulted in their breaking up. She felt unimportant. He felt annoyed.

The desk clerk didn’t seem at all alarmed that he was at the desk asking for a key to Leighton’s room. He would have been concerned by that except the woman said, “I can’t wait to watch your wedding on TV, officer.” She was in her early twenties and she handed him the key with a bright smile.

That took him aback. Sometimes he forgot this whole thing was going to be watched by random people in their living rooms across the country. “Thank you. Hopefully I won’t make an ass out of myself.”

She laughed riotously, like he was downright hilarious.

“Thanks for the key. I don’t want to wake Leighton up.”

She laughed again and nodded enthusiastically.

Never having been considered a funny guy, he wasn’t sure how to react to her laughter other than to nod back and shake the key card in the air. “Goodnight.”

Her response was yet again a peel of laughter. Axl had to get the hell out of there. He found it was the same kind of reaction doing the strip event had created. Not his style, that was for sure. He didn’t crave attention. Not that way.

Gingerly he opened the door to Leighton’s room and stepped inside. It was not easy to divest himself of a gun, cuffs, car keys, his wallet, and entire uniform quietly but he thought he did a reasonable enough job. He could hear Leighton’s steady breathing in the dark room. She had the blackout drapes tightly drawn and he couldn’t see a damn thing. In his underwear he moved slowly, trying to remember exactly where the furniture was placed in the room.

He bumped the edge of the bed, his eyes adjusting a little. He could see Leighton’s blonde hair spread across the pillow, lying on her side. She was a bed hog. It was a king-size bed and she was dead center. Easing the bedspread back, he slid in beside her. He couldn’t resist the urge to spoon her. Leighton had the best ass. Awesome tits too. She smelled like shampoo and has he settled in beside her, the soft feel of her warm ass cheeks beneath her soft cotton nightgown, he couldn’t help it. He started to get a hard-on.

Instead of shifting away from her he was a greedy bastard who snaked his hand around her front and cupped her breast. It was a dick move, he knew that. But she was way too tempting. He realized Leighton wasn’t full asleep, though, because damned if she didn’t wiggle that sweet ass up against his cock.

“Is that a gun or are you just happy to see me?” she murmured, sounding sleepy.

“What do you think?”

“I think you’re a very bad man.”

“Can’t argue with that.” He teased her nipple, which drew a tiny gasp from her. “You don’t have to do anything. I’ll do all the work.”

“Axl…” It wasn’t a protest. More like a moan.

“That’s my name.”

Her ass bumped him again. “Make me come.”

“I thought you wanted to sleep.” Axl shifted her hair and kissed the back of her neck.

“It will only take a minute.”

That made him laugh softly. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”

He eased his fingers into her panties and started to stroke across her clit, and inside her. Leighton responded immediately, with soft sounds of approval and her body growing damp for him. She rocked her hips so that his finger went deeper inside her.

She was right. It only took a minute before she was shuddering in pleasure.

Damn, he needed to make a note to himself. Sleepy Leighton came fast and hard.

Probably because she was relaxed. That wasn’t always the case when she was wide awake.

“Yum,” she murmured.

“I agree. Turn towards me, baby.”

He had to encourage her but she rolled onto her opposite side, languid and sleepy-eyed. He got rid of his boxer briefs, lifted her leg onto his hip, and eased into her warm heat. She moaned and he thought there was nothing better than this. Her slick hot pussy, the scent of her arousal, the sound of her voice enjoying his cock.

Now he knew why he had come here tonight. This was it. Tomorrow her family arrived and everything went full throttle.

Their last stolen moments alone, with any sort of truth or intimacy between them was right here, right now. His eyes trained on hers, her fingers stroking across his chest. Her nightgown bunched at her waist while he slowly, methodically, thrust his cock inside her body.

He thought it was so fucking hot that she wore a nightgown. Every other woman he’d dated slept in oversized T-shirts and basketball shorts or pajama pants.

Not Leighton. She was like his little piece of old Hollywood, curvy and silky and sexy.

When Axl felt Leighton orgasm a second time, he joined her. Let himself explode inside her while he gripped her hip.

He wanted to say something. He didn’t know what. But within a minute or two of his coming, Leighton was already drifting back into sleep. His cock still inside her.

So he brushed her hair back off her forehead and watched her eyes flutter and her mouth drift open as she settled into a deeper breathing.

He didn’t think he would be able to sleep. He never crashed right after a three to eleven shift. But he did.

His last conscious thought was that he just might be falling love with Leighton.

---

“What is actually happening?” Axl murmured to Leighton. He was sitting at his parents’ dining room table next to Leighton, his arm over the back of her chair.

“I’m not sure,” she whispered back. “This is very weird.”

His parents and Leighton’s parents hadn’t eyeballed each other suspiciously or been confrontational in any way. They had hit it off faster than couples on a reality dating show. Axl had been concerned that the mothers might be aloof but they were slinging back wine and laughing like they had known each other for forty years. His father and Dieter were deep in a discussion on Bitcoin.

No one was paying any attention to either him or Leighton.

Which was fine with him but it was still strange nonetheless.

His parents’ house was an eighties colonial that had undergone a refresh in the kitchen and bathrooms in the last ten years but the dining room was still the way it had been when he was a kid. Dark burgundy walls and a deep mahogany table and hutch. Axl had thought he mother would be worried about her décor the way she was about her hair, but neither of those seemed to be on her mind at all. She and Barbie were discussing the merits of pedicures with fish, whatever the hell that was.

Barbie was vivacious and over-the-top. He could see how she would be the life of the party, but like Leighton, she had a way of making everyone around her feel comfortable. Leighton seemed to have her father’s personality. Quiet, thoughtful, organized.

“May I have another of those sashimi rolls?” Dieter asked, pointing to the platter in the center of the table.

“Of course,” his mother said.

The decision had been made to order food given that it was last minute and his mother had rather belligerently chosen sushi because the Van Burens were from California.

But to her surprise, she had enjoyed it herself, which Axl found ironic.

“What do we do?” Axl asked Leighton under his breath. “I feel like we could leave and they would never notice.”

“I feel like I’m in an alternate reality.” Leighton turned to him, amused. “I guess it’s a good thing, right?”

Sure, if they were a real couple.

Which it kind of felt like they were. Which freaked him the fuck out.

“Better than a food fight.”

But then Leighton’s father, over coffee, said, “If you two want me to glance over the prenuptial agreement, I’d be happy to take a look.”

Shit.

That had never occurred to Axl. Of course Leighton’s family would want a prenup. They had a ton of money. And, also predictably, his mother was offended.

“Why, do you think Axl might be trying to take advantage of Leighton?”

If this were a real marriage, Axl would sign a prenuptial agreement. But it wasn’t, so it hadn’t entered his head. They had some guy Leighton had hired marrying them without actually getting a marriage license. Nothing would be legal. “Mom, it’s fine. I don’t think they were suggesting that at all.”

“No, no, of course not,” Dieter said. “It’s for both of them. It’s standard. You wouldn’t want Leighton to inherit your property if something happened, would you? Contracts just take out the negative emotion and allow the room for all the joy, yes?”

Amazingly, it placated his mother. “I suppose,” she said reluctantly.

“I can sign whatever you want,” Axl told Leighton.

Her lips were pursed. “I think we should talk about this later.”

“How much later?” Axl’s father asked. “The wedding is in two days.”

Yes. It was.

It scared the absolute shit out of him because something was not right in his head. He wanted to spend more time with Leighton. No, he absolutely did not want to get married for real. But he wouldn’t mind seeing her still after all of this and seeing if maybe, just maybe it could go somewhere. A real relationship. Which was impossible.

He stood up abruptly.

“What are you doing?” his mother asked, looking mortified at his complete lack of manners.

“I need a drink.”

---

Leighton watched Axl disappear into the family room where the Moores had a bar. She gave a weak smile to everyone around the table and shrugged. Her palms felt damp and she ran them down the front of her floral dress.

It was making her uncomfortable that everyone seemed to be getting along. While the thought of animosity had been scary, it wouldn’t have felt so intimate then. This felt far too close to real to be anything other than horrifying.

Axl seemed to be having the same response since he was headed straight for the booze. She’d only known him six days but he didn’t seem to be much of a drinker. He’d said so himself and his lack of home liquor led her to believe that was true. His parents had a full bar, though, and she heard bottles clinking around as if he were searching for something.

“I think this is all a little overwhelming,” she said weakly.

“Well, that’s what happens when you rush these things,” Hillary said. It was evident she thought they both deserved some stress for being so impulsive.

“Oh, pooh,” her own mother said. “Marriage is always going to be overwhelming. Sometimes you just have to dive in.”

“You know what they say. The secret to a successful marriage is still a secret,” her father said.

“Dad!” Leighton almost laughed. “That’s not advice. That’s like a George Burns punch line.”

Axl came back to the table with something that looked like bourbon. Poured very high in the glass.

Her father shrugged. “Just respect your marriage, you two, and everything will be fine.”

That was about as unsettling as Winnie’s words that Leighton was stealing her day.

They weren’t respecting anything.

She swallowed hard. Marriage wasn’t a TV show. Marriage wasn’t something to be flippant about. Marriage was Soon-ja leaving her family and her home behind because of love. Marriage was her own father willing to accept digs about their age difference because he loved his wife. Marriage was Axl’s mother and father raising three kids and still enjoying each other’s company after a crazy night at a Guns N’ Roses concert.

She wanted that. All of that. She wanted a man to look at her for years and years with love still shining in his eyes. She wanted a man who would defend her when her mother took a dig at her weight and who made her feel beautiful, just the way she was.

And she wanted it with Axl.

It was happening. She could feel it. Her throat was closing up and her heart started to race.

No one seemed to notice so she concentrated on breathing through her nose. God, she hated this. It made her feel so weak to not be able to control her anxiety. Everyone always just thought she was overreacting or that she could control it. But it was physical, an actual wave of predictable symptoms that crashed over her until she felt like she was having a heart attack or that she couldn’t breathe. Even when she knew intellectually she wasn’t going to die, it really, in those moments, felt like it.

But then there was Axl, his hand on her leg, squeezing. His voice murmuring in her ear, “It’s okay. You’re okay.” His hand, lifting his glass to her lips and encouraging her to take a sip.

Her vision had blurred but with his help and repeated soft words, he returned her to clarity. She could hear her mother saying, “Oh, shit, she’s doing it again, Dieter. Do something.”

“What’s going on?” Hillary asked.

Leighton was mortified. She was too embarrassed to look at Axl’s parents so she focused on him. He cupped her cheeks, his thumbs massaging over her skin. “That’s good. You’re fine.”

She didn’t say anything. She could only imagine what people living in Northern Minnesota would think of her anxiety. Axl’s parents seemed very salt-of-the-earth and when she shot a quick glance over at them, they looked horrified.

“Are you having a seizure?” Hillary asked.

“Panic attack,” her own mother said. “She gets those a lot.”

“Oh, dear. That’s unfortunate.”

Which to Leighton’s ears might as well have been “so the bitch is broken.” She had no clue what Hillary or Rob were actually thinking but it felt like something to be ashamed of because she had always despised her anxiety.

“It doesn’t happen a lot anymore,” she said, feeling defensive.

And as grateful as she was for Axl’s support, she saw in his eyes that he didn’t agree with her assessment that it didn’t happen frequently. He was right. She’d done this three times since she’d met him.

“It doesn’t matter if it does or it doesn’t. What matters is that you’re okay.” He kissed her forehead and dropped his arms back down.

“Oh, my goodness, you have such a good touch with her,” her mother said. “They usually last longer than that.”

They did. But Axl was a big, strong, calming force for her. An anchor.

Axl gave her a smile that made her toes curl. “Leighton has a good touch with me, too.”

She sighed, loving how he always made her feel like his equal. Like she had something to contribute. Without even thinking about it, she reached for his hand and laced her fingers through his.

“Well. Who wants coffee and dessert?” Hillary said, swiftly, like it was important to move on. Or maybe because their intimacy was upsetting to her.

Leighton wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.

“You should see Leighton’s dress,” her mother said cheerfully. “It will knock your socks off, Axl!”

Leighton had seen it and was pleasantly surprised that her mother had chosen a dress that reflected her personality. It was certainly blingy, but not outrageous the way she had been expecting. It was mermaid style, which was what she would have chosen for herself. She had felt good in it when she had tried it on and it only needed minor modifications. The veil hadn’t arrived yet but was due in tomorrow. It made her feel like maybe her mother did understand her, and did respect who she was as a person.

“Is it low cut?” Axl asked. “That’s all I care about.”

His mother reached across the table and slapped his arm. “Knock it off. This is your future mother-in-law. Show some respect.”

“It is low cut!” her mother said, not sounding the least bit offended.

Leighton reached out for Axl’s glass and took a giant sip, fighting back the urge to choke.

It settled on her hard and fast that this wasn’t worth her job. This was torture. Glorious, delicious, horrible torture. It was like having everything you’d ever wanted knowing it was all going away in a matter of days. It felt real, but it was fake. It was an emotional tornado and Axl sat there though it, the eye. Calm. Unperturbed, while she was spinning around unable to grab onto anything but him.

She didn’t want to say it was a mistake, but God, she had enjoyed being with Axl so much. But she didn’t like the lie.

“I can’t wait to see her,” Axl said.

It was like being on a reality TV show where everyone else had a script but her.

Axl was doing this to save his ass. She needed to remember that.

She may be falling in love, but he wasn’t.

Oh, God, she was falling in love.

Damn it.

She took another sip and prayed she would not make an ass out of herself by telling him how she felt. Because he wasn’t going to fall in love with her even if she had all the wedding lingerie in the state of Minnesota.