“How can the first few days drag on, but then before you know it there’s only a week left?” I asked, eyeing the bed where the outfit I’d wear to marry Ella was laid out. “And what the hell is this?” I said, lifting a piece of turquoise material that look like a silk scarf.

Ella grabbed it, finger sliding against the silky material as her eyebrows pulled together. “No idea. Maybe it’s a blindfold that you have to put on before you walk the plank.”

“Ha-ha. Funny. Maybe it’s what I’ll use to bind your hands together to march you to the altar.” I spun her around and grabbed her arms. “You have to kick your legs and fight me though, or you’ll never pass as a woman who was stolen by a pirate only to be forced into marriage.”

She broke the hold and her fist shot out, punching me lightly in the chest. “I’m no damsel.”

I backed up a step. “Maybe you should be the pirate and I’ll be the damsel.”

She snorted, and then a full-bodied laugh escaped her. “Can you imagine their faces if we did that? I’m almost tempted to take you up on that plan.”

“So how are we doing this? Are we getting dressed on the boat and then heading to the beach?” I asked, unclear of the actual plan. They’d talked about a lot of things, sometimes more than once, so I’d begun to tune out when the three of them got together. Ella would elbow me, and I’d pay attention for a few minutes, and then I’d zone back out again.

“Men,” Ella huffed. “Do you think you can focus this time so you’re not asking me again in ten minutes?”

I put my hands on her shoulders and locked eyes with her. “I’m all ears.”

She shrugged away my hands and rolled her eyes. “You and Alex will get ready here. I’m getting ready in Allyson’s room. Once you’re ready, you two will head down to the beach with the captain and wait for the boat to bring us girls. You say, ‘I do,’ and we’ll all be shuttled back to the boat where the festivities will commence. Easy enough to remember?” she asked.

I nodded. “Got it. So what time do I have to be ready by?”

She growled something under her breath and then answered. “By six so you have time to get down to the beach and make sure everything is set up.”

“Everything? What more do we need besides the captain and us?” I asked, giving her a hard time.

Of all the things I’d paid attention to, that was where my mind hadn’t wandered off. Go figure.

Her cheeks flushed, eyes snapping as she opened her mouth.

I put my finger to her lips. “Kidding, Ella. I know what were supposed to take care of once we’re there. I just don’t understand why there’s a runner of flowers and an archway being set up. Seems like a lot of extra stuff for a ceremony that will last less than ten minutes.”

“Trust me, I tried to tell Allyson the same thing, but she wasn’t hearing it.”

“Ah, well, just think, only a few more hours and this will be all over with and we can focus on getting through this last week,” I said, reaching out to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Although I must admit, I’m damn excited to shoot that cannon off again,” I said, winking.

She closed her eyes and took a quick breath before releasing it. “Yeah…” she said, eyes growing distant. “And then it’s back to Chicago and the real world.” 

Nothing prepared me for the overload of emotion that punched me in the gut when Ella stepped onto the beach and began her walk toward me. Everything about our fake wedding felt all too real in that moment. Pirate theme aside, Ella was the most beautiful bride I’d ever laid eyes on, and for that moment, she was mine.

The breeze blew over us, causing the material of my shirt to flap. The sound like the popping of a sail in the wind. The waves crashed against the shore as seagulls rode the salty air, squawking either protests or heartfelt congratulations overhead.

The captain brought it all into focus when Ella’s walk ended with her standing beside me. The waning sunlight bounced off the jeweled hairclips that look like tiny diamonds in her hair. Her dress, while not even close to traditional, shimmered as if stitched with silver thread. Tight in the bodice, it hugged her as if it weren’t a dress at all, but part of her body. At her hips it flared, with rutched material that hung in layers, stopping just under her knees in the front, yet trailed behind her in the sand.

We’d decided, at my insistence, not to wear shoes. It was a beach after all, and trying to walk on loose sand with shoes was a pain. Ella had agreed with me immediately, adding that a beach wedding should come with a standard no-shoe rule.

The warm sand under my feet shifted when Ella came to stand beside me. When I looked down and saw her smiling up at me, I knew deep in my heart that there would never be another woman I’d love more than I loved Ella.

The feeling both terrified and thrilled me. I could choose to either accept what was, and live in the pretend world we created until we were forced to leave it all behind, or I could halt everything and not allow this to be a memory that would haunt me until the day I died.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this woman and this man…”

“I do,” Ella’s voice whispered.

“And do you Joshua…”

Her eyes, reflected my own image back at me like twin glittering pools. Fathomless in depth, I could lose myself in them, the same way she seemed to be losing herself into mine.

“I do,” I answered as she squeezed my hands lightly prompting my response.

“By the power vested in me…”

How could one man be so lucky, yet so damned all in one moment?

“…pronounce you husband and wife.”

Ella let go of my hands and stepped close. I caught her against me with one hand around her waist and the other cupping her neck. When our lips met, I forgot where we were. Nothing mattered but that moment. Nothing mattered except for the woman in my arms.

It was only when Alex pounded me on the back that reality crept back in. Our surroundings came into focus as pictures were snapped against the setting sun while we each had a turn at firing the cannon before it got too dark. She’d been a little disappointed that there weren’t any cannonballs, but the feeling quickly diminished as soon as the fuse was lit and the first repercussive bang rattled our chests.

Not long after, we were directed from spot to spot on the beach, posing for pictures.

When I’d finally had enough, I swept Ella off her feet and walked away from the photographer.

“Thank you,” Ella whispered against my neck. “My damn cheeks are killing me from smiling.”

I chuckled. “You’re supposed to be flailing,” I reminded her.

“Can I do that later? It’s sort of hard to flail in this dress when it’s about to cut off my circulation. Who knew a dress that laced up the back could quiet literally take your breath away.”

I found her eyes and held them. “Well, for what it’s worth, you look beautiful.”

She shifted and wrapped her arms around my neck, leaning back enough to look at me. “If all the pirates had looked like you, the damsels might have run away with them instead of flailing about.”

“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?” I asked, joking with her just to see her smile.

She smirked, gearing up to say something, but it ended up becoming a laugh as I spun us in circles. She let go of my neck and opened her arms until I stopped and set her down. The both of us so dizzy that we clung to one another, unable to do anything but laugh until the spinning stopped. When it did, she came up on tiptoe and kissed me. It was a brief touch of her lips, and it left me craving so much more.

My fingertips trailed down her cheek, hand stopping just under her chin as I tilted her mouth up to mine and lost myself to her again.

“And I thought Allyson and Alex were bad. Yeesh,” Summer said as she strolled up to us with a playful grin. “Come on, you two. Let’s get back to the boat so we can celebrate with champagne and make lewd jokes about your wedding night.”

“In a minute,” Ella said, putting her hand on my chest.

Summer gave us a knowing grin, backing away without another word.

“You okay?” I asked.

She turned in my arms and nodded, a warm smile spreading across her lips.

The sun had all but disappeared, leaving a thumbnail curve to bob along the water. And then, all at once, it was gone with a flash of green light.

“Wow… did you see that?” she asked, turning to put her arm around my waist.

“I’d heard of it, but I never thought I’d see it,” I answered as we walked the hard-packed sand that was wet and cool under out feet. Maybe once the euphoria of the day had settled and I could call it back to my memories, I’d be a little more awed by it. But the truth was, my head hadn’t come out of the clouds since my feet had touched the sand of Parrot Cay.

“You know, despite the circumstances, today has been one of the best days I’ve had in a long time,” Ella said, sighing softly.

“Yeah? Must have been the cannon,” I said, recalling the thundering booms from earlier.

“Eh, I’ve seen better,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

“Mrs. Howard…” I said, feigning shock, “I believe the pirate life has already corrupted you.” 

The wedding had been a simple sort of elaborate. The reception? A whole other story. How one person could transform a pool area of a yacht into something resembling the deck of a pirate ship was beyond me. And how they’d found the time to do it was even more baffling.

Champagne was handed all around as well wishes were given by complete strangers. Waiters milled on deck, all in costume, serving several types of food and drink.

The cake, created by the chef on board, had been soused with rum and lit on fire to the general merriment of the crowd. It was perfect. The music shifted, changing into something people could dance to, and turned up loud enough to rattle the deck under my feet.

The drinks changed from champagne to rum runners, mulled cider, and the bartender’s own version of grog.

We’d eaten our fill and danced all while still dressed in our wedding clothes, so when Ella said she wanted to change and asked me if I’d help her with the laced-up bodice, we disappeared to our room.

“Phew! I can’t wait to get out of this thing. It’s been cutting me in half ever since we ate,” Ella said, turning her back to me.

“No wonder. It isn’t just laces. There are hooks too. Hold on, I’ll have you out of this in no time,” I said, pulling the laces free.

She sighed when the bodice loosened and then dropped to the floor, leaving her in a thin layer of muslin so transparent I could see her skin.

“It’s so quiet in here,” she said, skimming the skirt past her hips and kicking it off. It landed in a heap on the other side of the room.

“Are you changing too?” she asked, turning to the closet and grabbing a simple dress that she slipped over her head.

“Yeah. The outfit is pretty awesome, but I’m sweating my ass off with all this material.”

“So that’s what that was for,” she said, taking the turquoise piece of silk from me.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, a sash, Alex called it,” I answered, untying the string at the collar of my shirt and then peeling it over my head.

Her palms came to rest on my chest. “Josh, I…”

“Don’t say it. Please, whatever it is, don’t say it right now. Today’s been perfect, even if it isn’t real, and for now… just for now, I want to keep it that way.”

She smiled at me. “I was going to say the same thing.”

That caught me off guard. “You were?”

She nodded, stepping closer.

“Do you want to go back to the party?” I reached out to run my finger along her flushed cheek.

She shook her head. “Not right now. Maybe in a little bit.”

“Are you sure? I mean, we’re married now. Us having… you and I, if we… it would make it more legal, and—”

“Shut up, Captain Josh, and ravish me,” she said, clamping her hands on my hips and walking us toward the bed.

“Yes, my lady,” I said, sweeping her off her feet.