One kiss, maybe even two, when the Koboyashis weren’t around to witness them, could be written off as excitement about getting verbal confirmation that the contract was ours, but last night… Last night was unforgettable.
“Well, you have to forget it,” I told myself firmly, pulling into the parking garage next door for the first time.
It was nice of the movers to tinker with my car enough to get it off the lot at the old apartment, but it wasn’t enough to make me forget the churning in my stomach as I went up the elevator to my office. Feeling like I couldn’t breathe, I made Rurik’s coffee and placed it on his desk, scurrying away as usual, before he could mention how bad it was.
“Thanks, Clem,” he said absently.
I snuck a peek behind me. He hadn’t reached for it and was engrossed in something on his computer, not looking up at me at all. Weird, but not really. He was acting like everything was completely normal. Like we were never locked in an embrace, I could still feel every inch he touched.
This was great, wasn’t it? No awkward conversations, just pretend it never happened.
There was plenty to do, so I got to work, shoving any confusion out of my mind. We had the verbal confirmation, which should be as good as a signed contract as far as the honorable Koboyashis were concerned, but anything could happen before their names on paper actually made it official.
We were both so busy, with Rurik spending most of the day on the floor below with the accountant, and me tying up loose ends that got ignored while I was devoting all my time to the Koboyahis, that I didn’t see him again until the end of the day.
“Goodnight, Clem,” he said, already checking his phone as he hurried past my outer office.
“Goodnight,” I said, hearing the bitterness in my voice. He was already halfway down the hall.
Did I hope he’d ask how the new apartment was so I’d have a reason to spill my woes to him? And then what? Did I really wish he’d invite me back to his house again? With burning cheeks and way too many mixed emotions, I went back to my hotel and ate greasy fast food for dinner.
Pretend it never happened. Yeah, right. Tell that to my dreams.
The next few days were exactly the same, both of us too busy to say more than a few words to each other. He was in his office, but so wrapped up in paperwork and phone calls that I didn’t dare ask him if he wanted to have lunch with me. Nor did I have a reason to have lunch with him anymore. Did I miss all those close discussions we had over the last few weeks? Or did I just miss him?
A courier came with a thick packet addressed to me, so I decided to eat lunch at my desk and see what it was, not at all hoping that Rurik might invite me somewhere on his way out. I forgot food altogether when I saw that the first papers inside were name change forms, referring to my marriage to Rurik.
Funny. Maybe he wasn’t so busy after all if he was playing jokes on me.
But it wasn’t a joke because there was also a marriage certificate inside, much too official-looking, with my signature at the bottom next to Rurik’s. After way too long on hold, I finally got through to someone at the courthouse, and then, after a lot longer while she looked it up, she came back on the line.
“Yes, it’s official. Rurik Fokin and Clementine Gardner.” She rattled off the date it was filed and hung up.
Grabbing the papers, I stormed into Rurik’s office. The look on my face made him end his current call and raise his eyebrows at me. I shoved the papers under his nose.
“What is this?” I demanded. “Because it looks like we’re married.”
He barely glanced at them and grinned up at me. “That’s because we are.”
“What?” I sputtered.
“You read the papers when you signed them, didn’t you? I was very clear that you should carefully read them.”
That notoriously busy day. The stack of papers I couldn’t have gone through in a week, let alone half a day. All those other tasks piled on top of it. No one could have read all those papers. And yet, I pretended I did, and had them notarized as well. My mouth fell open as I looked at my boss.
“We’re married, Clem,” he said.
I was stunned, almost off my feet as he unfolded his big body from his chair and came around to my side of the desk. This was the first time I had ever seen him so happy, and with a devilish glint in his eyes.
Shaking my head, I jumped back a half a foot. “But, why?”
He filled the distance I created between us, towering over me. His hands smoothed up my arms to settle on my shoulders. “Because I wanted you,” he said, sending a jolt of heat through my veins. “And now you’re mine. Mrs. Fokin.”
Lightheaded under the feel of his hands on me, heart racing at the force of his possessive growl, I ducked out from under his hands and took off. Out of the office, down the stairs, no way I was waiting for the elevator. Adrenaline kept me running, ignoring the shocked faces of someone from marketing returning with his sandwich. Out of the office and into the parking garage, I slammed into my car and fumbled the key into the ignition with shaking hands.
Married? To Rurik? Legally bound?
“Damn it,” I cried, slamming my hands against the steering wheel when, of course, the car refused to start. Nothing but a weak chug before it clicked silent, no matter how many times I turned the key and pumped the gas. “This can’t be real.”