Accidentally Hitched: An Accidental Marriage Romance

by Sullivan, Piper

  She leaned in close, so close our lips were nearly touching. Nearly. Mae’s voice sounding through the speakers being the only thing that could have pulled us apart in that moment. “Excuse me everybody, I just want to say a few words to my favorite niece and her new husband.”

  Cheers sounded all around us and for a second, it felt like high school all over again only this time, Vivi was right beside me instead of on the periphery. “Can you believe all this is for us?”

  Hell no, I couldn’t. “Smile and wave and look at me like I’m the man of your dreams.”

  She smiled and waved, leaning in close. “He’d have a body just like yours so that’s pretty easy.” I choked on my next breath at her words but damn, they had my body hotter than it was outside.

  “We have some very exciting news for our newlyweds. Your friends, neighbors, and loved ones have come together to give you love birds a proper honeymoon!”

  “What?” Vivi whispered, this time the shock was genuine and maybe she was a little scared.

  “It’s nothing fancy so don’t get your hopes up, but there’s a great little B&B about two hours from here and the honeymoon suite is waiting for you…for four full days!”

  “Holy shit,” she whispered again and this time, I had to agree.

  Everyone in the community center continued to clap and beam smiles at us before someone, I’m pretty sure it was Zeke, yelled very loudly, “Kiss!” Then the room began to chant it and I did the only thing I could in the situation. I grabbed Vivi by the waist, pulled her close and dipped her over my arm, putting on a hell of a show before I kissed her so long and so hard and so fucking good that I got lost in it.

  Lost in kissing my wife.

  Who would have ever thought it?

  * * *

  “We can’t go. Can we?” As tempting as it was to leave Norah with Aunt Mae for a few days and have some alone time—adult alone time—with Vivi, it also seemed a little wrong.

  Vivi looked deep in thought and I wondered if she was having the same moral dilemma that I was. “I think we have to go or tell the town the truth.”

  I damn sure wasn’t ready to do that. “I can’t tell if I’m agreeing because you’re right or because agreeing means four full days and nights with you.” She had me so twisted up I couldn’t tell a good decision from a bad one and the worst thing was, I didn’t give a damn.

  She shrugged and stepped closer but not too close because Norah was upstairs in her room and prone to interrupting them at a moment’s notice. “Neither sound like a very bad reason to these ears.”

  “So, a honeymoon for us. Paid for by the town.”

  Vivi pushed off the bed and put her hands on either side of my face. “It’s not like we can give it back, not without a whole lot of hurt feelings. So we go. Have fun and think. And plot.”

  “Plot?” I wondered what was going on inside that pretty little head of hers.

  “Yeah. Didn’t you think it was weird both Della and Dallas were there tonight when they were both out of town? Maddie said Della was in California.”

  Yeah, I’d spotted Dallas about five minutes after we entered the community center and both father and daughter McInnis had avoided both of us all night. “It’s weirder they didn’t stop by to offer their congratulations.”

  Big green eyes showed shock and then amusement. “They didn’t!” She burst out laughing. “Don’t we sound like a pair of old folks, upset because some young’uns didn’t show proper southern etiquette!” She fell back against the light blue sofa, shoulders shaking with laughter.

  “Speak for yourself. I’m hip as hell.” She froze for half a second before more laughter erupted out of her. I would’ve been mad if her laughter wasn’t so damn contagious, forcing a laugh out of me.

  “You lose cool points for ‘hip as hell,’ gramps.”

  “And you lose cool points because you’re a writer and it never even occurred to you that the town is engaging in a little bit of matchmaking.” I dropped down on the sofa beside her and folded my arms over my chest while her face turned red with embarrassment.

  Then amusement as she doubled over, laughing her ass off with her forehead resting on her knees. “I can’t believe it never even crossed my mind!” She laughed until her laughter fell silent and only her shaking body confirmed she hadn’t stopped breathing. “You’re right. I definitely lose cool points but I’ll get them back.”

  “So, we’re going on our honeymoon?”

  She arched those fiery brows that looked just a little bit like devil’s horns and her lips quirked into a sexy lip-biting smile. “You gonna carry me over the threshold?”

  “Every time we get back to our room,” I promised.

  Vivi licked her lips and I groaned, making her smile grow even bigger. Just like the monster in my pants. “What will you tell Norah?”

  I’d been thinking about it for past two days and the answer was easier than I thought. “The truth. Mostly. She doesn’t really need to know all the sex parts but I also think she knows more than I want her to.”

  “Small towns,” she said in commiseration. “What does she know?”

  “That we kiss and her friend at day camp, Sally, says that grownups never ‘just kiss.’”

  “I am both shocked and impressed at the knowledge of eight-year-olds. But if you want, I can be here when you talk to her.”

  “Seriously?”

  She nodded. “Why not? I don’t embarrass easily and I’m a girl.”

  “Not quite a girl.” She shivered at my words and her green eyes darkened. “You’re distracting.”

  “Thanks.” Vivi leaned in close and grabbed my face as her lips crashed down. The kiss was hot as hell right from the start and then she was in my lap, her heat pressed against my hardness. She moaned into my mouth and I held her tight and let her devour my mouth. It never took long for things to spiral out of control where Vivi was concerned and though I should be worried, I wasn’t.

  Not yet.

  Her tongue slicked across my bottom lip, nipping it hard. My hands gripped her ass, loving how soft and feminine she felt against me. When her hips started to grind against me and my cock reached for her I knew I would have to be the one to pull back because she wouldn’t. Couldn’t. “Vivi.”

  “Your mouth tastes so good,” she said, her voice breathless and sexy, skin flushed and that pouty mouth looked hungry for another taste.

  “Temptress,” I growled in her ear, and she giggled. “No time like the present.” I smacked her ass, making her squeal and as she climbed off my lap.

  “Now?”

  “Well, we leave in a couple days and I need to give her a few days to get used to this. Make sure she’s okay.”

  She hit me with that heart stopping smile that made a man feel like he could do anything. “You’re a good dad, Nash. Norah is lucky to have you.”

  “Let’s see if you think so in a few minutes. Norah!”

  A few moments later, the patter of little feet pounded down the stairs and into the living room. “Yeah, Daddy?”

  “Come have a seat, Norah. We need to talk.” She climbed up on the sofa and sat in the small space between me and Vivi.

  “Let’s talk, Daddy.”

  My lips twitched at the way she crossed her legs at the ankle even though they barely passed the sofa cushions. “Okay. You know that potluck we went to a few days ago?”

  Norah nodded, a small smile slowly spreading across her face. “The one ‘cause you and Vivi are a couple now? Sally said that’s what the party was for.”

  “Sally has a big mouth,” Vivi murmured behind Norah.

  “That’s true, the party was for me and Vivi but not how you think.” I took a deep breath and then another. And then another. How did a man tell his daughter he’d accidentally gotten married? My gaze slid to Vivi and she began to stroke Norah’s black curls.

  “Remember at the Solstice Celebration when we helped Aunt Mae with her ritual?” Norah nodded and her curls fell around her shoulders
. “Well, Aunt Mae made a mistake and instead of the prosperity ritual she…well, she married us.”

  The small gasp of breath was her only response. For a long moment. Too long. “You got married? Without me?”

  “Norah, it wasn’t on purpose.” Arms crossed and her bottom lip stuck out a mile long, she was projecting the perfect image of a little girl in the early stages of a tantrum.

  “I wanted to be a flower girl. Can you get married again?” Her blue eyes were so earnest I couldn’t stop a half-chuckle from escaping.

  “You want us to get married again just so you can be a flower girl?” The head bob came immediately as did the smile. “That sounds about right.”

  “Will you move here, Vivi? Will we move to Vivi’s house? Can I have a room at Vivi’s house, anyway?”

  “Slow down, kiddo. We haven’t got all the details figured out yet but when we do, you’ll be the first to know.”

  “Promise?” She held her pinky up with a stubborn expression on her face that I knew well.

  Vivi, not to be out done, hooked her pinky with Norah’s. “Absolutely. When your dad and I know, then we’ll let you know. Deal?”

  “Okay, you got a deal, Vivi.”

  “Then come on over and we’ll hug on it.”

  With an adorable head tilt, she looked up at Vivi. “Can we do that?”

  “We’re women, we can do whatever we want.” The look on Vivi’s face when she wrapped her arms around Norah stole my breath. It was the look, the feeling that I’d wished her own mother had felt for her. And now she had it.

  And the woman was already my wife.

  Vivi

  “This place is fantastic!” After taking three hours to make a two hour trip on what I was referring to as the scenic route, we arrived at an adorable plantation style home run by two sisters. Mabel and Genie were five foot nothing with big gray bouffants and they smelled like sugar and vanilla. They showed us to our room and promised to make themselves scarce until it was time to get started on supper.

  “It’s like a time warp but in the best possible way.” Nash’s blue gaze tracked around the honeymoon suite. Shades of blue and rose dotted the room, the duvet in the bedroom similar but not identical to the upholstery in the rest of the suite. “And this bed is perfection.”

  “I can’t argue with that.” I burrowed deeper against Nash, inhaling his intoxicating scent. “We could probably have sex in three different spots on this bad boy and still never overlap.”

  “You’re thinking of sexual gymnastics,” he asked with a tease in his voice and a heated glint in his eye.

  “No. I’m already planning them.” I hadn’t stopped thinking about anything but having his thick length fill me up since his fingers had brought me to orgasm on the drive to the B&B. But I had a burning sensation to know more about Nash.

  “Can I ask you a question?” He looked so nervous I had to wonder what the hell he could possibly ask that had him so worried. Instead, I nodded and waited. “Where did all these curves come from? I remember you being more slender in high school.”

  My lips curled up instinctively. “It’s been a long time since high school, Nash.”

  “And the years have been mighty kind to you, Vivi.” His hands roamed over my hips and slid up my waist. “So?”

  “Short answer is, I was just a late bloomer. Longer answer is, I woke up one day with bigger boobs and hips and it had nothing to do with the freshman 15.” It had taken some time to get used to the new curves and even longer to get used to the attention that came with it.

  “You never came home during college, or if you did I never saw you.”

  “I came home but not much. Dad was always traveling so he would stop in and see me when he was coming or going and Aunt Mae would put me up for a few days here and there.”

  “Why?” The feel of his big hands, leaving streaks of fire along my skin, made it hard to think.

  “At first, I was embarrassed about graduation night and I was sure you told everyone about it.”

  “I wouldn’t. I didn’t.”

  “I know. You weren’t ever like that but rejection has a way of coloring things. After that, it was just easier not to come home so often. And cheaper.”

  “Because of one little crush?” I nodded, feeling a stirring of a different kind take hold of me. Low in my belly, warmth spread with every pass of Nash’s hand on my bare skin. “If it makes you feel better, I’m pretty sure I have a crush on you now.”

  “Yeah?” That was good because I was sure the crush had returned with the fervor of adult longing. “Because I kind of like the sound of that.” A lot. Probably too much but as I climbed his big, strong, too masculine body, the only thing I could think about was pleasure. The pleasure I always found in his arms. With his body engulfing mine until I only existed because of him. It was a heady sensation. Intoxicating, even.

  I sank down onto his erection and kept my gaze on him as I rocked us slowly to orgasm. I couldn’t look away from those blue eyes as they darkened and intensified with passion. My personal favorite was when they went liquid black, like the river at night. Dark and dangerous but too exciting to resist. His hands branded my hips as he grasped me tight, holding me right where he wanted me so he could hear me scream his name.

  I gave Nash exactly what he wanted because I was too weak, too powerless to do anything else. We’d been on our honeymoon for just a few hours and already, I could feel trouble nipping at my heels.

  Nash began to thrust up into me, harder and deeper, sending shivers down my spine and skittering over my overheated flesh. I couldn’t get enough and he seemed to have the codes to maximizing my pleasure because just as my orgasm was winding down, he flipped our positions and pounded into me like his life depended on it. The muscles tightened in his neck, his shoulder muscled, bunched and flexed with every thrust and I was completely fascinated by his body as it transformed in pleasure.

  He wasn’t the only one transformed. By the time my third orgasm and his second had ended, I was feeling a little raw. A touch too vulnerable.

  I was feeling too much.

  Too much for an accidental wife.

  Nash

  “Oh my god! I haven’t had good creole food in too damn long.” Vivi’s effusive praise of the small restaurant a short walk from the bed and breakfast was charming. The sexy noises of satisfaction she made, were not.

  At least not with a family of four less than ten feet away from us. “Keep that up and you won’t get any tonight.”

  Her big green eyes looked at me curiously and then recognition dawned. “Take my creole and we’ll have real problems. Husband.” Her menacing stare combined with the half-eaten shrimp on her fork was too damn funny.

  “So creole food is a hard limit for you?”

  She shrugged. “For today, yes. But after being home for a while I might get sick of it. A girl can only have so much deep dish pizza before she starts craving gumbo.”

  “How about deep dish seafood pizza?”

  She smiled as she thought and then smacked the table with her palm. “I like the way you think, Boudreaux.”

  “Yeah? Because you should see what I’m thinking right now,” I told her and licked my lips. She shivered and damn, her response never failed to give my ego a proper boost.

  “I can see it, and I approve. Totally.” She pushed the small bowl of gumbo, now empty, away and stared at me. Like she was thinking. Too much. I hadn’t been in a relationship for a long time but I knew when your woman did too much thinking, it usually spelled trouble for the man.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Tell me about Norah’s mother. Did you love her?” My expression must have given my thoughts away because she raised her hands in surrender. “I’m only curious about the woman who captured your heart.”

  “Why are you so sure she did?”

  Vivi shrugged, drawing my eye to the triangle of freckles on her right shoulder. “Because I’m a romantic and it fits my narrative. Prove me r
ight or wrong, Boudreaux.”

  I had to constantly remind myself that Vivi wasn’t like most women. I was sure she was capable of jealousy but it wasn’t her first impulse and that was attractive as hell. “I met Nanette when I still had dreams of being a country music superstar. She was beautiful, in that trashy cowgirl way that twenty-year-old southern men can’t get enough of and I couldn’t resist. Neither could she after my one and only single started getting some radio play.”

  “Wait, you have a single? How did I not know this! Gimme the name,” she said as she whipped out her phone and began typing.

  “Do you want to hear this or not?”

  “Definitely.” She flashed a comforting grin that was nearly as warm as the wine, and I smiled. “Tell me everything.”

  “Not much to tell. Nanette miscalculated my earning potential when she got pregnant. I sold a few songs and made some good money but not what she’d been expecting. So Norah was about one month old when I came home and found her alone in her crib and a note on the counter from Nanette. I can’t do this.”

  “I’m sorry, but what a bitch! I can’t believe she did that to you guys.”

  “I appreciate it but I think she did us both a favor. It forced me to grow up and I’d rather have her gone forever than in and out of Norah’s’ life, confusing her.”

  “Look at you, mister mature. That’s a very healthy way of looking at things.”

  “It didn’t come right away. Maybe the last year or so, I’d say.” She laughed as I hoped because the last thing I wanted to talk about was Nanette.

  “Better late than never. Do you still write songs?”

  “On occasion. The money is nice, especially the royalties.”

  “You really are a renaissance man. Want to be my cover model?”

  “Do I have to be shirtless?” Because for Vivi, I might consider it.

  “Definitely, but now that I’m thinking about it I’m not sure if I want to share this view with the world.” Her gaze heated and I had to fight the urge to clear the table and take her right on it, with the whole place watching.