Behind the Curtain - Page 127

“No. It’s doable,” he said, coming up onto his elbow. “Okay. London. Let’s do it,” he said gamely after considering for a moment.

“Do you think we’re being foolish and impulsive and idealistic?” she asked him, grinning.

“Definitely,” he replied, wrapping her hand in his. He kissed her knuckle and the ring she wore. “It feels great, doesn’t it?”

She nodded in agreement. He leaned down and kissed her small, Mona Lisa smile.

“Now we just have to decide where to get married,” he said.

“And when.”

“I vote for tomorrow.”

She blinked in surprise when she saw he was serious. “Tomorrow,” she repeated, coming up on her elbow. “How is that possible?”

“We’ll fly to Vegas,” he said, as if the answer was obvious.

“Vegas,” she breathed out. He saw her brow furrow and knew she was trying to imagine it. She gave him a helpless glance.

“Oh, Asher, I can’t. I’m sorry.”

He stiffened. His stomach had felt like it dropped a few inches. “You can’t marry me?”

“Of course I’ll marry you,” she exclaimed. “But Vegas . . .” She noticed his confused expression. “You’ve never attended a Moroccan wedding, have you?”

He shook his head.

“That whole thing that I attended this weekend in Detroit, my cousin Driss and his fiancée’s visit? That’s the beginning of a Moroccan wedding tradition. It starts a whole year before the couple gets married. So much tradition and special food and ritual goes into the whole thing.”

“So . . . you’re saying you want to have a Moroccan wedding?”

“Oh no. That would take too much time, and I think we should get married as soon as possible. Besides, it’s not as if my parents would be willing to give us a traditional wedding.”

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bsp; He reached and caressed her cheek, somehow sensing her sadness even though she kept it carefully hidden. She grabbed his hand and smiled.

“If you agree we should get married as soon as possible, what’s the problem with Vegas?”

“Vegas,” she said, cringing slightly. She gave him an apologetic glance and kissed his palm. “It’s so the opposite of what I imagined my wedding would be for my whole life. I don’t even think my parents would consider that a viable marriage. And no,” she said, interrupting when she saw him open his mouth. “What they think doesn’t matter, in this instance. But what I think does. And I can’t help it. It’s part of my upbringing. The idea of getting married in Vegas seems so . . . unofficial, somehow.”

“What do you suggest, then?”

“Well. . . we could get married here in Chicago by a judge.”

He smiled and smoothed his fingers through her hair. “That would satisfy your sense of officialdom?”

“Yeah, it would. And to be honest, I think it would my mom and dad’s too, even if they didn’t like it. The law of the land is binding enough, in the Barek mind.”

He grinned. “I’ll call in the morning about applying for a marriage certificate.”

“I have to get a ticket to London too. And break the news to Rafe, of course. He’s not going to take that well.” She suddenly looked worried. “What am I going to tell Tahi about the condo? We share the mortgage. Oh . . . and what if the waiting period to get married is too long?” She sat up abruptly in bed, pulling the sheet up around her breasts. Asher sat up with her. She glanced over in surprise when he laughed.

“How can you laugh at a moment like this?” she asked, grinning despite her anxiety.

He put his arms around her and gave her a smacking kiss on the mouth. “Because. We can handle whatever comes up. Come on, Laila. Those things are nothing compared to what we’ve been through to get to this point in our life.”

She smiled slowly. “You’re right.”

Tags: Beth Kery Erotic
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