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“He did,” Beth said.
“Never mind that,” Jared said with a frustrated growl in the back of his throat. He pinned his steely gaze to his adorable PA's face. “Is everything ready? Did you manage to find us a venue that's secluded? I don't want to see any gawkers or paparazzi there.”
“Oh, you won't.” Alice seemed pleased with herself. “I found the perfect place for you to ruin your life, and I got all the necessary paperwork started. The officiant will have it when you arrive.”
He clapped his hands together once, ignoring her sarcasm. “Perfect.” Then he turned to Beth with a smug grin. “You ready?”
“Not in the slightest,” she said.
Once again, she wondered if she should blurt out the truth that she wasn't pregnant and let the poker chips fall where they may. Fear kept the words in her mouth. She couldn't risk it. He was already upset with her for telling his PA the truth about their sudden wedding. In his current mood, he would instantly get on the phone with a real estate agent and sell her home.
Beth squared her shoulders and set her mind on the prize. If Jared wanted to bully her into marrying him, that was what they would do. He only had himself to blame for where it went from there. Maybe he would learn a lesson and stop bullying people.
∞∞∞
With mouths agape, Beth and Jared stared at their surroundings. Speechless. It turned out that Alice's idea of a perfect venue for them was the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. They stood in a glass tunnel underwater and looked around. Light reflected off the water and danced across the shiny floor. Sharks swam over their heads, but Beth was more concerned with the shark standing next to her.
“Are you trying to tell me something?” Jared asked his PA with a withering glance.
Alice grinned ear to ear. “I have no idea what you mean, dear. You asked for a quickie wedding in a venue you could get into right away. We were lucky this place was available at such short notice.”
“Lucky,” Jared repeated in an unconvinced tone.
Beth didn't know what to say, so she kept her lips compressed in a tight line. She wavered between two actions. She could tell Jared the truth that she wasn't pregnant, or she could go through with the wedding. At least then he wouldn't be able to sell the ranch out from under her. The thought of losing her home filled her with dread. What would she do? Where would she go?
Alice went down the illuminated walkway to meet with the officiant. They shook hands, and she went over details with the elderly man. While she was doing that, Beth continued to bounce back and forth between her options. Time was running out. If she was going to tell the truth, she needed to do it quickly.
“I can't believe you're making me do this,” Beth mumbled. “It's insane. You are insane.”
Jared glared at her. “Hey, this isn't exactly what I planned to do with my day, either.”
She sighed. “There's something I need to tell you.”
Alice gestured for them to join her and the officiant.
“Whatever it is, it can wait,” Jared said as he tried to pull her along with him.
She slowly shook her head and refused to budge. “I can't—”
“You can, and you will... if you want to stay living on the ranch.”
“You don't understand—”
He cut her off with a violent swipe of his hand through the air. “The only thing I want to hear coming out of your mouth is, I do. Got it? This is not up for a debate.”
She knew Jared wasn't an abusive guy. Her gut told her he was still a good man. He could be pushy, but he wouldn't do anything to physically hurt her. That was the only reason she let him get away with the bossy attitude.
His fingers curled around her arm just above the elbow, and he pulled her down the walkway to the two people waiting for him.
What a jerk! If he was going to bully her into marriage, he deserved what he got. The officiant smiled while Alice glowered at them with obvious displeasure.
“Let's do this thing without arguing,” Jared told Beth. “Then you can talk as much as you want.”
The elderly man presiding over their wedding didn't seem to realize anything was amiss. He gave a short speech about marriage and love, one he must have given a hundred times before and knew by heart. The words sailed over Beth's head along with sharks. She didn't even try to listen. Her mind remained focused on the lie that had brought her and Jared together, the same lie that would eventually tear them apart.
As a silly girl with stars in her eyes, she had dreamed of marrying Jared, but she'd never imagined it would be such a hot mess. He thought she was pregnant by his brother. Otherwise, he'd be at home in Boston with some woman that knew a Chardonnay from a Chablis.
He took her hand in his and repeated after the officiant, “I, Jared Wilder, take you, Elizabeth Rawlings, to be my lawful wedded wife in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer...”
