I swallowed hard, quickly glancing up at her face.
She was so beautiful, inside and out. Her offer yesterday regarding the postnup had meant more than she could know.
And I had to live in close quarters with her but keep my hands to myself.
This was going to be fucking torture.
If London was nervous, she was doing a good job of masking it for the registrar’s sake. The guy didn’t seem to notice anything off between us, even though I’d barely said a word.
I tugged on my tie. Sometimes owning a company meant putting on a suit to mingle with wealthy and important people, including government officials. I didn’t particularly enjoy wearing a suit, but I was grateful I had one at the ready for a spur-of-the-moment wedding ceremony. Honestly, I would have preferred getting married in a kilt, but the kilt would have brought on too many questions from Jack, the harbor master, who was a friend.
In the end, that hadn’t mattered because London and I managed to avoid him as we drove onto the ferry in my Discovery. I’d seen Toby, who worked at the terminal, but I’d hurried London into the passenger lounge before he spotted us. The suit and my newly trimmed hair and beard would draw questions. So would my companion.
When we’d settled at a booth inside the ferry, London told me I looked handsome, and I was trying not to read too much into it. Yet as we turned to face each other, reaching for the other’s hands, it was difficult not to think on it. Especially when her lush lips parted on a wee gasp as my calloused fingers curled around her much smaller ones. Awareness rushed through me, and I took in a deep breath, hoping the shaky exhale came off as normal wedding day jitters.
“Let’s begin,” the registrar spoke. I’d forgotten his name already, so distracted with the chaos of my thoughts. “Murray, please repeat after me. I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why I, Murray Ruairidh Shaw, may not be joined in matrimony to London Olivia Wetherspoon.”
My mind turned to last night when I’d called Kelly to explain I was getting married to London. I tried not to lie as much as possible, and I realized with the careful way Kelly spoke, with a slight trill of excitement vibrating in her words, that my daughter was much more switched on than I sometimes gave her credit for.
She knew the truth. After all, she would have noticed the signs of her dad having an affair with London.
But she didn’t call me on it. Any other kid in a normal situation might have been pissed off that their parent was not only getting married, but getting married without them present. Not Kelly. She congratulated me, voice bouncing with hope, and promised she wouldn’t tell her mum.
That’s how much she wanted to escape Jill. She welcomed a stranger as a stepmum.
Fuck. Jill and I were going to see our lovely wee girl in therapy one day for all this shite we’d put her through.
I’d almost called it off as I hung up on Kelly until I remembered that hope in her voice. She wanted to believe this would help her come home, so I would go through with it.
Even if it was completely and utterly illegal. The thought of getting caught and jeopardizing Kelly’s safety in that respect almost stopped me getting in the car this morning. Once I got over that and picked up London from her bungalow, the sight of her almost stopped me again.
Not because she was the worst choice. But because … the opposite.
However, I decided I was a grown man, and I could handle a one-sided attraction to the woman who was about to become my wife.
London’s eyes suddenly grew round, her fingers tightening over mine, and I realized with a jolt I hadn’t answered.
“I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?”
The registrar grinned. “A bit nervous there?”
I nodded, lips pressed tightly together.
He repeated the vow, and I recited it word for word.
The registrar gave me a patronizing smile of encouragement and turned to London. After he spoke, London held me captive in her turquoise gaze. “I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why I, London Olivia Wetherspoon, may not be joined in matrimony to Murray Ruairidh Shaw.”
My heart raced and a rush of something that felt dangerously like possessiveness made my hands grip hers more tightly. Irritated with myself, I released my hold ever so slightly, so she’d think it was just a reassuring squeeze.
The registrar focused on me again and asked me to repeat his words.
I cleared my throat once he was done, hoping I remembered it correctly. “I call upon these persons, here present, to witness that I, Murray Ruairidh Shaw, do take thee, London Olivia Wetherspoon, to be my lawful wedded wife.”
The witnesses were provided by the registrar. I’d wanted to tell Tierney and Ramsay the truth so they could bear witness at the ceremony, therefore cementing the lie and making it more believable. But London had vehemently disagreed with the suggestion. She felt Tierney would talk her out of it.
It was London’s turn for her fingers to flex nervously in mine. I could feel her palms had grown clammy too, betraying her nervousness, despite her placid expression. Her melodic, accented voice tugged at my gut in a way that reinforced howdifficult these coming weeks were going to be for me. “I call upon these persons, here present, to witness that I, London Olivia Wetherspoon, do take thee, Murray Ruairidh Shaw, to be my lawful wedded husband.”
Husband.
