Page 33 of Heart Breaker

"I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the officiant announces with a practiced smile. Wes exhales beside me and then reaches for my hands, taking a small step toward me.

“I know you’re in a hurry to kiss your bride, but not quite yet,” she says, stopping him. “One last signature to make it official.”

She pulls a pen from her pocket, flips open a folder and taps lightly at the line. Wes scribbles his signature on the line before handing the pen over to me.

“Right here,” she says, pointing to the line beside Wes’s.

I look down at the paper where my name is printed in black block letters. Charlotte Faith Hart. Carefully, with deliberate strokes that feel too permanent for something that’s supposed to be temporary, I sign the marriage certificate that makes it official. The ink glints for a second before it settles. I hand the pen back.

And that’s it.

A quick congratulations and one last polite smile and then we’re ushered toward the door. It all moves too fast, like we’ve been pushed onto a conveyor belt and there’s no stopping it now. One minute we’re standing here, married, the next, we’re being guided out of the room, back into the hallway, like nothing just happened.

I walk beside Wes, my chest feeling oddly hollow, like something important was skipped over. There was no one watching, no quiet clapping, no photos to prove it happened. Not even a kiss.

I’m now married to Wes Winters, and no one from my family was here to see it.

Oh God, what did I just do?

TWELVE

Lottie

“He kissed you?” Madeline repeats, not even bothering to lower her voice.

The small bathroom at Wave and Wharf is empty except for us, but I still wince, glancing toward the door like someone might walk in.

“Can you not say it like that?” I whisper.

“Like what?” she presses, grinning. “Like it’s the most important detail of this entire day?”

“It’s not⁠—”

“But he kissed you?” she repeats, staring at me with wide eyes.

I drag in a breath, leaning back against the counter. “Yes,” I admit. “He did. But it was for practice.”

Her entire face lights up. “Oh my God.”

I’d slipped away from the table, needing a minute—just a second for my brain to catch up to everything that had happened today. After we left the courthouse, Wes drove us straight here, pulling up to the valet at the restaurant where a couple of photographers were already waiting—no doubt tipped off by Victoria. The moment he came around the car to help me out, cameras started clicking. It all happened so quickly I barely registered it before his hand found the small of my back, guiding me inside to the table where his brothers, Landyn, and Madeline were already seated. We’d barely gotten through hellos and introductions before Wes ordered champagne for the table, like this was something worth celebrating. That’s when I excused myself to go to the bathroom, just to give myself a chance to breathe. Madeline had immediately pushed her chair back from the table and followed me.

“It wasn’t—” I start, already shaking my head. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Then explain it to me,” she says, folding her arms like she’s settling in. “Because from where I’m standing, you just married a man you weren’t supposed to have feelings for, and you’re telling me he kissed you before the ceremony?”

Heat creeps up my neck. “It was right before we left,” I admit. “I asked him to help me with my dress, and then we were talking about the whole press thing, that it might look weird if our first kiss was in front of cameras. So, he said maybe we should⁠—”

“Practice,” she finishes for me, looking entirely too excited.

I nod.

Her mouth falls open.

I groan, dragging a hand over my face. “It was supposed to be quick. Just…you know…so it wouldn’t look awkward later.”

Madeline leans in slightly. “And was it quick?”

I hesitate and that’s all she needs.