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LEO
What most people don’t realize about getting married in Vegas is that you still need a marriage license. Thankfully, the licensing place was open until midnight and required no waiting period or blood tests. It had to be the first stop before we could roll up to a chapel and tie the knot.
Addison was quiet on the drive to obtain the license. Too quiet. Glancing over, I noted she’d changed into a green knit dress. Maybe I was shortchanging her on the whole wedding thing. She’d probably dreamed about picking out the perfect wedding dress and having her friends and family at the ceremony. She certainly hadn’t expected to run out on a random Tuesday night to marry a man who hadn’t even bothered to put on one of his nice suits for the occasion.
Dammit, I should’ve changed my clothes when she did instead of wearing my jeans and button-down shirt.
She deserved better. “We could take more time. Get you a wedding dress or whatever.”
She swung her gaze to me. “No, this is fine. Although I had a thought.”
“What is it?”
“I should sign a prenup to protect your assets and company.”
“No.”
“You can’t just say no whenever you disagree. That isn’t how it works.”
“We don’t need a prenup.” I didn’t give a crap about money or material things. “We’re not getting divorced.”
She huffed. “Pretty sure everyone who gets divorced once thought the same. Hell, John in the office was so sure about his marriage he got his wife’s name tattooed on his back. Now he’s paying thousands to have it removed.”
“If you’re stupid enough to get a partner’s name tattooed on your body, then you deserve the pain and inconvenience of having it removed.”
“Be serious, Leo. If one of your guys came in and told you he was eloping, and he happened to have a beautiful home, a successful business, and family money, you’d advise him to get a prenup in a flash.”
She wasn’t wrong. But for a man who struggled with survivor’s guilt, material possessions were something I already had a hard time thinking I deserved. So safeguarding them felt like a moot point. “We can put the house and all of my assets into a trust for our children if it’ll make you feel better. As for the company, it’s an LLC, so it’s not marital property.”
“Good news about the LLC, and the trust for the house would make me feel better. Wait, where are you going?”
I’d taken an exit off the highway and was in the process of turning the truck around. “Back to the house to put on a damn suit. Should’ve done it before.”
* * *
We wereable to get our license without delay and arrived at a chapel downtown in the older part of Vegas. Only one couple was in line ahead of us. I’d chosen this chapel because it was off-strip and had been around for years.
I paid the woman at the front desk after Addy chose a simple package without the frills, and we went to wait in a small room which appeared straight out of the seventies, with knitted doilies on every surface. Finally, our names were called.
We walked into the next room, and I scrutinized the space. A staged wedding set was full of tulle, fake flowers, and balloons. I’d hoped for tasteful, but in this town, at an all-night wedding chapel, I doubted the idea existed.
Although the smiling officiant was dressed in a suit, he looked like he could either perform a wedding or sling self-tanner on the home shopping network. “Hello, lovebirds. Ready to do this?”
It once again occurred to me I was shorting Addison out of her dream wedding. This had to be as far from that as possible.
“Yeah, give us one minute?” I asked.
“Sure thing. But remember, no refunds.”
Greedy bastard. He undoubtedly enjoyed capitalizing on cold feet.
Taking Addy to the side, I took her shaking hand in mine. “This isn’t what I wanted for you.”
“You don’t want to get married?”
“Of course I do. This is the best fucking day of my life. Finding out we’re going to be parents could only be topped by having you become my wife. But none of that matters if you look back on this day with regret.”
She squeezed my hand. “I won’t. Shall we do this?”
