Chapter 36: Wedding

Everything inside her began panicking at once.

"What did I do?" Naomi sat up too fast.

Where were Tessa and the others? Why was she here? Why was he here? She squeezed her eyes shut.

Tessa’s bachelorette party. She needed cash. She remembered the ATM. Then— This man. Naomi slowly turned toward him again.

"Oh no. Painfully Rich." She slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh fuck!" She had sex with a stranger?! She pressed both hands against her face. "No, no, no..." She looked down at herself and noticed she was dressed.

So was he.

Naomi frowned. That made absolutely no sense. She remembered being very much not dressed. When exactly had clothes happened again?

What the hell had they done after sex? Her memory refused to cooperate. She slid quietly out of bed and stumbled toward the mirror.

One glance made her stop.

"What the..."

There was confetti in her hair. She plucked out a tiny piece.

"How the hell did that get in there?"

Had they gone back downstairs? She tried to remember.

Nothing.

Naomi groaned. She did not have time to solve this mystery. Her friends were probably already looking for her.

Tessa was going to murder her. She found her shoes near a chair and grabbed both before slipping out of the suite and hightailing it out of there.

Dorian woke several minutes later feeling as though someone had split his skull with a hammer. He hated Vegas. His first coherent thought was water. His second was painkillers. His third came when he reached blindly for his phone and found dozens of missed calls and messages waiting for him.

"Fuck." He dropped the phone against his chest. His brain was still trying to remember how he had gotten back to the suite. He rolled onto his back and remembered. "What the fuck!" His eyes moved around the room. He slept with a stranger?

PRESENT DAY

By the time Dorian finished telling his side of the Vegas story, Ginny was laughing so hard she had one hand over her mouth.

Dorian stared at her from across the table. "I don’t understand what’s so funny."

Ginny tried to compose herself. "I don’t know. It’s just funny."

"What part?"

"Your misery. Your misery amuses me."

Daniel burst out laughing.

Nobody seemed particularly bothered by her side of the story. They were wealthy, yes. Very wealthy.

But underneath all of it, the Heathcliffes lived surprisingly simple lives. Nobody seemed obsessed with appearing perfect.

Naomi found herself comparing them to the Whitmores. Richard was always concerned with appearances.

The right clothes. The right people. The right impression. Everything had to look sophisticated even when Naomi knew perfectly well he could not always afford the lifestyle he was trying so desperately to maintain.

Here, nobody seemed to care. It was... nice.

After dinner, Daniel checked his phone and sighed.

"I should go." He said his goodbyes quickly, kissed Eleanor’s cheek, shook Maurice’s hand and waved at Naomi before leaving.

Not long after, Dorian disappeared with his father for a private conversation. The moment they were gone, Ginny practically launched herself at Naomi with a large binder.

Within minutes, the dining table had become covered with photographs, seating plans and handwritten notes.

Ginny flipped through pages while Eleanor contributed opinions from beside them.

"You should make a diorama."

"A what?"

"A miniature setup." Naomi began gesturing with her hands. "That way you can actually see where everything sits instead of trying to imagine it from a flat drawing."

"That’s actually brilliant."

"And do it before the rehearsal dinner," Naomi continued. "Then you’ll know what feels crowded, what needs moving and what doesn’t work before adjustments become overwhelming."

The sound of footsteps interrupted them. Dorian returned from wherever he had disappeared with Maurice.

He took one look at the wedding materials covering the table and sighed. "Mum, we gotta go."

Eleanor looked at him. "Go where?"

"Home?"

Eleanor glanced toward a nearby clock. "It’s late."

"It’s not that late."

"Naomi, darling..." Eleanor turned toward her. "Would you like to stay? There are so many things we need to discuss about the meals for the wedding. I have a few guests with allergies, some with preferences..."

"Well, it could be a buffet if the wedding budget allows it."

Dorian closed his eyes. He had lost. He didn’t even know why he had bothered trying.

Ginny flipped another page. "I was thinking a plated dinner would look better."

"It would," Naomi agreed, "but depending on how many dietary restrictions you have, a buffet gives people more control. Or we could do both. Plated starter, then a carefully structured buffet for the mains."

Eleanor nodded. "What about allergies?"

"We separate stations if necessary, especially anything severe. I’d need a proper list first."

Dorian looked at the three women. None of them remembered he existed. He checked the time, watched Ginny pull out yet another sheet of paper.

Another twenty minutes disappeared. Naomi was completely absorbed now. His mother had won this round.

What Dorian was waiting for was the moment Naomi finally realized exactly where this was going.

Because if they stayed the night, there was one small problem. His family knew the circumstances surrounding his accidental marriage.

What they did not know was that Dorian and Naomi were not really living as husband and wife. They did not know about the six-month contract.

At his parents’ house, everyone would naturally assume they shared a room.

Dorian poured himself another glass of the Burgundy and left them to their wedding planning. The balcony doors opened onto the cool night air. He stepped outside, loosened his collar slightly and rested one hand against the railing.

Behind him, through the glass, he could still see Naomi. A part of him was pleased. His family was already being pulled into her orbit.

The same part that pleased him was the same part that worried him. Because there was an expiration date on this.

He had specifically told Ginny he did not want everyone getting involved this time. What happened when the six months ended?

The balcony door opened behind him.

"Hey..."

"Hey, Mom."