The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,130

them, but Noah held her back.

Josh got two more punches in before the men broke apart and leered at each other.

“What do you want, Connors?” Josh asked, breathless. “Do you want her to say she cheated on you? Why? So you won’t feel like such a fool for letting her go?” He clenched his fist, then flexed it. “That’s why you’re here in Kansas City, right? Because you realized what a complete idiot you were to cheat on her? Now she’s moved on, and you can’t accept responsibility for that, so it’s easier to blame her.” He stepped closer and jabbed his finger at Jay’s chest. “But that’s on you! You had two years to treat her right, but you were too stupid to see what you had.”

Jay’s face hardened. “She’s not yours.”

“We’re married. Deal with it.”

Jay swung at him again, and Josh stepped backward and out of the way.

Hundreds of sprays of water suddenly shot straight up from the ground in a twenty-foot diameter. They pulsed, spraying on and off, completely drenching the two men.

So that explained the concrete pad.

Jay swung at him again, and Josh took another step back, evading his fist.

“Enough!” Megan’s mother shouted, the authority in her voice unmistakable.

Both of them stopped and turned to face her, still standing in the oscillating water sprays.

“Jay Connors, you have five seconds to leave my sight. Never contact my daughter again.” Her eyes narrowed. “And if you do, I will hunt you down all the way to the Pacific West and chop off important parts of you that you’d probably prefer to keep.”

His gaze shifted to Megan, a question in his eyes.

“We’re done, Jay,” she said without hesitation. “Go.”

Nicole’s voice was icy. “Your time starts now, Mr. Connors.”

“You’ll regret this someday, Megan,” he shouted.

“You keep telling yourself that.”

He stomped up the steps and toward the entrance to the gardens.

Bart appeared at the edge of the group, panting. “What happened?”

Knickers ignored her husband and turned her attention to Josh. “Mr. McMillan.”

He lifted his chin, shivering in his wet suit and trying not to feel like a grade school boy sent to the principal’s office. “Yes, Ma’am.”

“How long have you known my daughter?”

“Four days.”

“Four days?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You met on the plane?”

“Yes.”

“And you just got married?”

“Yes.”

Megan pulled free from Noah’s hold. “Mom, I can explain.”

“You can explain why you told me this man was Jay Connors.”

She hesitated, looking over at Josh. He nodded his encouragement.

Taking a deep breath, Megan turned toward her mother. “I broke up with Jay six weeks ago, and I was afraid to tell you.”

“Why?” her mother demanded. “Do you really think I would want you to marry a man who would cheat on you?”

Megan looked torn. “You kept telling me how much the wedding cost and that you couldn’t get refunds.”

The fury in her mother’s face dissolved into sorrow and her shoulders sagged. “You really think I’m that much of a monster?”

Megan started to say something but kept her mouth shut.

“So you chose to marry a stranger rather than tell me your fiancé cheated on you?”

“We’re not married. It wasn’t real.”

Josh cringed. Things were about to get uglier. As if that were possible. He took several steps toward her and out of the fountain, water dripping from his hair onto his face. “Meggie, we are.”

Confusion wrinkled her brow. “We are what?”

His eyes pleaded with hers. “We’re married.”

She blinked. “What?”

“The marriage license got mailed in. We can’t get it back.”

“What? How?”

Libby held up her hand, a sheepish look washing over her face. “Me.”

“And me.” Noah stepped up next to her, as if presenting himself for punishment.

“Josh didn’t know anything about it,” Libby said. “We had just told him when Jay showed up.”

Josh knew he had to take control. “It doesn’t matter. As far as I’m concerned, this wedding couldn’t be any more real. I’m glad they mailed it in, but they should have consulted us first.” He searched Megan’s face, hoping to get a read on how she felt, but it remained expressionless. He decided to go for broke and took several steps toward Knickers, his hand extended as he presented his case. “I love her. I’ve never met anyone like her before, and I know it’s crazy. I know it. But it’s right, too.”

Knickers watched him for several seconds before turning to Megan. “We can get this annulled.”

“What?” Josh asked in panic. Noah and Libby voiced their own protests, too, but he was too distraught to register what they said.

Megan gasped. “You would do that?”

“Of course I would do