Marrying Mr. Wrong (Dirty Martini Running Club #3) - Claire Kingsley Page 0,24

spreading panic as it went. I’d signed it. I’d signed the marriage license. I remembered doing it.

Oh my god, I really had married Cox last night.

Or early this morning.

Whatever.

“This is so bad.” My voice shook. “You guys, I got married and I can’t remember if we had sex, but I don’t even know if that matters, because it isn’t like you have to consummate the marriage to make it legal.”

“Everly, where’s Shepherd?” Hazel asked. “He knows Cox. Maybe he could call him for Sophie and—”

“No!” A bubble of panic burst in my chest. “No, please don’t tell Mr. Calloway. He’ll fire me.”

“He won’t fire you,” Everly said.

“He might. They have a business deal and I married Cox in Vegas and that just seems like some kind of conflict of interest. Please don’t tell him. Not yet.”

Everly chewed her bottom lip for a second. “I’ll give it a day or two, but I can’t keep secrets from him.”

My shoulders slumped in resignation. “No, I won’t ask you to lie to your husband for me. Just… maybe don’t mention anything about it unless you have to.”

Smiling, she nodded. “Okay.”

I rubbed my hands up and down my face. “What am I going to do?”

Nora pushed her mostly-full Bloody Mary toward me. “The first thing you’re going to do is drink this.”

I winced, not sure I was ready to put even a drop of alcohol in my body. “And then what?”

“I have absolutely no idea,” she said. “I’d love to tell you this isn’t a disaster, but it is. I suppose all you can do now is get in touch with Cox and figure out how to get it annulled.”

“You don’t have any reason to believe you’re first cousins, do you?” Hazel asked.

“What? No. Why?”

She shrugged. “It’s one of the conditions under which Nevada grants annulments.”

Maybe I did want that Bloody Mary. I took a sip. “No, we’re not related. And we were drunk, but obviously we convinced the clerk at the Marriage Bureau that we were sober enough.”

Everly reached across the table to squeeze my hand. “I’m sure there will be an easy way to fix this. This kind of thing probably happens in Vegas all the time. I bet they have a window at the Marriage Bureau just for quickie annulments. And the good news is, our flight isn’t until this afternoon, so you have plenty of time to take care of it.”

I gave her a weak smile. “That’s true.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Hazel asked.

“I don’t think so. Like Everly said, there has to be an easy way to fix this. It must happen all the time here.”

Our food came and I ate my brunch, trying to keep my spirits up. But Nora was right: This was a disaster. And not just any disaster. A Sophie disaster.

But I’d just do what I always did when things went awry. I’d clean up the mess.

My heart fluttered in my chest as I walked through the ornate Bellagio lobby. Again. It was just as pretty now as it had been this morning, but that wasn’t why I was here.

Although I’d married Cox, I hadn’t gotten his number.

This was such a mess.

I went to the front desk and the attendant greeted me with a warm smile. “What can I do for you?”

“This is going to sound a little bit silly, but I left without my room key and I can’t remember my room number.”

“What name is the reservation under?”

“Camden Cox.”

She typed something and a second later, her brow furrowed. “It shows he’s already checked out. Are you Mrs. Cox?”

My knees buckled, like my legs were about to give out. I grabbed the desk and held on so I wouldn’t fall. “Sorry. Um, yes, I… Sort of. I mean, yes, I am. Mrs. Cox.”

Her expression shifted from friendly to mildly confused. “Well, it appears he checked out this morning. Would you like me to check with the concierge to see if your bags were left here?”

“No, thank you. I didn’t have any… Never mind; it’s a long story. Thanks anyway.”

I spun around and walked away. This was all so embarrassing.

Plan A was a bust and I didn’t have a plan B. I’d been counting on finding Cox here. After some internet research, I’d determined that, unfortunately, Everly was wrong. There wasn’t a quick and easy way to get an annulment. Not even in Vegas.

In fact, I wasn’t even sure if we’d qualify for one. The list of reasons included things like being underage