Web of Lies (The Goode Life #2) - Isla Olsen Page 0,16

leans back, a hand over his heart and a teasing smile on his face. “Well, how could I possibly refuse such a romantic proposal?”

“You can be married here on the gondola,” Alfredo, who’d obviously been eavesdropping, announces. “I am ordained.”

“That’s perfect!” Web cries. “Jesse, isn’t that perfect? Alfredo here can marry us right now!”

Okay, this backfired quickly…

“Do you have your license?” Alfredo asks.

“What license?” Web and I say in unison.

“Your marriage license. Can’t get married without one of those.”

“Huh, okay, well…” I trail off as I notice Web gazing at me with a victorious glint in his eye. Nope. No way is he winning this one. To Alfredo, I ask, “How would we go about getting a license?”

“You’ll need to go to the Clerk’s Office. It closes at eleven on Saturdays.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket to check the time and see it’s just after ten pm. I wave it under Web’s face, grinning triumphantly. “Look at that—still plenty of time.”

Web eyes me doubtfully. “You really want to spend Saturday night lining up at the Clerk’s Office?”

“Are you saying you don’t want to marry me?” I challenge. “You’re allowed to back out, you know.”

His eyes narrow on me. “Oh, I’m not backing out of anything. I’ll marry you, Jesse Cartwright. Just wait, I’ll marry the fuck out of you.”

Okay, it’s weird how he just made the word ‘marry’ sound both sexy and threatening. And it’s even weirder that I was completely turned on by it.

8

From the private Facebook group ‘Finchley Locals Community Hangout’

* * *

Post by George Goode: I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we’ve lost Web and Jesse. Sheriff Taylor might want to keep his ear to the ground in regards to suspicious activity in Vegas

Gunner Clarke reply to George Goode’s comment: You know when you say “I don’t want to alarm anyone” it automatically triggers alarm, right?

Web

* * *

I can’t believe this is all happening right now. I mean, I’m still shocked about the fact I actually kissed Jesse, but now, all this other stuff…

Jesus, did I seriously just suggest we have sex? I’ve never been that forward with anyone. Ever. Because I’ve never wanted anyone; not the way I want Jesse.

But I need to push that out of my mind for the moment and focus on what’s actually happening right now. I know what he’s trying to do; he thinks if he pushes me hard enough, I’ll snap, and he’ll have his vindication in proving that I’m secretly horrified at the idea of marrying a man, or holding hands in public, or sharing a romantic gondola ride. And maybe if it were someone else I’d be uncomfortable doing all that; but it’s not someone else, it’s Jesse, and there’s no way I’m letting this night end without convincing him he’s been wrong about me this whole time. I know what I did back in high school was completely idiotic, but I was a dumb, confused, scared kid; I’m done letting that one moment dictate my life.

We grab an Uber and manage to make it to the Clerk’s office before it closes for the night.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” Jesse asks as we near the front of the queue.

“Why?” I arch an eyebrow in challenge. “Having second thoughts.”

He scoffs, shaking his head. “Of course not. I just don’t want to push you too far. I’d hate for you to have a nervous breakdown on my account.”

“Don’t worry about me, sweetie pie. I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”

As soon as the license is sorted, we return to the Venetian, where Alfredo is waiting to marry us. Of course, we could have just stopped at any number of the wedding chapels we passed on the way back, but Alfredo seemed so excited about the prospect of officiating for us, and he’d even offered to organize for us to use a special wedding gondola. We couldn’t really snub him after that.

When we get back to the Venetian canal, we find Alfredo in animated conversation with a young blonde woman. When he sees us approaching he gestures for us to join them.

“Boys, this is Linley. She’s a producer for a TV show filmed here in Vegas,” he explains.

She offers us a warm smile. “I’m with Real Vegas Weddings.”

“The reality show?” Jesse asks, sounding impressed.

My brows shoot up. “You’ve heard of it?” I ask him.

He shrugs. “Zack’s a massive fan.”

Linley smiles again. “Alfredo here tells me you guys are about to get married on the gondola?