Bianca Daleman only has two rules. First, never lose control. And second, never marry anyone until she is certain it won't end in divorce.
While in Vegas for her best friend's bachelorette party, Bianca discovers her ex-boyfriend is engaged to a...
"So you have experience with weddings, then?" I have no idea what to ask in an interview for a wedding date. I'm pretty sure that sounded worse when I said it out loud than it had in my head. Which is saying something.
"I do. Yeah, I do. I'd love to just help you out with anything you need. I'll be the picture of a doting boyfriend-"
"Husband," Divya interrupts. "You'll be playing the role of her husband."
His Adam's apple visibly bobs as he gulps. "Husband?"
How is it possible he is more sweaty now than before? Surely that cannot be possible.
"Is that a problem?" Divya stands to full height and tilts her head, arms crossed as she waits for an answer.
He fumbles out some kind of answer and offers his hand. "Thank you for the opportunity."
"I'll be in touch." I try to smile, but he's racing out the door faster than you can say 'failed interview.'
And then there was one.
Black Hair spots us walking toward him and waves. "Hey! Are you Bianca?"
"Yes. I'm Bianca and this is the bride, Divya."
"Nice to meet you both," he says, shaking our hands. His heel is still tapping against the floor.
"Do you have somewhere else to be?" I ask, unable to keep my curiosity inside where it should be.
"No. Oh, no. I'm just a little nervous. This would be my first wedding date."
"You've never been to a wedding before?"
"Once. My cousin Edna got married when I was twelve."
"What do you usually do for work, then?"
"I work at a wedding chapel and casinos as an impersonator. I can do Elvis, of course, but also-"
"We don't need an impersonator, though," Divya interjects. "I'm sure you're very good at it, but-"
And then this man... This man cocks his brow and does an Elvis impersonation right here in the middle of the hotel lobby. Please tell me the earth has opened up to swallow me whole.
I would rather die than show up to my best friend's wedding with this man on my arm. You couldn't pay me enough money to show up with him.
"Thank you for your time," I say, turning on my heel and walking straight into the open door of the elevator.
Divya chases me down and stands beside me in stunned silence as the doors close between us and the worst interviews known to humanity. Well, not quite. There was that one time I interviewed for-
"Well," Divya says finally. "I guess that's a no, then."
"Those are not suitable dates for even the shadiest elopement, not to mention your actual wedding. Maybe I can just say my husband is sick."
"That would work fine until you had no buffer between you and Emiko. I'm not running interference on my wedding day."
"Dude. I never said you had to."
"Well, I know. But please just let me uninvite him. I don't want to have to deal with this. I already have enough going on with my parents and... I'm sorry, Bianca, but I really need you there and I need your head on straight. No drunken weddings."
"I can't do that again, Divya. The only reason I could do it the first time is because I wasn't married."
"At least I have that comforting thought to look forward to."
"Just, don't uninvite them, okay? I can't do that to Raj. Or to Emiko. Neither of them deserves that. I'll just... I'll figure it out."
"How?"
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Ugh. I guess there's only one way out of this. And it's a way that is wholly unkind to a man I just met. But he did marry me when I was drunk, so maybe fair is fair.
♤ ♥ ♤
Author's Note:
I'm back with another chapter and this one was fun! I can't wait for you to re-meet Bianca's husband Enrique. Hopefully he doesn't do impersonations for a living.
While you're waiting, I have another (N)ONC entry to share with you. Deathmark is written by the wonderful CeeMTaylor and I love her writing. If you're interested in paranormal fantasy to go along with your romance, you'll definitely want to check this one out. She is posting to her wattpad profile and her patreon for free!
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By day, Cyprian Cavish is a powerful water mage. By night, he's a famed Ilian monster hunter, keeping the city safe from evil spirits. Cyprian has one rule: no one dies on his watch. But Cyprian's teammate, the infuriating Jael Soti, harbors a curse-one that kills him repeatedly, but won't let him stay dead.
To make matters worse, Cyprian is in love with him.
When the curse warps and threatens to kill Jael once and for all, Cyprian must find a way to trace and defeat the caster, or his time with Jael will run out.
