Page 21 of Her Inconvenient Wedding Date

At least Hunter has his cousin who is now talking to Fred and signing what looks like a marriage certificate.Ourmarriage certificate. I place a hand over my chest and try to take deep breaths. All the warm fuzzies I had a few minutes ago during that kiss have fizzled away. I stare at the ring on my hand as its significance hits me like an iceberg and I’m the Titanic.

What have I done?!

All my life, I’d looked forward to the day when I’d get to marry the love of my life. And here I am, married to a man whoisamazing and checks off all the boxes, but our relationship is only based on an agreement. An agreement that can only last three months. And one that will no longer include head-spinning kisses like the one Hunter just gave me.

What an inconvenient marriage, indeed.

“You know what?” I turn to Hunter and say the first thing that pops into my head. “I feel like a brownie.”

“A brownie? Sure, let’s go get some brownies.”

“But it’s almost lunchtime. We’ll ruin our appetite. We can’t eat dessert before a meal.”

“Says who?”

“All the responsible adults in the world.”

“And are any of those people enjoying themselves?”

“Maybe not, but that’s life. We have responsibilities to fulfill. I already feel bad about playing hooky from work today.”

“You haven’t taken a day off all year, Lil.”

“Exactly. I broke my record.”

“You know the company doesn’t give out perfect attendance awards, right?”

“But if they did, I’d be the first to get one.”

“I won’t argue with you there. How about I give you a brownie instead? Hold on a second though.” He strides over to Ryder and Fred, exchanges a few words with them, then returns to my side. “Okay, we can go now. Let’s get those brownies!”

“What about Ryder?”

“He’s a big boy, he can find his own ride home. If not, he should really think about changing his name.”

I smile despite my mood and follow Hunter down the grand staircase. If the circumstances were normal, these steps would be a great place to take wedding photos that we could frame and hang up in our home and show to our kids one day, but since we are not your typical couple, we keep on moving. Past a handful of tourists taking pictures of the architecture and another couple on their way to get married who look as madly in love with each other as you’d expect them to be.

In a matter of minutes, we arrive outside to where Hunter’s sedan is parked on the street. I’d taken an Uber here—one-way city streets and I don’t get along—so it works out that I can ride home with him. Although, I’m not sure whathomeis going to look like for the foreseeable future or what anything will look like.

But I do know, thank the Lord, that I’m safe with Hunter.

He opens the passenger side door for me and places one hand along the top of the doorframe, so I don’t bump my head. The gesture is so sweet and thoughtful, my insides melt a little. It’s moments like this that reassure me of what a good guy he is. I mean, he literally just married me without expecting anything in return. Who does that?!

Apparently, a non-Chinese guy who speaksMandarin, rescues me from PowerPoint presentations, and hates pineapple on his pizza.

I suppose two out of three ain’t bad.

“Is there a specific place you have in mind for the brownies?” he asks, once he’s seated behind the wheel. He pulls onto the road and starts heading for the 101 South freeway. “Or are you okay with homemade ones?”

“Don’t tell me you make your own brownies, too?”

“One of my sisters gave me a recipe I’ve been wanting to try. They’re pumpkin brownies, perfect for fall. How’s that sound?”

“Perfect,” I muse to myself. My mother’s right. There’s a term in Mandarin,you xiu,that meansexcellentorsuperior.She used that word to describe Hunter every time I spoke with her this week, saying how I found someone moreyou xiuthan me—the key word beingmore, notas. I can’t argue with her though. The more I find out about Hunter, the more I see how much he’s out of my league. “So perfect.”

He glances at me briefly. “What did you mean bytoo? You said, ‘don’t tell me you make your own brownies, too?’ That presumes there’s something else I also do.”

“Oh, there is a lot more than one something else. You seem to be good at a lot of things.”

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