Page 42 of Burn Bag

And just like that, he took over and handled everything. The truck was loaded a few minutes later and we were on our way home. Now I just had to figure out how to tell him about the rest of the cats.

12

KAVANAUGH

I slidmy sunglasses on my face, feeling slightly calmer than I had ten minutes ago. Once we were home, I’d think about the fact that I now had three kittens living with me. Maybe I could convince her to give them to the other wives.

Wives.

Shit, I was actually married. I glanced down at the ring on my finger and sighed. This was not how I saw this going. Married, yes, but to a stranger? Why the hell had I gone through with it? Which put a few more things in perspective. Like the fact that I needed some back-dated forms taken care of ASAP.

“I need a new name for you.”

“What?” I glanced over at her, wondering what the fuck she was talking about.

“Your name…there’s no way I can call you Bradford. It’s so pretentious and it doesn’t fit you.”

“It’s the only name I’ve got.”

“I guess I could go with Brad,” she sighed. “Have we had this conversation already?”

It did sound vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.Between all the shit that had happened over the last day, I couldn’t remember crap.

“Will! That’s it!”

“Sorry, what?”

“At the wedding. Remember? We talked about this and I decided to call you Will. Although, if I’m being honest, Will doesn’t fit you either.”

“Then don’t call me that.”

“What should I call you? Hubby doesn’t work in every occasion.”

“Everyone calls me Kavanaugh.”

Her nose wrinkled up in this cute way that made me grin, but I quickly schooled my features, refusing to show her how fucking adorable I thought she was.

“I can’t call you by your last name. It makes you sound like a dog.”

“Whatever. That’s what everyone calls me.”

“Well, not me. I need something more…normal. I don’t know,” she huffed. “Nothing fits.”

“Well, I guess you can call me nothing.”

“Don’t be silly. Nothing is a horrible name.”

“I didn’t?—”

“I know what you meant. Do you really have no sense of humor?”

That struck a chord deep within me. I usually had a great sense of humor. Why was I letting this all bother me so much? I should be looking on the bright side. I was married like I’d wanted. My wife was hot. Hell, she even had a good personality. I couldn’t ask for too much more.

“Bradley,” I murmured, glancing over at her. “When I was little, my mother used to call me Bradley.”

Cocking her head at me, the faintest smile fluttered over her lips. “I like that. It suits you. A bit of masculinity, but not too rough and tumble.”

“I’m still rough and tumble,” I said, sitting up straighter and flexing my arms.

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