Page 146 of The Fiancée Farce
Tansy hadn’t had even a sip of champagne and yet there was an effervescent feeling in her chest, as if she’d slugged down the whole bottle.
“Do you, Tansy, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, in good times and in bad, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” Tansy said, toes curling in her shoes, swaying toward Gemma.
“And now for the rings, which I believe you’ve selected?”
Tansy held out her parents’ rings, cupped in the palm of her hand.
“Perfect. Gemma, as you place this ring on Tansy’s finger, please repeat after me.With this ring, I thee wed and pledge you my love now and forever.”
Gemma took the larger band once belonging to Tansy’s father and slipped it onto Tansy’s ring finger. It was several sizes too large, and yet perfect. “With this ring, I thee wed and pledge you my love now and forever.”
Tansy curled her fingers into a fist to keep it from falling off.
“Tansy, as you place this ring on Gemma’s finger, please repeat after me.With this ring, I thee wed and pledge you my love now and forever.”
Tansy took her mother’s ring and, with trembling hands, slipped it onto Gemma’s finger. Butterflies erupted inside her stomach, and her heart soared. This was it, the moment she’d once fantasized about and hadn’t let herself dream of for far too long. “With this ring, I thee wed and pledge you my love now and forever.”
“By the authority vested in me by the state of Washington, Inow pronounce you wife and wife.” Mr. Barnes clapped his hands. “Tansy, Gemma, you may now—”
Gemma reached out, hands cupping the sides of Tansy’s face as she dragged her closer. Tansy’s breath caught in her throat as Gemma’s mouth lowered, meeting hers in a soft, sweet kiss. It was no less explosive for how chaste it was, and Tansy’s knees turned to Jell-O, her heartbeat deafening inside her ears. This wasn’t their first kiss, far from it, but it was their first kiss as wives. The first of many.
The first offorever.
Someone, Brooks or Teddy most likely, wolf whistled.
“No take backs,” Gemma whispered, a wicked gleam in her eye.
She wouldn’t dream of it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“It’s beer before liquor, never sicker, but where exactly does champagne fit into the equation?” Yvonne asked.
“A fair question, babe.” Max nodded sagely. “It’s sparkling wine. There’s got to be a saying for that, too, right?”
“Wine before beer and you’ll feel queer.” Rochelle frowned. “I think that’s it?”
Teddy squinted. “What if I always feel queer?”
“Queer as in sick,” Rochelle said. “I think.”
“Sick as in rad?” Max frowned.
Rochelle shrugged. “I think sick as in funny.”
“What kind of funny?” Yvonne asked. “Like,I ate a bad clamfunny orha-ha you’re so hilariousfunny? You Americans are so ambiguous.”
“You’re so hilariousas inactuallyfunny, or like, the jokes suck but you haven’t gotten laid in a while so you’ll grin and bear it?” Max wondered.
“Bearwhat?” Yvonne asked, looking horrified.
“I don’t think they’re listening to us,” Max stage-whispered. “They seem a little... preoccupied.”
“Shut up.” Gemma smiled against Tansy’s lips, too busy kissing her wife—holy shit, she had awife—to care that her friends were teasing her. “Maybe you just shouldn’t mix your alcohol?”
“That’s boring.” Max frowned. “Is this a sign of the times? Are you boring now that you’re married?”
