Page 37 of The Fiancée Farce
Gemma frowned. “What do you mean? It’s no one’s business what we want.”
“Really? It’sno one’s business?” Tansy sighed. “I’m pretty sure it is, Gemma. You’re the one who told me this marriage has to look legitimate.”
“And it will. Itdoes.” That was the whole reason why Tansy’s lie was so brilliant; she’d laid the foundation for a relationship, one that had apparently started before Gemma’s grandfather had died. No one could refute that they were the real deal.
Well, they could. But it would be their word against Gemma’s.
“But how is it going to look, a six-month relationship followed by a short engagement and a courthouse wedding?”
“It’s notthatshort of an engagement,” she grumbled. “Celebrities do it all the time.” She might not be a celebrity per se, but she was celeb-adjacent at the very least. “People expect that sort of... impetuousness from me.”
“Do they expect it from the soon-to-be president of Van Dalen Publishing?”
Gemma’s jaw snapped shut. “Touché.”
“I—I didn’t mean it—”
“No, no. Don’t apologize. You’re right.” Gemma scrunched her eyes shut. She wanted to give this her all. Be the sort of leader VDP deserved. “I want you to be honest with me, remember?”
“Yeah, well, I could’ve said it with more tact.”
Gemma snorted. “Tansy, sweetheart, if you exhibited any more tact than you already do, you’d have it coming out your ass.”
“Oh, geez.” Tansy laughed. “Do they sell something for that? Over-the-counter, preferably. My insurance has a heck of a co-pay.”
“We’ll get you on my plan. I’ve got dentalandvision.”
Tansy whistled. “You know what? Maybe we should get courthouse married. Tomorrow. Are you free?”
Gemma smiled. Tansy wasfunny. And not just funny—Gemma had fun talking to her. Tansy was quick, witty, and, for all that she could be serious, she didn’t take herself too seriously. All things Gemma liked about her.
Tansy also had a good head on her shoulders. At least, it seemed like she did. She had persevered through a fuckton of adversity and could talk about her past without falling apart. Dare she say it, Gemma valued her opinion. “You think the engagement’s too short?”
“Well, kind of, yeah. We announced it at the beginning of October. How’s it going to look if we’re married before the end of the month?”
“Like we’re extremely eager and just couldn’t wait to be married? Hey, there’s a thought. We were saving ourselves for marriage. It’s such an awkward proclamation that no one’ll ask questions.”
Tansy snorted. “I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think anyone would believe that either of us was waiting for marriage.”
“You’re saying that ship already left the harbor, hmm?”
“And made a few transatlantic voyages, yeah.”
Gemma laughed. “Fair.”
“I just think a quickie marriage might raise more questions than we’d like.”
Now that she paused to really think about it, the optics weren’t great, truth be told.
“I guess I was so concerned with shoring this whole thing up, no muss, no fuss, that I didn’t stop to think about how our expediency might be perceived.”
“I guess that wholepatience not being your strong suitthing bit you in the butt, huh?” Tansy joked.
“Unfortunately,” Gemma agreed. “That it did. So you want us to have aweddingwedding? With a cake and... I don’t know,cake?”
Tansy laughed. “I like cake, yes. So much that I’d even be okay with having two.”
“I’d be worried if you didn’t like cake.”
