Page 4 of Cuffing His Bride

The tears won’t stop, no matter how often I wipe them away. This can’t be helping with the bride-zilla look, but I can’t help it.

“Here,” a low, familiar voice says. I look up to see the officer that carried me out of the church offering me a handkerchief.

“Thank you,” I say, before wiping my face. It smells nice, a little like leather and pine. I find myself drawing it to my nose and inhaling deeply, relishing the small comfort it gives me. Is this what he smells like?

“I am going to need you to give me your statement,” he says, once I’ve calmed down a little. Suddenly, he’s crouching in front of me, his pants stretching around his muscular thighs. “Miss Sage, right?”

He’s incredible. He’s rugged, but sort of devilish at the edges. He’s not traditionally handsome, but he doesn’t need to be. It’s probably not the right thing to think about considering I literallyjustgot jilted in front of half the town. And then there’s the fact that I’m probably going to be arrested, and by him no less, but I can’t help staring. Something about him is intensely attractive.

“Miss?” he says again.

When my gaze meets his piercing blue eyes, I forget about all of the crappy things that happened today. There’s something soft about the way he’s looking at me, and it makes my heart stutter. I feel my cheeks heat. He’s caught me staring at his thighs, but he doesn’t seem offended judging by the way his eyes are sparkling. I look away and clear my throat in an attempt to focus on the matter at hand, but it’s hard when he’s so close and he smells so good.

Focus! Amelia, I chastise myself.Your name. He needs your name.

“Yes. Amelia Sage, but you can call me Amelia if you want,” I hurry to say. “Charles and I were getting married but then this lady stepped up and stopped the ceremony, claiming how she loved him and all that bullshit—”

“Bullshit?” he cuts me off, his brow raised.

“Excuse my language, officer, but that woman waslying. The only real thing about her was her annoying, shrill voice,” I snark bitterly.

“Miss …”

“I saw her little smirk when she sniffed into a tissue. She would have been next if you hadn’t pulled me off of him.”

“Are you trying to rack up more charges?” the man asks, his eyes narrowing on mine. The question almost has a hint of sarcasm in it, but I can’t be sure.

“I thought you wanted the truth,” I mumble.

“I want your account of what happened. I need to knowwhyyou attacked the groom.”

“That asshole deserved it.”

“I need more than that.”

I huff. It’d be impossible to explain to him precisely why I needed to get married to Charles. The thought of him judging me for getting married just to secure a trust fund feels awful. Even if it was to make my mom and I’s dream come true, it just sounds bad. I understand he’s trying to do his job, but so much happened today. Unless I can get someone else to marry me in the next few days, then I can kiss buying back the flower shop goodbye. It’s starting to sink in as I try to more accurately explain my side of the story.

“He just … He said some things that ticked me off. And he wouldn’t stop saying them. I might have been the one that snapped but in retrospect,hestarted it, not me.”

The cop lets out a sigh before standing up. My heart sinks.

“Are you going to arrest me?”

“Yes. You and your fiancé caused a major disturbance. You’ll probably be charged with disorderly conduct, if not assault. And that’s before we account for all the things you broke back there.”

My eyes fill up at the thought of potential jail time. I knew that was a possibility the moment I launched myself at Charles, but now that things have calmed down a bit, the consequences of my actions are threatening to overwhelm me.

“I’ll pay,” I hurry to say. “I’ll pay for all the damage to the church. Please ask them not to press charges.”

“Okay, what about assaulting your fiancé?”

“Please stop calling him that,” I groan. He raises an eyebrow at me. “I-I’m sorry, Officer.”

“Hunter. You can just call me Hunter.”

A thrill runs down my spine upon finally hearing his name.

“Officer Hunter, I’m sorry for the mess. I will take responsibility for my actions, but please understand that I am not the only one at fault here.”

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