Page 4 of Solitary Man

“Let’s go,” he rumbled and headed for the general store.

I followed, not that Cash gave me much choice, his hand was still wrapped tightly around my own.

“What are we doing?” I asked when we walked into the store.

“Getting married.”

“Now?” I mean, I knew it was happening today, but I assumed we’d talk for a while first, now that we were face to face.

“Won’t be back for a month,” he said, dropping my hand and pulling a piece of paper from the pocket of his jeans. He handed it to Landon. “Marriage license.”

Landon nodded and smiled at me. “Let’s get this done. You’ll want to head out before it gets dark.”

Cash grunted. Again.

“Um, this all seems…”

Cash looked down at me, his pretty blue eyes hitting mine with a force that made my knees almost buckle. He wanted this. He wanted me. It was all there in those expressive eyes. And just that look from him calmed me.

I glanced back at Landon. “You can perform weddings?”

“Yes, ma’am. Got ordained online. I’ll send the paperwork in once you two sign it.”

“Okay. Let’s do this,” I said, before I chickened out.

Cash tensed beside me, and I peered up at him again. He was staring at me with an intensity that stole my breath.

“Right, repeat after me. I, Cash Wyatt Smith, take you, Riley Emeline Lewis, to be my wife.”

Cash repeated the words, all deep and rumbly, then Landon told him the next bit. Cash shifted, his wide shoulders straightening. “I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will honor you all the days of my life,” Cash repeated, eyes burning into me, face flushed.

I shivered. His voice. Dear God. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to it.

“Put the ring on Riley’s finger,” Landon said.

Cash pulled a simple gold band from his pocket, took my hand in his, and slipped it on my finger.

“Now it’s your turn,” Landon said to me and rattled off what I had to say.

I glanced back up at Cash. His eyes bore into me so intensely that a shiver moved through my entire body. It wasn’t a bad shiver. But I was freaking out just a bit. This quiet, intense man was about to become my husband. The man I lived with…slept with.

The nerves skyrocketed.

He squeezed my hand gently. “Riley?”

The way he said my name, unsure, softer, but no less rough pulled me from my mini freak-out. This is what you want. This is why you’re here. You know this man, you’ve been talking to him for months.

You know him.

I’d known him the moment I’d stared into his eyes.

“I, Riley Emeline Lewis, take you, Cash Wyatt Smith, to be my husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will honor you all the days of my life.”

His fingers squeezed again, this time more like a spasm, like he’d been surprised I’d actually said the words.

“Riley, put the ring on Cash’s finger.”

I blushed and quickly grabbed my bag from the shop counter where I’d put it and pulled out the ring box. I flipped it open and pulled out the wide gold band I’d chosen for him. Honestly, I should have cottoned on to the size of the man I was marrying when he emailed me his ring size.