wife,â the minister said. âYou may kiss the bride.â
Unlike the fast wedding, the kiss was as clear as the rest of her day with Mike. Full of passion and desire, it was over way too soon. Before they knew it their chaplain had clapped his hands and dismissed them, already on to the next couple.
Amberâs heart pounded hard in her chest as the reality of what theyâd done settled around her. âDid we really just get married?â Amber asked, laughing as they walked out of the chapel, license and photograph in hand.
âI believe we didâ¦Mrs. Corwin.â It was almost impossible to comprehend, Mike thought.
He normally wasnât impulsive. As a cop he couldnât afford to be. Day to day, he relied on training and instinct. When a quick decision was called for, it was always founded in a combination of both.
Now he was married.
The initial impulse had been just that, yet somehow he knew the decision had been rooted in his connection with Amber, one he knew he couldnât lose. Even now that the deed was done, he didnât regret a thing. In some odd way, getting hitched to Amber made sense.
For a Corwin man.
He and Amber werenât in love.
No love, no curse.
Although for Amber, Mike sensed heâd be willing to tempt fate. For the first time, Mike thought he understood his cousin Derekâs recent marriage to his high-school sweetheart, the woman heâd once pushed away to avoid setting the curse in motion. Amber was addictive and Mike discovered he liked being hooked. Enough to want to keep her by his side.
âWhat do you say we head back to my room and consummate this marriage?â he asked his bride, pushing thoughts of fate and the curse far from his mind.
She smiled at him, her blue eyes dancing with energy and excitement. âI like the sound of that.â
So did Mike.
Â
M IKE WAS MARRIED and he liked it, he realized as Amber snuggled close in the cab ride back to his hotel. With her hanging on to his arm, he headed straight to the large bank of elevators that led to his room. While the Bellagio suites had an opulence that had made him uncomfortable when heâd checked in, the thought of taking Amber up there now and undressing her surrounded by all that elegance pleased Mike and made the extravagant price heâd paid worth-while.
He shoved his hand into his back pants pocket to make sure he had his key and a coin fell onto the floor.
âWhatâs this?â Amber asked, bending to retrieve it. âA token for the slots?â She studied it on both sides.
He nodded. âEveryone in the wedding party got one.â
âYou should use it,â she said, handing it back to him. âIt looks like itâs worth ten dollars. You can win big with one of those.â
He raised an eyebrow. âThe slots are as rigged as the arcade.â Heâd blown over one hundred dollars before that guy had handed the ring over for another five. âNot that I minded, but the guy could have given us the ring anytime he wanted.â
âBut what fun would it have been?â she asked, nudging him. âCome on. Donât be such a skeptic. Iâve lived here long enough to know itâs a crapshoot. But someone has to win every once in a while.â She took his hand and led him back through the casino to the higher-end machines. âPick one,â she urged.
She obviously wasnât going to give up until he lost the token. âYou choose,â he said.
She shook her head. âOh, no. Iâm just along for the ride. This is all yours. Come on. What are you going to do with the token anyway? Take it back to Boston as a memento?â
âI already have a memento,â he said, stroking his hand down her cheek.
âAre you referring to the photograph? Or me?â she asked, laughing. âCome on. Get it over with.â
He shook his head at her persistence. âDid anyone ever tell you that you