Deal or no deal?

CASSIE

"What?!" I barked when I finally managed to raise my jaw from the floor, "I'm sorry, but I think I heard you wrong. Did you just say I'm your wife?"

The man's brown eyes hardened, and he pulled out a document from the inside pocket of his leather jacket, "Here."

I hesitated, "What's that?"

"It's a marriage document signed by Cassandra Love and I. If I'm not mistaken, you're Cassandra." There was something vaguely familiar about the man, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Which was weird as hell though. How could I ever forget such a gorgeous man? I racked through my memories and came up empty.

Slowly, I reached for the document and unfolded it. My bestfriend hurried forward to read through it with me.

"What in the name of craziness is this?" She whispered to me.

My gaze jumped down to where my signature was scrawled boldly on a dotted line and then the date. Cold washed all over me and I went statue still as memories of that night suddenly assaulted me.

Oh God no.

"We went down to the city hall in Vegas on September eleventh and got married." He said.

"The day of my wedding," I croaked, "But we were drunk. This can't be legal. This is crazy."

"On that, we both agree," the man growled. I glanced down again to confirm his name, horrified that I needed a document to tell me my own husband's name. All i could remember from that day was grieving my hopes and dreams, playing rock paper scissors drink with a stranger and staggering out of the bar.

"Did we do it?" I blurted out, cheeks flaming.

"Yeah, we got married. The evidence is in your hand." My husband, Liam Copeland replied.

"No, I mean did we_" i trailed off, staring at him wide eyed and urging him to understand what I meant.

"This is painful to watch," my bestfriend sighed, "She's asking if you two had sex."

Liam made a face that made me wish for the ground to open and swallow me whole. If that was my accidental husband's reaction to sleeping with me, then we needed an annulment ASAP. I was sure he had women camped outside his door waiting for their chance to be with him, what would he even want with me?

"Heck no," he finally replied, "Thank God. We don't even need to get a divorce. We can go down to the city hall right now and get an annulment. I'm sure you want to get out of this mess as much as I do."

"Sure," i replied, only too glad to end this, "Let me just get my purse and we can go."

I turned on my heel and just then, my phone began to buzz with a call from my sister. I swiped the screen to decline the call, but a second later it began to ring again. This time the call was accompanied by dozens of text asking me to confirm my sudden marriage.

"You liar!" One of the texts read.

My fingers curled into fists at my side, and i was just about to start firing back a text at her, when a throat cleared behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder to see my large, husband with his hands crossed over his chest, "I don't have all day sweetheart."

At that moment, everything clicked. I needed a husband to maintain the lie that everyone now knew about and here was a man I was legally married to. I hadn't been to church since the humiliating day of my marriage, but it felt like God was smiling down at me.

I shifted a sly glance at Jeanne, who gave me back a confused look.

"You can have your annulment," I began, and the man let out a sigh of relief, "But not until the third of January."

He froze, "Excuse me?"

"Well, the thing is, I need a husband for Christmas," I winced at the look on his face, "And New year."

"Not interested." He deadpanned.

"And you already happen to be my husband," I braved on.

"Not for much longer."

"You won't have to do anything. Just show up for a few days, and wear a smile. Or not. Christmas in my hometown is amazing and I promise you won't regret it." I said with a hopeful smile.

"My plans for this Godforsaken holiday is to get drunk, eat copious amounts of junk and pick up a different woman each night. It's quite clear that our plans don't align. Which means I'll have to decline your generous offer," Liam replied gruffly, "But on the bright side, the sooner we end this, the faster you can find another unfortunate soul to play your games."

What a freaking asshole. I was tempted to flip him the middle finger and get this annulment done and over it, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I can pay you!"

He snorted, "I doubt any amount of money would make me want to alter my Christmas plans."

"A thousand dollars?" I asked slowly. I didn't have that amount, but my bestfriend's parents were rich and she could loan me the money. I hoped.

"No," his jaw clenched in annoyance.

"Free dog grooming?" Jeanne jumped in.

"I don't have a dog. I don't even like animals."

Apparently, my husband was also a red flag. And it was time to bring out the big guns.

"You want an easy annulment right?" I asked, "Well, what you're going to get is the messiest divorce of your life. I'll tell the judge we did the deed and guess what, my cousin is a divorce lawyer and she's never lost a case. I'll bleed you of even the last pack of beer in your pantry."

His eyes narrowed and he stepped closer, looking even larger and more intimidating. My knees began to knock.

"Are you threatening me, Cassandra?" There was something about how my full name rolled off his tongue that made heat curl in my belly.

"N-no," I squeaked.

"Should I call 9-1-1," my best friend asked in alarm.

I ignored her, "So, do we have a deal husband?"