Chapter 6: Wedding Rings

Back to the present.

“Hungry?” Andrew asked Kenzie as he walked alongside her by the corridors. His black hair was without a style, softly moving freely as they made their way to the restaurant.

She smiled with pursed lips, nodding while studying how his shirt loosely hugged his well-shaped body. She pretended to look down at her feet but peered sideways under her lashes, appreciating Andrew's long and masculine legs. They were well hidden beneath his faded jeans.

'Damn.'

Andrew was in simple clothes, yet he still managed to be guilty of being an adonis. How cruel was the world to the other men and how lucky was she to be walking with a possible demi-god? He looked too perfect to be human, or so she thought.

“ I wasn’t sure if you like fancy restaurants. So I decided we could go to a more comfortable – casual one,” Andrew revealed. It was his way of adjusting to her supposed simple life. 

“Ummm. Yeah, sure. That would be great.” She immediately understood. “I mean, I – I totally am not for using too many silverwares when eating!"

She sneered towards the end as she gave a fake laugh, "Haha!"

‘Did that make sense? I hope he isn’t taking me to eat burgers and fries though,’ she thought silently because she wasn't really fond of fast food. Her mother made sure of that. 

Walking closer to what it looked like an open-air seafood restaurant, Kenzie sighed in relief,  but an angry-looking brunette quickly put her easiness to a stop who, out of nowhere, stood in their way.

“Andrew! My father called your grandmother, and he was told you don’t have a girlfriend. Thus!” Madelyn glared at Kenzie, her nose flaring as she declared, “You are not married to anybody. And especially not this one!”

Andrew was quick to push Madelyn aside and protect Kenzie with his arms. He held her tightly and forced her closer to his chest. He reminded, “We were in a secret relationship. I told you this already. We got married in secret and in fact! We are on our honeymoon. I only agreed to meet with you, thinking it was a business meeting while on this cruise!”

“Yes! We are, in fact… in our honeymoon,” Kenzie supplemented. She was already in this with Andrew since last night, she might as well play along.

Madelyn winced, taunting in resentment at the two and carefully studying their body language. Seconds later, she found something strange. Pointing at Andrew’s finger, she said, “Hah! You don’t even have wedding rings! And how about your marriage contract? Where is it?”

While Kenzie felt a lump in her throat, Andrew remained calm, merely shaking his head.

“We don’t need to explain anything to you, Madelyn. As for our marriage certificate, we don’t necessarily carry it with us as we go for dinner.” Andrew retorted. "Now, will you please, leave us in peace."

“Even she has no wedding ring or engagement ring!” Her eyes were fuming with passion, scowling at Kenzie. “It is too much of a coincidence that both of you are not wearing rings!”

‘Okay, Kenzie. Think!’ Kenzie shifted her gaze to Andrew and could tell that he was also formulating a plan. She took the liberty to start by explaining, “We had to take it off.”

“It was getting in the way,” Andrew added.

“Yes,” Kenzie backed him up, despite not knowing where it was headed. “It was… easier without the rings.”

“Getting in the way of what?!” Madelyn had to ask.

“Bloody hell, Madelyn! Can’t you understand? We are on our honeymoon! We were having wild sex, and the rings were getting in the way - getting tangled in the hair, scratching our skins - We just had to remove them!” Andrew gave his defense, squinting at Madelyn.

Yes!” Just as she agreed unwittingly, Kenzie stood frozen in her stance, turning tomato red. ‘What? What did he just say? Of course, he would say something sexual! Pervert and shameless!’

Kenzie could feel several eyes on them, probably having heard what Andrew suggested. She had never felt so ashamed in her life. ‘Wild sex? Seriously? How could wedding rings do so much damage? And he just had to say that out loud!’

“Sweetheart, let’s just go back and get our rings so we can satisfy Madelyn’s curiosity,” without waiting for any reaction from the brunette, Andrew grabbed Kenzie’s hand and sped away. It was clear to Andrew that Madelyn was hell-bent to make her point. 

He knew he had to get those... wedding rings. 

***

“What are we doing here, Andrew?” Kenzie asked, her tone reflected a hint of irritation.

Opening the door to the ship’s jewelry store, Andrew gently held Kenzie’s hand and answered, “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but you don’t have to be upset. They don’t know us and we don’t know them. When they return to their homes, they will forget about the couple who had wild sex on their honeymoon that they had to take off their wedding rings.”

Kenzie’s mouth fell agape while being dragged inside. Andrew, on the other hand, just gave her a wink, followed by his usual sexy smirk.

“You are shameless!” She had to call it out.

“And you probably would not want it any other way,” he answered, chuckling and showing off his dimples.

‘Do I?’ She wondered, still upset, yet finding herself following Andrew’s lead. Her heart sank, realizing... he probably was right. He was fun that way; being shameless!

Heartbeats later, a gentleman attending to the store offered the couple various options for their instant wedding rings.

Several conditions need to be met. One, since they were only pretending, Kenzie insisted that it should be practically priced. Two, unfortunately, the rings, including her engagement ring, had to fit the description in the way Andrew had exaggerated earlier.

The wedding rings needed to be… believable.

“The rings have to have intricate details,” Andrew suggested, caressing his chin while studying the options.

With a hint of sarcasm, Kenzie added, rolling her eyes in Andrew’s direction, “One word. WILD.”

Andrew chuckled, ignoring Kenzie’s remark. He said, “More like a dangerous kind… Something that could potentially hurt.”

“Maybe a little sharp on the edges?” Kenzie added, raising a brow, and only then did Kenzie and Andrew look at each other. They both nodded in agreement before turning to the store attendant.

“Details so convoluted, it would get tangled in the hair,” Andrew described.

“And it must be something you can easily dispose of after its full use,” Kenzie explained, nodding her head. “So tell us, what do you recommend?”

The poor gentleman in front of them was left confused, shifting his eyes from Andrew to Kenzie. His forehead formed droplets of sweat, imagining what the two were up to. His lips trembled as he asked, “Are you… looking to buy a wedding ring?” His voice broke off as he added, “Or… a murder weapon? Ha. Ha.”

Dead air filled the space. 

They could clearly hear the store attendant gulping in each second that passed. 

Soon enough, however, Andrew cleared his throat and leaned over the glass display. He said to the gentleman in his most serious tone, "Listen, lad. It isn't what you think at all."

"Yeah, it really isn't. Pfft... I mean... How could rings be murder weapons?" Kenzie added. 

"Yes, me and my wife... we... we simply have a fetish for going rough and wild in bed - Ahhh!"

A smack went across Andrew's arm and Kenzie yelled, "Andrew!"

Before the two could argue, the storekeeper sighed and assumed, "Oh, so you're also into BDSM. What do you know! Though, I haven't thought of using rings before. Haha! You know golden chains can make a good bondage. Would you like me to show you?"

The couple's mouths fell on the floor. Somehow, Andrew could not make a comeback and Kenzie thought, 'Why did the murder weapon sound better?'