Ryan Gary as your lawfully wedded husband?”
“Yep!” she said brightly, and she narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the Elvis impersonator standing in front of her. She couldn’t figure out why he was slightly sideways.
This is the most irrational thing I’ve ever done.
At least that’s what she thought, but Emily wasn’t completely clear right now. She glanced over at the man standing next to her and a silly grin spread across her face.
She didn’t know how she’d ended up in this wedding chapel with the most eligible, sexiest, charming neurosurgeon in the world, but right now she wasn’t feeling any pain. Which was good. Usually, she struggled with anxiety in any kind of social situation. It had been hard to attend his lecture on conjoined twins and then to talk to Dr. Ryan West after the lecture to tell him how much she admired his work.
After her relationship with Robert, another surgeon, had crashed and burned because of professional jealousy, the last thing she had expected was Ryan asking her for a drink. She’d told herself she shouldn’t, but had then thought one drink with a colleague couldn’t hurt.
It had been the other five that had hurt, but the more they’d talked about surgery and the conference, the more she’d felt comfortable around him.
She certainly hadn’t expected a marriage proposal either. At least, that’s what she thought had happened. It had been dinner, dancing, drinks and then making out in the back of his hired car. Now they were here, in a chapel off the strip.
And he was sort of leaning to one side too.
What is happening here? When did you lose control?
Emily smiled to herself. It was kind of fun to let loose. She never did have any fun. She hadn’t dated after her relationship with Robert had ended. She’d had no interest in other men and really didn’t understand the social nuances of dating, so she didn’t bother.
But then Ryan had seemed just as keen about her work as she was about his. And his smile, his confidence just made her completely weak in the knees.
Being around Ryan made her lose control.
“And do you, Dr. Ryan Gary, take Dr. Emily West as your lawfully wedded wife?”
“What?” he asked, leaning in a bit closer and squinting those bright blue eyes that had twinkled at her when they were having dinner.
Maybe it wasn’t her spinning, but Ryan who was doing the spinning. She closed her eyes for a moment but could still feel the room spinning. Maybe it was both of them.
The Elvis looked concerned.
“Of course! Of course I do.” Ryan grinned at her and she felt her knees go weak. Again, that could be from the mojitos. At least she’d thought it was a mojito.
“Then by the power vested in me by the State of Nevada, I now pronounce you man and wife.”
Emily threw her bouquet at the Elvis and Ryan scooped her up in his arms.
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever done,” he said breathlessly as he carried her down the aisle.
“I think you’re supposed to carry me over the threshold and not down the aisle.”
“You’re light as a feather,” he whispered against her ear. A zing of electricity raced down her spine. Then he teetered slightly to the right and set her down. “Perhaps I should wait until the hotel room to carry you over the threshold. Those mojitos were strong.”
Emily laughed because he had said the word mojito again.
“What’s so funny?” he asked as he slipped his arm around her and they walked over to the hired car.
“Mojito is a funny word.”
“What?”
“You know when you say a word a lot it’s funny?”
“Mojito,” he said again, emphasizing the mo in the mojito.
Emily giggled.
The driver cocked an eyebrow as he opened the back door of the town car and they climbed in. Ryan was still chuckling.
“Man, those drinks were strong! I have a flight tomorrow...or is that today?” He glanced at his wrist.
“Today. I think it’s after midnight.”
He grinned lazily at her, making her heart skip a beat. “Does that mean you’re going to turn into a pumpkin?”
“Nope. Are you?”
He touched her cheek and kissed her. It was hot, heavy and in that kiss it all made sense. And suddenly she wasn’t questioning her decision to marry Ryan when he’d asked.
It felt so right and she hadn’t felt right with a man in a long, long time.
And Robert had never, ever had made her want someone this bad before.
He touched her cheek again. “I’m glad I asked you out to dinner and I’m glad we got married.”
Emily giggled again. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?”
“Right!”
The car pulled up in front of the hotel. Ryan slipped out first after the driver opened the door for them.
“You sure you’re okay, Dr. West and Dr. Gary?” the driver asked.
“Couldn’t be better,” Ryan said.
Emily nodded. “This is awesome!”
And she wasn’t particularly sure if she’d used the word awesome before, but she liked the way that sounded, just as much as she liked the way mojito sounded. It rolled off the tongue.
The driver raised his eyebrows and then nodded.
Ryan slipped his arm around her and they walked into the hotel. They took the elevator up to his suite and Emily helped him open the door, as he was fumbling a bit with the card. When the door was open, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms.
Her pulse was racing. Anticipation coursing through her. This felt right. She wanted this. Maybe doing this would help her to move on.
“You’re sure?” Ryan asked, his blue eyes twinkling as he held her close.
“So sure.” She kissed him, running her hands through the hair at the nape of his neck. “I want this, Ryan. If I didn’t want this I wouldn’t be here.”
He smiled at her. “Then let me carry you over the threshold, wife.”
Emily felt giddy.
It was just one night. What harm could one night cause?
Seattle, six months later
“WOW.” EMILY LOOKED again at the ultrasound scan that her colleague Dr. Ruchi had sent her from her hospital, which was in a small town that was sandwiched between Portland and Seattle. She leaned back in her chair and stared at the ultrasound again.
“Yeah, the conjoined twins have two separate spines, they share a lot of nerves at the base of the spine. They also share a liver, part of their colon and there are three kidneys between the two babies.”
“I’m glad to see they have four fully formed limbs and separate genitalia.”
Dissecting a liver and separation was easier when the separation gave each twin the chance of being able to survive on their own. The twins didn’t share a heart or a brain, and shared organs that could easily be split. It was promising, risky but promising.
It was whether or not all limbs would be fully functional