Mercedes' family was in desperate need of financial help and Sam being a close friend of her family offered to marry her. What Mercedes didn't know was that Sam was in love with her. His plan was to make her fall in love with him after they were married. The catch was, he had to do it within a year before he was forced to divorce her.
Mercedes Jones held on tightly to her dad's arm while they waited for the wedding march to begin. She wondered if she was doing the right thing by marrying a man that she was not in love with. Sure, she was attracted to Sam but he was arrogant and for the life of her she could never get along with him. They had nothing in common but for the mutual hate that they felt for each other. She rubbed her temples to ease her headache when she thought about having to spend the next year living as man and wife with Sam. The deal was that he would help her family but she had to stay married to him for a year; the whole staying married for one year was her idea. After their first anniversary, she could file for a divorce and leave. Although she was nervous, she kept reminding herself that she was doing this for her family. The Evans' were going to save them from being financially ruined. It was not her plan to get married, it was Sam's. She was actually shocked when he brought the matter up in front of their families. The proposal was not romantic, it was done solely to save the Jones' business empire from crumbling. She had readily agreed because her family meant the world to her. It was all logical, she marries him and he helps her family. But her biggest question was, what would Sam get in return? Was he really doing this out of the goodness of his heart or did he have an ulterior motive? She brushed the questions she had aside and smoothed down her wedding dress. She never pictured herself to be one of those women stuck in a marriage of convenience but it looked like she was going to be joining their ranks in a few short minutes.
"Are you ok, Cupcake?" Her dad, Adam Jones, asked looking worried. "You know you don't have to do this, right? No one is forcing you to marry Sam. I know you don't love him. Hell, I don't even think you like him. We can figure out how to save the company some other way."
Mercedes squeezed her dad's hand and smiled. "Don't worry daddy, I know what I'm doing. Sam is a good man. He'll take good care of me. I'll be just fine. Besides, we had a deal. He'll save the company and in return I just have to stay married to him for one year. I'm free to divorce him after that year is up."
"I know all this but you're only 20 years old. You have a lot going for you. You haven't even graduated from college yet. Marriage shouldn't be entered into lightly Mercedes, you should marry someone you love not someone like Sam, who is much too old for you. I just don't want you to get hurt."
She actually laughed for the very first time today. "You make Sam sound like he's ancient. He's only 25 years old daddy, the 5 year gap is not that bad. Now stop worrying about me…" The wedding march played, saving her from having to listen to her dad talk her out of getting married. "That's us, are you ready to walk your daughter down the aisle?"
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Her dad looked at her intently, waiting for her answer. "We can always blow this wedding off but you have to tell me right now, Cupcake… One word and we're out of here."
Her heart melted upon hearing her dad's words. He was the kindest man she knew and there was no way she could let him down. The decision was final, she was going to marry Sam. "I'm sure daddy…"
After her father kissed her on her forehead, he looked to the front and got into position. "Let's do this then…"
You can do this Mercedes! She chanted over and over as she made her way down the aisle towards her soon-to-be-husband, Sam Evans.
Sam couldn't take his eyes off his beautiful bride. Mercedes was walking towards him holding on to her dad's arm, smiling at their guests and family. In a few minutes he would finally have her as his own, his wife to love; well if she would let him love her that was. It all happened a year ago, when she was home from college. The Jones' were invited over for dinner at his parent's family home. Normally, Mercedes would skip the dinners but this time around she came along. His breath hitched when he saw her. She still looked the same, beautiful as but there was something different with her.
There was an air of maturity in her that he had never noticed before. That, coupled with her confidence, instantly made his brotherly feelings, develop into something more. In that moment, he knew that his feelings for her had changed. He had grown to like her as a woman and those feelings had never changed. He didn't know how it happened but one year later, the infatuation he felt for her had developed into full blown love. He was desperately in love with her actually but the sad part was she couldn't see it, probably because she was too busy hating him. He didn't know why she hated him so much. Yes, he could be obnoxious at times but he treated her well…for the most part. He had tried courting her last year, when his feelings were still developing but it was too late, she had already gone back to college. Granted, the college she went to was in the same city but she lived in the dorms and he never got to see her.
When she came home this summer, she came home to bad news. Her family was going bankrupt and he could see that the matter was bothering her. That was when he came up with the idea of marrying her. He proposed two weeks ago with both their families present. He had promised her that once they were married, he was going to merge their family businesses together, hence ending the Jones' financial problems. Mercedes was hesitant at first but quickly accepted; the only catch was, he had to grant her a divorce after one year of marriage. Sam did not like that clause but he had to accept it; thinking that he had one year to make her fall in love with him. He could do it right?
"Sam…" Adam's voice broke him from out of his musing.
After blinking a few times, smiled at the older man and apologized, "Sorry, I got carried away looking at my beautiful bride. Where were we?" He could see Mercedes rolling her eyes at him and that actually made him want to laugh. Winning her over was not going to be an easy feat but he was determined to have her body and soul, before the year was up. So despite of her feistiness, he smiled at her which earned him another eye roll.
"Well, she's all yours now." Adam gave a slight laugh and placed Mercedes' hand in his.
This was the first time they were touching each other and Sam could feel the sparks flying; from the slightly shocked look that Mercedes was showing, he could tell that she felt the sparks as well. After thanking Adam, he leaned down to whisper in Mercedes' ear. "Relax, you look like you're about to be dragged to the gallows."
"Marrying you is like being sent to the gallows…" Mercedes muttered under her breath, her vision not leaving the front.
Sam smirked and waited for the pastor to start the ceremony. It didn't take long to say their vows. His heart beat rapidly when the pastor announced. "You may now kiss your bride."
He paused for a second, searching for Mercedes' reaction. There was no hesitation on her part, through her shy confidence, he found the courage to close the gap between them and attach his lips onto hers. The kiss was supposed to be chaste but he got carried away when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Going by instinct, he licked the seam of her lips and entered her mouth; tasting the insides of her mouth. He had been waiting to kiss Mercedes for way too long and when it finally happened, he was left wanting more. The applause from the crowd was deafening but he drowned it out, putting all his focus on the kiss and the woman he was holding in his arms; his wife, Mercedes Evans.
Mercedes was the one to end the kiss. She was gasping for air as she glanced at him, her eyes blinking rapidly. Leaning down, he kissed her on the side of her mouth before pulling back and smirking. "Don't look so shocked that I could rock your world."
"And there goes captain asshole again…"
Sam's eyes gleamed with mischief. "That would make you, Mrs. Asshole." She huffed but before she could say anything else, he linked his fingers with hers and said, "Come on feisty girl, we can continue this argument later." They walked down the aisle, heading towards the front door of the church where the limo was waiting on them to drive them to the reception.
"How do you like being Mrs. Evans?" He asked when they were on their way.
"What would you like me to say, Sam? That I like being married to a conceited man like you or that I enjoy being forced into a marriage I didn't want?" Mercedes responded with condescension.
His blood boiled hearing her comment. "Let's get this straight. I did not force you into marrying me. I simply offered. You could've refused but you wanted to do the right thing by your family. Please don't act like I'm a villain in this scenario." He hadn't meant to raise his voice but he had to defend his actions. Yes, he was in love with her but he'd be damn if he would let her walk all over him. His outburst left an eerie silence between them. Sam didn't want to talk for fear of snapping even further and Mercedes- well who knew what was really going on inside that pretty head of hers. "Look, I know you hate me but for tonight could you please put whatever hatred you have for me aside. I don't want to make our parents uncomfortable." It was already awkward enough that their parents knew that this marriage was a sham. He didn't want to cause them anymore discomfort at having to witness him and Mercedes bickering on their wedding day.
Mercedes stared out the window for a long while before finally facing him. "I don't hate you, Sam… I just don't get why you grate my nerves so much. I want to try to get along with you. At least, for the year we have to live together. It would be nice to live with a friend instead of an enemy."
She smiled so prettily at him that he felt his anger melting. "I would really like that and I will try not to irritate you so much." He reassured her, returning her smile.
"So we're agreed that from now on we're going to start being friendlier towards each other?"
"Yes, we're agreed…" He smirked.
"Pinky promise?" Her eyes glimmered with excitement as she held out her pinky finger to him.
Sam shook his head in amazement. He was amused at how innocently charming his new wife was. Her innocence only deepened his attraction for her. Connecting his pinky finger with hers, he said, "Pinky promise…"
After calling it truce with Sam, the air seemed to shift in a positive direction. They had another twenty minutes before arriving at the vineyard where the reception will be held, so to pass the time Mercedes thought about playing a game.
"Want to play 20 questions with me? It'll help me to get to know you better and vice versa." She suggested he smiled she knew that he had agreed with her suggestion.
"Sure, but I get to ask the question first." He tapped his pointer finger on his plump lips and for some reason she had the urge to kiss those lips again. Snap out of it, Mercedes! Stop thinking about Sam's lips! But god did those lips taste good… Her mind played a game of tug of war as she took in his handsome appearance. Shaking her head from all thoughts of his lips, she began concentrating on the question that he was going to ask her. "Out of all the colleges you could've gone to, why did you choose San Francisco State University? I mean you could've gone to Harvard. Why did you decide to stay in San Francisco?" He finally asked, looking at her seriously.
"That's two questions, Sam… You're only allowed to ask one question at a time."
He folded his arms and arched a brow. "Why don't you just answer the question, Mercedes? You can ask me two questions after this."
She couldn't believe how serious he was taking this but she played along, raising her arms in mock surrender, she said. "Alright, bossy… What can I say? I love San Francisco, this is where I was born and raised. It's a great city and I intend to live here for the rest of my life, so choosing SFSU instead of Harvard was an easy choice." She took a huge breath after her explanation and wiggled her brows. "Payback time… Why did you kiss me just now, Sam?" She blushed as soon as the words left her mouth, "Oh god…that came out wrong. What I meant was umm… Why did you deepen the kiss? It was only supposed to be a peck on the lips." She didn't know where that question came from. This was supposed to be a fun game but she had to ruin it by asking that stupid question. Great job, Mercedes! Now he's going to think that you've never been kissed before or better yet a freak. She was in the middle of berating herself when she noticed Sam inching closer towards her. "Umm… What are you doing?"
He flashed her a dashing smile as he came closer, making her move towards the locked limo door. She was now trapped with nowhere to run, accept into his arms and as much as it tempted her, she had to resist.
"Why do you look so nervous?" He brushed a lock of her hair away from her face. "I'm not going to hurt you. I was actually going to answer your question…"
She was breathless from his close proximity, her heart pounding loudly and her lips begging to be kissed again. "Could you move back a little bit? I'm a little uncomfortable mashed up against the door like this."
"Why would I want to do that? You're my wife aren't you? We're supposed to want to be near each other all the time." His lips were millimeters away from hers. She could feel his breath on her skin. She could almost taste his lips and boy, did she want that kiss again. "To answer your question… I've wanted to kiss you since last year when I realized what a gorgeous woman you've turned out to be. Now that I'm your husband, I'm going to use that as my advantage. I'm going to kiss you whenever I feel like it. Like right now…"
She wanted to protest but Sam's lips were already covering hers. Tongue probing her mouth seeking entrance. His kisses were addicting and she never wanted to stop kissing his lips. She heard him growl when she swirled her tongue around his. Her hands were touching him everywhere by then. Running across his hard back, ass and finally threading through his hair. She could feel his erection pressed between her thighs. Even through the multiple layers of fabric from her dress, she could feel him hard and dominant. She wanted him right then with a fierceness that even she herself didn't understand.
She didn't care that his right hand was fondling her sensitive breast, his fingers rolling her nipple. She reveled in the feeling. She craved more of it. They would probably have had sex in the back of the limo if it wasn't for the fact that the limo had stopped. Sam was the first to notice. She moaned her objection when he pulled away from the kiss.
"We have to go darling. Let's continue this later, yeah?" He was just as breathless as she was which only meant that he was just as reluctant to stop as she was.
She looked up at him and noticed that his lips were red from her lipstick. His hair was in a state of disarray and his bow tie hanging crookedly on his collar. He looked like a mess but a really hot mess. She knew that she shouldn't but she couldn't help herself. Grabbing at his neck, she kissed him again. It was worth it to be brazen because Sam was enjoying the kiss too. Their tongues tangled, hands' touching each other's bodies but their kiss was short lived when the driver knocked on the privacy partition. "Ma'am… Sir… We're here."
"Remind me to lodge a complaint against the driver tomorrow." Sam growled, frustration marring his handsome face.
She chuckled and said, "Don't be mean. The poor guy was just trying to do his job."
"He should know better than to interrupt a newlywed couple." He huffed, now sitting up and fixing his bow tie.
At the word newlywed she was reminded that they were not your average newly wedded couple. This was supposed to be a marriage of convenience but the way they acted was nothing at all like what they agreed on. "Sam, I think we need to talk about what went down just now. This cannot happen again. We're only supposed to be married in name. If the driver hadn't stopped god knows what could've happened."
"Can this wait until after the reception? We're already running late as it is and I don't want to keep our friends and family waiting any longer." He reached out for her hand and squeezed it. "I promise we'll talk later…"
His smile washed away her doubts. "We'll talk later…" She repeated his earlier words. "Now let's get fixed up and head in."
When they were ready, Sam took her hand in his and asked. "Are you ready, Mrs. Evans?"
"Ready as I'll ever be, Mr. Evans." She beamed at him.
With that they left the limo and headed into the reception where their friends and family were waiting for them, all thoughts and doubts about her marriage to Sam forgotten, for the moment.
