She rolled over in her half-asleep stupor, her head already beginning the familiar pounding. Her hand reached up and pressed against her temple, rolling over onto her stomach and burying her face deep within the pillows. They smelled different than her usual scent of peppermint and oil – they smelled more vanilla.

Curious about this new scent change, Juliet rolled over and dared to crack an eye open. The minute the light flooded it, she closed it again, because it sent a startling pain through her skull. Good Lord how much had she had to drink last night?

As she rolled over, preparing to bury herself deep within the blankets and not come out for the next six hours, her hand came into contact with something warm.

Her eyes shot open like a fire cracker and she jolted up in bed, everything falling down on her like two tons of bricks. She ignored the screams of pain her head was giving her and stumbled, naked, out of bed, moving to draw the curtains close before turning back to face the bed, where she had not been alone.

Another man was draped out across, half hanging off the side, also just as bare naked as her. Something cold lay against her finger and she brought her hand up, blinking slightly until the gold band finally came into focus.

Dammit.

She crossed to the other side of the hotel room, flicking back blonde hair angrily. How could she have done this? Her sister was going to murder her! And Juliet had never let something like this happen before.

As she began to gather her clothes, her mind flickered back to the previous night.

X

"Hey there."

Juliet looked up as she downed another shot of Jack Daniels. The man had sat down next to her, and was flashing a smile in her direction. She returned it – he was pretty good looking; dark brown hair, dark eyes, and just enough stubble. He was handsome, and she briefly wondered what he was doing in a bar this far in downtown Las Vegas. Her heavy-lidded blue eyes flickered to his left hand where it was laying on the bar, waiting to grab his drink when it arrived. He wasn't wearing a ring, but just because of that, didn't mean he wasn't married.

But oh well. She was slowly on her way to being drunk, this guy looked to be heading in the same direction, and it couldn't hurt to flirt a bit.

"Hey yourself."

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Her gaze flickered to her empty shot glass, then back to the man. "Sure. I'll have a White Russian."

"You heard the lady. I'll have a Screwdriver." The guy said to the bartender, who nodded and went to making the requested drinks. Brushing back a strand of blonde hair, Juliet looked over at him.

"You have a name then?"

"Jack." He replied with a smile, extending his hand in greeting. She briefly took it.

"Juliet."

X

Then all she could remember was something about getting into his truck, a wedding with Elvis in attendance, and then stumbling into the nearest casino hotel. Now she had woken up, and had pieced together everything.

Juliet had managed to pull on her clothes now as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror. She looked a bit like death warmed over as she attempted to make her hair look at least some sort of decent. Her clothes were wrinkled, but she'd deal with that later, along with the bags under her eyes. First priority, find out what her last name had been changed to. Second, explain to this guy that she didn't know what the hell she was doing and that she wasn't ready to be married.

She headed back into the bedroom and over to where Jack was still snoozing, slapping him hard across the face. He jerked up and blinked sleepily at her.

"What the hell did we do last night?" She asked, holding up her hand to show him the ring. He frowned, still half-asleep, and examined his own hand where a matching band encircled his own finger.

"Uh, apparently got married." He mumbled, now rubbing his cheek where she had slapped him.

"I can see that. But I want a divorce now."

"What? You don't even want to give it a chance?" He asked, frowning as he got to his feet, grabbing his clothes as well as he disappeared into the bathroom. She folded her arms across her chest.

"Um, not really! I don't even know you!"

She heard him chuckle lightly. Juliet wasn't finding this funny at all.

"You know my name is Jack at least." He smirked.

"Ooh because a first name basis is the only thing needed in a marriage!" She snapped grumpily.

"Well, considering they used to arrange marriages where the two involved had never met one another our situation isn't that bad." He mused. Juliet stared at the wall, as if she could see through it to and into the bathroom.

He did have a point.

But still! She didn't want to be married.

"Look, Jack, you're a nice guy, but I just don't want to be married to some guy I met at a bar in Vegas. You know what they say – what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, so lets keep it that way. We can go file for divorce when you get finished, and each be on our own way before dinner-time, all right?"

He came out of the bathroom, adjusting his tie as he looked at her, simply watching her for a moment. She blinked back at him, still entirely unhappy.

"I have a proposition for you." He said finally, sitting on the corner of the bed. She arched an eyebrow.

"Oh really now?"

"Yeah – can you at least act the part of my wife for a little while? Just for a bit – my mother has been begging me to get married, and my last marriage failed –."

"Why?"

" – because I worked to much. But please, just play my wife for a short time, until I can make my mom happy. Then we can file for divorce if you still want to and we never have to see each other again."

She stared at him as if he was nuts. He was asking her to drop everything and go with him God knew where to please his mom?

"Why would I do that?"

He smirked.

"Because you don't want to disappoint an aging woman. And I can see it in your eyes – you like adventure. What's to say this isn't one? We could be found in a lie at any time, and she could absolutely hate you – which I doubt she will."

Juliet frowned, and quietly walked to the window.

"How long?"

"A month an a half tops." He said after a moment. She stared out the window at the Las Vegas skyline. Some vacation this was turning out to be.

"I'll pay you if I have to." He added hopefully. She almost laughed – did she really look like the type of woman who could be bought. "And I'll get you all new clothes and anything else you need, since I think your suitcase is MIA." He continued.

"Well, what do you say Juliet? Will you do it?"

X

A/N: Short, I know, but I wanted to get this part up so I can start on Chapter Two, which will be MUCH longer. Promise. Reviews are love.