A/N: I must say I am so happy how many of you guys are reading/re-reading this story. Also thank you for the supportive reviews as well as choosing the "like" button. It has truly made me so happy! Also thanks to Mist for her work on banners and looking over the chpts for any big mistakes. There will be grammar issues cause I didn't have a Beta at the time I wrote this and I just don't have the time to re-work it. So you get what you get! LOL. Love you guys! xoxo A
Inheritance Chapter 6:
BPOV:
I felt as if I had been run over by a semi-truck. My body ached all over. My head was pounding unmercifully as I roll over to my side.
Why am I on the floor? I squint my eyes open testing to see if the light will make the pain in my head worsen. Peeping one eye open I see that it is safe.
Rubbing my forehead I feel my stomach threatening to convulse.
Shit! This was my least favorite part of the day after a party.
Party?
Birthday.
Shit! I hate birthday parties. Alice knows that. Rolling with as much ease as possible I lay on my back staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling above me. Covering my face with my hands. My mouth taste as horrible as sin. Lord I am so damn thirsty. My stomach grumbles. I cover my mouth as I feel a sudden nauseating feeling.
I hear a low snoring sound next to me. My body freezes. I ignore the warnings from my stomach as my eyes roll to the side and see the back of jet black hair head lying next to me. I roll my eyes back toward the ceiling.
What the crap! Damn it! What have I done now?
Closing my eyes while my hands reach under the blanket feeling my nakedness underneath.
This is not a good sign. I am bare ass naked and a guy is lying next to me.
How the hell am I going to slip out from underneath the blanket without disturbing him? I really needed to get to the bathroom.
I anxiously glance around the room hoping to find something to cover me up. I finally spy a white fluffy robe. Quiet as a mouse I slip it over me as I tip toe into the cream color marble bathroom.
I close the door and slip on my knees in front of the toilet.
Why can't I ever have ordinary, uneventful birthdays?
My head begins to pound madly again while I struggle like hell to remember who this guy was in my room.
I began to recall going to the club with the girls.
My stomach twists.
A challenge. A hot guy at the bar. Pole dancing.
Pole dancing? What the hell have I done?
Parking lot. Parking lot sex.
My stomach threatens to release the contents I had over zealously consumed last night.
Bright lights?
Why do I remember bright lights? Elvis singing "L ove Me Tender".
Where the hell did I go?
A crappy silver band. Jake. I remember his name, it was Jake. That is what he answered to when the preacher ask for his name.
Whoa! Preacher? Why was I standing in front of a preacher who was asking my stranger for his name?
OH God! Oh God! Oh sweet Mary! What have I done now?
The door creeps open I keep my eyes downward toward the clear water.
"Bella are you okay?" Jake asks with sincere concern.
Jake. Preacher. Ring.
I muster every bit of strength I can find as I look up at him.
My heart skips a beat. The man was as sexy as all get out. Okay that part of my memory was not a lie.
"Did we get married last night?" I ask with a raspy voice.
Jake looks at me with a nervous frown and then without saying a word he nods his head "yes" confirming my worst nightmare.
I turn my head back toward the water just in time to throw up.
JPOV:
I wake up feeling cool air next to me. Rolling over I see that I am alone on the floor.
Oh crap! Bella. Where did she go?
Sitting straight up I begin to feel as if someone had hit me over the head with a sledgehammer.
"Ouch." I whimper rubbing my eyes.
I scan the room for any signs of Bella. Zilch.
I wonder how much she remembers about last night?
After we had gone into the chapel so she could pee I watch people get married in under five minutes. I was impressed with the system. I stood there thinking if I had to get married this is how I would do it. Quickly and simple. I hated going to weddings where people spent ridiculous amounts of money for one simple day of their life. I mean sure I got the romantic notion of it all but why go over your budget for a wedding instead of using it toward your first home. It just did not seem practical to me.
When Bella returned from the bathroom she stood by me saying how crazy it looked that these people were pretending to get married. I was baffled at first.
"What do you mean pretending?" I laugh at her.
She glared at me and place her hands on those curvy hips of hers.
"Come on Jake. This can't be legal. Look at the so called preacher. He is dressed up like fucking Elvis." Bella snorted as she rolled her eyes sarcastically.
"This is legal." I replied as I smile foolishly at her.
"No way!" She continued to argue with me.
"Fine, if it's not real then marry me Bella." I threw out the challenge just to see what she would do. I seriously thought she would laugh in my face and tell me to go to hell.
"Okay." Bella agreed without hesitation.
"What?" I stare at the enigma in front of me.
"It's not real." She scoffed at me.
A big part of me wanted to just drag her out of there and go back to her place. But when I look at the preacher I could not get the nagging feeling out of my head that if I married Bella then my worries of finding a willing bride would be over. I would no longer have to work my ass off trying to find a reasonable woman to marry who would agree to a divorce in one year. My eyes scanned delicately over Bella.
Okay, sure she is drunk off of her ass and probably does not even have a clue to what my name is but in the short time I had spent with her I found her refreshing. She was unlike the other girls I use to fuck around with.
"Okay. Let's go get married Bella." I hook my arm in hers as we walk up to the register and pick out the easiest and simplest service.
When we stood in front of the preacher I felt ashamed for about a whole minute when he ask me for my name and Bella stood there looking as curious as the preacher.
"Jake Black." I answer.
"Yours honey?" The preacher asks with the worse Elvis imitation.
"Bella Swan." She smiled proudly.
"Okay, do you Bella Swan take Jake Black to be your lawful husband to love and keep?" The preacher began.
Bella nodded her head her smile went from ear to ear.
"You have to give me a verbal response." The preacher stated.
"Oh, yes I do." Bella giggle.
"Do you Jake Black take Bella Swan to be your wife to love and keep?" The preacher looks at me.
"I do." I felt a twinge guilt sweep over me as Bella continue to grin like a mad woman.
"Then under the State of Nevada I announce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." The preacher threw his hands up in the air then began to move as if he was playing a guitar.
I stare into Bella's big blue eyes. There was such purity in those eyes. I pray that once she was sober she would understand and listen to reason when I explained everything to her.
Pulling her into my arms I kiss my new bride and wife for the first time.
"Let's go have a honeymoon at my penthouse!" Bella cheered as I release her from my embrace.
"Penthouse?' I gasp.
"Yeah, the girls got us a penthouse to celebrate my birthday." Bella claps her hands.
"Can you remember which hotel?" I prayed that she did.
"Yep." Bella nodded eagerly as I led us out of the chapel and back into my vehicle.
When we arrive at the penthouse there was no sign of her friends. Instead there was a big birthday cake and an unopened bottle of champagne. Once again I saw the irony in this situation. It was close to the honeymoon night one would expect.
When I walk into the bathroom where I hope Bella was I saw that she appeared sick. I wonder if her memory was coming back or if she was still clueless but experiencing a good old fashion hangover.
When she ask me if we got married I knew I was about to feel like a horrible jack ass for what I had done last night.
Once she got sick I stepped out and back into the room where I tried to locate my clothes. I had a feeling she would be more reasonable to listen to me if I had clothes on.
BPOV:
I felt like death.
I just wish it would drop down and take me already.
Why had my friends let me leave with a total fucking stranger? They knew how I was prone to accidents and other odd occurrences especially on my birthday. I hate them.
I felt my stomach ease up just as Jake pop back into the bathroom but this time thankfully he was not wearing a sheet but had on clothes in its place. I had to admit the sheet had looked better on him.
NO Bella! Stop thinking like that. You are freaking married to this guy now! How are you going to get out of this? Last time you went out and let loose you lost all of your money and was now permanently stuck in Vegas. When will you learn?
"I thought you might want some water and some aspirins. I found them by the mini bar and I guess your friends knew you would need it." He explain how he was able to locate the aspirin. He had no doubt that her friends must have come in shortly after they had.
"I don't have friends….anymore." I took the two pills and gave him a weak smile of thanks as I guzzle the water and pills down. I was trying to pull myself up when I trip over the long robe. Jake caught me just in time or else I would have no doubt fallen straight on my face.
"Thanks." I grumble. I knew I should be nicer to him for being so considerate but I was still a little irritated with this stranger. Why in the world had he taken me to a Wedding Chapel in the first place? Was this some sort of con? He was going to be terribly disappointed to learn that I could not afford this penthouse and that it was Alice's ass he should have snag if he was looking for some blackmail money.
"We need to talk." He stated calmly.
I cock an eyebrow as I glared furiously at him.
"You think? Maybe if we had talked in the first place I would not be here in this very room with you now." I snap sarcastically. I knew my voice was dripping with venom toward him and I just really did not give a shit. I was exhausted, sick, and pissed. Three things that didn't exactly bring out my best side.
"As my memory recalls you picked me up at the club last night." He flashes me a smile that said he had no regrets about what he had done last night. I wanted to slap the smirk off of his face. He was definitely egotistic.
"As I recall I did lots of things that I normally would never have done." I growl as I walked past him and crawl up into the bed that I had not even been sober enough to enjoy last night. Why in the world were we sleeping on the floor when we had a bed like this? It was heavenly.
"That makes two of us." Jake sighed heavily as he sits on the edge of the bed turn facing toward me.
"So what do you want? Because if your hoping for money your shit out luck." I snorted as I fluff up the pillows behind me. Damn even the pillows felt divine.
"What?" Jake exclaim looking at me as if I had sprouted out a second head on my shoulders.
"That wedding was not legal." I gave him a stern look.
"Oh yes it was." Jake places his cocky grin back on his face as he walks over to the table where a piece of paper sat. He brought it to me and shoves it front of my face.
I stared at the certificate. It looks official. This wasn't going in my favor.
"I don't care it's not real to me." I flung the paper away from me. I refuse to believe that I had married a total stranger last night. There was no flipping way that was possible. After the ordeal with Edward and the wedding fiasco I swore to never get married. I did not care how much I drank last night there is no damn way I went willingly into that chapel and married him.
"Real? Honey, we got married and you're my wife now." Jake spoke firmly.
"I am not your WIFE." I shouted at him and regretted it instantly as my head began to pound again.
Covering my face with my hands I tried to focus on just breathing. I was not going to let this asshole no matter how damn sexy as sin he appeared to be convince me that I had married him.
"Fine. Here is the video we purchased." Jake once again walks over to the table and pulls out a disc. I look down at the cover and saw a picture of us together smiling like idiots.
"I don't want to see it." I shook my head stubbornly.
"Look, here is the deal." Jake exhale as he sat back down on the bed again.
"I knew it! You are hoping to bribe money out of me. Well guess what it's your unlucky day! I'm broke as hell. I work two jobs just to pay the rent and I owe on every one of my credit cards and oh my car is about to break down. So you see if you think you want me for a wife then you will receive nothing valuable from me." I gave him a cocky grin of my own as I criss cross my arms around my chest and glare stubbornly at him.
"I don't need your money. If you will give me a chance to get a word in edge wise I will explain to you." Jake scoffs as he stares severely at me.
I felt my stomach clench up. He look pretty pissed off at me. I lick my lips and then I saw the way his eyes darted down to my mouth. What was he thinking about?
"I'm waiting?" I snap my fingers in front of his face.
"Oh…I have a lot of money Bella. I don't need your money. I have to admit when YOU suggested we go in the Chapel it was rather ironic. You see my Uncle passed away a few months ago and in his Will I was left some money and a shot at owning and running his clubs. But in order to keep it all I had to get married quickly. So in the short version if you agree to stay married to me for one full year I will agree to a divorce and you will walk away with a million dollars." Jake pauses as he watches me react.
I just sat staring at him with a bewildered look on my face. I was trying to figure out his angle on this con. It didn't make sense to me why a man like him had to find a wife and pay her to stay married to him for one full year. If he had a million dollars to give away there would have been plenty of women willing to marry him. This was Vegas. Everyone was here to try and bank in on their luck. What game was he playing?
"Is this some sort of sick joke?" I ask with rage.
"What?" Jake stood up and threw his hands in his leather jacket as he stare at me like I was the one who had lost her mind instead of the other way around.
"Seriously Jake. Why would you have to trick a woman to marry you in order to keep an inheritance? I mean come on look at you." I let my eyes scan over him from head to toe. I felt my cheeks turn bright red as I remember just what I had done with that muscular beef cake. This man oozes sex, charm and delicious fantasies that any woman would kill for.
"Okay not to sound conceited but I know I am not hard on the eyes." Jake rolled his eyes while I made a gagging sound.
"So you're telling me you need me to stay married to you for one full year and then you will happily agree to a divorce and hand me a million dollars with no attachment?" I suck in my lower lip as I contemplated on how great it all sounded.
Too damn great Bella. Come on you know nothing comes easy in life. What was it your dad said if it comes easy there is always a catch? Yeah, or something like that.
"Exactly. Oh and we have to be strictly faithful to one another and pretend to be happy the whole time." Jake shrugs as if this was a normal stimulation.
"HAAAHAAA!" I cried out.
"I knew there was a catch." I continue as I snorted loudly.
"Are you telling me that you would want to be with someone else when I would be in the bed with you each night?" He asks with a cocky grin on his face.
I felt my heart stop beating. He was right, who in their fucking mind would cheat on a guy like him? He was absolutely perfect in the bedroom.
"I …well…I need time to think about all of this." I rub my head as the pounding crept back up.
Everything he was saying sounded too good to be true. Then there was the factor that I would be forced to live a lie for a whole year. Was a million dollars' worth that? I just wanted to sleep all day and pretend I had never met Jake Black.
"Sure. I understand." He reaches back and pulls out his wallet and slip a card out. He sat it down on the nightstand by the bed.
"Call me when you are ready to make a decision. I need to know within twenty-four hours. If you don't agree then I am back on the search for another wife. I don't want to let my Uncle's life's work be sold off to the highest bidder. I owe him and the rest of my family that much." He choked slightly as tears glisten his dark eyes.
I nodded my head as I watched him walk out of my room. I just stared at the door for minutes before I heard a soft tap on it.
"Yes?" I wonder if he had left something behind?
"Hey girl." Leah pokes her head in as she gave me her sympathy smile.
"Go away. I don't know you." I threw a pillow at the door as I felt tears stinging the back of my eye lids.
"What?" Leah laughed as she picks up the pillow and crawled up on the bed next to me.
"You guys let me leave with a stranger and now I am officially forever skipping my birthday." I growled as I rubbed my head.
"Damn Bella you just had sex with a stranger it's not the end of the world. I know that Edward was your first and you loved him but sometimes having sex with a stranger can be even more fun. It sure as hell sounded like you guys were enjoying yourselves when we came in." Leah smirks.
"Yeah, well do you usually marry the stranger you sleep with?" I ask as the tears burst out like a damn and came flooding down my face and onto my lap.
Leah's mouth drop wide open as she gasps for air. Yeah, once again I had hit a new low for my birthday. I had gone out and got hitched to a guy who was either seriously being honest or was seriously deranged. Either way I was screw. Vegas style screwed!