I could see Ashley’s car waiting outside the glass doors, so I lunged forward, trying to avoid the cameras suddenly appearing in front of me. Fighting through the crowd, someone pulled my hair, and I felt a pocket on my jacket rip and give way. It was hard to breathe in the mass of electronics and people, but I finally managed to escape out the automatic doors.
I threw my suitcase in the backseat of Ashley’s car and jumped in the passenger seat, a wave of cameras following me out the door. Seeing the wall of people headed out the door towards her car, Ashley gunned the gas as soon as I was sitting, escaping out of the small airport.
“What the hell is going on?” I shouted, looking at my torn coat. I slammed the seat-belt in the lock and turned to Ashley. “Thanks for getting me out of there. Those people are crazy!”
Ashley grinned and tossed me a magazine. It was one of the trashy ones called The Press that she always picked up whenever she went grocery shopping. On the front cover was a picture of my wedding. Jack’s arms were wrapped around me as he kissed me under the white awning with the headline “EXCLUSIVE!” plastered across the cover in garish red. I felt my jaw drop again. At this rate, I was going to end up with a bruise on my chest.
“They’re here for you, Mrs. Saunders. I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t seen the pictures. Cute dress by the way,” Ashley said nonchalantly as she headed towards the highway. I looked at the picture again. It was incredibly sensual, but sweet, the way a real marriage kiss should look. “Your phone’s going off by the way.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. The ancient thing was shaking angrily as it counted up missed messages. The number rolled into over 100 missed calls with just as many voice mails, and the darn thing was still shaking as it counted. I stuffed it back into my pocket and looked at Ashley like she had something to do with it.
“I can’t believe you really did it! You have to tell me all about it!” she squealed as she veered around a car going too slow for her taste. I couldn’t find words and stared at the magazine. She laughed at the expression on my face and tapped her hand on the glossy cover. “Go on read it. It’s today’s issue. Tell me if it is all true! I can’t believe you bagged Jack Saunders. Way to go Emma!” Ashley grinned at me as she turned onto the highway. The car felt suddenly hot with me bundled in my jacket and the heater on full blast, but I had a feeling it had more to do with the adrenaline and shock moving through my system. This was not what I had expected to come home to.
I opened up the magazine and flipped to the article, reading it aloud. “Playboy billionaire Jack Saunders married a homegrown girl from Iowa during his vacation to the exclusive Ocean Blue Resort on Ocean Key Island. Not much is known about this small town beauty, other than her name is Emma LaRue and she currently works as a veterinarian.” I stopped and looked over at Ashley. “I don’t know if you know this, but I’m not a vet.”
Ashley smacked my arm with her hand and then waved it so I would continue reading. “These exclusive photos show the happy couple very much in love. Sorry ladies, this ‘Prince Charming’ is now off the market!”
“So, is it true?” Ashley asked excitedly as I flipped through the photos. They looked like they had been taken by someone hiding behind a bush near the wedding site. I couldn’t believe how happy we both looked. The car swerved a little as she turned with an excited grin to point at the pictures.
“Eyes on the road! Well, it’s sort of true. It was kind of an impulse thing. It isn’t legal or anything. No one was supposed to know.”
Ashley squealed with excitement and the car swerved a little again. I resisted the urge to grab the door frame and instead glared at her.
“But it really was Jack Saunders? That really is you?”
I nodded and she started jumping up and down in her seat and giggling with excitement.
“Eyes on the road, Ashley!” I yelled as the car swerved with every giggle.
“Is he as handsome in real life as he is in the pictures? Did you go out on his yacht? What parties did you go to?”
“I hate to disappoint you, but we mostly sat on the beach and talked,” I said. And he kisses like heaven and can turn my body to happy mush in 3.5 seconds. “I actually didn’t even know who he was until the last day.”
“What!? You didn’t recognize the most eligible billionaire bachelor? The prince that all Cinderellas are waiting for? And all you did was sit on a beach? No yacht? Are you serious?” The car swerved again.
“Road, Ashley. And no, I didn’t recognize him. I don’t read this stuff like you do,” I said, holding up the magazine. “I knew he had money, but he seemed like a normal guy.”
“Normal? Emma, honey, he is so much more than normal.” She looked over at me like I had said that chocolate was the most disgusting food on the planet. I sighed.
“You want to tell me all about him, don’t you?”
“Well, despite marrying the guy, you obviously know nothing about him.” Ashley veered around an SUV and shrugged apologetically at the driver as we zoomed past.