JC stayed in Orlando for several days, hoping to hear from Tori. He made certain the lawyers for both parties had every conceivable number where he could be reached, his email, his addresses – and he said they should be passed on to Tori in the event she wanted to contact him. He couldn’t do more. He couldn’t very well storm her place and demand anything. He simply didn’t have the right.
He’d made a mess of things. It was clear he couldn’t return to L.A. and wait to be a free man. He’d have to come clean with his fiancée and explain why he couldn’t marry her. The fallout from that was bound to be nasty. And he could understand why.
If Tori would just…If Tori loved him…Damn! Why didn’t she call him? If he could hear those three little works from her lips, he’d walk through the fires of hell of be with her!
At the end of a frustrating week of soul-searching and waiting, JC returned to Los Angeles to face his fiancée. Maybe if he put some distance between Tori and him, he could find a solution to their tangled relationship. There had to be one.
Tori took a deep breath before she entered her lawyer’s offices. This was it. All that was required were their signatures and she was a single woman once more. More than single again. It would be as if she had never shared JC’s name – and she really never had. But she had always ‘felt’ married. She hadn’t dated much and never seriously. Even a goodnight kiss from a suitor felt like a betrayal of her vows. She’d never had another lover – only JC. And now her name and his on a piece of paper would say it had all been a lie. What she wanted to do was run away or refuse to sign, screaming her marriage had been real; it had existed – for her if not for JC. Instead, she pulled down her best cool, professional mask and entered the law offices.
The pretty, blonde receptionist smiled at her. “Good morning, Ms. McKenzie. Mr. Benson said you should go right in.”
“Thank you, Laurel.” Tori nodded the walked down the corridor to the door at the far end of the hall. After a quick knock, she stepped in.
“Victoria, good morning.” Her lawyer rose and greeted her with a warm handshake.
“Good morning, Tom.” She saw only the two of them were in the room. “Mr. Chasez hasn’t arrived yet?”
“He returned to California.”
“Oh…”
“Be assured he will receive these papers. I’ve arranged a certified courier to deliver them for Mr. Chasez’s signature.” He though she feared JC wouldn’t sign them again.
Tori wanted to let loose a hysterical little laugh. She had wanted JC to be here to beg her for another chance, not to witness his signature! How delusional could she be? They’d had sex for old times’ sake and he had returned home as if the world hadn’t changed that night. His hadn’t – hers had. “Thank you, Tom. I’m sure he will appreciate your diligence.”
“I could care less what he appreciates,” the lawyer scoffed. “As long as you are satisfied with the results.”
“You have been very thorough.”
He handed her a pen. “Sign where the X’s are and your part is done.”
Quickly, Tori scribbled her signature and returned the pen. “What next?”
“Get these to Mr. Chasez then file them with the court. In a few days, it will all be over for you.”
“Over? She didn’t believe for one moment her heart would ever be over Joshua Chasez!
JC looked down at the documents the courier had presented to him. He saw Tori’s signature and felt his eyes sting with tears. She’d done it. She’d signed him out of her life; let the lawyers say their love never existed. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t deny he had loved her with a boy’s passion – and still loved her with a man’s heart!
“Mr. Chasez?” The courier wondered at the man’s hesitation. He’d been told it would be a simple matter of getting a signature on the papers.
“No,” JC whispered.
“Excuse me, sir?”
In a stronger voice, JC repeated himself. “No. No, I will not sign these papers. You can tell the law firm of Capwell, Benson and Frye I have no intention of signing my marriage away.” He put the annulment papers back into the envelope and handed them back to the courier. “If Victoria McKenzie Chasez doesn’t want to be my wife, she’ll have to take me to court.”
“Is that what you want me to tell Mr. Benson?”
“I don’t care what you tell him. I’ll handle Tori.”
The courier handed JC his receipt book and a pen. “You need to acknowledge receipt of the documents.”
JC scrawled his signature and tipped the courier.
Tori signed for the envelope her lawyer’s messenger had delivered. This was it. She closed the door and stared at the envelope in her hands. Her annulment. The piece of paper that negated seven years of her life. Her last tie to JC would be severed…Tearing open the envelope, she found only a brief note on corporate letterhead.
What? She had gone through this all again – just so JC could be free – and he hadn’t signed the damned papers? Was this some sadistic joke he was playing?
The doorbell rang. Since she was standing there in shock, she absently opened it without seeing who it was first. “Yes?”
“Tori.”
Her head snapped up to find the reason for her hurt and confusion standing in front of her. JC held a lavish bouquet of red roses and looked worried. “You didn’t sign the annulment papers,” she told him unnecessarily.
“I couldn’t.”
“You couldn’t? Why couldn’t you?”
“I didn’t want to,” he amended truthfully.
“But, Josh, your fiancée—“
“I told her I couldn’t marry her. I told her I was still in love with my wife.”
Tori’s green eyes went wide with disbelief. “But…but…” she sputtered.
“But nothing.” He stepped around her and closed the door. He wasn’t going to do his begging on her doorstep.
“Josh—“ She turned to face him, finding him directly in front of her.
“Say you feel the same way, too.” He touched her cheek tenderly. “Tori, I was a boy before. I didn’t recognize the treasure I had in our love. I’m a man now – and I know what your love is worth.” She merely looked at him, tears gathering in her eyes. Was that good or bad? When still she said nothing, he gave her a sheepish smile. “Say something, Tori. Please.”
“You-you want to be my husband?”
“Yeah. I’m not saying I am great husband material, but nobody’ll love you like I will, baby,” he promised.
“Are-are you sure? If we consummate—“
“Consummate hell. I want us to make love.”
“Are you sure?” she asked again.
“Oh, hell yeah!” he exclaimed softly.
Tori gave him a tremulous smile. “That sounds pretty sure.”
“Cuz I am.”
She tried to process it all. JC wanted to remain married? She was certain it couldn’t be that easy… “There’s a lot to discuss.”
“As long as you are mine, the rest will work.”
Hadn’t he said something very similar seven years earlier? “Josh—“
His mouth on hers cut off her words. He kissed her until she melted against him, crushing the roses between them. Lifting his lips, he smiled at her dazed expression. “Just say ‘yes’, Tori. We’ll work on details later.”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly.
JC tossed the hapless roses on the foyer table. It looked like the peace offering wasn’t needed. The diamond ring in his pocket could wait. He swept Tori up in his arms. “Okay, Mrs. Chasez, where do we ‘consummate’ this union so neither of us could even consider backing out?”
Tori giggled and pointed at the staircase. “That way, Mr. Chasez, unless you’d prefer to sofa.”
He grinned. “Uh, no, this may take a while.”
“Ooh! Goody!”
Laughing and light-hearted, they headed up the stairs to begin their new life together.