Chapter 65
After a moment of stunned silence, Lucky finally spoke up. “How did you find out?” He discreetly slipped his hand in his pocket and slipped the ring back onto his finger, then looked over at Liz, who was still gaping at everyone in shock.
Luke grinned at his son. This was going to be more fun than he had anticipated. “Haven’t you heard? It’s all over the news. You couldn’t have thought a big star like yourself could slip off to Vegas to get married and keep it a secret, now, did you?”
Lucky groaned and covered his face. He should have known this would happen. Now the whole world knew he was married to Elizabeth, and until they could get a divorce, they were going to have to play the happy newlyweds. He sighed and grabbed her hand, the only thing he could think to do so that no one would notice she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring.
Liz looked up at Lucky in shock as he took her hand. She had just recovered from the initial surprise of having everyone know about them, but when Luke announced that the media had already found out, she was sent reeling again. She thought back to the conversation they had back in Vegas, about how they would have to go along with the whole marriage thing if the news got out, at least until enough time had passed to reasonably get divorced. Figuring she might as well jump right in, she pasted a smile on her face and leaned into Lucky. She could feel him gently massaging one of her fingers, which threw her off for a minute, since it wasn’t a gesture that was visible to anyone. Suddenly, she realized that the finger he was rubbing was her ring finger, and why.
“Oh!” she said, quickly squeezing his hand to let him know she got the point. Everyone looked at her quizzically at her sudden outburst. “Um, bathroom,” she explained quickly. “I had a lot of coffee this morning, I could really use a bathroom.”
Laura smiled sweetly at her and nodded. “Of course, right upstairs, you know your way, don’t you?”
“Yeah, thanks.” She started to walk to the stairs, but Lucky held onto her hand, pulling her back to him and kissing her.
“Hurry back,” he said softly, then let her go. Liz blinked at him for a moment, then realized it was part of the charade and smiled warmly at him before hurrying upstairs.
Luke looked over at Charisma and grinned. After that little display, he knew that they had them. Lucky and Liz were going to pretend they were really married, which meant he was going to have a whole lot of fun!
As soon as Liz was out of sight, Laura turned to her son and glared at him. “What in the world possessed you to do this? How do you think it felt to have to find out from a newspaper that my son is married!? I’m your mother for God’s sakes! I should have been there!” She knew she had to yell at him if he was going to believe that she was buying the whole thing.
Lucky stammered for a minute, trying to find an excuse to appease her. “Um, well, we just... it was sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing, Mom, I’m sorry.” At least it wasn’t a total lie.
“If I didn’t love you so much, I’d kill you right now!” she growled, then pulled him into a hug, winking over his shoulder at Luke, who was beaming proudly at her. Everyone else watched the exchange in silence, buying the entire act.
After putting on her wedding ring and staring at herself in the mirror for a few minutes, trying to figure out how she was going to get through this party, Liz came back downstairs. Lucky looked up and smiled at her as she approached him, quickly wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her again.
“I missed you,” he said quietly, but just loud enough for the people close to them to hear.
Liz returned his smile and hugged him, whispering in his ear, “Don’t you think you’re laying it on a bit thick?”
“I’m just trying to act like a newlywed,” he whispered back before releasing her and turning to the guests. He surveyed the room, surprised that his father had gotten so many people to show up so quickly.
“Well, come on, let’s start this party!” Luke called out, clapping his hands loudly. Everyone began to mill about again, and Luke took Laura’s hand, leading her over to talk to Mac and Felicia.
Now that they weren’t the center of attention any longer, Liz turned to face Lucky and frowned.
“What are we doing?” she asked quietly.
Lucky smiled and wrapped his other arm around her waist, clasping his hands together behind her back and pulling her closer. “Acting like newlyweds.”
“You don’t think Luke really believes....?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m sure he knows, but this is his way of messing with us. We might as well just enjoy the party. We can worry about the rest later.”
“Just enjoy the party? It’s a wedding reception, Lucky! For us! How long are we supposed to keep this up?” she hissed, trying not to look like she was arguing with him.
“Until we can get a divorce. Now, we better go mingle before everyone gets suspicious.” He released his hold on her, leaving one arm around her waist as they made their way over to the nearest group of people: Charisma, Rich, Nikolas and Emily.
“Hey, little brother!” Nikolas greeted. “How did this happen? I thought you two hated each other?”
Lucky looked down at Liz and smiled. “We’re just as surprised as you, trust me!”
“So, what happened?” Emily prompted excitedly. “What made you finally see it?”
“See what?” Liz asked.
“That you were meant for each other, of course!”
“Oh, um...” she glanced up at Lucky for help, but he merely smiled back at her, leaving her to explain on her own. “To be honest, I don’t think either of us really remembers. It just sort of happened, you know? We just woke up one day, and there it was, and we couldn’t deny it any longer.”
Lucky snickered softly at her explanation, amazed that she had just managed to use the truth to explain a lie.
“Well, whatever it was, I’m glad,” Emily continued to gush. “I always thought you two were perfect for each other.”
“Hm, thanks Em,” Lucky said, trying to sound sincere instead of sarcastic. He then nodded to Charisma and Rich, who had been standing by quietly before leading Liz over to another group, happy to have escaped the first inquisition unscathed. “Nice work back there,” he whispered.
“Thanks, but just don’t let anything I say go to your head, okay? It’s all an act, remember?”
“Yeah, well, same here. Okay, I guess it’s showtime again.” They stopped in front of Jax, Ned, Alexis and Chloe, hoping this would be an easier group to convince.
“So, how was Vegas?” Jax asked, smiling briefly at Alexis as he remembered their own wedding.
“It was nice, I guess. We didn’t really see much of it while we were there,” Liz said quickly.
“Yeah,” Lucky added, pulling her closer. “We didn’t leave the honeymoon suite very often.”
Liz nearly choked on her laughter at his comment, trying to keep a straight face. “Anyway, thanks for coming, we should finish making the rounds,” Lucky said quickly, wanting to get away before Liz blew their cover. The four nodded and smiled, watching them head over to Bobbie and Jerry.
“Is it just me, or did that look a little too familiar?” Alexis asked, turning to her three friends. They all nodded, looking over at the couple.
“Much too familiar,” Ned muttered, shaking his head. “Should we warn them?”
“About what?” Chloe asked.
“That pulling off whatever they’re trying to pull off is going to be much harder than they thought,” he explained, looking meaningfully at Alexis. She nodded in agreement, then looked up at Jax. They smiled briefly at each other before he glanced over at Chloe, while Alexis surveyed the room, her eyes falling on Sonny. She sighed, frustrated by the situation she had gotten herself into.
“Much more difficult than they expected,” she muttered under her breath.
After briefly talking to Bobbie and Jerry, and then moving on to V, Mac and Felicia, Liz and Lucky headed for the last group, the one that Liz thought would not only be the hardest to fool, but the hardest to face.
“Hey,” she greeted softly, looking up at Jason as they approached.
“So, I guess congratulations are in order?” Carly asked, trying to alleviate the tension. “I have to say, I was shocked when Uncle Luke told me the news.”
“Yeah, well, it kind of surprised us, too,” Lucky explained. Liz nodded and threaded her arm around his waist in an attempt to make things more realistic.
“Why Vegas?” Sonny asked. “I mean, I always figured you’d do something here with your family around, something more private.”
“I know, I guess we just got caught up in the moment, right honey?” Lucky said, looking down at Liz, trying not to laugh. She looked up at him and grinned, trying her best to look like an adoring wife.
“Yeah, something like that.”
Luke and Laura stood by the kitchen, watching the couple make their rounds of the room. He leaned down to her and whispered, “I think they should get Oscars for this, what about you?”
Stifling a giggle, she nodded. “I have to admit, I didn’t think they would go along with it. I wonder how long they can keep up the act?”
“Until it’s not an act anymore, if I have anything to say about it. Come on, time to shake things up a bit.” He took her hand and they walked out into the center of the room, then clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.
“Everyone come over to the sofa here,” he announced with a sly grin. “It’s time for the happy couple to open their presents!”
“Presents?” Lucky and Liz both asked in shock. They looked at one another helplessly for a moment, wondering how much more they could take.
