After the Fall A Leap into a Stranger's Arms novel Chapter 5

She thought for sure her words would scare him off. The second the question left her lips, regret crashed over her. Maybe she could be reckless with her own life, but she had no right to drag someone else into her mess. He barely knew her. What if he just wanted to take things slow, and here she was, practically throwing herself at him?

Catherine’s heart hammered in her chest, and just as she was about to backtrack, Lawrence nodded and said, “Alright.”

She froze. Her mind went blank.

Had he really just... agreed?

And he said it so casually, too. Like she’d asked him to grab breakfast tomorrow, not spend the rest of his life with her.

“You... you don’t want to think about it?” she blurted out. “We’ve only known each other for an hour. You don’t even know what I’m like—”

Lawrence leaned back a little, his eyes steady. “I never regret my decisions.”

Catherine blinked. She remembered the ID card in her purse. She’d been planning to get her marriage license with Waldo the moment they got off the cruise. Now, out of nowhere, she was about to marry someone else.

She closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. Something inside her just snapped. “Okay. Let’s get the marriage license.”

A few minutes later, Lawrence picked up his phone and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” The words slipped out before she could stop herself.

Lawrence paused, a hint of a smile on his lips. “We’re not married yet. It wouldn’t be right to stay in the same room. I’ll go crash in my friend’s room tonight.”

Heat rushed to Catherine’s cheeks. “Alright.”

“If your ex-fiancé causes any trouble, call me.” He handed her a new phone. “My number’s the first one in there.”

This one was his work phone. The one he kept was his personal.

“Thank you.” Catherine took it, watching as Lawrence’s tall figure disappeared through the doorway. She felt like she was dreaming.

Had she really just agreed to marry a guy she’d known for an hour? Someone whose background she barely knew?

It all felt wild and surreal.

A knock sounded at her door. She checked the peephole and saw Nettie’s worried face. Catherine let her in.

“What?” Nettie’s eyes went wide, her jaw dropping.

***

In his luxury suite, Waldo paced like a caged animal, phone in hand. He’d ordered his people to dig up everything they could on this Lawrence guy. He needed to know who had stolen his fiancée.

Finally, his phone rang. He snatched it up. “Yeah?”

“Waldo, I found him,” his man reported. “His name’s Lawrence, twenty-eight. Served in Special Forces, discharged eight years ago because of an injury. Now he’s an engineer at Nexus Dynamics.”

“What’s his position?” Waldo’s frown deepened.

“Just a regular consultant in the tech department.”

Waldo scoffed, his disbelief obvious. “A soldier? And now just some engineer?” He pressed on, “Are you sure? No other background?”

“Don’t worry, Waldo. I double-checked. His record’s clean. Comes from a military family. Couldn’t find anything about his dad, but his mom was a university history professor, retired now,” the man confirmed.