Hazel in the Demon's Den

A bunch of different questions ran through Hazel's head but she wasn't sure which ones to ask. She should probably start with the most important and see where to go from there.

"Why would someone like you marry a woman you just met?"

Will raised an eyebrow. "Someone like me?"

"Someone not desperate or disillusioned," she explained.

That was how he had described her when she said she was crazy. He definitely didn't seem that way. If anything, he seemed too calm about all of this as if it was perfectly normal to take in a random stranger out of the blue.

"Think of me as a Good Samaritan. I couldn't sit by and let a cute girl end up with a creep," Will said with a shrug.

Hazel frowned. No one was that altruistic. "Well, if we do go through with this what do you expect from me?"

She and Billy Lawson had never gone farther than making out, which was apparently part of the reason he cheated on her. She wasn't sure how she felt about going further than that with someone she didn't even know.

It was a perfectly normal and expected thing for married couples but would it really be alright to do it with someone she didn't love who she would probably leave later? At this point she wasn't sure what to expect but after what had happened earlier she didn't trust a man not to have ulterior motives.

Will tilted his head at her as if confused before a small smile crossed his face. "You think I'm trying to take advantage of you."

Hazel was embarrassed at being seen through but she couldn't exactly deny it. It was a reasonable thought in the middle of an unreasonable situation.

"No need to worry about that. I won't do anything until you fall in love with me."

Hazel nearly laughed. He sounded awfully confident about that. Right now it seemed impossible since her heart had been occupied by a ghost for over half of her life.

Falling in love didn't seem likely but at the very least she might grow fond of him. Although there hadn't been anyone in her life she had been truly fond of since her Billy left. It was as if he used up all of her positive emotions for other people so there were none to spare.

Even though that was the case, Will seemed nice and interested in art. She could probably manage to think of him as a friend after a little time. There were definitely worse people to marry on a whim.

He held his hand out. "Shall we go? There's a place I know of that accepts walk ins. It even has a drive-thru."

Now Hazel really did laugh as she accepted it. Only in Las Vegas. She had originally come here to get married because of how easy it was so she should have known they would have something like that.

She shrugged. "As long as we can get it done before the flight it set to leave I'm fine with it. Do you have a suit?"

"Yeah, I was here on business. It wrapped up yesterday so I was going to enjoy the sights for a day or two. Didn't think I would end up bringing home a wife though. My room is back at the Venetian; why don't we take your things there and go get changed," Will offered.

Hazel accepted his suggestion easily enough. As a woman of simple tastes, it wouldn't take her much more than five minutes to get ready for this impromptu wedding. She was already wearing makeup so aside from putting on the dress she was supposed to wear tomorrow all that was left was doing her hair.

She was a master at doing quick and easy hairstyles that looked much more complicated than they actually were. She had spent many lonely hours perfecting her craft while living with her uncle. A ponytail, a few twists, and a couple of bobby pins later she had a respectable low rolled bun with a couple of wisps left loose to frame her face.

The wedding dress she had gotten secondhand since she had no family to help pay for it was a midi dress with a flared skirt and a lace bodice with matching sleeves that didn't cover her shoulders. She had bought a pair of white heeled sandals to go with it on clearance.

Hazel looked undeniably good but very white, which wasn't like her. Since leaving those horribly confining white walls behind, she had drowned herself in color. Right now the only colorful thing about her was her hair.

If it was up to her, she would have worn a colorful wedding dress but Billy insisted. He said if she wore something colorful she would look like a kid at the prom. There was some truth in his statement. Even now, since she was so tiny she looked more like a child playing dress up than an actual bride.

Billy had hated it when she wore tee shirts and sneakers out in public with him because he said it made him look like her big brother rather than her boyfriend. How was that her fault? She was in her twenties; she didn't want to dress like a grandma. Tee shirts and sneakers were comfortable.

She plucked the old ring off her finger, thinking about how she could buy a whole lot of art supplies by selling it. She would have to do that once they got to Utah. Canvases and paints were expensive but she was willing to bet there was a whole lot of beautiful scenery in the mountains waiting to be captured.

So long as she still had her art, it didn't matter what kind of life she might lead after marrying someone she had literally met an hour ago. Hazel was a person of simple needs.