And this is why I told you that we should have left the house at least four hours before we actually did.

I let out an exasperated sigh and shot a glance into the passenger seat where a pair of blue eyes glowered back at me.

Look, let's not fight right now. Paula, okay? It's late, we're both tired.

Let's not start off our first ever vacation to Vegas by turning into a bitter old couple.

We've only been married for what?

Two days and change?

For a moment the eyes continued to try and pierce my skin.

Then they closed as my wife led out a sigh at

Rome, nodding. You're right. I'm sorry. Just having to look at nothing but desert for the last

five or six hours kind of got to me. She shot me a look that conveyed equal parts love

and mild irritation. And if someone didn't insist on holding on to an almost 30-year-old BMW and listened to me on getting a new one with a navigation system, we wouldn't have gotten turned around on those side roads and ended up almost driving to L.A.

I let out a soft laugh. Paula Clemens ended up almost driving to LA.

I let out a soft laugh.

Paula Clemens,

you knew damn well when you married me that I'm not the kind of man

who sells something that works perfectly well

just to have something new and flashy

and end up with seven years of debt

jammed onto my shoulders.

She snorted,

Yes, I am most certainly dead, honey.

She reached around the center console and stroked a finger across my cheek.

...