Aaron stepped forward again, gently brushed her hands aside, and zipped her suitcase. Next, he grabbed the luggage, set it on the floor, and opened the handle. “Can you manage this one?”
She took it from him, her fingers brushing against his. They both flinched as a shock of static electricity zapped them. “Sorry,” she whispered. “That damn dress is the bane of my existence.” She tucked her purse under her arm and tugged the suitcase toward the door as if the room was on fire.
Aaron followed, grabbing her other suitcase and his own. He wasn’t sure how long they’d been in the room, but he was fairly certain it hadn’t been more than a few minutes.
When he glanced back to make sure they hadn’t left anything obvious, he noted once again that there was no evidence of Montgomery. Had they gotten separate rooms in some old-fashioned belief that they shouldn’t see each other before the wedding?
Note to self—he would never agree to that absurd tradition either. If he found the woman of his dreams and loved her so deeply that he intended to spend the rest of his life with her, there was no way in hell he would leave her sleeping in another room for even one night.
In silence, they headed back to the lobby. The doorman tipped his head at them as they left. The only sign he suspected anything was amiss was the fact that his eyebrows were drawn together. In fact, the other employees standing nearby were also wringing their hands.
Not surprising. After all, Aaron most certainly wasn’t the man she’d come there to marry.
The doorman, with tight lips, helped Aaron load the trunk of the car, and then Aaron handed him a twenty and rounded to the driver’s side. Hope was already in the car. She was bouncing one knee, her hands fisted in her lap as she glanced out every window.
It was obvious she wanted to get away from the hotel before Montgomery or anyone else showed up.
Aaron obliged her, though he had no idea what plan B was. He hadn’t had a single moment to consider the insanity of this situation. He barely knew Hope.
He hadn’t been back to Miami for three months since he and Colin had moved to Denver to open up a second location of Club Zodiac, the fetish club owned by Rowen and two other friends—Lincoln and Carter.
Aaron had been looking forward to catching up with the guys and discussing plans for the new club. Apparently, that idea had just been postponed, at least for the evening.
Aaron glanced at Hope. “Where do you want me to take you?” Maybe he could meet up with the guys after he dropped her somewhere.
“Denver’s probably far enough away,” she stated matter-of-factly.
He hesitated, unsure how to respond. “Denver? You’re serious?”
She had those big brown eyes pointed at him when he came to a stop at the light. “If you stop at an ATM, I’ll withdraw as much money as I can. I don’t mean to put you out. But, yes. A road trip would give me time to sort through my mind and find my head. Plus, no one would be able to find me.”
He stared at her. Was he really going to consent to drive across the country with a woman he barely knew so she could escape God-only-knew what? “Denver,” he repeated.
“Please?”
Something deep inside Aaron twitched every time she said that word. Something about her tone. It reached into him and twisted his heart. The crazy thing was that he didn’t ordinarily fall for that word coming from a woman. He was generally very much in control of every situation. Begging didn’t work on him.
Or it hadn’t before today.
Before Hope jumped into his car with her wide eyes, pink lips, silky brown hair, and enough tulle to decorate an entire reception hall wrapped around her legs.
“One condition,” he responded.
She gave him another of her sweet smiles. “Anything.”
“Start talking, and don’t stop until you’ve explained every detail of what just happened and why the hell I’m agreeing to drive across the country with a runaway bride.”
She giggled, a sound that reached into him, past the place where her please had lodged and twisted his gut. “Deal.”
Chapter 2
Twenty-four hours earlier…
* * *
“What’ll it be, ladies?” the bartender asked as Hope slid onto the barstool next to Faith.
“Tequila shots,” Hope responded with conviction.
Faith shot her a look. “Since when do you drink tequila?”
Hope giggled. “I’ve never had it before. Figured tonight would be the perfect time to try it.”
Faith rolled her eyes. “Tonight? The night before your wedding?”
Hope shrugged. The last few hours had been stressful between the rehearsal and then the dinner. She was tired of smiling and making nice. She wanted to do something reckless and uncharacteristic for a change. “Why not?”
Faith took a deep breath. “Okay, but only one. Mom will kill me if she finds out I got you drunk after she went back to her hotel room.”
The bartender slid two shots in front of them along with a small plate of limes and a salt shaker.
“How do we do this?” Hope asked, staring at the items and feeling stupid. She shuddered. She was twenty-six years old and she’d never sat in a bar and done shots. Why?
Faith sighed audibly as she reached for the salt. She held up her other hand, licked the space between her thumb and pointer, and shook salt onto the spot.
Hope imitated her sister.
Faith scooted a shot glass toward her. “You have to do this fast. Lick the salt, slam the shot, suck the lime.”
Hope sat up straight, nodding. “Got it.”
“On three. One. Two. Three.”
Hope followed her sister’s instructions, though it was difficult to suck the lime while her body was still shuddering from the shock of the tequila.
Faith was laughing when Hope finally set the shot glass on the bar and released the lime. “Why do people do that?”
“Because in a minute, all your problems will seem to fade.”
Hope sobered, suddenly feeling serious. Her grin fell, and she dipped her face toward the bar, watching her finger run around the rim of the shot glass. If only her problems really could fade as easily as a tequila shot.
“You okay?”
She shrugged, not lifting her face. It was a little awkward sharing her issues with Faith. “Depends. If the tequila is supposed to make me forget my problems, it’s not working.”
Faith leaned closer and nudged Hope’s shoulder with her own. “What problems could you possibly have? You’re the good sister. The one who followed all the rules and is about to marry the perfect man.”
Hope swallowed back tears that suddenly wanted to fall. She wasn’t a crier. She wasn’t even sure why she was feeling so emotional. While she sniffled back her emotion, another shot slid in front of her.
She lifted her gaze to find the bartender walking away and Faith nodding. “Maybe we should have one more.”
Hope forced a smile. “I think you’re right.” She repeated the process, shuddering just as much the second time as the first. “I don’t know if tequila is going to become my beverage of choice.”
Faith laughed. “Maybe not, but it comes in handy sometimes. Now, talk to me. What’s got you so emotional?”
Hope met her sister’s gaze and took a deep breath. “I envy you.” In Hope’s eyes, Faith had everything.
Faith’s eyes widened. “Me? Why would you envy me? I’m the family pariah. Mom won’t look at me, and Dad is so nervous around me that he spilled coffee when I spoke to him.”
“Yeah, but you have an amazing husband, whom you obviously adore, who thinks you walk on water.” She let her voice dip. “In fact, you’ve had that twice.” Hope knew it still hurt Faith to speak of her first husband who’d died in combat overseas. She knew her sister had loved Victor deeply, but she was also extremely lucky to have loved and lost and found love again.
“You don’t think Montgomery loves you?” Faith asked tentatively.
A tear r
an down Hope’s face, and she swiped it away. “I don’t know. He says he does, but I’m not sure.”
Faith didn’t say anything, and Hope couldn’t blame her. The two of them hadn’t been close until about a year ago when Hope had reached out to her sister to make amends. When Faith left home to strike out on her own, defying their mother and finding her own way, Hope had resented her at first. Later, she’d been so jealous she couldn’t see straight.
Hope had outgrown the jealousy to a certain extent, but she was still envious of what Faith seemed to have. The way Rowen looked at her…
“What’s it like?” Hope whispered. She was never more glad than now to have pulled her head out of her ass and opened up better communication with her sister.
“What’s what like?” Faith asked.
Hope licked her lips and forced herself to speak the word. “Sex.”
Faith’s body jerked back, her eyes going wide. “Sex? You haven’t slept with Montgomery?”
“I haven’t slept with anyone,” Hope admitted. “I mean, I’ve read a lot, and I’ve been researching uh…” She glanced around and let her voice dip lower. “…BDSM and all, but…”
Faith inhaled long and slow, her eyes wider. “BDSM? You’re a virgin and you’ve been researching BDSM?”
Hope shrugged. “I mean, I know it’s what you’re into and all. And you look happy, so I thought…” She had no idea what she thought. That’s why she was asking.
Faith slowly shook her head. “Forget BDSM. That’s so not an issue here. How would you know if you’re even compatible with Montgomery on any level if you haven’t slept together?”
Hope shrugged, her face flushing. “He’s never even tried. I guess he was being a gentleman or something. Some people do wait until they’re married, you know.”
Faith’s eyes drew together. “Let me get this straight. Montgomery Ainsley, future politician, a man who owns every room he walks into and has no problem telling everyone exactly what to do and when to do it. That Montgomery hasn’t tried to have sex with you?”
Hope shook her head. She couldn’t believe she was having this discussion with her sister, tonight of all nights, but who else would she have discussed her virginity with before tonight?
Faith asked the bartender for two glasses of water and handed one to Hope. “Drink this or you’ll end up with a hangover.”
Hope took a sip, staring at her sister, praying she would impart some wisdom. “It’s just that I’m kinda nervous about tomorrow night, and I thought you might say something to calm my nerves.”
“Uh-huh.” Faith swallowed. “Well, first of all, not all sex is BDSM. Plenty of people have vanilla sex. Just because I prefer a bit of kink doesn’t mean you will. Or Montgomery, for that matter.” Faith shivered as if it gave her the willies to even discuss Montgomery in such a way.
“It sounds titillating when I read it in novels,” Hope pointed out.
Faith chuckled. “Sure, but life isn’t usually that perfect.” She set her water down and turned to fully face Hope. “I think you’ll be sorely disappointed if you go into this marriage thinking sex is going to be anything like what you’ve read in an erotic novel.”
Hope nodded. “Okay.”
“Also, I can’t imagine pledging my life to someone I haven’t slept with. What if there’s no chemistry? It’s not a given.”
Hope nodded again, slowly. “Well. What am I going to do about it now?”
Faith sat up straighter. “Simple. You’re going to go to his room and seduce him.”
Hope winced. “Seduce him? I’m not really the seducing type.”
Faith glanced at her watch. “It’s after ten o’clock. You’re marrying the guy in eighteen hours. You need to find the courage.”
Hope’s shoulders fell. “I don’t know, Faith.”
“Hope, you’ve been reading about BDSM, and your fiancé hasn’t even made a move on you to have sex. There’s a disconnect here, and you need to fix it before you commit your life to someone.”
“What if I embarrass myself?”
“You won’t. And even if you do, he’s marrying you. If you can’t be embarrassed in front of your own husband, there isn’t much hope for your relationship. I mean, Rowen walked in on me the other day while I was cussing up a storm because I had a bikini wax mishap. Then, when I showed him what had happened, he laughed and said he didn’t mind my crooked landing strip a bit. He even said he thought it was kinda cute, as if I’d been drunk when I did it.”
“Oh my God, Faith, what the hell?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying. The whole thing could’ve been totally humiliating, but it’s Rowen, and he loves me. You’re not going to embarrass yourself with Montgomery.”
Hope shook her head rapidly. “You wax? Everything but a strip?”
Faith’s eyes bulged. “Of course. Sometimes I wax it all. In fact, that’s what I ended up doing when I couldn’t stand looking down at it without groaning.”
Hope swallowed. This had never occurred to her. Why couldn’t she be a normal woman who had girlfriends who discussed grooming themselves down there? Would Montgomery expect her to have shaved?
She groaned. How had this conversation veered so off track?
There was no way she could possibly do anything about waxing or shaving now, so she shook the concept from her mind. “Okay. What should I do?”
Faith smiled. “After two shots of tequila, you should at least feel more relaxed. Go to his room. Flirt. Set your hands on his chest. Kiss him. If he’s dense, tell him outright you want to have sex.”
“What if he’s got some old-fashioned belief that we should wait until tomorrow? I’d feel stupid.”
“I have never met a man with as much bravado as Montgomery who would turn down sex. It’s more probable that he was trying to respect you than the opposite. Put yourself out there. He won’t turn you down.”
Hope picked up the glass of water and took a long drink. She knew Faith was right. No way could she walk down the aisle tomorrow without making sure she and Montgomery had chemistry.
Finally, she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Okay. You’re right. I’m going to do it.”
“Good.”
Hope slid off the stool and smoothed her hands down her fitted, off-white designer dress, the one her mother insisted was perfect for the rehearsal dinner. The matching heels were uncomfortable, but Jane Davenport had insisted they looked perfect also.
Hope was a grown woman who still let her mother dictate her wardrobe choices. She also still lived at home. After watching the way Faith turned her back on nearly every single thing their mother wanted for her and ultimately lost her relationship with her parents, Hope had decided years ago it wasn’t worth the cost.
She’d done everything a wealthy society woman was supposed to do. She’d gone to college, gotten her degree in business, and found the perfect man to marry. Like clockwork.
No. She hadn’t specifically chosen Montgomery. He’d been selected by her mother just like most of her wardrobe and hairstyles. But he was an attractive man with a great job and connections. Hope would want for nothing after she married him.
Right?
Nothing? Would she want for good sex? She asked herself these questions as she made her way up the elevator and then headed for Montgomery’s room.
Her hand was shaking as she knocked on the door.
Seconds later, it opened, shocking her with how fast he was, as if he’d been standing right there expecting her. He was smiling broadly, but his expression switched to wide-eyed shock. “Hope?”
She forced a smile, trying to tamp down her nerves. “Were you expecting someone else?” she joked.
He glanced past her and then grabbed her arm and hauled her into the room. “No. Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I was kidding,” she murmured.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, not backing farther into the room.
“I came to see you,” she stat
ed as she set her hands on his chest and tipped her head back, trying to find the courage to make a move on him.
He gave a wan chuckle, backing up a step. “Have you been drinking?”
“Just a few shots. Not much.”
His brow furrowed. “Since when do you do shots?” He set his hands over hers and removed them, dropping them to her sides. “That’s so irresponsible, Hope.”
Why does he sound like my father? She frowned at him, and then remembered why she was here. She needed to find the courage to seduce him.
Montgomery ran a hand through his short-cropped, perfectly styled hair and pinched his lips. “You should go to sleep, Hope. Tomorrow is a big day.”
This wasn’t going as planned. She took a step around him, letting her gaze roam his room. It was a suite, much nicer than her own room, but then again, she was meant to join him in this room tomorrow night.
Champagne was chilling in an ice bucket next to the love seat, two glasses next to the bottle.
Hope lifted her gaze to him. “Why do you have champagne?”
He jerked his attention to the ice bucket. “They messed up and brought it on the wrong night.”
Hope nodded. “Then maybe we should mess up and drink it on the wrong night.” She sauntered closer to him, boldly grabbed his arms, and rose onto her tiptoes to kiss him.
He didn’t return the kiss for a moment, and then he sighed, his shoulders dropping as he drew her closer, tipping his head to one side.
She leaned into him, flattening her body to his. She slid her hands down his arms and then up his chest while she deepened the kiss. Never in her life had she been this bold with a man, but she needed to know. She felt empowered and forced herself to continue.
He gripped her biceps, holding her a few inches from him while she proceeded to work the buttons on his shirt. He’d already removed his tie, and the top two buttons were undone, but she worked her way down his chest, baring his pecs.
Trusting Aaron: Club Zodiac, Book Five Page 2
