Noah
Page 15
Zoe
The sun peeked through the windows, creating a golden halo around me as I stood in front of the full length mirror. I couldn’t believe the woman reflected back was me. The fitted bodice accentuated what little bust I had and, combined with the push up bra, gave me the illusion of cleavage. The intricate lace and beadwork made me feel feminine for one of the first times in my life. Feminine was a feeling I didn’t often experience in my cop uniform or, since my recent promotion, my lieutenant outfit of suit pants, white blouse, and suit jacket. I and most of the other women on the force went for the more manly cuts to give us a leg up in the old boys’ club of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
“You look gorgeous, honey.” My mom came up behind me, adding one last squirt of hairspray to the intricate updo she had talked me into. She had the salon lift my mousy brown hair up off my neck, twist it into an amazing design, and wind a delicate string of rhinestones and pearls throughout the locks. She came up behind me as I stood, turning from side to side, and tucked a delicate lavender orchid into the left side of my hair, securing it with a gold clip.
As I stood transfixed by my image in the mirror, the long white skirt rustled and fell around my feet. I took a deep breath, smoothing my hands down my front. This was going to be a perfect wedding day!
I smiled at the woman in the mirror, her eyes glowing with life and excitement. “Thanks, Mom.” I turned away, hardly believing the day was finally here. “I’m going to run next door and get Chris. It’s time for pictures.”
“All right. I’m going to hunt your father down. He's probably in the casino, gambling. You would think there was nothing else going on today the way he acts.” She rolled her eyes. “I swear he’s nothing but a big kid.”
I laughed. My parents had been married almost fifty years. I could only hope my marriage lasted as long. Even my mother’s grumbling couldn’t hide the fact that she was as much in love with my father as the day they met.
“I love you, Mom,” I said, giving her a sudden hug as we left the honeymoon suite to go gather our men.
“I love you too, honey.” She squeezed me back, careful not to crush my dress. “We’ll see you in the atrium.”
I nodded, lifting my long white skirt so I wouldn’t catch a heel in the fabric and trip as I shuffled down the hall. I couldn’t help the giant grin that graced my face. I was giddy in love. In two hours I would be Mrs. Christopher McCarthy, wife of LA’s most prestigious divorce lawyer. I was so proud of him. He’d made partner the year before, and his career was on a major fast track.
Pulling his key card from the bodice of my dress, I let myself into the smaller room Chris was using until the ceremony. Even though we had been pretty much living together in his apartment for the last year whenever he was in town, my parents were old fashioned, and it was easier not to argue.
“Chris!” I sang out as I pushed open the bedroom door. “It’s time to go. Have you seen Amanda and Steve?”
As my eyes focused on the action in the center of his king-sized bed, I sucked in a deep breath, shocked at what I saw. The key card flew from my grasp as my hands reached to cover my eyes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. No. No. This can’t be real.
My fiancé Chris, the man I was to marry in two hours, was buck naked and buried to the hilt in my best friend’s ass. His hands gripped her pale hips as she held herself up on all fours. His hips bucked, plunging in and out of her while his best man knelt by her head, filling her mouth, her plump lips wrapped around his engorged length.
Frozen in place, I couldn’t tear my eyes away as Chris rode her, groaning out his pleasure, completely oblivious to my presence.
Steve’s eyes widened as he saw me come in. He struggled a moment, trying to pull himself from between Amanda’s lips. On her hands and knees in the center of the bed, she had her head thrown back, deep-throating him, and he was too far gone to stop her. Right before my eyes, they both rode her to completion. Chris signaling his release with a shout, his whole body shuddered as he emptied himself into her.
“Oh my God!” I shrieked, breaking apart the threesome and sending ripples of chaos through the room. Standing there, my life imploded right before my eyes.
Chapter 2
Zoe
I whirled on one stiletto, sprinting from the room, tears flooding my eyes. I could barely see. All rational thought left my brain, and I burst from the suite with tears streaming down my cheeks.
Frantically, I mashed the elevator button over and over. Every bone in my body screamed at me to run. When the doors didn’t open by the third press, I dashed my wrist across my eyes and spun, blasting through the stairwell door and clattering down flight after flight of shadowy concrete steps. I twisted my ankle, and sweat formed nasty armpit rings on my expensive dress.
Halfway down, a spike heel broke off my right shoe. Staggering, I kicked off my strappy, sparkly heels, leaving them where they lay in the dim, dirty stairwell, and flew barefoot down the remaining flights. The long silk train of my dress, now filthy and torn, dragged behind me, catching and tearing on the uneven concrete and as I turned corner after corner. Finally reaching the ground floor, I ran out into the casino.
Gamblers covered every surface, sitting, standing, milling around. Die hard slots fans pulled their handles over and over, feeding quarters to the bottomless machines like there was no tomorrow. Serious blackjack players stared at the dealer with brooding expressions as they silently counted and guarded their chips. Alcohol flowed like water, served by scantily clad waitresses working their attributes for tips.
Like a cornered rabbit, my eyes flitted to every corner of the room, looking for a way out, desperate for a place to hide and lick my wounds. I wasn’t about to be seen like this, especially not by my family. They were still waiting patiently in the atrium for me to appear to take my wedding photos. I stumbled in the opposite direction of the atrium, blindly limping on my rapidly-swelling ankle until my flight was halted by broad chest and steady hands.
“Hey, slow down.” A smooth, deep baritone broke through my panicked flight, and I slid to a halt. I looked up into warm brown eyes like little pools of melted chocolate staring back at me, concern crinkling the corners, fine laugh lines fanning out. His sandy hair was short-clipped, military style, high and tight.
“I—I—,” I stuttered, unable to form a coherent thought.
“Here, let’s go somewhere a little quieter,” he said.
I nodded dumbly as I let a virtual stranger wrap his arm around my shoulders and steer me to a shadowy booth in the back of the closest bar. A drink sounded really good. Maybe vodka or scotch. Something that could wipe the image tattooed on the back of my eyelids of my ex fiancé butt naked and buried in my best friend during some sordid post bachelor party, wedding day threesome.
“Here.” He slid an ice water in a heavy glass across the scarred leather pub table in front of me. Not exactly the stiff drink I was looking for. Then he sat across from me. “I’m Ryder.”
Also by Allison LaFleur
The Lost Billionaires
Mason: The Lost Billionaires, Book 1
Damon: The Lost Billionaires, Book 2
Liam: The Lost Billionaires, Book 3
Noah: The Lost Billionaires, Book 4
Ryder: The Lost Billionaires, Book 5
Luke: The Lost Billionaires, Book 6
Whisper Cove
Seaglass Drive: Whisper Cove, Book 1
Driftwood Lane: Whisper Cove, Book 2
Shipwreck Road: Whisper Cove, Book 3
About the Author
I love to explore new places and meet new people. When I'm not writing, you can often find me on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean, hiking National Parks or searching for bald eagles in Alaska with my trusty Nikon in tow.
Most of the year I live in the Florida Keys with my family, and many evenings you’ll find me watching the sunset over the ocean, searching for the green flash. It's eluded me up to now, but I keep hoping.
My love of art, music, medicine, and the outdoors have guided not only my career but also my writing. I hope that love comes through to my readers, can you spot it?
I love to hear from my readers. You can find me on Facebook, GoodReads, and Amazon, or simply send an email to allison@allisonlafleur.com.