by Cat Johnson
He hadn’t drank that much. How the hell could he have been intoxicated enough to get married? And how could he not remember doing it? He was still standing in the towel, probably with his mouth hanging open, when Leesa began to stir in the bed. He turned and saw her sit up slowly.
Sleepily, she stretched. “Morning. Sorry about last night. We both fell asleep watching TV.”
The rings and certificate still in his hand, Chase swallowed hard. “Apparently that’s not all we did.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t remember either?” Her clothes from the night before were still completely on, just as his had been. So even if they had somehow stumbled downstairs drunk, then out into the street to find a twenty-four hour wedding chapel, they likely hadn’t come home to have sex after. He was happy about that. Not remembering getting hitched was one thing, but he really would like to remember the first time they had sex.
As she stared at him with confusion, the full ramifications of what they’d done began to hit him. They were married. Legally bound in the eyes of the law and the state of Nevada. Man and wife.
What would Leesa think about it when he finally told her what they’d done? Would she freak out? And why wasn’t he freaking out more himself?
That was something to think about.
Married. Wow.
Hell, as long as they had already done it, he wouldn’t mind trying it out for a little bit. Like on a trial basis, just to get the feel of it. Hmm, and they could legally and morally have all the sex they wanted. That part was pretty good.
She rose from the bed and padded across the room in just her socks. He did remember suggesting she take her shoes off so she could get comfortable when they were sitting on the bed watching television. Come to think of it, he’d woken up without his boots. Glancing at the door, he saw them sitting there right where he remembered leaving them last night.
Did they take their vows last night drunk and barefoot?
Maybe if the two of them combined their memories they could put the pieces of this mystery together. Should they ask the other guys if they knew what had happened? Somehow the dead last thing Chase wanted to do was admit any of this to Garret.
Had Garret plied them both with shots last night until they were so drunk they did this? If that were the case, Chase would really have to kill him this time. That was for later. Right now, Chase had to break the bad news—or possibly good news, depending on how you looked at it—to his bride.
A picture was worth a thousand words, or in this case, a marriage license was. He thrust the certificate at her. She took it and frowned as she looked it over, then her eyes opened wide. Her gaze shot to him. “Where did you get this?”
“It was lying right here when I woke up. Along with that receipt and these.” He held up the rings. He slipped the larger one onto the fourth finger of his left hand. “It fits.” Not perfectly, it was a little tight, but it was on his finger and once his body wasn’t soaked in beer, it would probably fit pretty well.
He held the smaller one up for her to see. He watched as her throat worked. Slowly, he reached out, took her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger. It was a tad bit big on her and spun a little too easily, but it stayed on her finger without falling off when she held her hand down to stare at it. Her hands were so small, it was probably the smallest size they had on short notice.
“Yours fits too.”
With them both wearing their wedding bands, this was starting to feel really real now.
She glanced down at the ring, then the paper in her hand.
“How?” She looked up at him and shook her head.
Chase shook his own head. “I don’t know. I didn’t think we drank that much.”
Her eyes flew open. “Oh my God!”
“What?” It felt like his heart flew into his throat.
“Last night. After we both fell asleep watching television, I woke up. I had a horrible headache but all I had with me were those over the counter painkillers that have sleeping stuff in them. I got up and took two of those pills.”
“So?” Chase frowned. “That wouldn’t make you sleepwalk into a wedding chapel and drag me with you. Would it?”
He shouldn’t have used the word drag. If he had gone along with her, he had a feeling he went willingly.
“I don’t know. It might have.” There was panic in her voice. “Haven’t you seen those commercials for prescription sleep aids? Where they warn you that taking the product can cause driving or eating at night with no memory of the event?”
Having spent too much time in hotel rooms watching television, yeah, he had seen those commercials. He just never thought it actually happened. “Okay, maybe that would explain you not remembering, but it doesn’t explain my—”
His lack of recollection would have to wait because she had gone pale. Leesa reached out for the corner of the dresser. He grabbed both of her arms to support her. He’d never seen a woman actually faint before, but he had a feeling this was what they looked like right before they did.
She wasn’t handling this as well as he’d hoped. If he was perfectly honest, he’d admit he wasn’t sorry it had happened. He wanted to get to know Leesa better. Much better. From their one-sided talk last night, where he’d asked her personal questions and she’d mostly avoided answering them, he realized if he didn’t find a way to keep her around a little longer he’d probably never see her again.
This was one hell of a messed up way to do that, but he’d take what opportunity he could get. If he could just convince her to stay with him until they could investigate getting a divorce or annulment or whatever people who woke up married in Vegas got, he could maybe win her trust once she got to know him.
He hadn’t planned on a wife, and after they straightened things out, he wouldn’t have one. A girlfriend was an entirely different story though. Having a girlfriend on the road was a challenge. Chase knew that. But other riders made it work. Mustang. Slade. They both had serious steady girlfriends. Chase wanted that. He was pretty sure he wanted to give it a try with Leesa.
Meanwhile, right now he had to calm the panic he saw rising in her. “Listen. I have an idea.”
Seeming so much smaller and more helpless than she had when she was strutting in her high heels around on stage, she looked up at him. “What?”
This was the real Leesa he was seeing now. Insecure. Scared. Though he suspected the bold side of her, the one she showed on stage, was inside her somewhere too. The thought of unleashing it, of witnessing the two parts together, had him tingling inside. She was half-devil, half-angel, and he was man enough to handle them both. If she’d only give him a chance to prove that. Which brought him to his plan…
“I was going to leave for home today. I have my truck. I’m not driving with anyone else this time so I’ll be alone. You come with me. My uncle is a lawyer. He lives in the same town as my parents. We’ll bring these papers and explain to him what happened. He’ll know what to do about it. Okay?”
Still looking dazed, she nodded. “Okay.”
Chase suppressed a whoop of joy. He didn’t know what had happened last night, or how they’d ended up standing here with gold bands and a license between them, but he intended on taking advantage of the gift he’d been given. Time. That’s all he needed.
Sure, they’d straighten out the mess and undo the marriage, but a lot could happen between Vegas and Oklahoma. Chase couldn’t wait to find out what.
Chapter Eight
The hot water sluiced off Leesa’s back, and with it, a few days worth of fear and worry. She wasn’t out of the woods by any means, but going with Chase to Oklahoma, even if it was as his bride, gave her some breathing room. If she kept her head down, she’d be safe for a while staying with his family until they figured out how to reverse this marriage.
How the hell had they ended up married anyway? She supposed she could write it off to not enough food, too much alcohol for both of them, and one sleep aid o
n her part. She probably shouldn’t have taken that at all. What if Bruno had come busting through the door and she was drugged and groggy? Though she’d taken them before and been able to wake up just fine when needed, and never to her knowledge had she sleepwalked to a chapel and gotten married. At least not until last night.
Oh well. Of all the men in the world she could have gotten accidentally married to, Chase would be her first choice. At least she didn’t end up accidentally married to someone like Jerry. Even the thought of him made her stomach churn.
Things could be far worse. She knew that too well. Married and alive was much better than single and dead.
Leesa poured another handful of hotel shampoo into her palm and lathered her hair. The tiny bottle was almost empty now, but Chase had already showered and Garret would have to be on his own. Besides, these guys rode bulls. Real cowboys could use hand soap on their hair in a pinch, she supposed. Leesa shook her head at her own thoughts. Just the fact she was worrying about shampoo rather than dying proved how different this morning was compared to yesterday.
A bit of conditioner, another rinse and Leesa’s hair was clean. Flipping the faucet, she turned off the water, stepped out of the shower stall and onto the bath mat. She grabbed a towel from the rack and spied Chase’s razor lying on the sink. She hadn’t thought much about him shaving. Of course he did. He was an adult male. She could attest to that first hand.
The image tantalized her. Chase wiping the steam from the mirror. Lathering his cheeks and chin. Standing in nothing but a towel.
He’d looked pretty damn good in that towel this morning. It had been the first thing she’d noticed before he’d distracted her with the marriage certificate and two gold bands, one of which was still wrapped around the fourth finger on her left hand. She glanced at it again.
Wow. Married. Even if it was only temporary, they were still married.
She eyed Chase’s razor again and then on a spur of the moment whim, braced one ankle on the sink. She ran it quickly over her shin and knee. It wasn’t the best shaving job, but eventually she had both legs and both underarms mostly stubble free.
Guiltily she rinsed the blades off well. Guys hated when women used their razors to shave their legs. At least her ex had. Leesa pushed that unpleasant memory away. That was long over and if she never thought of him again, it would be too soon.
She dried and then put the razor back where she’d found it. The entire time she tried not to think that she’d shaved just in case something happened with Chase. It was going to be a long drive to his home in Oklahoma. Both of them in the cab of his truck for hours and hours… She should be worrying about other things besides the possibility they might have sex. Then again, why shouldn’t they? They were married.
Temporarily, she reminded herself one more time as she hung her head upside down and rubbed the water out of her hair with the towel.
She’d brought a change of clothes into the bathroom with her so she could dress in private. As Leesa pulled on her bra and underwear, the irony wasn’t lost on her. She’d stripped nearly naked in front of both Chase and his friends on stage, but here she didn’t even want him to see her in just the towel. Keeping her life compartmentalized had been the only thing to keep her sane these past few months. It had been what had allowed her to distance herself enough to do what she’d done with Chase in the back room. Then again, she hadn’t remained very distant, had she?
A fluttering started low in her belly when she remembered what she’d felt between her and Chase in that back room, and then again last night when he’d kissed her. Yeah, sure. Compartmentalized. Ha! She’d been a woman attracted to a man. Chase had not been just another customer. Now she was married to him. She smothered the guilt. Maybe her subconscious had sleepwalked her medicated body and his drunk one all the way to the chapel on purpose.
Leesa sighed. They’d straighten it all out. Until then she’d get to see Oklahoma and get out of Vegas with her life intact. Chase didn’t seem to be complaining about the surprise nuptials. They’d just both have to make the best of it.
With that thought firmly in place, she pulled on the last of her clothing and opened the bathroom door. A burst of steam preceded her into the bedroom where she found Chase balling up his clothes and shoving them into his bag. Resisting the urge to go over and fold them neatly for him, Leesa went to her own bag and put her neatly stacked pile of yesterday’s clothes into it.
“I figure we’ll pack, grab something to eat, then come up, get our bags and hit the road.”
Leesa stopped zipping her bag midway. “Um, do you think we could get on the road first, and then stop at a truck stop or something and get breakfast to go? Maybe egg sandwiches? Something easy to eat in the truck.”
He looked at her with surprise then smiled. “You are determined not to let me buy you a decent meal in a real restaurant, aren’t you?”
“No. That’s not it—”
“I have money you know, if that’s what you’re worried about. I know I haven’t been riding my best this year, but I’ve still done good. I can afford to buy you a nice meal. I promise.”
Again, she wasn’t sure exactly how he earned money riding bulls, or how much one could earn doing that, but she supposed during the long trip together she had plenty of time to find out. “I believe you, Chase. You can buy me a meal when we get where we’re going. For right now, I’m kind of anxious to get on the road.”
He seemed to look too deeply into her, the way he had a habit of doing. Though maybe it was her own guilt about hiding things from him and using him to escape that made her feel that way. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. We can get on the road first and stop later. No problem.”
She nodded, happy he’d agreed so easily but still feeling like she needed an explanation to cover herself. “Thanks. It’s just I think I’ve had enough of this town for a while. You know? I’m anxious to get away. Start my vacation.”
Again, he watched her. “Understood. I’m warning you though, Oklahoma isn’t exactly the vacation capital of the world. My hometown’s got a few thousand people in it and that’s it. The highlight of the town was when the diner decided to stay open until eleven at night on weekends. We’ve got a movie theater that shows one movie at a time, not ten like the ones they have in the cities. And if you want to go shopping at a real mall, you have to take a road trip and make a day out of it.”
Leesa laughed. “It sounds perfect to me.” Funny thing was she meant every word.
He looked at her strangely again, laughing himself. “All right. If you say so.” Chase glanced around the room. “Is that everything?”
Smothering her guilt, she thought she felt her cheeks heat. Leesa shook her head. “Your razor is still on the sink in the bathroom.”
“That’s Garret’s, but thanks anyway.”
“Oh.” Now she felt really bad for using it. Chase grabbed both his bag and hers and moved toward the door. As she glanced back at the room, still strewn with Garret’s stuff, it killed Leesa not to do her usual hotel room check, pulling out every drawer in both the dresser and night stand, kneeling down to look under the bed for socks or shoes that may have gotten kicked underneath. “Um, don’t you want to check one more time in case you left anything?”
And she’d told Chase she was the kind of girl to go with the flow. Yeah right.
Chase shook his head. “Nah. If I missed anything, Garret will grab it for me. Which reminds me. I should really wake them up next door and tell them I’m leaving.”
He glanced down at his left hand. “Huh. Maybe not. I think maybe I shouldn’t let them know about what happened.”
“I think you’re right. You have the um…paperwork. Right? Your uncle may need it.”
“Got it right folded up safe in my wallet.” Chase patted the front pocket of his jeans.
“Good.”
He glanced at the clock next to the bed and cringed. “It’s early still, and those guys were pretty plastered last night. Maybe I’ll just leav
e Garret a note. Or text him later from the road.”
Watching him make excuses, she smiled. “You don’t want to lie to him.”
Chase laughed. “Hell no. I’ve lied to him before, about you for instance. I just don’t feel like dealing with them right now.”
“Okay. Your choice.” Leesa didn’t quite believe him.
Chase put both bags down and bent over the desk. He scribbled something on the pad of paper lying next to the phone. Leesa did her best not to stare at his butt in his jeans as he did. When he straightened again, she wrestled her gaze back to his face.
“Okay. Done. Ready?” He waited for her answer.
She nodded. “Ready.’
“Then let’s go.”
With a surge of adrenaline, Leesa followed Chase out into the hall, holding her breath the entire walk to the elevator. When the door slid open and she saw past Chase that it was occupied but she couldn’t see by whom, her breath caught in her throat. She didn’t breath freely again until Chase dropped the bags on the floor and shook the hand of the cowboy who stepped out.
“Mustang.”
“Hey, Chase. You heading out?”
“Yup, we are.” Chase nodded. He moved to the side and took a small step back so he was standing next to her. “This is Leesa.”
The man named Mustang—bull riders sure had strange names—tipped his cowboy hat to her. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too.” She nodded and managed to answer past the lump that had lodged in her throat when she had thought maybe Bruno and the goons were on the elevator. She had a feeling that fear would stay with her all the way to Oklahoma, if not forever.
Meanwhile, the cowboy’s eyes had dropped to her left hand and she saw his eyebrows rise at the sight of the wedding band that, ridiculously, she was still wearing. They should probably take them off. It wasn’t like the marriage was real or anything. She supposed she was afraid she’d lose the band if she did take it off and stuck it in her pocket.
