Married in Vegas (The Townsends Book 3)

by Angie Campbell

  He knew he was going to have to take a proactive position, or he would give in. “Okay, time for you to go to bed.” He walked over to her, and gently turned her around, pushing her dress to the floor. He was hoping with her back turned to him, it wouldn’t be as painful.

  “Well, so much for hoping,” he grumbled to himself.

  “What, Baby?” she asked, trying to look over her shoulder.

  “Nothing, Angel. You need to get in bed.”

  He placed his hands on her waist and steered her toward the bed. He yanked the covers back and just waited for her to crawl in.

  She crawled up on the bed on her knees and turned to face him. When she reached for him, he let her pull him to her. He couldn’t seem to stop himself. When her lips met his, his blood caught fire. With her this seductive drunk, it made him wonder what she would be like sober, when she really decided to turn on the charm. Deciding it was best not to think about that for now, he pulled back from her, and gently pushed her down on the bed. “Sleep, Angel. That’s all we’re doing tonight.”

  “Mark, please.” He almost caved in, but he knew if he had any hope at all of her not hating him later, he was going to have to walk away now.

  She still had a hold of his shirt collar and she tried to pull him down with her. “Please, Mark, I want you. We’re married now. There’s nothing to regret.”

  “You’re wrong, Angel. You’re drunk. I can’t. You have to be able to make a choice. And your mind is too clouded right now. Not to mention, I really want you to be able to remember.” It took every ounce of strength for him to pull away from her.

  “Please, Baby.”

  “No,” he said yanking the covers back up, covering her before the temptation got to be too much. “Why couldn’t you have begged me when you were sober?” he asked, turning away. He needed to talk to someone who could tell him how sick she might get. He had never seen her drunk in all the time he had known her. He decided the safest ones to call would be Lisa or Mindi.

  Ten minutes later, he closed his phone, and went back to check on her. She was out cold, but didn’t look flushed, so he figured things were safe enough for now.

  By the time he got off the phone with Lisa he was feeling very suspicious, and he was wondering what was up. Lisa had wanted to play twenty questions, and she had even asked him why he didn’t sound drunk. He ended up telling her, he was afraid if he had got drunk, he might have done something stupid. Apparently, staying sober hadn’t helped and now he didn’t have the excuse of diminished cognition. Looking down at his bride, he knew he was going to be in trouble tomorrow. She may have wanted to marry him, but he was pretty sure this was not what she would have envisioned.

  Lisa had been way too interested in knowing why Jenny was drinking. Apparently, she had only seen her drunk one other time. She had refused to tell him why she had gotten drunk that time. He was really wanting to know if her one other experience with alcohol was the one time he had gotten drunk.

  Wandering away from the bed before he gave in to the desire to crawl in bed with her just to be able to hold her, he walked over to the TV and grabbed the remote. He knew if she woke up in bed with him, he wouldn’t get a chance to tell her what had happened. She would just go off on him, then probably refuse to ever speak to him again.

  He knew there was no way he was going to be able to sleep, so he went and laid down on the couch and started flipping through the channels. He just settled in for his long night of thinking and plotting. He was going to have to figure out how to make this work. He was praying he hadn’t screwed up his chances completely.

  Chapter 3

  Friday, July 5

  It was seven thirty in the morning and Mark hadn’t slept a wink. He was finally starting to hear noise from the bed, though. It sounded like Jenny was groaning. All of a sudden, she jumped up and went running for the bathroom. She streaked past him like a lightning bolt, flung the door open, dropped to her knees and hung her head over the toilet. He turned back to look at the TV, feeling sure she wouldn’t want him watching her while she was in such a position.

  He shook his head and turned back to look at her when she finally stopped retching. He didn’t think she had seen him. She proved him right when she got back up and started to brush her teeth.

  She finally seen him sitting there, watching her. She stood there, staring back at him for a second or two, like she was trying to decide if she was angry or not. After a bit, a look of irritation crossed her face and she slammed the bathroom door shut.

  She was in there for another five minutes before she reappeared wearing the hotel bathrobe and glared at him. He found himself wondering how much she remembered of last night. When she finally found the voice to speak, he decided it was a good chance she didn’t remember anything. “What are you doing in my hotel room, instead of yours?”

  “I was worried about you getting sick while you were still passed out. Do you remember anything from last night?” He had to work hard to sound merely curious. He had a lot riding on her not remembering anything.

  “No. What did I do?” And then, with her voice rising a full octave, “What did you do?”

  “Nothing,” he looked at her and lied without any trouble. He didn’t want her to know anything until they got back home. He comforted himself with the fact he fully intended to tell her the whole truth, but only once they were safely back in Sapphire Springs. That was probably what saved his voice cracking over the lie. He’d had plenty of time to come up with a plan of action while he waited for her to wake up. He was just praying it would work.

  He shrugged his shoulders, making his answer sound as inconsequential as possible. “I just was wondering how drunk you really were. It didn’t look like you had eaten a whole lot. Drinking on an empty stomach usually makes things a whole lot worse.”

  “Whatever,” she said, sounding irritated. “What time does the plane leave?”

  He took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. “Uh, ten fifteen.”

  “Fine,” she grumbled. “Do you think you can leave me alone, to get ready to go?”

  He nodded his head and smiled. “Sure. Are you alright?” he asked, noting the strange look she had on her face.

  She shook her head, as-if to clear it. “Yeah, I was just remembering this weird dream I had last night.”

  He raised an eyebrow, giving her a curious look. “What kind of weird dream?”

  “Something about an Elvis impersonator singing ‘Love Me Tender’. It’s probably just the whole being in Vegas thing,” she grumbled, rubbing her temples. “I remember seeing a bunch of them in the lobby when we got here yesterday. I wonder if they were having some kind of convention. Gabe would have loved it.”

  “He likes the impersonators, as well?” he asked, doing his best not to appear alarmed

  “Of course,” she snapped. “It’s not like he’ll ever be able to see the real Elvis.”

  He breathed a small sigh of relief, nodding his head. He knew he wasn’t necessarily in the clear yet, but he was starting to think his chances were pretty good they would get home before she remembered anything of true significance. “Do you feel up to eating breakfast?” Mark asked, sounding concerned. “If you ate something, it might help settle your stomach.”

  She shook her head. “Not yet. Maybe on the plane.” Jenny answered back, working to use a more pleasant tone. She could tell he was just really concerned for her wellbeing. There was no reason to make both of them miserable, by continuing to growl and snap at him.

  “Okay. I’ll see you in a little while.” She missed the grin that spread across his face as he turned to walk out the door.

  Chapter 4

  Saturday, July 6

  Jenny had gotten home Friday evening, after being on a plane and then in a car all day, to discover that she and Mark were both still expected to be at her parents’ house the next day for a family barbecue. It was her parents’ annual fourth of July barbecue. They were not going to be let of
f the hook just because they’d had a really long day the day before. She had warned them they were going to have to deal with her surly attitude, because of her exhaustion. Her mother had just laughed and told her she’d better watch her attitude, or she might just find herself doing the dishes with Mark. She hadn’t been willing to risk it. She knew he would have been happy to do the dishes, if it meant spending more time alone with her.

  Everyone had gotten done eating an hour ago, and were just sitting around, talking. There had been a lot of the guest who had already left. Mostly, the only people left were family and really close friends like Mark, Jeff and Christy.

  Jenny had been staring off into space. That was, until she realized she was actually staring across the yard, right at Mark, where he was talking to her brother Zane. She knew there was something vitally important she was forgetting about their Vegas trip. Something she couldn’t put her finger on. She knew something had happened while they were there, she just couldn’t remember what.

  He could tell her nothing had happened, all he wanted. She knew him way too well. She could tell he was hiding something. She was just wishing she could figure out what.

  She must have been staring at him too hard. Because he looked up at her and stared her straight in the eyes. She could feel herself start to flush. She always did when she made eye contact with him. Despite the number of times he had kissed her, it still made her nervous just thinking about the next time he would do it. She wished she could give in, and say yes one of these times, when he asked her to marry him, but wishing wasn’t enough to solve her problems.

  When she finally managed to break eye contact, she turned and headed back in the house. She had her back to the door when she heard it open. She didn’t need to turn around to see who it was. She felt him when he stepped through the door. The chills he sent up her spine were all too familiar. He would never be able to take her by surprise no matter how hard he tried. Even in a room full of people, she would still know the moment he walked in the room. It had already happened just like that more than once in the several years that she had known him. “What do you want?” she asked without turning around.

  “We need to talk,” Mark answered, grinning at the back of her head. It didn’t seem to matter how many times she done it, it always made him grin when she spoke to him without turning to see who it was first. She never failed to know exactly where he was when they were in the same room, either.

  “No, Mark, whatever it is, I’m not ready to deal with it yet,” she said, sounding almost scared.

  She walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to the game room. She figured he would follow her, but she was hoping, maybe, just this one time he wouldn’t. When she got to the game room, she found it totally deserted. “Thank God.” She needed to think. She dropped down on the couch and laid her head back, staring up at the ceiling.

  She had just barely gotten settled in really good when he walked in behind her, coming over to sit beside her. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, his hands dangling between them. He sighed, then took a deep breath, sounding a little nervous himself. “Jenny, I’m not trying to annoy you. We really do need to talk.”

  “Fine, let’s just get it over with,” she said, trying to sound calmer than she felt. At least he wasn’t trying to kiss her silly. “What do we need to talk about?”

  It took him a few seconds to answer, and when he did, it was barely above a whisper. “In Vegas you asked me if anything happened while you were drunk.”

  Jenny gave him a strange look, noticing he sounded nervous. She had the impression she was about to find out what she was forgetting. “Yes, and I remember you telling me nothing happened,” she replied, giving him a hard look.

  He blew out a sigh, and looked over at her, trying to decide how angry she was going to be. “I lied.”

  “I knew it,” she said, sounding outraged. “You took advantage of me while I was drunk. Did you at least use protection?” She had jumped up and was pacing back and forth in front of him. “You knew I was a virgin. You took something that wasn’t yours to take.”

  He stood up just in time for her to run right into him. “You still are a virgin. We didn’t have sex. I would have thought after this long, you would know me better than that,” he grumbled, almost seeming angry himself.

  “Oh, fine,” she said, losing all of her steam. She did know him better than that. He would never have taken advantage of her while she was drunk. “What did you think I was going to think?”

  “Come on. You were drunk. I wouldn’t have done that. When we make love, I want your full participation, and most of all, I want you to know what you’re doing.” He still sounded angry, and she could tell she had hurt his feelings.

  She blushed clear to her roots, feeling certain there was heat rising off her cheeks. He never had been one to mince words. Of course, it was never hard to know where you stood with him, because of it. It was one of the reasons he fit in with her family so well. “Mark, I’m sorry,” she said, putting her hand on his arm. “I shouldn’t have jumped to that conclusion. Please, forgive me.”

  Now standing there looking into her eyes, he felt even guiltier. She shouldn’t be the one asking for forgiveness. “We didn’t have sex, but that doesn’t get me completely off the hook,” he said with a grimace. “We got married.”

  “What?” She looked mortified. “No, there’s no way we got married. How is my being drunk when you ask me, giving me a choice?” She really did feel a little outraged even after what she had just been thinking about wishing she could just say yes when he asked her to marry him.

  “You asked me to marry you, not the other way around. I just wasn’t strong enough to say no. Even though you were drunk. How many times do I have to tell you, I’m in love with you?”

  “Wait! You just said we didn’t have sex. How’s that?” Jenny asked, sounding confused.

  “I said we got married. I didn’t say we had a wedding night,” Mark said, gritting his teeth. “And it was really hard to say no. You’ll beg me when you’re drunk.”

  She flushed crimson, closing her eyes. When she finally reopened them, she had started shaking her head. “I don’t believe you. If we were married, you would have told me before we left Vegas.”

  “We’re married. I didn’t tell you before we left Vegas, because I didn’t want to deal with any of this there,” he said, a guilty flush spreading across his face.

  “That’s why you were in my room,” she mumbled under her breath.

  He shook his head. “No, I was in your room to keep an eye on you. I really was afraid you might get sick while you were passed out. I would have preferred sleeping in my own hotel room. It would have made things easier the next morning.”

  “Did you sleep at all that night?” she asked just for something to say while her mind raced, finally starting to remember what had happened, and how they had ended up married. She just couldn’t seem to remember the ceremony, itself.

  “No, I was to wound up. I was so tense, it’s a wonder I wasn’t pinging off the walls from the sexual tension,” he chuckled, laughing at himself.

  She just looked at him and shook her head again. It was too much for her to take in. “Please, stop. I can’t believe any of this.”

  “You still don’t believe we’re married?”

  She just shook her head again, feeling like she really did have rocks rolling around in there.

  “Well, what is it then?” Mark asked, sounding confused and maybe a little hurt. “You don’t believe I’m in love with you?”

  She just stared at him for a few minutes, struggling to breathe. It happened every time he said he loved her or that he was in love with her. It didn’t matter how he said it. She knew this was crazy. All she wanted was his love. She was just having a hard time believing she was really married to him. All she could do was stand there and shake her head.

  He’d had something in his hand when he walked in the door, and he unfolded it to show it to her, n
ow. He had decided he was going to have to give her proof before it would fully sink in that he was telling her the truth.

  She gasped and tried to grab for it, but he jerked it back out of her reach. “Even if you tear it up, I can get another one.”

  “I knew something had happened, I just couldn’t remember what.” He could tell by her tone she was upset. He knew he was going to have a fight on his hands. “Why didn’t you make love to me?”

  He shook his head, as-if to clear the cobwebs out. That wasn’t the question he had been expecting and he just stood there staring at her for a few seconds. When he finally spoke, there was fire in his eyes. “I told you, I want your full participation. I want you to know what you’re doing. When I make love to you, you won’t be drunk. I want to be sure you can remember every detail. I’m going to kiss and caress every single inch of you. Repeatedly.”

  His words caused her breath to catch and her face to flush. She ended up getting angry in self-defense. “I want a divorce.” She knew she didn’t really, but she was panicking. This wasn’t how this should have happened.

  “I figured you’d say that.” He folded the paper back up and stuck it in his back pocket. He could tell by looking at her, it was the fear that was talking. “I’ll give you one, on one condition, and I won’t fight you at all.”

  She knew she was going to regret this. “What’s the condition?”

  He took a deep, fortifying breath before continuing. “You have to give me three months. Give it a chance. See if we can make it work, and I’ll wait for you to ask me to make love to you.”