“Everything is going as planned, Dad. Kathy’s at the airport now.” He shifted the phone to his other ear. “Is Cindy with you?”
“You bet. We’re at baggage claim right now, waiting for our other suitcases.”
“Other? How long are you two planning on staying?”
“Just a couple of nights, but we brought two suitcases just in case the airlines lost one along the way. We travel agents know how often that happens. This way we’ll be sure to have something nice to wear to your wedding.”
“If there is a wedding. Angel has to agree to marry me first.”
Kathy laughed. “As if there’s any doubt. Look, I’ve gotta run, I see my other suitcase coming down the conveyor belt.”
“See you soon,” he said with a smile. “Oh, and, Kath…”
“Yeah?”
“You’re the best.”
“I know.”
*
The jet engines roared to life as the plane thundered down the runway for takeoff. Angie leaned closer to the window, watching the palm trees that lined the roads become nothing more than specks of green in the distance.
Mrs. Thompson, a true believer in romance, had offered to keep Jackpot for as long as it took for Angie to get her man back. She just hoped she made it to Vegas in time to do just that.
This was all Rick’s fault. She should have known those beautiful roses weren’t from him. He was cheap when they dated and everyone knows leopards don’t change their spots.
She checked her watch as she turned from the window. “Please, please, let me get there in time.”
She couldn’t bear the thought of Trey marrying anyone else. Even worse, she hated the thought of him marrying someone he didn’t love, someone who didn’t love him. At least, not in the way she did.
Traci was pretty, if one overlooked her neon, color-changing hair, but she was nowhere near ready to settle down. Angie had witnessed that firsthand during girls night out with her co-workers. Traci loved men. All men. Especially men with money.
Was that it? She was marrying Trey for his money? Whatever the reason, it was her duty as Trey’s best friend to talk some sense into him before he ended up in a loveless marriage. She had to convince him that what they shared in Vegas hadn’t ended for either of them.
Angie reached above her for a pillow and then placed it against the window beside her, closing her eyes. It was a long flight and she would drive herself crazy going over all the ‘what ifs’. She needed to try and get some sleep if that were at all possible.
The next thing she knew, the fasten seat belt sign was chiming above her, rousing her from the deep sleep she had miraculously fallen into.
The pilot came on overhead. “May I have your attention please? We will be landing at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport in approximately ten minutes.”
One of the flight attendants stepped up to the microphone nearest her seat and went into her spiel. “Please note the fasten seat belt lights are now lit. All seats should be returned to their upright position…”
Her heart began to beat even faster. All she could think about was seeing Trey again after so many weeks. She sat up and fastened her seat belt, laying the travel size pillow on her lap. This was it.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Angie practically flew through the airport doors, her suitcase wheels thumping along the sidewalk behind her as she raced toward the row of awaiting taxis.
The next in line pulled up and stopped beside her. She whipped open the door and shoved her suitcase inside first, pushing it across the seat as she climbed in behind it.
“Where to?” the driver asked as he reached down to start the meter.
Where to? Good question. What was the name of the chapel she was supposed to be going to?
“Miss?”
Oh, hell, she couldn’t remember. “The chapel,” she blurted out. “And hurry.”
He turned to look at her. “Lady, do you realize how many chapels there are here in Vegas?”
A horn blared from the taxi behind them, making her all the more nervous. “Just a minute,” she told the driver as she rifled through her purse for the paper she had written the Trey’s wedding information down on.
Nothing.
She dug deeper and panic set in. Where had she put it? She’d had it with her at the ticket counter in Miami.
“Lady,” the driver prodded impatiently as horns blared behind them. “What chapel?”
She let out a frustrated groan. “It’s the one my best friend intends to ruin his life in.”
He rolled his eyes. “That’s not an address.”
“I’m sorry. I’m trying to find the name of it. I have to. My entire future happiness is at stake here.”
More taxis were now sounding their horns behind them, while others simply whipped out around the parked cab.
“Ooh, just start driving,” she said with a frustrated groan. “It’ll come to me. I know it will.”
But just in case…
Angie pulled her cell phone from her purse and dialed Kathy’s house. No answer.
“Come on, Kath. Where are you?”
Think, Angie, think.
As if she could. She was just too nervous. Despite having written the information down just hours before, her mind was determined to remain blank.
She punched in Kathy’s cell phone number, thankful she could at least remember that, and then waited.
“Hello?”
“Oh, thank God.”
“Angie?”
“Yes, it’s me.” She glanced at her watch with a frown. “I need your help.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in Vegas. Where do you think I am?”
“What’s wrong?”
“My flight arrived late, only five minutes, but those five minutes could affect my whole future,” she said, rambling on nervously as she continued to dig through her purse. “I’m sitting in a taxi and I have no idea where I’m going.”
“To stop my brother from getting married.”
“I know that! What I mean is I lost the paper that had the name of the wedding chapel on it, and I’m suffering from brain freeze.”
“Just try and calm down. You have plenty of time to get here.”
“Here?”
“There! You’ll make it there on time. Damn, I think I’m even more nervous than you are.”
“Kathy, where am I making it to?”
“Oh, it’s the Little White Wedding Chapel.”
“I’m on my way. Thanks.”
She snapped her phone shut and leaned toward the front seat. “Take me to the Little White Wedding Chapel. And hurry.”
*
“Well, she’s on her way.”
His sister’s words had Trey’s heart lodging in his throat. Angel was coming. He stopped his nervous pacing and turned to his and Angel’s wedding guests who were gathered just outside the entrance to the Little White Chapel. His father and Angel’s two closest girlfriends, his sister and Cindy.
“Guess this is it.”
“Everything’s going to work out,” his father said, no doubt having sensed his son’s growing anxiety.
“I wish I were as sure,” he replied with a sigh. “If only I had known weeks ago what I know now, I would have done things so much differently.”
“You mean you wouldn’t have asked Traci to marry you?” his sister asked with a teasing grin.
Trey nodded. “I wouldn’t have had to. And I didn’t ask Traci, you did.”
“Hey, you asked me if I knew anyone who would be willing to help out. Traci was the perfect choice, her bright orange hair aside.”
“Kathy’s right,” Cindy chimed in. “Traci is single and willing. And it didn’t hurt that Angie know Traci thinks you’re hot.”
“Like every other woman at Sunset Travel,” his sister added with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.
“It’s that Landers charm,” his father said with pure male pride.
“He might be charm
ing,” Cindy said. “But it’s his hot bod that causes all the commotion at the office every time he stops by.”
Mike Landers chuckled. “That’s my boy.”
“Oh, please,” Kathy groaned. “I’m not going to stand here and discuss my brother’s bod.”
That was fine by him. Trey glanced at his watch. “Look, I hate to cut this conversation short, but Angel’s going to be arriving any minute.” And he wanted the chance to talk to her privately when she did.
“Hint taken,” his father said with a wink, then reached for the door to the chapel. “Let’s go girls.”
“See you inside once you two take care of the formalities,” his sister said with a quick peck on his cheek.
“Good luck,” Cindy said and then followed Kathy inside.
His father paused in the open doorway, their eyes meeting. “She’ll say yes, son. I know she will.”
“I wish I were as confident as you are, Dad.”
Who was to say how Angel would react to everything. He had pushed her away to protect his heart because of Rick. A huge error in judgment on his part. And now she was on her way to Vegas to stop a wedding that was never going to happen in the first place.
“It’s in the bag,” his father assured him. “The Landers’ charm never fails.” He started into the chapel, and then stopped, turning back to his son with a grin. “Oh, and if by some small chance the charm thing doesn’t work, you’ve always got that hot bod of yours to use for back up.”
Before he could reply, his father disappeared inside. “Hot bod,” Trey muttered with a chuckle. The same one Angel intended to push around in a wheelchair someday. Well, he had news for her. Even when he grew old, he was still going to be carrying her off to the bedroom to make love to her.
His gaze drifted out to Las Vegas Boulevard, his heart pounding. This was it. The day he’d planned weeks for. The most important day of his life. His wedding day. Now all he needed was the bride.
*
“How much further?” Angie asked the driver as she peered anxiously out the cab’s passenger side window.
“Less than a block,” came the muttered reply.
Her heart was racing and the ‘what ifs’ were whirling about in her panicked mind. What if she was too late? What if Trey was too hurt to listen to her explanation? Even worse, what if he had decided not to wait until that evening to…
Before she could finish her thought, Angie saw him. He was standing outside the infamous Little White Chapel, hands shoved into the pants pockets of his tuxedo as he paced back and forth.
He was alone, she noted with a burst of hope. If Trey had already married Traci, she’d be standing outside with him and she wasn’t.
The driver pulled up and stopped in front of the chapel.
Trey turned, his eyes meeting hers.
Her heart fluttered wildly. She flung the door open and shot out of the cab.
“Angel,” he said, moving toward her, his pace picking up the closer he got to her.
She ran the rest of the way to him, welcomed by his outstretched arms. “Please tell me I’m not too late,” she said, clinging to him.
He stepped back and caught her face between his hands, smiling down at her. “Truth is, you’re just in time.” He looked her over. “You look great.”
“Lady,” a male voice called out, drawing both their gazes. “You forgot to pay,” the cab driver said with a frown.
“Oh.” Paying had been the last thing on her mind when she’d seen Trey. “I’m so sorry.” Angie dug into her purse for her money, but Trey was faster.
“This one’s on me.” He released her and walked over to pay the man, then carried her suitcase back with him.
She smiled. “It has wheels you know.”
“I wasn’t going to waste any time getting back to you. I’ve missed you too much.”
Not enough to keep him from asking Traci and her tongue ring to marry him. But his words still managed to keep that flicker of hope inside her alive.
“Trey…”
“Angie…” they both began at the same time.
“Trey, please don’t say anything. Not until you’ve heard me out.” Before I lose my nerve.
“But I need to tell you—”
“No buts,” she said, cutting him off. “Don’t say anything until you’ve heard what I have to say. Promise me, Trey.”
He sighed, and then nodded, setting her suitcase on the sidewalk next to them. “I promise.”
She took a deep breath, trying to slow her racing heart. Seeing Trey again brought back so many memories, so many emotions.
The sound of chapel bells ringing behind them had her pleasant thoughts turning to unwanted visions of Traci standing inside the chapel in a long white wedding gown. Or in her case probably neon orange to match her hair, her nose ring winking in the candlelight from behind the sheer netting of her bridal veil.
“You can’t do this,” she blurted out.
“This?”
“Get married today, I mean.” She waved her hand toward the home of quickie weddings. “This is all wrong.”
He caught her hand mid-air and lowered it, smoothing his thumb over the back of it. “Angel, something that feels this right can’t be wrong.”
She pulled her hand away. It wasn’t good to be thinking sexual thoughts about a man who was engaged to someone else. “You won’t be happy.”
“I promise you, nothing in this world will make me happier than marrying the woman I love.”
Ouch.
Now what? Take the chance of laying it all on the line, and from the sound of things most likely end up having her heart crushed, or just cut her losses and walk away?
“Angel?”
What the hell, she decided. What good was having a heart if she would spend the rest of her life loving a man who was married to someone else?
“A marriage should be based on love.”
“I agree.” He smiled and her legs went weak.
Did his smile have the same affect on Traci? She quickly pushed that thought aside, deciding it was better not to know the answer to that question. Right now, she needed her focus to be solely on rescuing Trey from a lifetime of unhappiness.
“Love can’t be turned on and off like a faucet.” Where had that come from? She had just used the analogy of a plumber. Angie groaned.
He chuckled softly. “Believe me, Angel, I know that.”
“What I’m trying to say is that I never got your flowers. If I had, I would never have left Pittsburgh.” Or you.
He reached out, running his hands up and down her bare arms in a slow, melt-her-like-butter caress. “I know.” His blue eyes held hers hostage.
“You do?”
“Yes, Kathy told me.”
“She did?” She herself had only found out that afternoon about the flowers Trey had sent her and he was already on his way to the airport.
He nodded.
“When did you talk to her?”
He cast a glance toward the chapel, then back to her. “This afternoon.”
And even knowing that bit of information he was still going to marry Traci? Angie looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Then I guess there’s not much else I can say. I hope you’re very happy.” She pulled away, reaching for the handle of her suitcase.
“Angel, wait.” He caught her, pulling her up against him. “Where are you going?”
“Home.” She didn’t want to hurt him, but this was more than she could take. “I want you to be happy, Trey. I really do. You deserve the best. But I can’t stay and watch the man I love marry someone else.”
He ran his thumb along her bottom lip. “If you leave, there isn’t going to be a wedding.”
Nothing like guilt.
“Trey, you don’t understand…” Her words trailed off as he dropped to one knee in front of her, taking her hand in his. Her breath caught. “What are you doing?”
“It’s my turn to talk now, Angel.” He looked up at her, his eyes filled with�
�love? “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Angel. The only woman I’ve ever loved.”
“W…what about Traci?”
“There was never anything between her and me.”
“I don’t understand. You came here to marry her.”
“No, Angel, I came here to marry you.”
“Me?”
“I love you. I think I have since you moved in across from me, maybe even longer, but I was too blind to see that. It was only after we spent that week together in Las Vegas that I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life waking up to that beautiful face of yours.”
He had succeeded in making her speechless for only the second time in her life. She blinked, trying to see him through the tears of happiness his words had brought about.
Releasing her hand, he reached into the inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket and pulled out a tiny, blue velvet box. “Angelina Rossi…” he began with a smile as he opened the lid.
Her legs trembled beneath her as she watched him pull the diamond solitaire from its nest of satin.
“Trey,” she cried, her hand flying to her mouth.
His smile widened. “Will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me today?”
She felt awful for Traci, but only for a moment. Trey’s heart belonged to her and she wasn’t about to let him go again. “Yes.” She nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He shot to his feet and swung her around, shouting out for all the world to hear. “She said yes! Angelina Rossi is going to be my wife!”
A couple leaving the chapel broke into applause and several cars passing by blew their horns. Heat rushed to Angie’s cheeks, even as her soft laughter filled the air. She had never been happier in her life. But there was still a matter that needed to be taken care of.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” she asked.
He set her on her feet. “Oh, yeah.” Taking her hand in his, he slipped the diamond engagement ring onto her finger. “There. Now it’s official.”
The solitaire winked up at her in the sunlight. “It’s beautiful.” She looked up at Trey. “But I was referring to Traci.”
“Traci?”
“Your other fiancée,” she reminded him.
“There is no other fiancée.”
Only in Vegas Page 17
