Runaway Bride

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “We try to keep a low profile around her at all times,” Chris added. “Besides, today is about the doctor and Lexie. I doubt she’s fretting over whether we’re there or not.”

  “We’ll pass by, say a quick hello, and direct her attention to something so we can slip back out,” Caitlyn said.

  “So,” he glanced toward the house and wondered where Lexie was, “have you seen Lexie?”

  Caitlyn shook her head. “No, but what happened with Sandy?”

  “Sandy?”

  “Yeah. My friend. Blonde hair, pretty. She came with us to this party.”

  He shot her an amused grin. “I know who she is. Last time I saw her, she was listening to Nick go on and on about his awesomeness in his award room.”

  “He has a whole room dedicated to his awards?” Chris asked.

  “He even has stuff from when he was a kid,” Mark said. “Little League trophies, Spelling Bee awards, certificates for perfect attendance… It’s a museum to himself. If you ask me, he’s already married to himself, so Lexie would be a third wheel. Speaking of her, she’s looking for you.”

  “For me?” Chris pointed to himself.

  “Both of you,” Mark clarified, motioning to Chris and Caitlyn. “I told her I was an alien, and she didn’t believe me. I asked her to talk to you two about it.”

  “Why would you tell her you’re an alien?” Caitlyn glanced at Chris who shrugged. “I can see telling a couple of people you trust, but people you barely know?”

  “I do trust her. I want her to be my life mate.”

  “Your life mate? But what about Sandy?”

  “What about Sandy?”

  “Well, I…” She glanced from him to Chris. “Did you know he liked Lexie?”

  Chris shrugged. “He said Lexie was going to end up with him instead of Nolan.”

  “Nick,” Mark corrected. “And he doesn’t love her, Caitlyn. Lexie won’t be happy with him. I was able to tell that on the day I met her. I don’t know why no one else sees it.”

  Caitlyn turned to Chris. “If you knew he liked Lexie, why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have tried to fix him up with Sandy.”

  “You did what?” Mark asked, surprised.

  Chris held his hands up. “I didn’t know Lexie could marry Mark. You said that she and Nick were a sure thing, that once a couple gets this close to the wedding, there’s nothing that will stop it.”

  “But I didn’t know he was in the equation.” She motioned to Mark. “How long has this thing with you and Lexie been going on, Mark?”

  “A couple weeks,” Mark replied.

  “See? It wasn’t long,” Chris told her. “I didn’t realize anything came from it.”

  “But she’s still engaged to the doc…Nick,” Caitlyn argued. “Why are we at this engagement party if there’s no longer an engagement?”

  Chris groaned and turned to Mark. “Will you please explain what’s going on?”

  “Lexie’s going to end up with me,” Mark explained. “She just realized it today, but she doesn’t believe I’m an alien. Will you please find her and tell her the truth so I can fly her to Vegas and marry her?”

  Caitlyn stared at him for a long moment then looked at Chris. “Is he serious?”

  “Yes, I am,” Mark said. “Do you really want your sister to end up with Nick?”

  “It’s not up to me to decide who she marries,” she replied. “That’s her decision.”

  “Well, up to now it’s been your mom’s, and your mom has told her she’s marrying Nick. Today, she realized otherwise.”

  “He has a point,” Chris told her. “If Lexie wants to marry Mark instead of Nick, then we should give her our support.”

  “Exactly,” Mark replied as he got behind them and gently pushed them in the direction of Nick’s house. “And right now that support means you’ll tell her that I’m from another planet. Hurry up. You have about half an hour.”

  “Or we can wait for her to come here,” Chris said, shoving Mark’s hand away from his back. “She’s heading in our direction.”

  Mark stopped nudging them. “Wait here.” He stepped around them and jogged toward her. When he reached her, he said, “I found them.” He glanced back at where they stood, well out of hearing distance.

  Lexie laughed and waved to them. “I can see that.”

  They waved back but didn’t make a move to approach her and Mark.

  “So, you want to talk to them?” he asked.

  Tucking her hair behind her ear, she shook her head. “There’s no need. I talked to Sandy. She explained everything. How you and Chris came from another planet and how Caitlyn’s pregnancy is further along than it should be. Even if it sounds crazy, I believe it.”

  Relaxing, he smiled and took her hands in his. “What do you say? Would you like to spend the rest of your life with me?”

  “Yes, I would.” She gave him a kiss and returned his smile. “Though I confess I never thought I’d end up marrying someone from another planet.”

  He squeezed her hands and led her toward her sister and Chris. “It’s not really any different than marrying someone from Earth. The reason men from Pandoran come to Earth is because the women are physically and emotionally compatible with them.”

  “I guess that makes sense.”

  When they reached Caitlyn and Chris, Caitlyn said, “Mark’s an alien, just like Chris. So now you know and can marry him instead of Nick, if you’re sure it’s the right thing for you to do.”

  “Mom wants me to marry Nick,” Lexie clarified. “But it’s like Sandy said. He’s already married to himself.”

  “I’m glad you’re doing this for you and not for her,” Caitlyn replied.

  Lexie looked at Mark and smiled. “I am.”

  “Good.”

  “You’re not missing anything by not marrying Nick,” Chris added. “On our world, we don’t even need doctors. We’re much too advanced. Everything we need can be done by machines.”

  Caitlyn sighed. “Get used to the comparisons between Pandoran and Earth, Lexie. If it weren’t for women, Earth wouldn’t have anything to commend itself.”

  Mark shot Chris an amused look. “Pandoran wasn’t that great. We might have had a lot of comforts, but we didn’t have the personal touch this world has. I think it’s nice you can have a doctor perform surgery, especially one who is qualified and has a good bedside manner.”

  “Thanks, Mark.” Caitlyn nodded in satisfaction. “See, Chris?”

  “I like Earth,” Chris assured her. “I never said I wasn’t happy here.”

  She turned to Lexie and gave her a hug. “Give me a call if you need someone to talk to. Besides you and me, I don’t know who else is in a relationship with an alien.”

  “Hey, can you give us a quick ride to the airport?” Mark asked Caitlyn, remembering that he hadn’t driven to the party.

  “Why do we need to go to the airport?” Lexie asked him.

  “To go to Las Vegas.” With a sly grin, he added, “I hear that’s a great place to elope.”

  “Elope? You want to get married right now?”

  Turning to her, he said, “I’ve seen how happy Caitlyn and Chris are. Now that I’ve found you, I see no reason to wait for that kind of happiness.”

  After a moment’s consideration, she nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  “This is the first impulsive thing I’ve ever seen you do,” Caitlyn said with a grin.

  “I know,” Lexie admitted. “I’ve never been so adventurous before. It’s scary and exciting at the same time.”

  “Hopefully more exciting than scary,” Mark said.

  “It is,” she assured him. “But we don’t need to get a ride from them. I came here in my car.”

  “Well, a word to the wise,” Caitlyn began, giving Lexie a pointed look, “is for you to get out of here before everyone realizes you’re running off with another man. I, for one, am hightailing it out of here as soon as I can. I don’t want to be here when Mom finds out what
happened. And you’ll need your purse. You can’t fly without the proper ID.”

  “Good point,” Lexie agreed.

  “We’ll get it for you then you can head out of here.”

  Thanking her sister, she reached for Mark’s hand and squeezed it, excited about their future.

  ***

  Of all the places Lexie imagined getting married while growing up, she never once thought she’d go to Las Vegas. She took in the bright lights as the plane landed. Next to her, Mark held her hand. She glanced at him and smiled, her heart racing with excitement. She’d never done anything this impulsive.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have left my cell phone with Caitlyn,” she said, thinking of the many times her mom, and maybe Nick, had probably called her. She owed them an explanation for running off the way she had. “Maybe I should have talked to my parents before we left. I think Dad would be okay with it, but my mom…”

  “She would have guilt tripped you into changing your mind. This was the best way we could have handled it.” When she bit her lower lip, he added, “Don’t worry. Everything will work out. But let’s worry about it when we get back to Florida. Right now, let’s get married and enjoy our honeymoon.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. This is our moment, and we shouldn’t let anything spoil it.”

  “If it makes you feel better, I’ll go with you when you explain things to your parents.”

  “It does,” she admitted. “Especially when it comes to talking to my mom.”

  As the plane came to a stop, he lifted her hand and kissed it, sending an electric jolt straight through her. When he lowered her hand, it still tingled. Brushing his thumb along the top of her knuckles, he said, “Just promise me one thing.”

  “What?”

  “Please eat some dessert. I still feel guilty for not giving you a piece of pie when we had dinner at Fisherman’s Hideaway.”

  The idea that she could finally have dessert was more exciting than she thought it should be, but it’d been so long since she’d been able to eat something sweet. “I want a piece of chocolate cake with a scoop of ice cream.”

  “You got it.”

  The plane came to a stop and they went into the terminal which was busier than the airport in Pensacola. She walked closer to him, glad he held her hand. She still couldn’t believe she was going through with this. It seemed like a dream.

  “Where do we go to get married?” she asked, scanning the advertisements lining the walls.

  “I thought we’d find a cab and tell the driver to take us to the nearest chapel.”

  She glanced at her watch and saw it was almost ten. “Do you think the chapel will be open?”

  “It’s Saturday. Things are bound to be open later than on a weekday.”

  “How late do you think chapels stay open?”

  “In a city like this, I’m sure we can find one that is open past ten.” He paused by the restroom. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay. I’ll be waiting.”

  He gave her a kiss. As he went into the restroom, she turned around and caught sight of a phone. She wondered if she should call her parents. The least she could do was leave a message and let them know she was in Las Vegas. With a glance at the restrooms, she twiddled her thumbs. Caitlyn would have told them where she was going. Sure, she would have told them after hightailing it from the party so she wouldn’t have to deal with their mother’s drama in person. But even if they knew Lexie eloped with Mark, shouldn’t she let them know she made it to Vegas, safe and sound?

  No, she couldn’t. Her mother would try to talk her out of marrying Mark and she knew Mark was the right one for her. The last thing she needed was an argument with her mother on her wedding day. But she could call Caitlyn and let her know that she was okay so she could pass on the message to their parents.

  Before she could talk herself out of it, she headed for the phone and dug out the money she’d need to make the call. She dialed Caitlyn’s number, tapping the phone as she waited for her sister to answer it.

  “Hi, Lexie,” Caitlyn greeted.

  “How did you know it was me?” She glanced at the restroom and saw that Mark was still in there.

  “Because I know Mom has a tight hold on you and you wouldn’t be able to resist calling her if you had your cell phone. Why do you think I took it?”

  “Yeah, but I could have called her, and I’m calling you instead.”

  “Okay, you have a good point. So, why did you call? Is Mark boring you?”

  She grinned at her sister’s joke. “No. I just wanted to let you know we got into Vegas. Could you call our parents and let them know I’m okay?”

  “I’ll call Dad and let him tell Mom.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Now go and enjoy the bonding ceremony.”

  “The what?”

  “Didn’t Mark tell you how men used to marry women on his planet?”

  Lexie saw that Mark was heading her way. She mouthed the word ‘Caitlyn’ before telling her sister, “No. What’s a bonding ceremony?”

  “It’s a ceremony that allows them to skip the wedding and go right to the honeymoon.”

  “Mark and I are on our way to a chapel,” she replied, not understanding why Caitlyn was chuckling. “Why are you laughing?”

  “Just wait until you get to the bonding ceremony. It makes for the best first time sex ever.”

  Lexie stared at the phone as her sister hung up.

  “What’s wrong? Is your mom on her way here to stop the wedding?” Mark asked.

  “No. I have no idea what my mom’s doing right now.” And she hadn’t thought to ask about it when she was talking to Caitlyn. Oh well. It was probably for the best if she didn’t know. Her mom would be fine, eventually, and Nick would be fine, too. She smiled and hung up the phone. “You ready to get married?”

  Taking her hand, he nodded. “I’ve been ready since the first time I met you at Chris’ wedding rehearsal. You know, the one your mother arranged but didn’t tell Caitlyn about.”

  They headed down the terminal and she nudged him in the side. “You liked me as soon as you met me?”

  “It was love at first sight.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “You were engaged. It wasn’t appropriate to ask you out.” With a wink, he added, “I had to find a different way to let you get to know me.”

  His meaning dawned on her. “So you knew your car was out of gas when I called the towing company?”

  Giving a mischievous shrug, he asked, “Are you mad?”

  Giggling, she shook her head. “No. Just surprised I didn’t figure out what was going on.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t. I hoped to make everything happen as if by coincidence.”

  They reached the escalator and stepped onto it. Recalling her conversation with Caitlyn, she asked, “Is there a bonding ceremony we’re going to go through?”

  “Yes. Did Caitlyn explain what it is?”

  “Not in so many words. She said it was how your kind used to get married.”

  “Yes, it’s how we establish a lifelong commitment with women and it works on this world, too. But we’re going to get married your way first.”

  “If we do that, is your way really necessary?”

  “Pretty much. We won’t consummate the marriage unless we do it.”

  She followed him off the escalator and joined him on the way to the front entrance. “What does it involve?”

  “The actual consummation of the marriage. For us, the first time we have sex, we establish the marriage. It’s how we secure our standing in the female’s line and ensure she’ll have our children, thereby passing on our genetic code to a future generation.”

  “Hmm… You make it sound so clinical, and Caitlyn made it sound like a lot of fun.”

  “That’s probably because she’s been through it and I haven’t. For me, it’s academic.” He followed her out of the building and hailed a cab. “I’m looki
ng forward to it, though, and I’m glad the woman I’ll bond with is you.” He kissed her. “You ready to go to the chapel?”

  “I’m ready,” she said and went with him to the cab.

  Chapter Fourteen

  After they exchanged vows at the chapel, Mark and Lexie took a cab to the hotel. He hadn’t taken the pill to inhibit his ability to get an erection since he woke up that morning. He skipped the second pill at two that afternoon. Now, he was waiting for the time he’d be ready to engage in the bonding ceremony. But so far, he’d no indication that the hormone inhibitor had worn off.

  He glanced at his watch and saw it was now midnight. It’d been sixteen hours since his last pill. Tapping his fingers on his slacks, he sighed. He thought he was pressing his luck by waiting sixteen hours, but apparently not.

  Lexie grabbed her purse and zipped it open. “I can’t believe I forgot to take off Nick’s ring until we were giving our vows. Good. It’s still there.”

  He laughed. “Where else would it go?”

  She shot him an amused look and closed her purse. “It’s expensive. I keep worrying I’ll lose it. I plan to send it to him when we get back home.”

  “Hey, while we’re here, we should get you a ring, though it won’t be as elaborate as the one he gave you.”

  “Will you give me a piece of chocolate cake and ice cream with it?”

  “I’ll add whip cream to it.”

  She chuckled and set the purse on the folder with their marriage license in it. “It’s been so long since I ate whip cream. I’m glad you’re okay with me having dessert.”

  “Dessert? You can have that for the main course if you want.”

  “It’s been so long, I just might.”

  The cab came to a stop, and Mark paid the fare before helping Lexie out. Taking her by the arm, he escorted her into the hotel and checked in at the desk.

  Once they were in their room, he closed the curtains while she set the folder and purse on a table. When he returned to her, he took her in his arms and gave her a lingering kiss. She felt wonderful against him, soft and warm. He ran his hands along her curves. He loved everything about the female body and best of all, she was real. He had created virtual reality women on his world, but they failed in comparison with a real one.