by Elle James
Gina blinked, and her eyes widened. “What the hell?”
“Exactly what I said.” Maggie paced the short length of the room in her bare feet and red dress. “Married.” She jerked her head toward Chase. “Show her the evidence.”
He held up the marriage certificate. “Signed and sealed.” He frowned. “And neither one of us remembers any of last night.”
“Nothing?” Gina asked. “Not even dancing in the bar downstairs?”
“Nothing,” Maggie said. “Zero, nada.” She moaned as a stabbing pain split her head in two. She pressed her palms to her temples. “I have one hell of a hangover to prove it.”
“Oh, honey,” Gina said. “This is too rich.” A chuckle sounded from deep in her throat. Then it turned into laughter, and soon, she was slapping her hand on the mattress, her eyes streaming with tears of mirth. “Oh my God, this is too funny.”
Maggie stopped in the middle of her pacing and glared at her friend. “Are you kidding me? You’re laughing when I’m married to a man I’ve never met?”
Gina wiped the tears from her eyes. “You have to see the irony.”
“I don’t see anything other than an annulment in the very near future.” Maggie stalked out of the room. “As soon as I’ve had a shower and a change of clothes, I’ll see that this mess is undone.”
She stomped into the other room and found her suitcase on the floor where she’d left it when they’d arrived the evening before. Neither one of them had bothered to unpack. They’d headed straight down the bar to celebrate her near miss with matrimony.
Maggie groaned. Near miss, hell. Near miss in the States and, the same day, a direct hit in Mexico.
“Perhaps, you can tell us what happened last night,” Chase said from the doorway of the other room.
Gina chuckled. “Obviously, you two got drunk. I only know what happened at the bar in this hotel.” Her voice grew closer as Gina moved from her room into Maggie’s. “Maggie wanted to start the party as soon as we arrived, so we went down to the bar. There was a band playing, and she downed three tequila shots to get the ball rolling. Within an hour, she added two margaritas to the total,” Gina patted Maggie’s back. “Sweetheart, you were pretty happy, dancing salsa by yourself, until this guy showed up.” Gina held out her hand. “By the way, I’m Gina. Nice to meet you. I’m her best friend.”
Maggie snorted. “Best friends keep best friends from doing stupid stuff.”
“Chase Flannigan,” Chase said and shook hands with Gina. “Nice to meet you, too.”
“Don’t go getting chummy with this devil,” Maggie said as she dragged her heavy case up onto the bed, unzipped and opened it.
Inside were layers of frothy lace and the sheer fabric of sexy lingerie. She rifled through the contents, tossing see-through nighties onto the floor. “Where are my clothes?”
Gina pressed fingers to her lips and gave a sheepish grimace. “The bridesmaids took them out. Each of us put in a sexy nighty in their place.”
Maggie turned on Gina, glaring. “Are you telling me, I don’t have any other clothes than what I arrived in?”
Gina gave her a weak shoulder shrug. “We didn’t think you’d leave your room. There are enough sexy night gowns in there for an entire week.” She grinned. “We thought you’d be happy. I mean, who leaves their room on their honeymoon?”
“Honeymoon?” Chase stood in the doorway, his hands planted on his hips. “You’re here on your honeymoon? And you ended up marrying me? That’s…that’s bigamy.”
Maggie tossed a deep red teddy nightgown over her shoulder. “I’m not a bigamist. I didn’t marry the bastard.”
“He ran off with the wedding planner,” Gina said.
“Gina!” Maggie squealed. “No one else had to know that little bit of information but you and me.”
Her friend snorted. “And everyone who showed up for the wedding. If you ask me, you dodged a fifty-caliber bullet.”
“I didn’t ask you, and I’d appreciate it if you kept your Army analogies about my personal life to yourself.” Maggie threw a sheer black froth of a babydoll nightgown at Gina. She missed, and Chase caught it before it hit the ground.
His brows lifted. “Let me get this straight…You’re here on your honeymoon, without the groom, and this is all you have to wear besides that red dress?” He held the black nightie by his index finger, a grin spreading across his face.
Maggie tossed more items out of the suitcase, torn between anger and defeat. “It appears I’m wearing the extent of my street clothes, besides a thong bikini.” She glared across at Gina. “You owe me.”
“I can loan you a pair of shorts and a couple of T-shirts,” Gina said, wincing.
Maggie threw her hands in the air. “Great, at least I won’t have to run to the store in my evening attire.”
“I wouldn’t toss the lingerie too soon,” Gina warned. “You might yet have use of it.” She winked at Chase. “I mean, seriously, these weren’t cheap.” She touched a finger to the sheer fabric.
“Wow.” Carson appeared in the doorway, dressed in jeans and pulling a shirt over his head. “Where was that last night?” he asked Gina.
“In Maggie’s suitcase,” Gina said. “That’s the one I bought for her wedding trousseau.” Gina took the garment from Chase and held it up to her chest, fumbling to keep from dropping the sheet. “You might be happy to know, I bought one just like it in royal blue for myself.”
“R-r-r-rrr,” Carson said, rolling the Rs across his tongue. He grabbed Gina from behind and kissed her neck. “I’m going for coffee. You want any?” He nuzzled the curve of her shoulder.
Gina giggled. “That tickles.” She turned in Carson’s arms. “Make mine a caramel latte.”
“You got it.” Carson turned to the others in the room. “Anything for you, Maggie, Flannigan?”
“I’m not Maggie Flannigan. I did not marry this man.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Carson’s lips twisted. “Maggie, do you want anything?”
“Yeah.” Maggie jerked her head toward Chase. “Take him with you, will ya?”
“Wanna go?” Carson asked, his eyebrows rising.
Chase shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m heading down to find breakfast, after I shower and change.”
A cellphone chimed from Gina’s bedroom. She frowned and disappeared into the room.
Maggie turned to face Chase. “Why are you still here?”
“I’m just leaving.” He spun on his bare heels and started for the door.
Gina called out, “Holy hell, Maggie. You and Chase have to see this.”
Maggie frowned. Gina tended toward drama. “What is it, now?”
“I got a text…from your phone number.” She entered Maggie’s room, her face pale. “It’s not good.”
Maggie’s frown deepened. “What do you mean?”
“Look at this.” Gina shoved her cellphone into Maggie’s hand.
Maggie glanced down.
Tell Maggie her husband better meet me behind La Casa Loca at midnight, or I kill the bitch.
“What the hell?” Her picture was at the top of screen with her name beneath. “That’s from my cellphone?” She shoved Gina’s phone at her and searched the room for hers.
“Let me see.” Chase bent over Gina’s cellphone and frowned. “Son of a bitch.”
“Where the hell is my phone?” Maggie cried. When her search came up empty, she darted out the door and back down the hallway to Chase’s room.
He’d left the door open.
Maggie pushed through and searched every corner of his room, but to no avail. She left his room and marched back to hers, meeting Chase at the door. “Who the hell has my phone?”
Chase shook his head and stepped out of her way. “I don’t know. If you recall, we both are having challenges remembering what happened last night.”
“I have no clothes. I have no phone. And I thought this honeymoon couldn’t get worse.” She turned all of her anger on Chase and poi
nted to the door. “You! Man! Get out of my room!”
He stood with his arms crossed over his bare chest. “Can’t.”
“What do you mean can’t?”
“You heard the threat. If I don’t show up at midnight, he’s going to hurt you. What’s to keep him from hurting you before that?”
“He has my phone. Not my name or address.” Maggie pointed to the door. “He’s not going to find me.”
“Cabo San Lucas isn’t all that big. If he’s a local, he may have ways to find you. And if he does, I will be around to protect you. I don’t know why he wants a piece of me, but until I figure it out, you’re stuck with me.”
Gina snorted and laughed all at once. Then she clapped a hand over her mouth. “This is too funny. You came to Mexico to get away from your wedding and landed smack dab in another. The first groom ran off, and now you can’t get rid of this one. That’s rich.” She dissolved in a fit of giggling.
Maggie glared at her friend. “You’re not helping.” Her gaze shifted to Chase. “And you need to get out of here.”
He crossed his arms over his naked chest, but his stern look lost some of its starch when his lips twitched. “Not without my bride.”
Chapter 3
Chase wasn’t sure if the threat was real or not. Until he knew for certain, he refused to leave this woman, who appeared to be his wife, unprotected. “Look, I’m not trying to be mean, but we’re in a foreign country. Even the tourist traps have issues with gang violence. Besides that, drug cartels are out there, and they play for keeps. If this guy is part of a cartel, you could be in serious danger.”
Maggie planted her hands on her hips. “And you’re a complete stranger. How do I know you’re not just as dangerous as a cartel thug?”
“The US government granted me a Top Secret clearance. If they can trust me, why can’t you?”
Maggie shot him a pointed glare. “If you really are a Navy SEAL—and I have no proof that you are—you could be nothing more than a trained assassin. Top Secret just means you can’t kill and tell.”
“Ahhh. You two are too stinkin’ cute,” Gina said. “You’re having your very first fight as a married couple.”
“We’re not married!” Maggie yelled.
Chase waved the marriage certificate. “I have a piece of paper, and we have wedding rings to prove it.”
“That certificate is not worth the paper it’s written on.” Maggie turned back to her room. “Even if it were, just because we’re married doesn’t mean you can boss me around. You can’t make me go with you.”
“Okay. You don’t have to come with me.” He turned and marched down the hallway to his room, grabbed his duffel bag, shoved his shaving kit inside and marched back to Maggie’s room.
The door was closed. Chase knocked.
After a long moment, Gina opened the door. She took one look at him and his gear and grinned. “Maggie, your husband is here,” she sang out. She leaned close. “Maggie’s not normally so…you know…”
“Bitchy?” he finished for her.
“I was going to say obstinate, but bitchy works.” Gina glanced over her shoulder. “She’s had a rough couple of days.”
“Yeah? Well, based on that text, it might get rougher.” He pushed past Gina. “Since she refuses to come with me, I’m moving in.”
“Oh, no, you’re not.” Maggie crossed the room, lifted the phone and dialed the operator. “Give me security.” She paused, and then spoke into the phone. “Hi, this is Maggie Neal in room 336. There’s an uninvited man in my room. Please come have him escorted out.” She frowned. “No need to congratulate me. I’m not married.” She paused, her frown deepening. “What do you mean, half the hotel staff were invited and danced at my wedding on the beach? I’m not married!” She held the phone away from her ear and stared at it as if it had grown horns. “You want to know the name of the man in my room? Isn’t it enough that he wasn’t invited?” She huffed. “Fine. His name is Chase Flannigan… No, he’s not my husband. I’m not married. Oh, for the love of—” Maggie slammed the phone down and glared at Chase.
“I take it the staff of the hotel witnessed our wedding.” Chase couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his cheeks.
The look of horror on Maggie’s face was priceless.
Chase kept his expression bland. “Why don’t you accept that we got married last night, and let’s retrace our steps to find out what exactly happened. Then, maybe, we can figure out who the hell I pissed off to the point he’ll hurt you to get to me.” He raised his hand. “Before you tell me to go to hell, I promise to do something to annul our marriage as soon as we get past the danger.”
Gina leaned her shoulder against the door to her bedroom and hiked the sheet up higher over her breasts. “You have to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. He’s in this mess as deep as you are.”
“Why are you sticking up for him? I thought Army and Navy didn’t get along.” Maggie rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath. “I don’t have to give him anything. We aren’t married. The texting dude isn’t going to find me, and I couldn’t care less if he finds Chase. Maybe it’ll be good if the texting guy finds Chase, then maybe he can knock some sense into his thick skull.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Gina said. “Text dude could be part of a gang or cartel. Like Chase said, they play for keeps. And they don’t play fair. Do you really want to see this fine specimen of male hunkiness peppered with bullets and left to die in some Cabo back alley?” she asked, her gaze hungrily raking his nude frame.
Chase grimaced. “That’s pretty graphic. But thanks for caring.” He raised his eyebrows and turned on a glowing smile. “Come on, Mrs. Flannigan, you haven’t even given our marriage a chance.”
Maggie covered her ears with her hands. “Stop. Just stop.” She took a deep breath. “I came to Cabo to relax and de-stress from the fiasco of being jilted at the freakin’ altar. I’m more stressed now than when I found out my fiancé punched out with the wedding planner.”
“Then help me reconstruct last night, so we can get to the bottom of what happened and, maybe, get a step ahead of whoever is threatening us.” Chase took her left hand. “Then we can work on undoing this wedding neither of us can remember. And, believe me, if I’d been in my right mind, I would not have married you.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Chase wished he could take them back.
Her chin tilted defiantly though her eyes widened, filling with tears, and her bottom lip trembled. “Am I so awful that every man who thinks about marrying me wants out before the marriage even has a chance?”
“Now, you’ve gone and done it.” Gina slipped an arm around Maggie’s shoulders. “Honey, you’re an amazing woman. One of these days, an amazing man is going to realize it. Until then, you might not have met the right one.”
Maggie sniffed. “Might not? I’d say I’m batting a thousand on bad choices.”
Chase frowned. Her words cut more than he cared to admit. “Hey, groom, here.”
Gina nodded. “That’s right. The jury’s still out on your groom. He might be the one, if you give him a chance.”
“Seriously?” Maggie stared at her friend as if she’d lost her mind. “I don’t know him from a serial killer. How could he be the one? And it’s not like we’ll be here more than a week. You can’t get to know anyone that well in a week.”
Gina held up her cellphone. “All I’m saying is that he didn’t ditch you when that text came in.”
Chase nodded. “What Gina said. I don’t run out on my responsibilities.” Not that he needed someone to vouch for him. His reputation stood on its own. Well, for those who knew him.
“So, now I’m a responsibility?” Maggie sighed. “Fine. I’ll help you retrace our steps. The sooner we get to the bottom of this mess, the sooner we can undo the damage and annul this marriage.”
“Good, because I don’t like being married any more than you do. I’m a confirmed bachelor—and damned proud of it. No offense.”
“Corr
ection,” Gina pointed to his left hand and the ring on his finger. “You were a confirmed bachelor. You’ve destroyed your record with that marriage certificate.”
Chase frowned. “As I said, we’ll work on annulling the marriage as soon as we’re past the danger.”
“As long as you didn’t consummate the union.” Gina’s eyes narrowed. “You haven’t had sex, have you?” Her gaze shot to Maggie.
Maggie’s cheeks glowed a bright red.
Gina’s grin returned, spreading from cheek to cheek. “You did the nasty?” She raised her hand for a high-five. “Good for you! That will show Loser Lloyd he’s not all that important. He can keep his ho-bag wedding planner, and you can raise him a much better looking Navy SEAL.”
Maggie ignored Gina’s high-five and shook her head. “My life isn’t a competition with my ex-fiancé.”
Gina dropped her hand. “Yeah, but if it were, you’d be winning.” She waved a hand toward Chase. “I mean, seriously. He’s hot. Look at all those muscles.”
Chase tipped his head toward Gina. “Thanks.”
Gina’s smile tipped slyly. “So, how was the sex? I bet he’s even better in bed than Loser Lloyd.”
“Gina!” Maggie grabbed a pillow from her bed and slung it at her friend.
Gina caught the pillow in one hand, held her sheet up with the other and laughed.
“Did she mention neither one of us can remember anything that happened last night?” Chase reminded her.
Gina’s eyebrows rose. “Dang. You had it going for you until that. If she can’t remember the sex, it must not have been that good.”
Chase crossed his arms over his chest, ready to defend his ego. “Oh, it was good.”
Gina cocked an eyebrow. “How do you know, if you don’t remember?”
“I know how to please a woman. If we had sex—and based on the expended condoms in the wastebasket, we did—then it definitely was good. I know how to please a woman.”
“Cocky much?” Maggie interjected.
“Nope.” He puffed out his chest. “Confident. I’ve never had any complaints.”
“But I can’t remember last night. That must mean something,” Maggie pointed out.
