He didn’t take his eyes from her face. “Lovely. Enchanting actually.”
She laughed. “Hardly the word I’d use but it is fairly quiet this time of night so we can talk.” She leaned back and studied him. “So what are you doing in Las Vegas? Better put, what kind of mission are you on that involves needing to resuscitate a dying business thousands of miles away from your home?”
Colin started to speak but the waitress chose that moment to arrive with their drinks.
“Our milkshake machine is on the fritz again, Bella honey, so I brought two bottles of cold beer instead.” Without waiting for their approval, she set two frosted mugs in front of them and then proceeded to open the beer bottles with a handheld bottle opener. “Enjoy. Your onion rings and mozzarella sticks will be out in a jiffy.”
After she was gone, Colin pointed to the bottle in front of Bella. “Shall I get you a soft drink instead?”
In answer, Bella poured beer into her mug and then his. She lifted her glass. “It’s fine. Let’s drink to you finally telling me what your big project is.”
He clinked his glass against hers. “I hardly know where to start. I told you that I work in a family run business.”
“With your parents?”
He shook his head. “My mother passed away years ago and my father leads a rather bohemian life.”
“Ah, he’s not interested in minding the shop?”
Colin set his mug on the table. The shop? Good grief, did she think his family owned a fish and chips shop? It struck him suddenly that he was very far from home. He’d just assumed that Bella would recognize the Bladestone name. But he wasn’t in Britain, so unless she read the London Financial Times, there wasn’t any reason she should. It just wasn’t something that he usually had to explain. “My father’s the artistic type, you could say. Short of a knife in the ribs, he’d never show up to do a day’s work.”
“So who exactly is the family in your family business?” Bella took a bite of a mozzarella stick and watched him expectantly.
“There’s my grandmother, who is a formidable dragon of a woman. Then there’s myself and my two cousins, Edwin and Thomas.”
“Do you work well with them?”
He shook his head. “Hardly. My grandmother seems to enjoy pitting her three grandsons against each other.” He drained the last of the beer from his mug. “It’s one long game of one-up-manship after another. I’m tired of it.” Why was he confessing this to a woman he hardly knew when it was something he’d only recently admitted to himself? But one look at Bella answered that question. Unless he was way off his mark, she actually looked interested in what he was saying. Really interested, and not in a politely disinterested way. It was a rare luxury for him. “You’re probably wondering why I just don’t leave.”
Bella shook her head. “No, in fact, I completely understand how hard it is to even think of walking away from a family owned business. Trust me, I can empathize only too well.”
Their food arrived and Colin surprised himself by tucking into a double cheeseburger. He kept up with Bella French fry for French fry, and they drank several more bottles of beer as they talked. A sensation that Colin hardly recognized settled over him as the evening wore on, it was as if he were ten years younger and ten times happier than he had been that very morning. He felt a more relaxed, carefree version of himself, all brought out by a woman he hardly knew. He purposely avoided looking at the clock. This was an evening he didn’t want to end a moment before it had to.
Bella’s voice interrupted his reverie. “Maybe this is the time you walk away, Colin.” Her expression was thoughtful. “I don’t know the ins and out of this assignment, or challenge as you called it, but perhaps this is where you draw a line in the sand. Or maybe it’s the time you leave.” Her gaze held his. “If that’s what you really want.”
Colin leaned back in the booth but didn’t, couldn’t, break eye contact with her. What he wanted? At the moment what he wanted more than anything in the entire world was to be holding Bella Johnson in his arms. He barely knew her but he knew enough to be certain that she was the most amazing woman he’d ever met, or ever would meet.
She reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. “Colin, are you okay?”
He nodded. “I will be. If you join me on this assignment.”
“Colin, don’t be crazy. You don’t need me. Other than introducing you to a few more people, which I’m happy to do, I can’t think of any other way to help you.”
“Not true. You are the perfect person to help me.”
She withdrew her hand from his. “Define help.”
“You work in the wedding industry. You’re a Vegas insider. We’d make a winning team.”
“What are we trying to win?”
“We’re trying to save my Grandmother’s fortune from going to the dogs.” He took several twenties from his wallet and tossed them on the table. He slid out of the booth. “And in the process we can save your Grandfather’s business from going under.”
Her brow creased. “Who told you that our wedding chapel is in financial trouble?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You’re telling me that nothing Muriel said resonated with you? The Hopeful Hearts Wedding Chapel is in sound financial shape and you’re optimistic about its future?”
Just as he expected, Bella looked away. Her body language confirmed what he already knew. The Johnson’s business was in much the same state as Muriel’s. Years of corporate experience had taught him to quell his impatience and bide his time. But he couldn’t remember a time when he’d been so anxious to hear a ‘yes’ or an ‘I’m in’ from a prospective partner.
He didn’t have to wait long.
Bella slid out of the booth and stood beside him. “Let’s go talk terms.”
He didn’t try to hide a grin. “Where would you like to go? Your office?”
Her refusal was immediate. “I don’t want my grandfather involved until I know exactly what we’re talking about doing.” She thought a moment. “Is there a corporate center in your hotel?”
“There is indeed, good thinking. It should serve our purposes perfectly.”
“So long as there’s no alcohol there, I’ve had quite enough to drink tonight.” Bella touched her fingertips to her forehead. “If we’re going to hatch a business plan tonight, I need to keep my wits about me.” Heaven knew keeping her wits about her around Colin Bladestone would be a challenge even when completely sober. His good looks and charm were the ultimate distraction.
“I’ll take good care of you,” Colin promised as he offered his arm for her to take.
A warm, fuzzy sensation bubbled through Bella as she slipped her hand through the crook of his arm and followed him out of the diner. Her excitement was only due to the possibility of working out a deal to help her grandfather’s solvency, she told herself, all the while knowing that this wasn’t strictly true. Being with Colin excited her, which is why she needed to keep their business meeting uber professional and no longer than a couple of hours before calling it a night.
Chapter 5
The late morning sun streamed in through the eastern window, its bright rays slipping in through the slits in the venetian blinds. Never one to love mornings, Bella did what she usually did, she squeezed her eyes shut, rolled over and buried her face into the pillow while simultaneously pulling the sheet over her head. Normally this was enough to allow her to drift back into a comfortable slumber but for some reason it had the opposite effect. Alarm bells began to ring in her mind and her heart began to race.
Venetian blinds? There weren’t any venetian blinds in her room, or anywhere else in the chapel. Panic flowed through her entire body faster than water poured over the Hoover Dam. Her fingers rubbed the bed sheet but all she felt was cotton, not crocheted lace trim. She wasn’t at home. She kept her eyes tightly closed while her mind raced. Where in the name of heaven was she?
Wherever she was, it was quiet. A clock quietly ticked away the minutes o
n the other side of the bed. Bella strained to hear any other sound, and eventually her ears picked up the sound of something. Shallow breathing. Her eyes flew open. She was in bed with someone. Or someone was in bed with her. As quietly as she possibly could, she rolled from her back to her side.She propped herself up on her elbow and leaned toward the bed’s other occupant. With her free hand she pulled back her hair so she could see. She gasped. It was Colin Bladestone. She was in bed with the sexy Brit she’d met only yesterday.
What in God’s name had happened last night? She glanced down and saw that she was only wearing her slip. Her breath caught in her throat. Had they? Oh no, surely they hadn’t made love. She wasn’t sure about the man beside her, but Bella wasn’t that kind of woman. She never slept around.
Now what was she supposed to do? Her lack of experience with one-night stands left her utterly paralyzed. She had to get out of the room. She couldn’t face Colin. Not without knowing what had happened the night before.
Bella forced herself to take one more look at him. Colin was shirtless, but beyond that she wasn’t able to see what else he was or wasn’t wearing, and she sure as heck wasn’t about to look. His eyes were closed and he appeared to be out for the count. Good, maybe that meant she could sneak away without waking him up.
Gingerly she moved back to her side of the bed. A quick glance assured her that he was still asleep. So far so good. She lifted the sheet, rolled onto her side and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She hesitated only for a second, but hearing no sign of life from Colin, she got to her feet as slowly as possible. Once safely out of bed she forced herself to breathe, which wasn’t easy considering that her head felt like it had been run over by a semi-truck.
Her eyes scanned the room for a sign of her clothes. Colin’s suite, she guessed that’s where they had to be, was decorated in a very eastern inspired décor. Under any other circumstances she would have felt soothed by the clean lines but the last thing she was feeling right now was zen.
Her eyes finally settled on her satchel. To her immense relief, she saw that her clothes were neatly folded next to it. All she needed to do now was retrieve her things, find the bathroom so she could hurriedly dress, and get out of the suite before Colin woke up.
She’d only taken a few tentative steps when a loud knock sounded on the door. Her heart began to hammer in her chest. She looked around desperately. Where in the world was the darned bathroom? When a second knock sounded, followed by a male voice announcing himself as ‘Management’, Bella realized that if she didn’t move quickly she was going to be caught standing in the middle of the room in a satin slip that did precious little to cover her. With a groan, she hurried back toward the bed and slipped back under the sheet. Better to be caught in bed with Colin than half naked in the middle of his suite.
Her less than subtle return to bed was enough to wake Colin. To Bella’s shock, he opened his eyes and smiled. “Good morning, Bella.”
Incredulous, she could only stare. What was the matter with him? Didn’t he have the decency to act shocked? Or at least look surprised? She’d even settle for just awkward. Instead he acted as if they had been waking up together every morning for years.
Her shocked expression must have alerted him to her state of near panic. He raised himself up on his elbow. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything.” She lifted the sheet up over her chest with one hand and pointed toward the door with her other hand. “Someone wants in.”
She watched as Colin sat up and raked his fingers through his hair. He glanced at the bedside clock, and then back at her. Finally his face registered total confusion, an emotion she thought appropriate under the circumstances.
He barely glanced at the door as someone knocked yet again. His attention was focused solely on her and now his face was registering some of the shock she’d expected to see earlier. “What are you doing here?"
She pulled the sheet all the way up under her chin. “You tell me.”
But before he could say a word, the door to his suite opened and a far less muffled voice called out to him. “Mr. Bladestone? Sir, are you here?”
Bella and Colin exchanged quizzical looks as they heard the man speak in a hushed tone to another person.
“Who’s out there?” Bella whispered.
“Damned if I know,” Colin rubbed his hands over his face. “I still don’t know what you’re doing here.”
That remark hit Bella wrong. She narrowed her eyes. “You’re the one who owes me an explanation.”
“Mr. Bladestone, Sir?” This time there was a light rap on the door to the bedroom. “I sincerely apologize for the interruption but we do need to speak to you.”
Bella’s eyebrows rose as Colin emitted a low growl.
“Doesn’t anyone use the bloody telephone in America?”
She opened her mouth to protest but quickly shut it as he threw back the sheet and got out of bed. Embarrassed, she buried her face in the sheet but then she heard something that made her head snap up.
Her grandfather’s voice.
Colin, who was now wearing a pair of navy silk pajama bottoms, glanced over at her. “Why do you look so panicked?” He glanced toward the closed door and then back to her. “Oh, Lord, you’re not married are you?”
“No, of course not,” Bella protested.
“Then you needn’t look so panicked.” Colin slipped on a pajama top and quickly buttoned it up. “I’ll get rid of whoever is out there. Just stay here.”
“But that’s my-” but before she could finish her sentence, Colin had already slipped out through the door. Fighting a rising panic, Bella couldn’t decide what to do. The last place on earth she wanted her grandfather to find her was in Colin’s bed, but if he burst in while she was hurriedly dressing, how much better was that?
She jumped out and grabbed a white hotel bathrobe from the chair by the bed. Puzzled, she glanced down at it. Why was the robe near her side of the bed? Had she worn it last night? She squeezed her eyes shut and massaged her temples. What on earth had happened last night?
Think, she ordered herself, what was the last thing she remembered? They’d taken a taxi to Colin’s hotel because they’d both had more than enough to drink. The elevator…she remembered being in the elevator and leaning against Colin because she’d felt dizzy.
With one quick glance at the door, she headed to the other end of the room and found the bathroom. In the desperate hope that this was all a bad dream she could wash away, she splashed cold water on her face. But when she looked in the mirror she was still standing in Colin’s bathroom, still dressed in a hotel robe, and even to her own eyes, she looked shell shocked.
Take a deep breath, Bella, she ordered herself. Breathe in, breathe out. Calm down. Things can’t get any worse, and they certainly can’t get any stranger. She fluffed her hair out with fingers and tightened the robe’s belt. After a quick search of the complimentary toiletries provided by the hotel, she selected a toothbrush and brushed her teeth. Feeling much better, she squared her shoulders and headed back out into the bedroom.
She could handle this. Surely Colin had a perfectly innocent explanation as to why she had stayed the night. And her grandfather, as soon as he saw she was safe, would be mollified and all would be well. It really was that simple.
Colin slipped back into the bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind him, and then leaned against it. His mind was spinning. “Bella?”
She came around the corner, looking the vision of an angel in a white fluffy robe. Her auburn hair was tousled around her shoulders. She sure as heck looked a hundred times calmer than he felt.
“Was that my grandfather I heard out there?” she asked.
He nodded.
“I’ll just go have a quick word with him.” Bella took a step toward him but he didn’t move out of her way. “Colin, my grandfather is a reasonable man. He’ll understand.”
Colin shook his head. This had all gone beyond understanding already. “It’s not that
simple.”
“Of course it is. I mean, this is all quite a bit embarrassing but we’re all grown ups. We can discuss it rationally and then just act like this never happened.” She waited a moment for him to move but he didn’t budge. “Well, aren’t you going to let me go out there?”
He shook his head. “No, not until we talk.”
Her face looked suddenly hopeful. “You remember what happened last night?”
“No.”
“Be sensible, Colin. Procrastinating won’t help, we should go out there. I take it that my grandfather is waiting for me?”
He nodded. “Your grandfather and my grandmother.”
“Oh,” she covered her mouth with her hand. “That’s a thousand times more awkward.”
“A million times more awkward,” he corrected her.
“Well, we’re both adults so let’s stop acting like frightened children.” She again motioned for him to move aside.
But he couldn’t let her go out there. Not until he prepared her. “Listen, Bella, I have something to tell you.”
“About last night?”
“In a manner of speaking.” What he wouldn’t give to be wearing a suit and be back inside of a boardroom instead of here in silk pajamas in a bedroom. Corporate life was never this confusing. “I don’t remember much about what happened last night, except that we came here to talk about drafting a business plan because the business center was closed.”
She nodded. “I remember that too. So we probably had too much to drink and were exhausted and fell asleep. That’s not a crime.” She laid a hand on his sleeve. “Colin, come on, it’s not like we’re teenagers who got caught making out and now we have to get engaged.”
“It’s too late for that.”
She smiled. “Right, we’re both way past our teens.”
It was now or never. He took a deep breath and then exhaled. “No, I meant it’s too late to get engaged.”
The Wedding Chapel Page 4
