If Aaron hadn’t been too stunned to react—or if the entire scene had taken more than fifteen seconds—he might have had the wherewithal to get out of the car. Instead, he was still seated, staring, as Hope reached the passenger door.
She yanked it open, grabbed the ridiculous poof of tulle that made her dress stick out in every direction, and slid into the passenger seat. It wasn’t graceful. In fact, as she slammed the door, Aaron was pretty certain half the dress remained trapped outside.
Finally, Hope twisted to look at him, and a slow smile spread across her face. “Aaron. Thank God. Drive.” She pointed forward, the smile disappearing as a more serious expression returned. “Now. Hit the gas.”
Aaron put the car in drive and took off. “Hope?”
“Just drive. I need to think.” She gripped the console between them with one hand and used her other hand to flatten the pile of puffy white material that reached her chin.
He drove to the end of the street and took a right, thinking to circle the block as he’d already done three times. What the hell was Hope doing?
“Take a left at the next intersection,” she demanded, ending his plan to circle the block.
He did as she requested, knowing instinctively that now was not the time to argue with her.
“Another left in two streets.”
Still saying nothing, he followed her directions. She’d now been in his rental car for about three minutes, and Aaron was growing uncomfortable with the demands.
He knew that even though her sister, Faith, was in the BDSM lifestyle, Hope was not. However, Aaron wasn’t used to taking demands from a woman. He was a Dom. He much preferred leading demure submissive women in everything they did and rarely spent much time in the company of anyone who wasn’t part of his community.
“Jump on the highway here,” Hope instructed next.
“Hope,” he began as he did her bidding, “tell me where we’re going.”
“Hotel first. I want to get out of this fucking dress,” she said as if it should have been obvious. She plucked at the front of it. “It’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, don’t you think?” She glanced at him.
He wasn’t about to answer that question. He also didn’t think he’d ever heard her cuss like that before.
“Two more exits,” she stated.
“I know where the hotel is. You can stop directing me,” he informed her.
“Okay. Good.”
“Care to tell me why you’ve jumped into my car and why we’re fleeing the church?” It hadn’t escaped his attention that she hadn’t even known who was driving the car when she slid inside. She’d been so desperate that she hadn’t cared if he was a stranger or an ax murderer.
“I’m not marrying that asshole, and I just want to get as far away as humanly possible as fast as I can before someone tries to stop me.” She jerked her gaze toward him again and continued. “Don’t get me wrong. No one would be able to stop me, but I’m not interested in arguing with anyone either. Especially not my mother or Montgomery.”
Aaron couldn’t disagree with her assessment of Montgomery Ainsley, her fiancé. The man was an asshole. Even though Aaron had only met him one time, he knew from Faith’s assessment that Ainsley was a snobby, rich fuck who was only marrying her sister for the financial benefits. Apparently, the wedding was to be one of the most lucrative family unions of the decade.
Aaron pulled up to the front of the hotel. “You want me to drop you off?”
She flinched and then chewed on her lower lip. “No. I don’t have a car here. Would you please take me someplace else? I just want to grab my things from my room.”
Aaron stared at her for a moment. What the hell was he getting himself into?
“Please?” she begged. Her eyes were wide, a stunning dark brown that made anyone who looked at her want to stare into them. Her makeup was a little too thick for his taste, but it was exactly what he would expect for the daughter of a wealthy congressman on her wedding day. Especially this particular daughter.
His eyes slid to her hair which was pinned up around her face. He knew it was thick and silky, but he’d only seen in down a few times. He couldn’t be sure how long it currently was since the only part not arranged on top of her head was a few tendrils at her cheeks.
The lacy bodice of the dress was off the shoulder, so he was able to admire her neckline and the delicate strand of pearls she wore.
He jerked his gaze back to meet hers. She wasn’t upset—not crying anyway. She was pissed and her urgency was palpable. “Please, Aaron. I don’t have anyone else to turn to.”
He took a deep breath. What the hell was he going to do with this stuck-up socialite? Even though she was speaking to him politely and she was stunningly gorgeous, he knew her well enough to be concerned about spending more than a few minutes with her.
She leaned closer, released the ridiculous puff of tulle, and grabbed his hand. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
He frowned. “I don’t need you to make it up to me, Hope. Let’s get your stuff. I’ll help you.” He couldn’t just leave her here. He didn’t know the details of her situation, but if a woman seemed as desperate as Hope did, he’d never leave her stranded.
She smiled wide. “Thank you.” As she yanked the car door open, he exited his side of the car.
Hope rushed through the entrance to the fancy hotel as the doors parted on their own. She ran toward the front desk on her bare feet.
Aaron stopped at the bellman and informed him he would only be leaving the car parked out front for a few minutes. The serious older man frowned but nodded, his expression darting to the obviously distressed bride.
Aaron jogged toward Hope at the desk, catching the tail end of her explanation about why she needed a new key to her room. The staff didn’t flinch. A woman hurriedly made a new keycard and handed it to Hope.
Not surprising. There was no way every employee of the hotel didn’t know who Hope Davenport was or that it was her wedding day.
She spun around, slamming right into Aaron, who grabbed her biceps to keep them both from falling over. “I guess you need me to check out and grab my suitcase too. I’ll do that while you change. What room are you in? I’ll meet you there.”
“Ten fourteen,” she stated.
“Got it.” He released her to head for the elevator, stepping several feet away from her to avoid the seemingly multiplying layers of fluffy, white material and lace. It really was the ugliest dress. Why the hell had she chosen it?
As they entered the elevator, he noticed the right side was torn and dirty, confirming his suspicion that it had hung outside the car during their drive.
He pushed the buttons for the fifth and then the tenth floor. When the elevator stopped at his floor a few seconds later, Hope grabbed his arm. “You’ll meet me in my room?”
“Yes.”
“You promise?” Her dark eyebrows were drawn together.
“Hope, I said I would. I’ll be there. Give me two minutes.” His suitcase was open in his room, but he hadn’t had time to do more than take a rushed shower and change into his suit when he arrived, so his belongings were still in or near the suitcase. If he didn’t change, he could stuff everything back inside and be done in seconds.
“Okay.” She released him, her shoulders falling, but she was chewing on her bottom lip again, and her eyes were leery.
Aaron reached out a hand to keep the elevator door from shutting and studied her face. He stepped on the edge of her dress to get closer. Without her heels, it dragged on the floor. Without thinking of anything except wiping that look of concern from her face, he cupped her chin with his free hand and plucked her lip from between her teeth. “Take a breath. You have my word. I’ll be right behind you.”
She nodded, the breath slowly easing from her lungs. “Thank you.”
Aaron stepped from the elevator, watched her expression as the doors closed, and then turned to speed walk down the hallway. He wasn’t kiddi
ng. It took him thirty seconds to grab his belongings. It took him thirty more seconds to call the front desk and inform them he was checking out less than an hour after checking in. They would bill his card. He was certain Hope wouldn’t want to stop at the front desk again. He doubted she gave a fuck whether or not she checked out.
His only hesitation was about changing out of his suit, but he decided against it, knowing every moment he wasn’t at her door was a moment she would be freaking out.
True to his word, he was at her hotel room knocking in record time.
Hope yanked it open, another rush of air leaving her lungs. “Thank you,” she repeated, obviously relieved to find out he hadn’t changed his mind about helping her.
Aaron would give anything to have more information, but for now, he had one task—helping Faith’s sister get far away from this hotel.
Hope spun around, leaving him to follow her inside. He was surprised to find her room nearly identical to his. He’d assumed she and Montgomery would have been staying in a suite. According to Faith and Rowen, the wedding party had all checked into the hotel the day before.
A glance around left him further confused. There was no sign of Montgomery’s belongings. In fact, Hope resumed frantically stuffing things into one of two suitcases while he stared at the back of her. The second smaller suitcase was upright next to the bed, closed.
She twisted her head around to meet his gaze a few seconds later. “I hate to ask this, but can you get this damn dress off me? I can’t do it myself.” She backed up and pointed over her shoulder. “There are like ten thousand stupid buttons up the back.”
She wasn’t kidding. Tiny little pearls reached all the way from the base of her spine to the middle of her back. There was a good chance the entire wedding party could arrive before he got this off her.
Nevertheless, he went to work, stuffing every button through the dainty silk loop as quickly as he could. Who designs these things? And why?
If he were the man returning to his hotel room with his new wife after the reception, the last thing he’d want to do would be to spend fifteen minutes trying to extricate his bride from her dress before he could get his hands on her.
He stored that detail away for another time—not that he had any intentions of marrying anytime soon. However, if by chance he did one day meet the woman of his dreams and decide to marry, he would instruct her to pick out something with a zipper. These buttons were ridiculous.
In addition, he would never agree to a huge shindig like the one Hope had just fled. In Aaron’s mind, those thousands of dollars could go to many other worthy causes. There were perfectly good justices of the peace in every city. Though, chances were, if he ever did find a woman he wanted to make that level of commitment to, he would find himself eating those words and agreeing to whatever sort of wedding she wanted.
Right?
Nope. Not likely. He couldn’t visualize falling so hard for any woman who would put her foot down and demand a huge expensive party. Hell, he couldn’t imagine entering into a relationship with any woman who would put her foot down at all. If she did, she wouldn’t be his type.
Demure. Submissive. He reminded himself. That was the sort of woman he hoped to find one day. Someone who would be happy to bow to his dominant side.
When Aaron finally released the last pearl and the silk and lace of her dress fell apart, he sucked in a sharp breath. Hope wasn’t wearing anything underneath the bodice. The smooth tanned skin of her back was inches from his fingertips and only a bit farther from his eyes.
She didn’t waste a second. The moment he stepped back, she dropped the ridiculous dress. He swallowed at her total lack of modesty. Granted, he was behind her, but he missed very little.
Frozen in his spot, he didn’t blink as he took in her white lace panties, the garter belt, and the thigh-high white hose. Her waist was so tiny, he imagined he could wrap his hands all the way around it. He could just make out the swell of her small breasts from the sides as she quickly unbuckled the garters and then rolled the hose down her legs and stepped out of them.
Before he could blink, she grabbed a dress from the mattress in front of her and pulled it over her head. It was pale pink with a fitted bodice and a loose skirt that extended to mid-thigh. She hadn’t put a bra on for this dress either.
“Zip me?” she asked, twisting to look at him again while holding the front of the dress to her chest.
Aaron’s fingers shook as he stepped on the mound of tulle in front of him, pulled the top of the dress together, and eased the zipper up her back, careful not to nick her perfect skin.
“Thanks.” She leaned down when he stepped back, grabbed the giant ruined pile of silk and lace, and tossed it to the side as if it meant nothing to her. “Let’s go.” She leaned over her suitcase to zip it closed, struggling to get the top to meet the bottom.
Aaron stepped forward again, gently brushed her hands aside, and zipped her suitcase. Next, he grabbed the luggage, set it on the floor, and opened the handle. “Can you manage this one?”
She took it from him, her fingers brushing against his. They both flinched as a shock of static electricity zapped them. “Sorry,” she whispered. “That damn dress is the bane of my existence.” She tucked her purse under her arm and tugged the suitcase toward the door as if the room was on fire.
Aaron followed, grabbing her other suitcase and his own. He wasn’t sure how long they’d been in the room, but he was fairly certain it hadn’t been more than a few minutes.
When he glanced back to make sure they hadn’t left anything obvious, he noted once again that there was no evidence of Montgomery. Had they gotten separate rooms in some old-fashioned belief that they shouldn’t see each other before the wedding?
Note to self—he would never agree to that absurd tradition either. If he found the woman of his dreams and loved her so deeply that he intended to spend the rest of his life with her, there was no way in hell he would leave her sleeping in another room for even one night.
In silence, they headed back to the lobby. The doorman tipped his head at them as they left. The only sign he suspected anything was amiss was the fact that his eyebrows were drawn together. In fact, the other employees standing nearby were also wringing their hands.
Not surprising. After all, Aaron most certainly wasn’t the man she’d come there to marry.
The doorman, with tight lips, helped Aaron load the trunk of the car, and then Aaron handed him a twenty and rounded to the driver’s side. Hope was already in the car. She was bouncing one knee, her hands fisted in her lap as she glanced out every window.
It was obvious she wanted to get away from the hotel before Montgomery or anyone else showed up.
Aaron obliged her, though he had no idea what plan B was. He hadn’t had a single moment to consider the insanity of this situation. He barely knew Hope.
He hadn’t been back to Miami for three months since he and Colin had moved to Denver to open up a second location of Club Zodiac, the fetish club owned by Rowen and two other friends—Lincoln and Carter.
Aaron had been looking forward to catching up with the guys and discussing plans for the new club. Apparently, that idea had just been postponed, at least for the evening.
Aaron glanced at Hope. “Where do you want me to take you?” Maybe he could meet up with the guys after he dropped her somewhere.
“Denver’s probably far enough away,” she stated matter-of-factly.
He hesitated, unsure how to respond. “Denver? You’re serious?”
She had those big brown eyes pointed at him when he came to a stop at the light. “If you stop at an ATM, I’ll withdraw as much money as I can. I don’t mean to put you out. But, yes. A road trip would give me time to sort through my mind and find my head. Plus, no one would be able to find me.”
He stared at her. Was he really going to consent to drive across the country with a woman he barely knew so she could escape God-only-knew what? “Denver,” he repeated.
Something deep inside Aaron twitched every time she said that word. Something about her tone. It reached into him and twisted his heart. The crazy thing was that he didn’t ordinarily fall for that word coming from a woman. He was generally very much in control of every situation. Begging didn’t work on him.
Or it hadn’t before today.
Before Hope jumped into his car with her wide eyes, pink lips, silky brown hair, and enough tulle to decorate an entire reception hall wrapped around her legs.
“One condition,” he responded.
She gave him another of her sweet smiles. “Anything.”
“Start talking, and don’t stop until you’ve explained every detail of what just happened and why the hell I’m agreeing to drive across the country with a runaway bride.”
She giggled, a sound that reached into him, past the place where her please had lodged and twisted his gut. “Deal.”
Click here to continue reading book five of the Club Zodiac series, Trusting Aaron.
Author’s Note
I hope you’ve enjoyed this fourth book in the Club Zodiac series. If you’d like to continue reading the series, I’ve included the links for the final two books:
Trusting Aaron (Club Zodiac, Book Five)
Claiming London (Club Zodiac, Book Six)
Also by Becca Jameson
Project DEEP:
Reviving Emily
Reviving Trish
Reviving Dade
Reviving Zeke
Reviving Graham
Reviving Bianca
Reviving Olivia
* * *
SEALs in Paradise:
Hot SEAL, Red Wine
Hot SEAL, Australian Nights
* * *
Dark Falls:
Dark Nightmares
* * *
Mastering Rayne: Club Zodiac, Book Four Page 18
