by Holly Jaymes
I watched her lovely eyes shine as she sipped her drink again. I wondered if I could make her look like that in bed. Would our free pass include getting naked? That warning bell sounded again. I shut it up by taking another sip of my drink.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“It’s all right.”
“We can get martinis next. That’s more fitting for Sinatra, I think.”
We probably shouldn’t have a next. “Dry?”
“What’s the difference between dry and wet?” she asked.
“Wet is a little sweeter. It has a more vermouth.”
Her eyes turned flirty. “What is a dirty martini?”
I’ll show you dirty, I thought. “It has olive brine.”
She scrunched her nose and it was so fucking adorable. “I want wet, then. I like sweet.”
“Sweet it is,” I said lifting my hand to signal the bartender.
We were fairly toasted when she finally stood. “Dance with me, Will.”
“As you wish.” I stood, giving myself a moment to make sure I could remain upright. Then I took her hand and led her to a small dance floor, where a few other couples older than us were dancing to I Get a Kick Out of You.
“Do you know how to dance?” she asked as I pulled her close to me.
“I can manage.” I took her hand and we began to move. She stared up at me with a cute, albeit alcohol infused smile. “How am I doing?”
“Perfect,” she sighed and rested her head against my chest.
I laughed, and then focused on moving with her on the dance floor. When the song ended, I’ve Got You Under My Skin came on next. I pulled her closer, wondering if that had happened to me. Was Adalyn under my skin? Was that why three years later, she was still the only woman I’d regretted not pursuing when I’d had the chance? Was that why today, I was throwing caution to the wind, letting my inhibitions go for one 24-hour period to indulge my fantasy with her?
“I hope I can stay in the U.S.,” she said as we moved across the floor.
“Do you?”
“Yes. I’m not a security risk.”
“No.” She wasn’t a security risk, but she was quite possibly a risk to me. After the dance, we headed back to the bar.
As we sat, I noted the spark in her eyes had gone out. “Hey.” I used the crook of my finger under her chin to lift her gaze to mine. “What’s wrong? You’re supposed to be showing me a good time.”
Her smile was wan. “I just worry all this fun will end soon. Not that home isn’t great, but I like it here. I like the work I’m doing.”
“We’ll find a way,” I said. I remembered her telling me what was going on with immigration. I figured it was just an added check, but nothing to worry about. Now, with all the wind sucked out of her sails, I wondered if maybe her visa not being renewed was a possibility. I thought about how I might be able to help. In my line of work, I’d made some friends in high places that might be able to assist.
She shrugged. “I’m bumming your buzz.”
“What can I get for you?” the bartender said.
“A visa,” Adalyn replied.
The bartender rested his hands on the bar. “You can get that at any one of the chapels on the strip.”
She looked up at him. “What?”
“All you gotta do is get married to an American,” he looked at me and then back to her.
“That won’t work,” I said. I wasn’t up on immigration law, but I was pretty sure that the country’s more stringent immigration rules cracked down on marriage fraud.
“Sure, it will. My sister married her husband to get him in.”
“They don’t love each other?” Adalyn asked, her tone suggesting she was horrified by that, which made me glad. I wanted to help her get a visa, but that was one step too far.
“They like each other well enough. They even have a kid. Next year he’s eligible for citizenship. I’m not sure they’ll stick it out after that, but it’s worked out okay so far.” He looked at our empty glasses. “Two more martinis? One wet, one dry?”
I nodded and watched Adalyn to make sure she wasn’t going to buy into this nutty idea.
She looked at me and then shook her head. “I’m sure that’s against the law.” Her comment told me she’d considered it for a moment, but thankfully dismissed it.
“Let’s ask Google.” I pulled out my phone. “Possible two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars fine.”
“You can afford that,” she said, making me uncomfortable with the perkiness in her voice.
“And five years in prison.”
Her expression dropped. “Oh.” The bartender set our drinks on the counter.
I picked up my martini. “To immigration visas that don’t include marriage.”
She managed a smile and toasted with me. After a sip she asked, “You don’t believe in marriage?”
“Sure I do. My brothers are annoyingly, blissfully, happily married. My parents were rock solid.”
“But you seem against it.”
“I’m against marriage fraud for sure. I like my freedom. But … ” I wasn’t sure how to explain my belief that I wasn’t marriage material. “You said yourself, I’m too intense and boring.”
She shook her head. “I was wrong about that. The boring part, anyway.”
“That’s only now in Vegas.” I looked into my drink. “The truth is, marriage requires a whole level of trust and vulnerability that I don’t think I can manage.” I blamed the booze for sharing so much.
“Really? I’d always thought there would be a relief in having one person you could totally and completely trust and rely on. Is that how your brothers feel?”
I shrugged. “I suppose. I can’t imagine feeling that.”
“Maybe you just haven’t met the right woman yet.”
“Maybe.” But I doubted it. “How about you? Why haven’t you found your mister right?”
She laughed. “Too busy working. But someday I’d like to meet him. Maybe have some babies.”
“What about your gondola ride in Italy? That’s hard with kids.”
“We can do that before. I do want to live a full and fabulous life. Not fabulous in terms of wealth, but just living full-throttle, you know. Experience everything.”
I had the strangest urge to book us a flight to Italy. I shook the thought from my head and drank my martini.
“What’s next, Will? What can we do that’s fun?”
“Well, there’s an Eiffel tower here, or the tallest Ferris wheel.”
“Can we do both?”
“Absolutely.” I paid for our drinks, and called my driver. In the car was a bottle of champagne I’d asked the driver to get earlier in the day. Wanting to make sure Adalyn was out of her funk, I opened it.
“I love champagne,” she said as I handed her a flute. “It makes me silly.”
“I look forward to seeing that.”
“It makes me amorous too. I’m sure you don’t want to see that.”
My dick immediately thickened. “I’m sure I would like to see that.”
We clicked our glasses and I’d nearly pulled her on my lap, but she’d started looking out the car window. As we rode along the streets of Vegas, we came across one of the many chapels the bartender spoke about.
“Do people really do that? Get married on a whim?” she asked.
“Yes. I think some plan in advance, but Vegas is known for people waking up the next day accidentally married.”
“I want to see it.”
“See what?”
“A quickie marriage.” She leaned forward to the driver. “Can you stop at the next open chapel?”
The driver looked at me through the rearview mirror. I nodded. It couldn’t hurt to see if we could watch a ceremony.
He pulled over to the side of the road. We got out and walked up to the chapel
“Oh hello,” a middle-aged woman with orange hair and blue eyeshadow greeted us. “You two lovebirds want to get hitched?”
“Cold feet?” the woman said looking to me.
“On an adventure,” I said.
“How does it work?” Adalyn asked.
“How about some champagne and I’ll go over it with you,” the woman said.
I had a little niggle of concern about the amount we’d drunk already, but Adalyn was standing on her own two feet and having a coherent conversation, so I didn’t nix the idea.
“Is Elvis here?’ Adalyn asked.
“Yes, of course.”
Adalyn looked up at me. “Can we stay and watch, Will?”
“That’s why where’re here.”
“Excellent. Let me get that champagne.”
Book 4: Chapter 9—The Day After
The Day After
Adalyn — Tuesday/Wednesday
That last glass of champagne was probably one glass too many. I felt like I was in a fog as the wedding assistant led us to where another couple was doing the prep work to get married. We were shown the paperwork and then ushered into a limo, where more champagne was shoved at us.
“Many people don’t know that you still need to get a license to get married,” the woman said to us. “Fortunately, the clerk’s office is open until midnight.”
“Convenient,” Will said.
Next to us, the other couple was busy making out. Will looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Looks like they’ve started the honeymoon.”
I leaned forward to look. “Indeed.”
After we saw the process of getting the license we were back in the limo, with another champagne, and returning to the chapel.
We were asked to stand up front with the other couple like attendants accept Will stood next to me.
Words were exchanged, and at one point, I think Will leaned forward and kissed me, but maybe that was just a dream. A nice dream, but a dream nonetheless.
When we were done, Will’s driver picked us up again. I sat next to him, leaning my head on his shoulder.
“Have you had enough fun for one night?” he asked.
“Drinking, yes. I’m afraid to lay down. The world is spinning.”
“How about more dollar slots?”
I looked up at him. “Are you drunk at all?”
He grinned. “More than I have been since college.”
“How can I tell?”
“Because I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself from kissing you.”
I felt like a schoolgirl. My insides went wild with excitement. “When will you start?”
His lips were on mine and they were divine. He tasted like champagne. His mouth was hot, his tongue smooth, and I moaned at the deliciousness of him. He pulled me into his lap, and I felt the telltale signs of arousal as his hands caressed my back.
When the car stopped, so did he, and I cursed.
“How about we go work off this buzz by losing some money?” he said.
“I’d rather work it off another way.” I wiggled in his lap, loving it when he groaned.
“We need to be more sober for that.”
“You seem plenty sober. And I know what I’m doing. I know what I want.”
He cradled my cheeks in my hands. “It’s important to be more clear headed than either of us are.”
I frowned. “Doesn’t the fact that you’re saying that show you’re clear headed?”
“Let’s go gamble. If you still want my body after that, you can have it.”
“What if you don’t want mine?” It would be my luck he’d sober up and decide he didn’t want me after all.
“I’ve always wanted you, Adalyn.”
My insides went soft. “Really?”
“Really. Let’s go gamble.”
We got out of the car and he took my hand as we entered the hotel casino area. Despite being late at night, it was loud with the din of voices, buzzing from machines, and lights flashing like a disco.
“Let’s play roulette,” I said, dragging him toward a table. “Because you remind me of James Bond.”
“Bond played baccarat.”
I stopped in my tracks. “What’s that?”
“It’s like blackjack.”
“That involves math. I’m not sure I can do math right now.”
“The casino will be happy to hear that.”
I didn’t want to make my brain work. I just wanted to feel and have fun. “Can we do roulette instead?”
“Whatever you want.”
We lost at roulette and went back to the slot machines. I didn’t know how much money we were losing, but Will didn’t seem to care. As a man who appeared to not have much fun in his life, I suspected he had loads of money stashed away because he hadn’t spent it on toys or gadgets or travel.
As he poked the button on the slot machine next to me, I slid from the seat and leaned against him.
“Is my Cinderella turning into a pumpkin?” he asked.
“I am tired,” I admitted.
“Let’s get you to bed, then.”
His arm wrapped around me and I leaned in close, liking the feel of his hard, strong body supporting mine. Will was like that; Solid. Trustworthy. He was a man people could count on. Didn’t my father count on him to find me? He flew across the United States to help my father.
“You’re a good man, Will,” I said as I leaned into him in the elevator.
He kissed my head. “I’m glad you think so, Adalyn.”
“I love it when you call me that.”
“Adalyn? That’s your name.”
I held on to his arm for leverage as I tipped my heavy head back to look up at him. “Everyone else calls me Addy. Only you call me Adalyn. You and my grandma.”
“Adalyn fits you better. It’s a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”
My lips spread into a grin that I was sure made me look like a loon. “Are you going to kiss me again?”
He didn’t respond with words. Instead, he covered my mouth with his until the doors of the elevator opened.
“You’re good at that,” I said as he led me out of the elevator.
“It helps to have a good partner.”
Once in the room, I started to strip as I worked my way to the bedroom, vaguely aware that Will was there watching. In my brain somewhere, I knew that stripping in front of him wasn’t something I’d normally do, but what the hell.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” he said, his eyes watching me as my dress dropped to the floor.
“I’ll be here.” I made my way to the bed, pulled back the sheets, and climbed in. Feeling tired, I decided to rest a bit while I waited.
I woke with a start. For a moment, I didn’t know where I was. I looked over at the clock on the side table. Three thirty in the morning. The room was dark except for the moonlight shining through the window. This wasn’t my room. I turned my head and my heart about came out of my chest. Will Sloane was sleeping next to me.
Once the surprise wore off, my body went hot. He lay on his back with one arm under his head. He was shirtless, and I could just see the outline of his muscles on his chest. Several tattoos adorned his shoulder, arm, and one on his chest. That surprised me because he hadn’t struck me as the type to have tattoos.
I traced a finger over the one on his chest of an intricate and colorful anchor with a date several years ago.
“Are you okay?” he murmured.
“Yes.” I splayed my hand over his chest. “What’s this tattoo?”
“I got it when my father died. He was the anchor in the family.”
“Like you.” I looked to his face.
His eyes were soft, filled with emotion. “I’m not the man he was, but I have tried to fill the hole he left. To be there for my family.”
“I bet you have. You’re solid, Will. People can count on you.” I leaned forward and kissed his pec where the anchor was etched on his chest.
His hand pressed against my back as his breath hitched. “You’re so beautiful, Adalyn.
”
I closed my eyes as the sound of my name danced of his lips. I wanted to savor this moment. I felt like I was in a netherworld. An alternative world. A dream world in which Will and I were the only two people in existence.
“Our twenty-four hours of fun isn’t over,” I said.
“Ready for more?” his voice was husky.
“I’m ready for you, Will.” I pushed the sheet that covered his lower body down. He wore dark boxer briefs. Already he had an erection straining the silky material. I pressed my hand over his length, wanting to feel the heat and hardness of him.
He put his hand over mine. “Are you sure, Adalyn?”
“Yes.” I pulled my hand from his and slipped it under his boxer briefs to wrap around him.
He groaned, his eyes closing and his hips rising, pushing his length into my hand. “I feel like I should stop you.”
“You don’t want me?”
In a split second, I was on my back and he was over me. “I want you so fucking bad.”
His words, the desperate tone in them, sent a shiver through my body. “I’m right here, Will.” I reached up, sliding my fingers through his hair and pulling his head to me so I could kiss away any doubt or resistance.
I felt him surrender against my lips. His hands roamed my body, making it hum with life. It was glorious and erotic. While I’d managed to get my dress off before falling into bed, my camisole, bra and panties were still on. But not for long.
Will might have seemed square in daily life, but he clearly knew what to do around a woman. In a manner of seconds, he was sucking on my breasts and I was gasping and moaning in pleasure. Each tug of my nipple I felt between my thighs, the ache there growing and growing until I could barely handle it.
I reached down between our bodies, gripping his dick. It was larger, thicker, and my pussy clenched at the idea it would be inside me. I spread his pre-cum over the tip.
“Oh fuck, Adalyn … I’m burning up.”
“Me too …” I pushed him until he was on his back. “I can’t wait.” I straddled his thighs, taking his dick and positioning at my entrance.