“No, I think she’ll ask him. What’s the first thing people do when they get drunk?” Luke asked, grinning at James.
“Take their clothes off,” James said with a very straight face, deliberately missing the point.
“Yeah, that also,” Luke chuckled.
“Okay, I get your point,” James said, turning serious again. “Their inhibitions are gone, and they’ll do the things they want, that they can’t do while sober. But do you really think he’ll marry her if she’s drunk.”
“I’d lay money on it. I don’t think he’ll be able to stop himself,” Luke said, unable to hide his grin.
“So,” Mindi said, looking at her gorgeous husband. “Are we talking a real bet?”
“If you want, but I think it needs to stay between us four,” he nodded, giving her a serious look. “I think this might be more than your mom could take, right now.”
“I have one question, before we do this,” James said, coming back into the conversation. “Do you think they will be able to stay together?”
“Yeah, if he goes about it right,” Luke said, with a thoughtful expression. “And we all know Mark well enough to know, he’ll do it right.”
“So, how far are we taking this bet?” James asked with an absent-minded grin.
Luke thought for a few seconds before answering. “I’ll tell you what I think. Then you can go off that.”
“Well, what do you think?” Lisa asked, getting into the spirit of things.
“Okay, but first, what’s the buy in?” Luke asked with a grin.
“Oh, the usual, five. Unless you think, because there’s only four of us, we could make it more.”
“Well, because of the number of variables, more than one of us could end up winning. The only way there can be one winner, is if I’m...” He stopped, clearing his throat before starting again. “I mean, one of us is dead on,” he said, grinning mischievously. “But I plan on taking it all, just so you know. However, if you want to act like the rest of you have a chance, we could make it more. How about ten?”
“Fine, ten it is, Smarty Pants,” Lisa said, pretending to be irritated, then grinning. “So now, what do you think?”
“I think they’ll try to eat dinner together, and she’ll be so nervous, she won’t be able to eat much, and she’ll get drunk. Once she’s drunk, she’ll loosen up, and ask him to marry her. He’ll try to say no and do the right thing, but he’s not going to be able to,” Luke said with a small smile. “We all know how much in love with her he is. But marriage license or not, he won’t make love to her while she’s drunk. He’ll wait for her to ask him. And most of all, she’ll have to be sober. No matter how much pain it causes him. That will be one of the deciding factors on whether or not they can stay together. Which they will stay together,” Luke said, coming to a stop. Then after a second thought, like he had another epiphany, he added, “And if she’s drunk enough she don’t remember in the morning, he won’t tell her their married, till they’re home.”
Mindi gave her husband a skeptical look. “Luke, I know you’re good, but you could be setting yourself up with this one. You’re being really specific.”
“I know,” he nodded. “But I’m right.”
That caused James to laugh. “I know you can read people, but I just don’t agree. I don’t think he’ll marry her drunk, unless he’s drunk as well. And I think he’ll tell her before they leave Vegas.”
Luke shook his head. “I don’t think he’ll let himself get drunk. He knows he would be too weak to stop himself that way. He won’t take that kind of risk.”
“I can agree with you there. So, no, he won’t marry her,” James said grinning at Luke. He knew he was crazy to bet against Luke, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
“Is that your bet?” Luke asked, dropping a ten-dollar bill on the table.
“Yes, it is,” James said, slapping his ten down beside Luke’s.
“Okay, you two. There’s no need for the aggression,” Lisa said, laughing.
“Alright then, Lisa, what’s your bet,” Luke asked her, now grinning in her direction.
“He’ll marry her, whether he’s drunk or not. But I don’t think even sober, he’ll be able to not do the other,” she said, moving her hand around like she was conducting an orchestra. “This has been going on way too long.” The other three at the table knew Lisa well enough to know what she meant, and they just shook their heads at her.
“Gee, Lisa, your married with a baby,” Mindi smirked. “Can you not say the words? It’s easy. Say it with me. Make love. Have sex. Are you sure we actually came from the same family?”
Lisa threw a wadded-up napkin across the table at her sister, doing her best to ignore her, and continued on. “And I agree with James. He’ll tell her before they leave Vegas.” She just tossed her money on the table and looked at Mindi for her thoughts on the bet.
“Well, I agree with Luke for the most part. But I don’t think he’ll be able to stop himself from making love to her.” She cast a smirk at her sister before continuing on. “And they will struggle, but they’ll stay together,” she added, sounding serious.
“That’s your bet?” Luke asked with a grin, thinking about making a different wager with his beautiful wife.
“Yeah, it is,” she answered. “Can I borrow ten bucks? I don’t have any cash on me.”
“Yeah, I’ll give you ten bucks. We can take it out in trade,” he replied with a very toothy grin.
James snorted, trying to suppress a laugh. “Why do you look like the wolf in the hen house?”
“Why do you think?” he smirked back. “Trust me, it’s much more fun this way.”
“What I think is, I don’t want to know what that look is about,” Lisa groaned, covering her eyes with her hands.
Mindi chuckled, smiling back at her husband. “Trade, huh?”
“You bet.”
“Baby, I’ll give you anything you want, and you don’t have to pay me for it.”
“Oh, good grief,” Lisa groaned again, looking over at her own husband. “Can we go? I don’t want to hear anymore of their sexual banter.”
Chapter 2
Thursday, July 4
Jenny was in trouble, and it was all because she’d had to come on a business trip with Mark to Las Vegas, of all places. They’d had to meet corporate for the hardware store he owned. He had bought into the franchise with his inheritance when his grandfather died. The venture had been one of great success. Everyone in Sapphire Springs and several of the surrounding smaller towns used the hardware store now, rather than travel the nearly eighty miles round trip they were having to drive before he brought the store to the area.
Corporate hadn’t wanted to ruin everybody’s fourth of July. Her fourth was ruined, no matter what. She hadn’t wanted to come. She had wanted to enjoy dinner with her family, and wake up this morning, and enjoy a relaxing day. However, she was Mark’s personal assistant, so she hadn’t had a choice.
She was wondering if there was any way she could talk Zane into charging them with reckless endangerment of her sanity. She was used to spending a lot of time with the big blonde hunk with dark blue eyes. Well, more strawberry blonde hunk, really. The red in his hair always made her wonder if the Harris used to be O’Harris. That was an Irish last name, wasn’t it? A lot of Irish immigrants had dropped the O’ off the front of their names when they immigrated to America. Of course, his size made her think he was more likely to be Scottish. Which didn’t mean there weren’t Irishmen that got pretty large, as well. It was just, Mark might be the biggest person she had ever personally met.
She sighed, shaking her head, doing her best to stop the rambling in her head. If she kept this up, she was going to send herself to the loony ben. It was hard enough staring at those wide shoulders and sensual mouth without letting herself sit here and think about how sexy the man was. Or how the deep pools of his dark blue eyes made her insides quake and her pulse race.
Dang it! She grumbled
at herself, and tried shaking her head, once more. She hadn’t wanted to come, because yesterday she had come way too close to begging him to marry her. Not make love to her. Marry her! She had ended up panicking because she was still too scared. And she was a little freaked out about being in the one place in the whole country where they could get married in under an hour of being engaged. She knew, if she wasn’t careful, she would be begging him to marry her tonight. She wanted to marry him, but she wanted a wedding, with her family and friends there. Not five minutes with an Elvis impersonator. No offense to Elvis. She loved his music and movies. No matter how cheesy they were. It just so happened, a Vegas wedding just wasn’t her dream wedding.
By the time the meeting had ended, it was past dinner time, and she was starving. Mark had talked her into coming down to the restaurant in their hotel for dinner. She asked to order wine. She was hoping it would help calm her nerves. Being his usual easy-going self, he had agreed. She had warned him she wasn’t a big drinker, and that alcohol always went straight to her head, but he had said they would be doing more eating than drinking, so she had decided she’d be okay. She should have known better.
Now, she was certain she had made a big mistake. She was on her third glass of wine. Or was that the fourth. And she had barely eaten anything. Mark had even tried to slow her down on the drinking a couple of times. He knew if she got drunk enough, she was likely to be too uninhibited for his own good. He had even been blunt enough to tell her so. She had chosen to ignore him. Now, she was thinking maybe she should have listened.
Jenny knew she should never have tried eating dinner with him. Especially when there was liquor involved. He always made her so nervous, it was impossible for her to eat with it just being the two of them. At least at family dinner night at her parents’ house, when he showed up, which lately, was every Thursday night, she had her family as a buffer. She was really missing that buffer now. She knew she was about to do something that would most likely get her in trouble. Sure enough, the next words out of her mouth proved her point.
“Hey, you want to dance?” she asked getting up and taking his hand and tugging.
“Jenny, I don’t know that, that’s the best idea, right now. You can barely stand up.” Despite his words, he let her pull him from his chair and lead him toward the dance floor. He just wanted to hold her too much to say no, and he wasn’t sure yet, he’d get another chance any other way.
“It’s a slow song. I can lean on you. Or are you having trouble standing up as well.” Just then she stumbled, and he had to reach out and catch her. She started quivering from his touch. Yeah, she was definitely in trouble. There was no way he didn’t feel the way she was reacting to him. It didn’t matter. He was always trying to get her to go out with him. And lately every time he seen her outside of work, he would kiss her till her head was spinning. He had stopped asking her out and started asking her to marry him. Well she couldn’t seem to get the yes to pass her lips, no matter how hard she tried.
Now with her defenses down, she found herself hoping he would just take her to bed with him tonight, so she could stop fighting with herself. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she would be angry at him tomorrow, but right now, she just didn’t care.
When they got to the center of the dance floor, she turned into his arms, and pressed herself close, laying her head on his chest. They did more swaying than anything else, but he had his arms around her, holding her tight. Nothing else mattered.
When the song came to an end, he turned her back toward the table. “No, I’m not done holding you yet,” she said trying to put her arms back around his waist. She didn’t even realize what she had said, and his sharp intake of breath was puzzling. “Did I step on your foot? I’m sorry.”
“No, you didn’t step on my foot, but I think you’re done for tonight. You need to sleep this off.” He was going to have to get her up to her room soon, or he was going to do something stupid, and that was the whole reason he had stayed sober. To keep his head on his shoulders. Not that he was much of a drinker, to start with.
He knew he wasn’t going to be able to take much more, before he gave in and took her to his room instead. He had to get her to her own room, safely locked away behind a closed door, he didn’t have the key for.
“Sleep what off?” Jenny asked, truly sounding puzzled.
“Angel, you’re drunk.” He looked down at her and took a deep breath. He was mentally preparing himself for what he was getting ready to do. He knew he was going to have to carry her if he wanted to get her to her room, quickly.
“I’m not as drunk, as you think I am.”
The fact that he got away with calling her Angel only served to prove his point. If he had used such an endearment at any other time she would probably have punched him in the gut. At the very least, gave him a dirty look and told him not to call her that. Usually the only time he got away with it was when she was rattled.
“Oh, you’re drunk all right, and I’m taking you back to your room. Now.” He handed her, her purse and scooped her up into his arms. All five feet, ten inches of her. Her blonde hair brushed his face, and he inhaled her feminine scent before he realized what a bad idea that was going to be. It made his head spin and his insides clench.
When he made it to the elevator doors he used the hand he had under her knees to punch the up button. While they stood there waiting for the doors to open, she started nibbling on his ear. He had to tighten his grip on her. He was afraid he was going to drop her, he was shaking so hard. “Jenny, you really need to stop doing that. I’m only human, and I’ve wanted you for a very long time. The tension’s been building with a vengeance ever since I started kissing you.”
Just then the elevator doors whooshed open, and he was able to step into the enclosed space. Thankfully it was empty. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes just as the doors closed on them. “Then why should I stop?” she asked, running her fingers through his hair. She had moved her lips to where they were hovering just in front of his, and he could feel her warm breath on his face. “Sounds like the perfect reason to keep going to me,” she said looking him in the eyes.
She knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she shouldn’t be trying to deliberately seduce him, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. She was really starting to enjoy the effects of the alcohol. It was making it possible for her to do things she always wanted to do. She had just always been too terrified to do them sober.
Mark first looked down at her full red lips before looking into her eyes, noting how glazed over they were from the alcohol. Yeah, she is way too drunk to know what she’s doing. He wasn’t sure what made him say it. He could say it was the devil that made him do it, but that wasn’t it at all. “Because, I refuse to regret the first time I make love to you. That’s going to be a little hard if we’re not married and you regret it because you were drunk.”
“Please, Mark, I’m not that drunk,” she said, nearly begging. “I know what I want. I always want you. Even when I’m sober. I’m just too terrified to admit it, but you’re all I really want.”
He sucked in a harsh breath, doing his best to remember that it was never a good idea to let a drunk person make life decisions.
Her mouth had still been hovering just in front of his lips the whole time she was talking. He couldn’t take it any longer. He gave in and kissed her. She tasted like wine, and it served to remind him she was drunk and that he couldn’t let this get out of hand. He managed to lift his head in time to see the elevator doors slide back closed. He had been so involved with kissing her, he hadn’t realized they had reached their floor.
When he looked into her eyes again, he could tell the wheels were turning. “If you won’t make love to me without being married, take me to one of those instant wedding chapels and marry me.”
He just groaned and shook his head. He tried to do the right thing. But he knew before he stepped forward, he was going to hit the button for the first floor. He wanted he
r too much. In every way possible. And she had just handed him the answer.
He knew she would be angry in the morning, but he couldn’t stop himself. “God, help me, I’m just too weak,” he mumbled to himself. He knew he was asking for trouble.
She had started running kisses up the side of his neck, and by the time the doors opened again, he had managed to convince himself she wouldn’t want to kill him in the morning when she woke up. That just made him laugh at himself with derision. If she didn’t want to kill him in the morning, then Elvis really was alive.
He walked back into the restaurant and sat her down on one of the bar stools and waited for the bartender to walk over. When he did, he kept it simple. “Where’s the nearest wedding chapel?”
The bartender’s bored look just said, I’ve seen this before, but he told him there was one in the hotel. Five minutes later they were waiting for their turn. Once again, he was trying to talk himself out of doing what he knew he was going to do anyway. He knew this was a bad idea, but his heart had decided before his brain had, had a chance to pose an argument. Now, he just couldn’t turn back.
The ceremony only took another five minutes. At least that’s what it felt like. He made a promise to himself, if she didn’t kill him and she stayed married to him, in a year on their first anniversary, they could have a real wedding. One where their families were present. She wasn’t the only one who was going to want to kill him. He wasn’t looking forward to facing her dad after he found out about this. Or his, for that matter.
Five minutes later, after they had made it back up to her room, he knew he was about to live through the longest night of his life. He may have married her, but he still refused to make love to her as drunk as she was.
The second he sat her down on the floor, she kicked her shoes off, and started trying to take her clothes off. She had managed to unzip her dress down the back before he could stop her. “Hey, Angel, leave that on.” She was pulling the dress down her arms, and all he could do was stand there and watch her. The blood was rushing through his veins so fast, it was making him dizzy enough, he wasn’t sure he could make it two steps without falling on his face. He knew he was going to have to fight the images he now had in his head. He also knew if he let her keep going, he was going to be completely at her mercy. Not that he wasn’t already, and apparently, at the moment, she didn’t have any.
Married in Vegas (The Townsends Book 3) Page 3