Aidan

by Sydney Landon

  “I understand,” he said softly. He shifted to the side. Lydia was mourning the loss of their body contact when he rolled her into his arms.

  She snuggled against him, loving the musky, masculine smell of his body. “What now?” She hoped he didn’t detect the hint of misery in her voice. They were strangers who had married in a moment of temporary madness. The only thing to do was to have the marriage dissolved and move on.

  The sad thing was, they had been together for less than a day, but she knew that she’d miss him dreadfully when he was gone. But since he’d done what he thought she needed last night, now she would be strong and return the favor by giving him his freedom without any hassle. “Can we get an annulment since we’ve—you know, slept together? Does a drunk Elvis wedding really count as a legal marriage?”

  Jacob’s chest rumbled under her ear as he laughed. She felt something press against the top of her head, but surely he wouldn’t have kissed her, would he? That would be a gesture of affection, and they barely knew each other. “I don’t know the particulars of a Vegas wedding, sweetheart, but it’s nothing we need to worry about right now. No need to rush into anything without thinking it through.”

  She rolled her eyes, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “I think the ship has already sailed on the whole rushing into things, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Sure,” he agreed easily. “Maybe what I should have said was that we don’t have to make any decisions right now. We’ll figure things out once we get home and the dust has settled. Today, we’ll fly home together and go from there.”

  “But I’m supposed to travel back with the girls at nine.” She flipped over to look at the bedside clock then shrieked quite loudly in Jacob’s ear. “Dammit! It’s past that time now! Why didn’t they call or come by my room? I can’t believe they would just leave me here.”

  She was on the verge of a full freak out when Jacob calmly announced, “You’re flying home with me on Mark’s plane. He and Crystal are staying an extra day, so we’ll go back today and then I’ll send the jet back for them. We’re leaving at noon, so we have plenty of time to dress and have breakfast before the car picks us up.”

  I’m lying with scantily clad Jacob Hay calmly discussing cars and jets. Someone needed to pitch her and bring her back to reality. Even as Lydia pondered how bizarre the morning had been, she couldn’t help but marvel at how well she was handling it all.

  It’s not as if something like this had ever happened to her before. So why wasn’t she having some kind of panic attack? Delayed reaction? Possibly some kind of trauma-induced shock? She thought it was more likely that she didn’t want the dream to end. Heck, just a few days ago, she would have bet money that she’d never even enjoy a first date with Jacob. Now, she was cuddled in his strong arms and it felt almost natural—as if she belonged there, which was absolutely nuts. She shifted slightly, moving her hand and froze. Oh God, the ring. How could she have forgotten about that? Was it real? It certainly looked as if it was. And it was easily two carats, maybe more, and there were more diamonds in the matching wedding band. Extending her arm, she wiggled her finger and asked, “Where did this come from?”

  He gave a lazy laugh before putting his hand next to hers. A wide, silver band adorned his finger. She gasped in surprise. “It came from the same jewelry store that this one came from.”

  Clearing her throat, she asked, “Was it expensive? How much does a sterling silver ring cost? Can we return it all?”

  “You’re pretty cute when you ramble.” He chuckled. “Our rings are platinum, not silver, so no, they weren’t exactly cheap. As I said earlier, I don’t think we should concern ourselves with anything major right now, so let’s not rush out and pawn anything, okay?”

  Stunned, Lydia asked, “But why would you buy something so expensive when you knew it wasn’t a real wedding?”

  He looked uncomfortable as she stared down at him. Finally, he shrugged and said, “We’ve both acknowledged that we had a bit too much to drink last night. I’m sure neither of us was thinking clearly. It obviously seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”

  She opened her mouth to question him further when a nearby phone began ringing. He shifted their weight until he could look at the screen on the nearby bedside table. She thought she saw him wince before he said, “I’ve got to take this. Why don’t you go shower and dress?”

  You’ve been dismissed.

  Before she could move, he answered the call with a, “Just a second,” then appeared to be waiting for her to move. She scrambled off his chest and out of the bed with the grace of a dancing elephant. “I’ll, um—just be in the bathroom.”

  As she was hurrying into the other room, she heard him say, “What do you need, Chris?”

  Chris? That was a man’s name, right? Why had he made such a point to get rid of her if he was just taking a business call or even one from his buddy? She’d had the distinct feeling it was a woman, but there had been no affection in his voice. Actually, he’d sounded cold—as if he didn’t like the person on the other end of the line.

  Lydia started the shower, and then dropped her robe onto the floor. The mirror showed marks on her body as well, but Jacob had still gotten the worst of it. Hers looked more like whisker burns. Then her nipples hardened involuntarily as pieces of her night with Jacob played in her head. She had hazy recollections of his mouth on her body—and dear God, between her legs. As her clit started to throb, she wanted nothing more than to march back into the bedroom and beg him to ravish her again, this time while she was sober. It seemed like a crime that she couldn’t recall every moment. When a knock sounded at the door, she jumped backward, narrowly avoiding a nasty fall. “Er—yes?” she called out. I sound guilty, as if I were in here thinking of sex—and him.

  “Everything okay? I thought I heard you say something.” Geez, had she actually been in here moaning while thinking of last night? She needed to do some damage control—fast. “Mmm, no. I was just…singing in the shower.” Lydia cringed at her lie. Couldn’t she have come up with something better than that?

  There was silence for a moment before he came back with, “What song?”

  Are you kidding me? Who in the hell carried on a conversation about something so mundane through the bathroom door? It was almost as if he knew she was lying and was trying to make her squirm. “Fight Song.” She blurted out the last thing she could remember singing. She doubted he knew the empowerment song, but hopefully, it would satisfy his curiosity enough to get him to go away.

  “Really?” he mused. “I like that one. Carry on with whatever you were doing then.”

  Lydia wasted no time getting in the shower and shutting the door behind her. Within a few minutes, she was finished and drying off with one of the hotels fluffy towels. She wrapped another around her hair before dressing in her robe once again.

  When she opened the door and stepped out into the room, he gave her a leisurely once-over before walking toward the bathroom. “Do you have any idea where my luggage and purse are?” she asked, looking around the room.

  “Everything should be on the other side of the bed. I found your room key and grabbed your stuff while you were showering. Let me know if I missed anything.”

  The next few hours passed in a blur. After they had both dressed, they opted for breakfast in the restaurant downstairs while waiting for the car to pick them up for the airport. Lydia stared at the passing scenery in a daze. She could barely fathom what had occurred during her girls’ weekend in Vegas.

  She’d assumed Jacob would be rushing her toward divorce court with embarrassing haste, but instead, he changed the subject or brushed off her concerns when she brought it up. Finally, she’d stopped trying and decided to enjoy the brief moment as a married woman. After all, in the real world, a man like Jacob Hay was about as likely to walk through her door as the Easter Bunny.

  & Lia # 5)