I ran my hand through my hair. “Are you really trying to convince me it’s okay to take advantage of your drunk sister because of her reaction to me?”
“Only if you marry her first.”
We stopped at the chapel closest to the Marriage Bureau offices, picked out a wedding package, paid extra for fresh flowers, and exchanged our vows in their gazebo using inexpensive rings that I planned to replace as soon as possible. I called for the limo to pick us up afterwards, and Alessia fell asleep while we drove across town to drop Ariana off at their place before we headed to my hotel. Since my new bride hadn’t stirred when the car pulled up in front of their building, Ariana ran upstairs and tossed some of Alessia’s stuff in a bag so she’d have it in the morning.
She’d barely woke up when we got to the hotel, and I’d carried her to my room. When I placed her on the mattress of my King size bed, she snuggled into a pillow and let out a sigh. Using one of the wipes Ariana had told me she put on the top of the bag she’d given me, I cleaned the makeup off Alessia’s face. Then I undid her bra and pulled it off, leaving her in her dress and panties. The dress had about as much material as a nightgown, and stripping her fully out of her clothes—as tempting as it was to see her naked—would have been wrong since she was passed out. It was bad enough that I married her in a ceremony I was fairly certain she wouldn’t remember. I wasn’t going to make it worse by taking advantage of her.
Instead, I stripped down to my boxers and climbed onto the mattress next to her. Feeling her curves pressed against my body without being able to do anything about it was a fitting punishment for what I’d done. I was hoping it’d be the only one, and I’d be able to convince Alessia to give our impulsive marriage a try when she woke up. Reaching out to grab my phone off the bedside table, I groaned when I saw the time. I only had about three hours before I needed to meet everyone downstairs for Jason and Cee-Cee’s wedding, and I was going to need every minute of it to talk my new wife into attending with me.
Rolling off the mattress, I padded into the bathroom and gently shut the door behind me. Pulling one of the outfits Ariana had packed out of her bag, I checked the size before calling down to the concierge. They transferred my call to one of the boutiques that carried women’s clothing, and I asked them to send up a couple dresses for Alessia so she couldn’t use not having anything to wear as an excuse. Once that was done, I ordered breakfast from room service. I was in desperate need of caffeine, and I figured Alessia would be too, so I asked for two carafes of coffee.
I peeked into the room and Alessia was still sound asleep, so I hopped into the shower. My years spent in hockey rinks growing up was put to good use since I was able shampoo my hair and wash up in no time flat. The first thing I did when I stepped out of the shower was check on Alessia again. She’d rolled over while I was in the bathroom, so I brushed my teeth quickly and pulled on a new pair of boxers and the pants from the black suit I planned to wear to the wedding. Then I made my way to her side and sat on the edge of the mattress.
“Alessia,” I whispered,
“Wha—” she murmured, her eyes opening slowly and slamming back shut again. “Where am I? What happened?”
“You’re at my hotel. I brought you back to my room last night,” I explained.
“Alec?” she gasped, jerking up. Her green eyes dropped down to her body and she let out a relieved sigh when she saw she was still in her dress from the night before, but it turned into a surprised gasp when she noticed the rings on her finger. She waved her hand in my face. “Oh my gosh! Are these what I think they are?”
I wrapped my hand around her wrist and stroked the soft skin underneath the bands. “If you think they’re wedding rings, then yes.”
“Holy crap! Like it wasn’t bad enough that I need to find a job and a place to live? Now I need to get a lawyer, too?”
Releasing her hand, I pressed her back against the mattress and levered my body over hers. “Or you could skip the lawyer and keep your new husband. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about finding a new job or place to live because you could just come to Chicago with me.”
Her pretty eyes widened. “That’s crazy talk! I don’t even know you. I couldn’t possibly move half-way across the country to live with you after meeting you twelve hours ago.”
“Your sister thought you could.”
She pressed her head back into the pillow and let out a little scream. “Of course she did! I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not. Although marrying me off to a stranger seems a little extreme, even for her.”
“You might not know me as well as either of us would like, but I’m not a stranger either, beautiful.” I flashed her a sexy grin. “We might have only met fifteen hours ago, but we spent every minute of that time together. If we were a normal couple who’d just started dating, that would mean we’d gone out on at least five dates so far.”
Alessia pushed on my shoulders, and I moved to sit on the edge of the mattress again. I would have preferred to get closer to her instead, but I wanted her comfortable with me as quickly as I could make it happen. Crowding her wouldn’t help with that goal.
She sat up, tugging on her hem to try to cover more of her thighs since it’d ridden up her legs. “Five dates? That’s awfully specific.”
I tore my gaze away from her legs and explained, “Five dates, three hours each. Fifteen hours total. Or it could be more like seven and a half dates if they were only a couple of hours each. I wasn’t sure so I used a conservative estimate.”
Her gaze dropped to my chest, and she licked her lips as the green of her eyes darkened with a spark of passion. “You’re hot, rich, and single. I find it hard to believe that you aren’t extremely familiar with exactly how long a date usually lasts.”
There was a hint of jealousy in her tone, and damn if it didn’t feel good to hear it. “I’m glad you think I’m hot.”
“Oh, please. I don’t think you’re hot. I know it, just like you do.”
“I wouldn’t say that I’m rich. I make a good living and don’t have a whole lot of expenses besides my apartment and my car. So I’ve been able to put a lot of my earnings away in savings and investments, like one of my brother’s clubs and a couple of his restaurants.”
Her eyes grew wide during my explanation. “Like I said. Rich.”
“Fine. I’ll cop to being hot and rich, but not single.” I wiggled the fingers of my left hand at her. “As of last night, I’m officially off the market.”
“Which doesn’t explain why you’re supposedly unfamiliar with the dating routine for a normal couple,” she argued.
Our previous sex lives were the last topic I wanted to cover with her this morning, but I was getting the impression that she wasn’t going to let the matter drop. “I was never a relationship kind of guy before you.”
Her green eyes narrowed, and a tiny growl crept up her throat. “Which made you what? A one-night stand kind of guy?”
Fuck, I wanted to kick my own ass for being an idiot over the years. I never stopped to think about how this conversation would go when I found the woman I wanted to spend my life with. “Usually, yeah.”
“And did that happen a lot?”
Another answer I didn’t want to give but forced myself to say anyway. If we were going to be a couple, dishonesty didn’t have any place in our relationship—no matter how difficult the conversation was. “In the start of my pro hockey career, more often than I’d like to admit. But not lately.”
“Lately as in single digit days, or closer to double digits?”
I did a quick mental calculation and gave silent thanks to Ryan for finding Tamara again when he did. Hitting the clubs by myself screamed desperation, and he’d been the last of my close-knit group of guy friends to fall in love so I’d lost my wingman. It’d put a well-timed damper on my sex life, which allowed me to say, “It’s actually closer to triple digits than double.”
“Oh.” Her plump lips parted on a gasp. “That’s longer than I
expected you to say. I guess I can’t give you too hard a time.”
“What about you? How long has it been since your last relationship?” I wanted to take back my questions as soon as they left my mouth. As loathe as I was to admit to my sexual past, I was even more reluctant to hear about hers.
“Let me preface this by saying that I’ve spent a lot of my life taking care of my mom and sister, so I didn’t have a lot of free time to date.” She twirled a lock of blond hair around her finger. “I can’t believe I’m actually admitting this to you, but you could take your almost triple digits and multiple it by a factor of ten or so to make it almost quadruple digits.”
The timely knock on the door helped me to hide the shit-eating grin that spread across my face at her answer. “Room service,” I explained as I got up and walked towards the door.
With Alessia on my bed in a tiny dress without a bra, I wasn’t willing to let the guy into my room. Instead, I signed the bill and added a hefty tip before rolling the cart inside the room myself.
“Oh, wow. Is that coffee? And breakfast?”
“It is.” I flashed Alessia a grin. “Having someone around to get you what you want before you can ask for it is one of the benefits of having a husband around. Maybe you should keep me.”
Alessia’s startled giggle filled the room, and it was the best sound I’d heard since the last goal I’d scored—other than when she’d said “I do” the night before.
“I’m going to take that as a yes.”
“It’s a yes to breakfast, but not to anything else,” she warned.
Maybe not yet, but I wasn’t done trying to convince her.
She got off the bed, shaking her head as she crossed the room to sit down in one of the chairs by the small table near where I rolled the cart. I grabbed one of the carafes and a mug and set them in front of her. She poured herself some coffee and then reached for the empty mug I set opposite her to fill it for me, too. I lifted the cover off two of the plates and held them out for her to pick one. She went for the Belgium waffles, leaving the eggs over easy with bacon, hash browns, and toast for me.
When I reached out and lifted the lid off the last plate to reveal a bowl of sliced strawberries and another with whipped cream, Alessia clapped her hands together in excitement.
“I take it you like berries and cream on your waffles?” I asked.
“Strawberries, yes. Blueberries, no. I’m allergic to them.” Her nose scrunched up like she’d smelled something bad while she shuddered. “I’ve had them once when I was sixteen, and it’s the only time I ever had to go to the emergency room for myself. I had splotchy hives all over my face and neck, along with a swollen throat. It was super scary, even with Ariana there to hold my hand.”
I was struck by how she’d worded her experience, with no mention of her parents being there for her. But the clock was running down and trying to get her to open up about her childhood now could send her running out the door so I let it pass for the moment. “Then I’m glad I didn’t get you the muffin platter. I’d hate to become a widower before we consummated the marriage.”
“Haha. Very funny.” She shook her head and tossed her napkin at me. The lack of one didn’t stop her from piling berries and whipped cream on top of her waffle and eating damn near the whole thing. I finished off my meal just as quickly, and we both set our utensils down at about the same time.
“So, this is kind of awkward.” Alessia gestured towards her dress. “I’m going to be a newlywed doing the walk of shame out of the hotel this morning.”
“About that,” I exhaled. “I was hoping you’d spend the day with me instead.”
“But don’t you have a wedding you’re supposed to attend? One that was actually planned...without a bajillion drinks to make it sound like a good idea.”
“I do have a wedding to attend,” I confirmed. “And I’d like you to come with as my plus one.”
She got to her feet and paced the floor. “You want to bring your surprise bride to your friend’s wedding?”
“It’s not like I’m going to bring some other woman when I’m married to you,” I half-joked. Alessia didn’t find the humor in it and paced faster.
“Even if I wanted to say yes”—she paused to wag a finger at me—“and I’m not saying I do. But if I did, I couldn’t go anyway because I don’t have anything appropriate to wear to a wedding in a fancy hotel.”
“I’ve already taken care of it for you. They should be here any minute with dresses for you to pick from. And Ariana packed a small bag for you so you have makeup and stuff. It’s in the bathroom.”
Her gaze darted towards the bathroom door. “Between you and my sister, you guys thought of everything, didn’t you?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “I’ll think about it while I’m in the shower.”
She stomped off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. I heard the distinct click of the lock engaging, and then the sound of the shower turning on. While she was occupied in there, I rushed to finish getting dressed so I’d have more time to convince her to come with me once she was out. I was buttoning up my dress shirt when there was a knock on the door, and I padded across the room to open it.
“Fucking A, Alec! You brought some chick back to the hotel with you and haven’t gotten her the hell out of here yet?” Ryan asked, holding up the clear garment bags the store had sent the dresses up in.
He shoved them at me, and I grabbed them. “Not some chick. My wife.”
“Your wife?” he sputtered. “It hasn’t even been a full day since I left you at the club last night. Are you telling me you met someone and married her at some point between then and now? How drunk were you?”
“Not as drunk as my new wife probably thinks I was,” I grumbled.
“Explain. Now. Or else I’m going to go find your brother and get him to be the one to ask the questions.”
I could still hear the shower running, but I didn’t want to run the risk of Alessia finishing up and overhearing our conversation. So I stepped out in the hallway with Ryan and kept the door slightly open with the heel of my foot. “Remember the shit I said in the limo last night on the way to the club?” He nodded. “Well, it turns out it wasn’t shit. I made it through my first night with Alessia, and she’s here in my hotel room with me wearing my ring—or at least a temporary one. I didn’t walk away from her because I mistakenly thought she belonged to someone else. She didn’t storm away from me in the club. And she didn’t roll out of my bed and sneak away from me, either.”
“In an effort to avoid all the mistakes Andrew, Jason, and I made, you what? Married her for real?”
“Yes,” I bit out.
“Dude, we all thought you were so smooth with the women, but in reality you have so much to learn.” He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. “If you think a quickie wedding in Vegas means you’ve got the girl, then you’d better think again my friend.” He jerked his chin towards the bags of dresses. “Those are a good way to start, but you might also want to work on that temporary ring situation too. Women like real diamonds, not rings that could have come out of a Cracker Jack box.”
I knew he was just giving me shit like I’d done to him about Tamara, but it didn’t stop me from feeling a little defensive. "What can I say? I was expecting to drop some cash while I was in Vegas...not pick up a wife."
Chapter Five
Alessia
“What’re you still doing here?” I asked my reflection in the foggy mirror. I had a million things I should be doing besides taking the most amazing shower ever, but that hadn’t stopped me from enjoying the heck out of the incredible water pressure and top-of-the-line hair and skin care products. Or the delicious breakfast and coffee Alec had provided. And the soft, fluffy robe I’d found hanging on the back of the door.
I lifted a hand to run my fingers through my hair, and the glint from the rings caught my eye. It was hard to believe that I’d really gotten married last nigh
t. To a stranger with only my sister there as a witness. Speaking of whom...
Flipping on the fan for sound to cover our conversation, I pulled my cell out of my purse and called my sister.
“Hey, you’re finally up! How was the wedding night?”
“Ariana,” I hissed. “You’re my sister. You’re supposed to watch out for me! Not encourage me to do something crazy like marry the first random guy who flirts with me.”
“Alec wasn’t the first guy who flirted with you. No way in hell would I have let you talk to, let alone marry, the guy who tried hitting on you when we first got there,” she retorted.
“Seriously? That’s your take on this situation? That I should be grateful that I didn’t marry the drunk asshole who hit on me first?” I scoffed.
“Umm, yeah. Have you seen your new hubby? It’s not like I let you marry a troll who lives under a bridge somewhere. In fact, Alec’s so far the opposite that you should be thanking me right now.”
I banged my head on the wall, but only once because it just reminded me that I had a headache from drinking too much the night before. “If he’s such a catch, why didn’t you marry him?”
“Because he only had eyes for you from the second he clocked you walking in the door of the club.”
“What?” I breathed.
“Working as a cocktail waitress, you learn to pay attention to your surroundings. Figure out who the high rollers might be so you can give them extra attention and rake in better tips,” she explained. “I noticed him right off the bat, and those baby blues of his were glued on you. But even if he hadn’t been crazy interested in you, I would never go there with a guy you looked at the way you did him.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear her answer, but I asked the question anyway. “How did I look at him?”
“Like he was Christmas morning, back when we were little kids and Mom and Dad were still together. The year they got us those matching pink bikes.”
Married Into Love Page 4