by Codi Gary
“God, you are such a buzz kill!” Sonora stomped out onto the dance floor to rub up on Emma and Caitlyn, and Marley climbed into their own VIP booth, where Kendall was sipping on a drink.
“Everything okay?” Kendall asked.
Marley flopped down with a groan. “Yeah, except your sister can’t hold her liquor.”
“Sorry you have to babysit all of us.”
“It’s my job. I just wish she didn’t make it so hard.”
“It’s not your job. Who designated you the sober sister?” Kendall leaned over and poured Marley a drink. “You deserve to drink and have fun too.”
Marley shook her head. “No I can’t. If I get drunk, who is going to make sure we all get back to the room safely?”
“They are adults. If they can’t take care of themselves, then they shouldn’t drink.”
Marley considered the shot, and sucked it back before she changed her mind.
One shot wouldn’t kill her.
* * * *
Marley blinked her eyes open against the blinding light in the room, groaning at the piercing throb in her head. Her stomach was twisting on top of itself, and the rancid taste of her mouth caused bile to rise up in the back of her throat.
“Oh, God.”
“Already there,” another voice mumbled.
Marley turned her head and found Kendall face down in the pillow next to her. Her blonde hair looked like a bird’s nest and she still appeared to be wearing her halter top from the night before.
Marley came up on her elbows, and glanced around. “What the hell happened?”
“We’re idiots who can’t hold our liquor?” Kendall offered.
Marley started to laugh, then moaned in pain. “Don’t make me laugh, dude.”
“Sorry.”
She got up and swung her legs over the bed. When she stood up to go to the bathroom, her head spun like a tilt-a-whirl and she barely managed to stumble to the toilet before she was dry heaving.
I am never drinking again.
After she finished her business, she came out to grab her toiletry stuff and something was off. It wasn’t just that the suite was quiet. It was that it was too quiet.
“Where is everyone?” Marley asked.
“Probably still asleep.”
Except Caitlyn was supposed to be sleeping in the other bed in their room, and it was empty. Marley walked out into the open area, but there was no Fiona or Emma on the pull out. She knocked on Sonora’s door and when she didn’t answer, she opened it up.
All of her stuff was gone, and the bed was empty. The clock on the nightstand said 1:00 p.m.
She stomped back into the room to find Kendall sitting up, staring at her phone.
“What’s wrong?”
Kendall held out the phone screen and Marley wanted to throw something against the wall: Have fun finding a ride home, bitches!
Sonora had left them there.
Marley went to sit on the other bed and dialed the hotel phone.
“Front desk, how may I help you?”
“Hi, this is room 1411, and I was just wondering if the rest of our party left us a message.”
“Let me check, one moment please.” After several moments of listening to her click around on her computer, she came back on the line, “I’m sorry, but Ms. Star checked out and canceled the reservation you all had for tonight. If you would like to stay, I can reinstate the reservation for an additional charge, but as it is now, you’re going to have to pay for late check out.”
“Oh…okay. Sure, we’ll do that. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
Who the hell says my pleasure after they shaft someone?
As Marley hung up the phone, it really sunk in. Sonora had let them oversleep and canceled their second night.
But why? “I am going to fucking kill her. Why would she do this?”
“Maybe because I called her an evil skank monster from hell who didn’t deserve Brent?” Kendall offered.
Marley paused, her jaw dropping to her chest. “You said that? When?”
“When she started yelling at you about how you sucked as a maid of honor, and you told her she had no honor and she called you a really nasty name and I went off…you really don’t remember any of this?”
“Shit. Shit.” She was so screwed. She wouldn’t be surprised if Kelly fired her after this. She should not have let her guard down.
Who was she going to call to bail them out?
Scrolling through her phone, her thumb landed on Luke’s name and before she could really think about the repercussions, she hit call.
He picked up on the second ring. “Well, hey there. How’s the bachelorette party?”
“Actually, it kind of sucks. Sonora took off and left Kendall and me.”
She had to hold the phone away when he shouted, “What?”
“She took the car, left us in the hotel room, and we’re completely stranded. I was hoping maybe—”
“I’m on my way.”
Marley released the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Thank you.”
“Hey, if I get to see you, it’s worth the drive.”
Marley’s heart skipped, and her cheeks warmed. When she hung up the call, Kendall was just coming out of the bathroom.
“Who did you call?” she asked.
“Luke.”
Kendall’s grin was brilliant. “Aha! I thought something was going on there.”
Marley shot her an alarmed look. “Has anyone else said anything?”
“Who, like Sonora? Please, she’d so self-involved she wouldn’t notice the sky was falling.”
Marley was relieved for a half second and then it hit her. If she was fired from Something Borrowed, she wouldn’t have to sneak around anymore with Luke. Maybe instead of New York, she could apply for internships at publishing houses in L.A. There were several in that area and—
Marley shook her head, realizing that she was actually thinking about rearranging her entire future for Luke—a guy she’d barely known two months and wasn’t even sure where or what they were.
It was official. After twenty-eight years of sensibility, she’d lost her damn mind.
* * * *
Two hours later, Luke stood on the other side of the hotel room door, a big grin on his face as Marley swung it open. The pure relief on her face was worth it, and as angry as he was with Sonora for ditching her and Kendall, he did like getting to save the day.
“Thank you so much.”
“Hey, I love being your hero,” he said, leaning over to give her a kiss on the lips. He pulled back and noticed her eyes were bloodshot and there were dark circles under them. “Rough night, huh?”
“Can’t you tell by the fact that we were left stranded?”
“That was a dick move by her. I don’t care what you did to piss her off.”
“I called her an evil skank monster from hell,” Kendall called out. She was sitting on the bed with her shades on watching TV.
Luke stared down at Marley in surprise. “Did she really?”
“Apparently. It’s all a big blank for me. I guess Patron and I are not a good combination.”
Luke squeezed her shoulder and gave her a kiss on her forehead. “Well, let’s get your stuff and get you home. No point in staying around here to lose money.”
Luke walked in and picked up their overnight bags.
“Was Brent happy that his princess was coming home?” Kendall’s tone was mocking and angry, which surprised him a little. She always seemed so cheery.
I guess everyone can have their sunshine stolen by a hangover.
“Actually, when I told him what she’d done to you guys, he seemed pretty pissed. He wanted to come with me, but I wasn’t sure it was a good idea.”
Kenda
ll grabbed one of the pillows, squeezing it viciously between her two hands. “I hope he rips her a new one.”
“He did call her before I left. I guess they headed to Reno this morning to spend the night and will be back tomorrow.”
“Gee, that’s nice.
Kendall turned off the TV and they followed him out the door silently, so he filled it. “The good news is Sonora had booked the suite for two days, so you didn’t have to pay for it.”
“Except she canceled the second night and stuck us with a late check out,” Marley said.
Shit, he was hoping she wouldn’t have to know about that.
Luke pressed the elevator button, trying to sound casual. “It’s okay, I called and paid for the second night before I left.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Marley said.
“I know, but I wanted to. You’d already had a rough one. So, if you want to stay and enjoy it—”
“No!” The two women shouted at the same time, then groaned simultaneously.
“Okay, all right, we’ll get the hell out of here,” Luke said, suppressing his laughter.
They stepped into the elevator, and Luke liked that Marley leaned her head on his shoulder with a sigh. “I am so tired.”
“I’m hungry,” Kendall chimed in.
Luke chuckled. “We can swing through a drive-through on our way home.”
“Sounds good,” Marley said, yawning.
As the elevator doors opened and they entered the lobby, Luke led them out into the parking garage. Once Kendall was settled in the back and Marley in the front, Luke did what he promised and pulled through the McDonalds drive-through for them.
“Greasy food is the best thing to combat a hangover,” he said.
Marley looked at him with a soft smile, and it was like basking in the glow of the sun.
“Thank you.”
Luke took her hand and didn’t release it the entire drive home.
Chapter 19
Marley walked into Something Borrowed on Sunday and headed straight back to Kelly’s office. She’d been expecting to get home last night and have a message on her answering machine from Kelly, telling her to get her butt into work so she could fire her in person, but there was nothing. It wasn’t like Kelly to avoid a problem.
As Marley passed by her office, she thought about the last seven years of working there. Although there had been some tough clients and times when she wished she didn’t have to always put on a happy face, it felt like she was leaving her home. The faces at Something Borrowed might change frequently, but she knew the business backwards and forwards. It was bittersweet to say good-bye.
Not to mention she was going to have to pay back the commission check on Sonora’s wedding. With only six days to go, that was a bitter pill to swallow.
She knocked on Kelly’s door.
“Come in!”
Marley opened the door with a tentative smile. “Hey Kelly, how are you?”
“I’m good.” Kelly tilted her head to the side, looking confused. “Shouldn’t you still be in Tahoe for the bachelorette party?”
It was Marley’s turn to be surprised. “Didn’t Sonora call you?”
“No, why would she?”
As Kelly waited expectantly for an answer, Marley’s brain scrambled to make sense of what was happening.
“Oh, just that I got food poisoning from one of those seafood buffets and had to come home early. I know we’re supposed to stay with our brides the whole time and keep an eye on them, but—”
“Marley, you can’t help getting sick and I’ve had food poisoning. I know how horrible it can be. Are you feeling any better?”
Marley had a feeling Kelly was asking since she’d walked in wearing yoga pants, a Harley T-shirt, and no make-up; not her usual business attire.
“I’m still a little queasy, but I couldn’t wait until tomorrow if you were upset with me.”
“Not at all. Things happen and you’ve done a fabulous job on this. Sonora sings your praises.”
That made Marley uneasy. “She does?”
“Yes, she says you’re so helpful and organized. She even said it feels like she’s known you forever.”
This is too reminiscent of a spider playing with a fly. What’s the catch?
“Well, great. I guess I’ll go home and rest then.”
Kelly stood up and came around the desk. When she took Marley’s hand and squeezed it, Marley was taken aback by the emotion in Kelly’s hazel eyes. “You take care of yourself, Marley. You know how much I need you.”
A lump of guilt lodged in Marley’s throat. Kelly wasn’t just her boss; she was her friend too. And she was lying through her teeth about everything, including Luke.
Just six more days and it will all be over. I can’t blow this.
“I promise I will.”
Marley walked out of Something Borrowed and once she was safely in her car, she dialed Sonora.
“Hello?”
“Sonora, it’s Marley.”
“I know, you’re programmed into my phone.”
Ignoring Sonora’s you’re an idiot tone, she pressed on. “I just wanted to apologize for Friday night, and thank you for not telling Kelly.”
“You think I did that because I like you or something?”
Marley could feel the muscle under her eye start twitching. “Actually, I have no idea why you did it.”
“Because as long as you work for me, you’re bound by confidentiality to keep your mouth shut. So, it behooves me to keep you on as my maid of honor.”
“Lucky me,” Marley muttered, but Sonora heard her.
“Oh, you have no idea how lucky you are. It would have been so easy to screw you over when you were passed out drunk with my idiot sister.”
Forgetting that she was supposed to be kissing Sonora’s ass, she snapped, “You mean stranding us and making us pay for an already booked hotel room wasn’t bad enough?”
“No. No, I could have left you passed out in our VIP booth. Who knows what would have happened while you were drunk and defenseless?”
Marley’s blood chilled. “You wouldn’t do that to anyone, even your worst enemy.”
“I’d do worse to an enemy. Thank your God or whatever you pray to that I find you just a mild annoyance.”
Sonora wasn’t just a self-centered bitch. She was psychotic.
“Now, we’re going to get through this week. I’m going to marry Brent and become his perfect little trophy wife. And you are going to help me every step of the way because that is what I’m are paying you to do. Right?”
“You mean your parents are paying me.”
Sonora hissed into the phone. “And they’ll snatch it all back if you screw this up. So shut the fuck up and do your job, or I will make you regret it.”
The call ended, probably because Sonora had hung up on her. Marley stared at the screen, her mind whirling.
This wasn’t what she had signed up for when she’d started at Something Borrowed. She hadn’t expected to get pulled into duping a perfectly nice man into marrying a heinous gold-digger.
With her hands shaking, she pressed on Luke’s name.
“Hey. How’s it going?” he asked.
“Oh, fine. Have you left for the airport yet?”
“Not yet. My flight doesn’t leave until five. I was actually hoping to spend a little more time with you before—”
“Yes. I’ll pick you up.”
* * * *
Luke knew there was something going on with Marley from the minute she picked him up. The car ride was pretty quiet and when they walked inside her place, she was on him before the door fully closed.
He caught her in his arms, and dipped his head so he could meet her lips. Her mouth moved hungrily, desperately under his and he didn’t fight it or t
ry to ask her what was wrong. He reached around and gripped the globes of her ass in his hands and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her back toward the bedroom. He half expected to step on her rabbit, who liked to get under his feet, but he made it to the edge of the bed safely.
He lowered her back onto the bed and pulled up enough to strip off his T-shirt.
“I swear, every time your shirt comes off, it’s like angels start singing in my ears,” she said, grinning.
Luke laughed as he tossed his shirt to the side and climbed onto the bed with her. “Oh yeah? So being with me is like a religious experience?”
“Easy tiger, I didn’t say that. Just meant I like your rippling pectorals.”
“Well, that’s a good thing.” He took the bottom of her T-shirt and pulled it up and over her head, determined to lighten her mood and keep her smiling. “Because I have to tell you, I like your pectorals too.”
Marley laughed, her “pectorals” jiggling above the cup of her blue bra. “They’re called breasts, dude.”
Luke bent over and kissed each one, following her when she lay back with a sigh. His lips trailed up over her collarbone and to the crook of her neck, where he nipped lightly.
The sensation of nails slicing across his back made him jerk up with a yowl and he twisted around to see what had happened.
“Are you okay?”
Luke finally spotted Butters at the head of the bed, his little nose twitching as he watched Luke with beady eyes.
“Bunny.”
Butter’s ear flicked, but he didn’t move.
“What did he do?” Marley asked, her voice laced with laughter.
“He jumped across my back and clawed the shit out of me.”
“Oh, poor baby. Let me see.”
He got up on his knees and turned his back toward her. He felt her fingers glide across his skin gently as she tsked behind him.
“He broke the skin, and there’s a little blood. I should probably clean them.”
She slid off the bed and went into the bathroom. While she was gone, Luke glanced over his shoulder at Butters, who had stretched out on his stomach, his paws straight out in front of him.