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I had to stand strong and get through it. Just like everything else in my life.
“Thank you,” I said breathlessly.
“Can I help you with anything else?” she asked.
I grabbed the second pill I’d have to take in ten hours and shoved it into my purse. I shook my head at her before I walked away, mindlessly wandering down the aisles of the drug store. I didn’t want to go back to the car. I didn’t want to slide in next to Everett. I wanted to book a flight and go home. I wanted to get back to my kids. Back to the youth center. Back to when things weren’t as complicated as they were right now.
In Vegas.
I finally found my way out of the store and Everett stepped out of the car. He reached for my arm and guided me in, helping me to settle down on the seat. My head fell against the cushions of the car as my mind drifted off. I thought about what my kids were doing. How the youth center was getting along with me. I thought about the rest of the summer and how much work I still had to do in order to coordinate summer activities. I thought about our budget. I ran numbers in my head. I thought about anything and everything that had nothing to do with this damn vacation Jessica had talked me into.
It wasn’t until I felt something warm slip into the palms of my hands. And when I looked down, the biggest and most fragrant cup of coffee sat against my skin.
“Enjoy,” Everett said.
Tears rose to my eyes again as I looked over at him. He brought his iced coffee to his lips and sipped, studying me as I sat there. He promised me coffee, so he got me coffee. A man of his word, no matter how small. I was beginning to see Everett Wilder in a completely different light. He wasn’t the man I had run into on the street that day. He wasn’t the womanizing plague I had assumed he would have been. He was kind. Strong. Considerate. Virile. Primal in his ways with sex but caring in his love for those around him.
He would make a great husband one day to someone who deserved him.
Fuck. I had never chugged hot coffee so fast in all my life.
FOURTEEN
Everett
If the morning wasn’t enough of a rush, the second I dropped Andrea off at her room I heard a door open. I rushed over to mine and dug out my key, then slammed myself in before anyone got a good look at me. Fuck. None of this was good. And I didn’t even want to get started on the look Andrea had given me in the car just before she chugged her coffee.
It was a mixture of regret and wonder. Like she was debating between hating me and accepting our reality. But I had to have imagined it, right? There was no way in hell with the way she had reacted to the news that she actually wanted to be married or have anything to do with me. And I wanted nothing to do with any of this. I had a plan for my life. A plan that didn’t include a wedding I couldn't remember or a surprise child. I raked my hand through my hair before I made my way for the bathroom.
I needed a cold shower.
I stripped myself of my clothes and hopped in. I turned on the water as cold as I could stand it and allowed it to pour over my body. Now, we had to act like nothing was going on and pray someone at the hotel didn’t out us. This was going to be fun. I also had lawyers to call. Well, lawyer
s to leave messages with. No one would be in their office on a random Saturday afternoon. And if they were, I’d have to pay a pretty penny to get them to see me on such short notice.
An action that wouldn't go unnoticed by my brothers.
Nope. The safest route was to leave messages and then take calls in my own damn home when we got back. Which was fine. If I hired the right lawyers to represent both of us, neither of us would have to travel back. We could leave everything the way it was when we came in, they could fax us the information, we both could sign it, then the lawyers could appear in court for us in Vegas. Neither of us would have to get back on a plane and fly out in order to resolve the issue.
Then, there was the issue of resolving it in the first place.
That one immediate thought I’d had kept sticking with me. I don’t know what possessed me to think it, but I couldn’t shake it. My initial reaction to the idea of being married was a tick beyond nonchalance. It wasn’t until Andrea began to panic that I panicked as well. At least, it was when I saw all of the consequences our decision could have had. But just the idea of being married to Andrea? I didn’t balk at it the way I thought I should. It was wrong, and we still didn’t need to be married.
But I couldn't honestly say I regretted it.
I shook the thought from my mind. My body shivered in the icy cold water as I washed myself down. I needed to wake up. I needed to screw my head on straight. Because something told me Andrea wouldn’t. Something told me she would panic for the rest of this damn trip, which meant I had to hold her down so she didn’t blow a gasket herself. I turned off the water and reached for a towel, then stepped out and looked in the mirror.
And the red marks against my skin had me entranced.
I walked toward the bathroom counter and traced my fingers along their tracks. They were down my chest. Down my abs. Down my fucking back. If anything, I hated that I couldn't remember them. I hated that I couldn't remember Andrea clinging to me that desperately or raking at me that hard because of my cock. What a memory those would have left behind. I felt my girth pulsing to life and I shook my head. Now was not the time to get riled up. I had to keep my cool.
“Hey! Everett!”
Lucas’ voice barreled through my hotel room door before he started banging on it with his fist.
“Get up! We’re all going gambling!”
I rolled my eyes as I made my way for the door. I ripped it open and watched Lucas shield his eyes.
