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it was empty.
She had no clothes in there? Did she bring just the few items from the closet? That couldn’t be right. Then I realized and strode over to the dresser. I lived out of suitcases; I couldn’t remember the last time I’d ever unpacked anything. I slid open the top drawer.
It was overflowing with lingerie and skimpy undergarments. Oh fuck. I slammed the drawer shut. I couldn’t paw around in Lacey’s underwear. It would be pervy.
I backed away from the drawer and then sat on the bed next to the empty suitcase. It all hit me at once. Lacey. The pictures. Waking up with her in bed with me. The receipt.
I pulled the piece of paper out of my wallet and unfolded it. I read it and reread it a few times, making sure I wasn’t mistaken. Las Vegas Marriage License Bureau. I paid the fee with my credit card. Last night at 1:36 a.m.
There was no doubt that we applied for a marriage license. But why? As a joke? Or was there something more behind it?
We could have gotten married last night. Actually married. Lacey could be my wife.
I’d done a lot of fucked up things in my life. I had a baby and didn’t even know who his mother was. Now, I’d gotten married? I waited for the sheer panic to set in. Sitting back, I waited some more. I wasn’t panicked, even though somehow I’d managed to stumble through life and obtain a kid and wife by accident. The kid turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. And Lacey?
I always had some unresolved feelings for her after our three-way with Sid. I brushed it off as a weird, competitive thing with Sid. Maybe there was some jealousy involved.
But I couldn’t deny that I did like Lacey. I was attracted to her; what was there not to like? At first, I thought she was just a party girl, but I’d seen so much more over the years. She was a high-powered shark at her job and garnered the respect of the entire music industry. When Kaylie most needed help, she’d been a compassionate friend, and now they were best friends. She’d co-founded a charity, launching it with her own money and working tirelessly to help others in need. And she was a sex goddess. There was no disputing that.
I lusted after her, but I genuinely liked her as a person. I didn’t want this mistake to get between us. What if she never wanted to see me again? I didn’t want to lose her as a friend. Fuck, I was so confused about it all.
Grabbing my phone, I opened up the pictures we took last night. I scrolled through them, studying each one after the other. Yeah, her dress had ridden up and shown off her gorgeous ass in one of the photos, but I passed by that one quickly. It was the other photos that had my gut clenching. There was something about the way I was looking at her. I was drunk out of my mind, but I looked happy. I looked like I was in love.
Feeling uncomfortable looking at them, I quickly closed the app and stood up to finish packing up her stuff. I had a plane to catch.
Fitting all the clothes that were in the three drawers into her suitcase was going to be a problem. Did she go shopping while she was here? How could they have all fit in there? Plus, there were the clothes hanging in the closet and three pairs of shoes and two pairs of flip-flops.
After 15 minutes of folding, refolding, and trying to stuff everything into the suitcase, I decided that I’d have to stuff some of the outfits and a pair of glittery high heels into my own suitcase. I packed as much as I could and then threw the drawerful of lingerie on top without looking at any of it.
I was proud of my accomplishment until I poked my head into the bathroom. Fuck, there were toiletries everywhere! I found her toiletry bag in the vanity beneath the sink and it was way too small for the explosion of makeup and lotions. What the hell? How was this possible?
I didn’t have the patience. I put all the makeup-looking stuff, the tiny brushes, and personal care items into the bag until it was full. Pilfering an empty garbage bag from one of the trash cans, I filled it with the rest of the bigger bottles of goop, her curling wands, and multiple hair brushes. Christ, then there was a bag that held jewelry. And where would all these bags go? There was no room in the suitcase. It was a fucking mystery how she hauled all this shit here. Maybe I should go down to the lobby and buy her a bigger suitcase?
It had taken me way longer than I expected to pack up all her stuff and check her out of the room. By the time I was finally done, I’d broken out into a sweat. It was strangely intimate touching all of her stuff, but hell, she could be my wife. There was nothing more intimate than that.
I looked like a hobo as I hauled her suitcase and all the extra bags of crap back to my room. She was still sleeping in bed when I got back to the room.
I grabbed the bag of food and drinks I’d bought for her and sat on the edge of the bed near her. “Lacey, how are you feeling?”
She let out a long rumbling groan, so at least I knew she was alive.
“That good, huh? You can stay here tonight. I checked you out of your room and your assistant is going to text your new flight details. I’ve got to leave soon to catch my flight.”
She moaned again, but it was a lot shorter this time.
“I’d like you to eat and drink a little before I leave. It’ll make you feel better.”
Her head turned on the pillow to face me, but her eyes remained closed. “No, I can’t. I don’t want to vomit again.”
“You threw up? You’re going to get dehydrated if you don’t drink. I brought you a sports drink so you can get some electrolytes. Sit up and take a sip.”
It took some convincing, but I was able to get her to drink a few sips and eat two crackers before she collapsed back on the pillow.
I was worried about her. Her hands were still shaking, and she said her head still hurt. I had to leave soon if I was going to make my flight and be home in time to tuck Kody into bed.
My head and stomach were both feeling better, but I was exhausted. Traveling right now would suck. Before I could talk myself out of it, I went out into the hall and called my parents. They were happy to watch Kody for another night. Then I canceled my flight. Before I headed back into the room, I opened up the pictures of Lacey and me. They made me uncomfortable, but I couldn’t stop looking at them. I sent them all to myself in an email in case she ever demanded that I delete them. I needed to keep them, and I didn’t want to think about why.
When I got back in the room, I left my T-shirt and basketball shorts on and climbed into the bed. It was a king-sized bed, so I could nap without bothering Lacey. Like a gentleman, I kept my distance.
