Chapter 5
Nina
I forced myself to blink my eyes open, and the soft stream of light I was confronted with nearly blinded me. I had barely even moved my head, and I felt a throbbing ache at the back of my head. I was disoriented and suddenly filled with a rush of panic when I tried to wriggle myself and found that I had someone’s arm wound over me, over my breasts.
Feeling claustrophobic and panicked, I pushed against the body and when my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw that it was Cole Emery. Memories of the previous night came hurling back, as I tried to escape his steel grip. He hadn’t moved, not even when I pushed against him.
We were still in the hotel room and I looked about me, finally managing to sit up in the bed. I looked down and saw that I was fully clothed, as was he. My brows crossed instinctively. How had we ended up here again? Hadn’t we left the hotel room to go get drinks?
Cole moved lazily, with his eyes still pressed shut. I was embarrassed again. I’d spent the night with him, and Cole hadn’t appeared to be the kind of man who encouraged women to sleep over. I had definitely over stepped my boundaries. When I tried to swing my legs over the edge of the bed, my head felt like it was going to burst. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt this hungover.
Cole moved his arm and finally opened his eyes. Bloodshot gray eyes, messy dark hair, a stubble that had grown darker overnight. He was handsome and dripping with raw sexuality, and my cheeks flushed with the memory of how we had sex against the glass wall the previous night.
“Hey,” he mumbled and straightened himself up. I stood up from the bed and started smoothening my crumpled dress.
“Morning. Rough night,” I said, still feeling embarrassed. He fluffed up a pillow and sat against it, reaching for the filled glass of water on the bedside table. We had slept with our bodies wound together and I wondered how much of it he remembered.
“You can say that again,” he said after he had finished drinking. I ran my fingers through my fluffed up curls and knew that I looked a mess. I didn’t even want to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror because I was afraid of what I might find there.
Cole’s shirt was looking crumpled too, and I noticed that his belt and jacket were lying discarded on the carpet, next to my shoes. I walked over to them and started putting them on.
“Hey, hold up,” I heard him say and looked up at him with a confused expression on my face. Cole only stared at me, with his eyes narrowed and his mouth pressed firmly together. Something told me that he was about to apologize and I didn’t need him to. I had made every decision with a clear mind. I didn’t want him to say sorry and explain how we could never see each other again. I wanted him to spare me the apology.
I straightened myself up and gulped, then shook my head.
“You don’t have to explain. I’ll see myself out,” I said, and another image of Cole driving into me from behind flashed through my head. My fingers tingled with the memory of the sensation of my orgasm.
“Explain what? We need to discuss this before you leave,” Cole said, sitting up straight with his dark brows crossed. I was confused again. He hadn’t struck me as the kind of guy who had an inclination towards discussing feelings!
“Discuss what?” I asked and crossed my arms over my breasts.
“Last night,” he said and I gawked at him some more. He wasn’t offering any explanations either.
“We had sex. It was a one night thing. I get it. I didn’t expect anything more,” I snapped, feeling the color rising in my cheeks again.
“You don’t remember?” Cole said, clenching his square jaws at me.
“Remember what exactly? Of course I remember. I just said that I get it. We had sex and I have to leave you alone now,” I said, feeling that throbbing aching sensation at the back of my head return.
“Not the sex. I mean, what happened when we went out again,” he said and now, he threw off the covers from his waist and placed his long feet on the carpet.
“What happened? What are you talking about?” I asked, taking a few steps away from him. I hadn’t given my lack of memory much thought till then. I figured that we had gone out for a few more drinks, come back to the hotel and fallen asleep.
Cole took in a deep breath, looked down towards his lap and then looked up at me again. His eyes told me that he was suffering as heavy a hangover as I was. Was he just talking gibberish?
Then he moved his arm, and held up his hand in front of his face. I saw it clearly now. The cheap thin brass band around his ring finger. My brows crossed as I tried to assimilate the information. My hand raised itself instinctively and I stared down. An identical ring was on my finger too, and my mouth fell open.
“What?” I shrieked and I fisted my hand.
“And that,” Cole said, and when I looked up at him again, I saw that he was grinning. He had tipped his head to the side and I looked in that direction, at the full length mirror at the other end of the room.
A marriage certificate was stuck to the mirror, supported by a fridge magnet. A certificate that pronounced Cole Emery and Nina Philips as man and wife. Of all the years of living in Vegas, I had to pick this night to have a shotgun wedding with a stranger!