Blake

 

Blake rubbed a hand over the stubble along his jaw. He felt dirty. Just the presence of Lido Ali made him want to scrub with an SOS pad and that off-brand stuff Serenity used to grumble about and clean the tub with after Isaac’s peewee football.

Had he crossed a line? He wondered as Lamb carried Lido into the adjoining bedroom. He was at the Waldorf Astoria with the sister of the woman he was madly in love with! The conflict was damn near eating him up.

This was all for Mila. Albeit, if the paparazzi knew he was at a five-star hotel with Mila’s sister a before their nuptials, no amount of explaining would help. It was either him being a psycho kidnapper or . . . who was he fooling? It was probably more believable that she was his mistress.

Never. Blake had a good thing and screwing it up was the furthest thing from his mind.

Lido’s arm flopped down along the side of the bed as Lamb laid her onto the feather duvet.

“How long will she be out?” Blake asked.

“Skinny as she is, I’d say half the night.”

“Good. Keep her here until tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

“I had a discussion with the pilot before we left. He will be discreet. For now, I’ll fly commercial home.” Blake glanced over to Lido. Getting as far away from her as possible was his top priority. 

“The rehearsal dinner isn’t for a few days. That’s the first time you bring her out to show her around. Once she wakes up, threaten her. No laying a hand on her. You’ll have to be creative. Force her to understand that you mean business. Then head on to Shanghai.”

Lamb scoffed. “This one doesn’t seem to understand without a good thrashing. I’ll do my best.”

Stuffing his hands into his slacks, Blake headed toward the door. He stopped and turned around. “Any update on Welsh?”

“What happened to the less you know?”

“When, at least? I’d be a lot more comfortable knowing when.”

“You can’t be accused of committing murder with a guest list of fifty people watching you get married, now can you?” Lamb winked.

***

It was a hustle and bustle as people moved around John F Kennedy airport. Blake had grown accustomed to private jet landing strips, now he fought through a line for South West, which had the first opening for LAX.

His cell phone rang.

“Where are you, bro?” Isaac asked.

“Oh shit.” In his haste to clear at least a thousand miles away from Lido, Blake had forgotten that tonight was his own bachelor party.

“Talk to me, Blake? Where you at? When the sun goes down, what I have prepared for you is wall to wall tits, ass, bouncing everywhere. So, don’t give me ‘oh shit,’ ” Isaac said.

“I don’t need strippers.” He scanned the monitor. He tuned out Isaac’s response while searching which airline offered the next flight to St. Louis instead.

***

Blake’s bachelor party ended up being a blast from the past. Isaac rounded up about five of the guys from their old stomping grounds. The old friends had connected with one other groomsman not from Blake’s childhood, Jace.

The group had started off bar hopping, tossing back the cheapest beers and following it up with hot wings and baskets of fries.

“I still can’t believe it. We’ve traveled the whole world basically, and now, you’re settling down.” Jace shook his head, holding the neck of his import beer bottle. He patted Blake’s back.

“Shit, you’re giving up Bambi,” Isaac said, tweaking the blonde’s nipple before him. “We have Asia here, a little South of the Border over there.” He cocked his head to the Latina with nipple tassels.

“I've acquired a selective taste that’s only satiated by one woman,” Blake replied.