Alessia

“What’re you still doing here?” I asked my reflection in the foggy mirror. I had a million things I should be doing besides taking the most amazing shower ever, but that hadn’t stopped me from enjoying the heck out of the incredible water pressure and top-of-the-line hair and skin care products. Or the delicious breakfast and coffee Alec had provided. And the soft, fluffy robe I’d found hanging on the back of the door.

I lifted a hand to run my fingers through my hair, and the glint from the rings caught my eye. It was hard to believe that I’d really gotten married last night. To a stranger with only my sister there as a witness. Speaking of whom...

Flipping on the fan for sound to cover our conversation, I pulled my cell out of my purse and called my sister.

“Hey, you’re finally up! How was the wedding night?”

“Ariana,” I hissed. “You’re my sister. You’re supposed to watch out for me! Not encourage me to do something crazy like marry the first random guy who flirts with me.”

“Alec wasn’t the first guy who flirted with you. No way in hell would I have let you talk to, let alone marry, the guy who tried hitting on you when we first got there,” she retorted.

“Seriously? That’s your take on this situation? That I should be grateful that I didn’t marry the drunk asshole who hit on me first?” I scoffed.

“Umm, yeah. Have you seen your new hubby? It’s not like I let you marry a troll who lives under a bridge somewhere. In fact, Alec’s so far the opposite that you should be thanking me right now.”

I banged my head on the wall, but only once because it just reminded me that I had a headache from drinking too much the night before. “If he’s such a catch, why didn’t you marry him?”

“Because he only had eyes for you from the second he clocked you walking in the door of the club.”

“What?” I breathed.

“Working as a cocktail waitress, you learn to pay attention to your surroundings. Figure out who the high rollers might be so you can give them extra attention and rake in better tips,” she explained. “I noticed him right off the bat, and those baby blues of his were glued on you. But even if he hadn’t been crazy interested in you, I would never go there with a guy you looked at the way you did him.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear her answer, but I asked the question anyway. “How did I look at him?”

“Like he was Christmas morning, back when we were little kids and Mom and Dad were still together. The year they got us those matching pink bikes.”

Whoa. Tears filled my eyes at the happy reminder of how things had been for us before our father had left. Of memories my sister and I never talked about because it was hard to remember the bad without hating our father even more for walking away from us since our lives turned to crap afterwards.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” She sniffled, making me wonder if she was struggling not to cry too.

“Holy crap.”

“So do me a favor, will ya? I know it’s totally out of character for you to just go with the flow, but give Alec a chance. Spend some time getting to know him before you decide to divorce his ass just because you think it’s what you’re supposed to do.”

“I don’t think we’ll need a divorce. We can probably just go the annulment route.”

Ariana chuckled softly at my admission. “I guess that answers my original question about the wedding night.”

“I woke up in my dress and panties and didn’t remember how I ended up in his hotel room, so I’m going to have to say it wasn’t anything too memorable.” And oddly enough, I was slightly disappointed by it.

“Which just goes to show that your new hubby is a gentleman. Yet another reason you should keep him around.”

My sister could be incredibly stubborn when she wanted to, and I was the dummy who kept giving her ammunition to use to convince me that marrying Alec last night wasn’t a horrible decision. It was almost like I wanted her to be successful but didn’t want to admit it to myself. “He wants me to stay for the wedding today. Said the hotel was sending up some dresses so I’d have something to wear.”

“Clothing, food, and shelter. Alec’s taking on the role of your new hubby with flying colors.”

“How’d you know he fed me? I didn’t tell you about the room service he arranged while I was still sleeping.”

“I didn’t,” she laughed. “But I figured they’d serve something at the wedding reception.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh,” she parroted. “Seriously, sis. For once in your life, stop worrying and let Alec pamper you. You deserve it more than anyone else I know.”

“What about the apartment hunt?”

“I’ve got it under control.”

“And looking for a job”

“You’re a model employee, and they fired you. If worse comes to worse, you can file for unemployment or something.”

There wasn’t even a second’s pause between my questions and her replies. “You’re going to have an answer for everything, aren’t you?”

“Yup, so give up and admit defeat.”

“Fine,” I huffed. “I’ll go to the stupid, fancy wedding with Alec.”

“Yay!” she squealed. “Have fun today...and tonight. I forgot my keys when we went out last night so I used yours and forgot to put them back in your purse. And since I’ll be at work late and then probably out with friends afterwards, you might as well plan on staying with your hubby in his hotel room. Maybe even have the wedding night you missed out on last night. Love you! Bye!”

“Ariana!” Yelling her name didn’t do me a bit of good because she’d already hung up.

Then there was a soft tap on the door and Alec’s voice called out, “You okay in there?”

“Yeah, sorry,” I answered as I pulled the door open. “I was just talking to my sister and the call dropped. That’s all.”

“You want to call her back and make sure she’s okay?”

“Oh, she’s fine. Trust me,” I sighed. “Better than fine since I’m pretty sure she somehow maneuvered us into this whole situation.”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “And that’s a bad thing, why exactly?”

“You’re not bothered by the idea of my sister manipulating you into marrying me?”

He moved into the doorway to stand only inches away from me, making me acutely aware of the fact that I wasn’t wearing anything underneath the fluffy robe wrapped around my body. “Are you here with me now?”

“Yeah.”

“Would you have been here if she hadn’t talked us into going into that chapel last night?”

I shook my head slowly. “No.”

“I’m grateful to your sister for that. Not pissed.”

There didn’t seem to be a hint of doubt in his bright blue eyes. “You sure about that?”

“Hell yeah, I am.” He brushed his lips softly against mine, the barest of kisses...and the first one he’d given me. At least that I remembered.

“Was that our first kiss?”

“It’s our second,” he whispered, skimming his lips across mine again. “Your sister insisted on the first one, so we’d have a photo of us kissing at our wedding. But I kept it light because you were drunk and I didn’t want to take advantage.”

I burst into a fit of giggles, my head dropping against his chest while I tried to get ahold of myself. When his arms wrapped around me, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

“What’s so funny?” he murmured against the top of my hair.

I tilted my head back to look up at him. “You didn’t want to give me a real kiss because that would be taking advantage of me while I was drunk, but that didn’t stop you from marrying me?”

His eyes lit with humor as he laughed, making him even more gorgeous. “Well, when you put it that way, it does sound a little ridiculous. But in my defense, I wasn’t thinking clearly at the moment.”

“Because you’d been drinking too?”

He lowered his head and whispered against my lips, “No, because my reaction to you threw me for a loop.”

I liked that answer a heck of a lot more than the reason I’d suggested. “Then maybe we should have our first real kiss, here and now?”

“You’re determined to be the death of me, woman,” he growled, tugging me closer.

“Why?”

“Because you’re standing there”—he traced along the white cotton at my neck—“in what I’m guessing is nothing more than a robe and I’m not sure I have the willpower to get a real taste of your mouth and stop there. But for you, I’ll do my fucking best.”

His hand cupped my cheek and his mouth pressed lightly against mine at first. I felt a spark of desire with just that touch, and it deepened when our lips parted and his tongue brushed against mine. Our kiss quickly spiraled out of control, and I shuddered when he hauled me flush against his body and I felt his hardened length press against my lower belly.

“Whoa,” I panted after I pulled away.

“Come to the wedding with me.”

It was more a demand than a request, but after that kiss I didn’t care. “Okay.”

He pressed his lips softly against mine one last time and then stepped away to grab a few garment bags off the bed. “The dresses came while you were in the shower. Hopefully you’ll like one of them because we’re a little pressed for time.”

“How long do I have to get ready.”

He offered me an apologetic smile. “Thirty minutes, tops.”

“Thirty minutes!” I shrieked, grabbing the bags from him and rushing back into the bathroom.

“Sorry, beautiful,” he called out. “I wish I could give you longer, but we’ll be pushing it already.”

Had I known that I was going to need to rush, I wouldn’t have washed my hair. As it was, I only had enough time to blow it dry and pull it up in a twist at the back of my head. Luckily, my sister had included everything I needed for the up-do—further proof that she’d been plotting against me, or was it for me after that kiss, last night. She’d also packed some of her makeup, so I was able to do more than my usual powder, mascara, and lip gloss.

Once that was all done, I flipped through the garment bags I’d hung on the back of the door and grinned to myself when I noticed that none of them were what I’d been expecting Alec to pick for me after what I’d been wearing when we met last night. The dresses were all gorgeous and expensive. No plunging necklines that would show off my boobs. No micro-mini skirts that would bare most of my legs. They were...perfect. Just like I was starting to think Alec was.

Since dark green was one of my favorite colors, I picked that one and slipped it on. One of the bras I’d found in the bag Ariana had packed worked great with it, and the matching thong underwear didn’t leave a panty line. It was Vegas, so I didn’t worry about panty hose. And my black heels from the night before would work with the outfit—as long as I could find them.

“Do you know where my shoes are?” I asked as I walked out of the bathroom. I stopped mid-stride when I spotted Alec in his black suit with a blue tie that matched his eyes. “Wow. You look amazing. Do I have enough time to change dresses? There’s a blue one that would go perfectly with your tie.”

My cheeks filled with heat as soon as my brain caught up with what my mouth had just said. Yeah, I’d really just suggested that we should match outfits.

“You’re perfect in what you picked out,” he assured me. “I love how you look in green. It reminds me of what you were wearing when I first saw you.”

“Because that was oh-so long ago?” I joked.

“Hey, it’s not the quantity of the time that matters, it’s the quality.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Is that supposed to be along the same lines as size doesn’t matter?”

“Trust me, beautiful. You aren’t going to have any reason to complain about size.”

Remembering what he’d felt like pressed against me when we’d kissed, I couldn’t argue with his declaration. But any thoughts about the size of his dick were wiped from my mind when he pulled a black jewelry box out of his pocket. Then he flicked it open, and I saw the diamond ring resting inside, and any other thoughts I had about anything disappeared.

“One of my friends brought it to my attention this morning that size does matter when it comes to engagement rings, and so does the kind of stone set in them.” He reached out and tugged the rings he’d bought at the wedding chapel off my finger and dropped them onto the table next to us. “I made one other call this morning, to a jeweler. Lucky for us, this is Vegas and you can buy pretty much anything over the phone and have it delivered to your hotel room. They dropped these off while you were getting ready, and I was hoping you’d wear them.”

“Alec,” I gasped, stunned by his display of generosity. A decadent breakfast and a couple of dresses were one thing. A big diamond ring was something altogether different.

“I know we have important stuff to discuss. But no matter what we decide, I want you to at least wear this today. Please.”

“If it’s important to you, of course I’ll wear it,” I whispered.

He slid the rings on my finger, one after the other, and I had a flashback to the night before when he’d done the same thing with the inexpensive rings he’d bought at the chapel. My eyes watered at the memory and the rush of feelings it brought with it. “Don’t throw the other ones away, okay?”

His blue eyes jerked up to scan my face, and he gave me a jerky nod. “We’ll keep them with the photos. They should be ready for us to pick up in the next day or so.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing them.” I tugged at his arm when he took a step away from me. “But we can worry about that later. I don’t want to make us late for your friend’s wedding. I can imagine what they’re going to think of me after last night. I don’t want to add to that by making you miss the big event you came all this way for in the first place.”

“Don’t worry about my friends,” he assured me as I slid my heels on and took his arm for him to lead me out of the room and down the hall to the elevators. “You know how you felt like your sister tricked us into getting married last night?”

“Yeah, that’s not something I’m likely to ever forget.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close when the elevator stopped on another floor and two guys joined us inside. “Well, I wouldn’t have put it past my brother or my friends to have done the same once they saw the two of us together.”

“But that’s crazy!” I sputtered.

“Doesn’t stop it from being true.”

I was still trying to wrap my head around the idea of not having to worry about his friends and family judging me for the way we’d met when we snuck into the room and nabbed two seats in the back at the end of a row. The ceremony was beautiful, but meeting everybody afterwards was nerve-wracking. The guys were all insanely hot, and the women were beautiful. Plus, they all seemed comfortable in our luxurious surroundings, while I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb. And I couldn’t help but be more intimidated when I learned what each of the other women did when the conversation turned to work over drinks before the reception. The bride had recently left her job for a PR firm in Chicago to work for the Cavaliers. Ryan’s girlfriend was an Olympic gold medalist. And Alec’s sister-in-law, Josie, was a physical therapist who specialized in sports injuries.

“You have a PhD?” I asked Josie.

“Yeah, but just in physical therapy.” I appreciated how she tried to downplay her education, but it didn’t make me feel much better about my lack of one.

“My wife’s too modest,” Andrew said, pulling her closer to his side. “She graduated with honors and landed a job with the Cavaliers less than a month later.”

“So you work for Alec and Jason’s team too, then?” I asked her.

“Not anymore. As much as I loved my job there, the travel was a killer. It was already hard on my relationship with Andrew, and then we got pregnant”—she pressed a hand against her rounded belly and beamed a smile at me—“and I couldn’t stand the idea of being on the road with a baby at home.”

“Which meant she was actually happy when my crazy-ass brother handed her partial ownership in a sports clinic for her wedding present, instead of clobbering him over the head for his high-handedness,” Alec added.

As insane as it seemed, I guessed I didn’t have to feel guilty about the room service, dresses, and diamond ring Alec had bought me if his brother had gotten his wife a business as a gift.

“What is it that you do, Alessia?” Andrew asked.

“I’m a personal assistant. Or at least I was one up until yesterday. I had an issue with my boss, and...well...umm—”

Josie’s head tilted to the side while she studied me. “Was your boss a guy?”

“Yeah.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What kind of problem did you have with him?”

Alec and Andrew’s gazes zeroed in on me, too. I felt my cheeks fill with heat, and I looked down at my shoes as I tapped my toe against the floor.

“Alessia?” Alec growled.

“The kind that involves him being a jerk who thinks me saying no is grounds for firing me,” I admitted softly.

“How’d you know it was something like that?” Andrew asked his wife.

“Because it was obvious?” She waved her hand at me. “She was stammering and blushing like the question was embarrassing when it shouldn’t have been unless she did something horribly wrong at work, and I wasn’t getting that vibe from her. I mean, look at her. She’s gorgeous and sweet; exactly the kind of girl an asshole in a position of power would try to take advantage of.”

“You’re gorgeous and sweet, too.” Andrew turned his wife in his arms and tilted her chin back so she was looking up in his face. “Was that how you guessed? Because some asshole tried the same thing with you?”

“Down boy,” she laughed as she patted his chest. “My job with the Cavaliers was my first real one. And as nuts as it drove me because my job should have been separate from my private life, everyone there knew to treat me with kid gloves or else you’d kick their ass.”

I let out a little sigh at how obviously in love Andrew and Josie were. Alec bent low to whisper into my ear, “I’m going to need you to tell me whose ass I need to kick.”

Wow. It seemed like Josie wasn’t the only one with a husband who was fiercely protective of their wife. If Alec kept making me weak in the knees with his romantic gestures, I just might have to consider keeping him like he—and my sister—had suggested.