Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
“What the fuck?” Riley woke up disoriented and thirsty, and her head was pounding. All of that was pretty common for a Sunday morning. What was not common was a nearly naked Aaron spooning her in bed.
“Good morning, Riley,” he said, as if he didn’t have a concern in the world. As if there was no reason she should be freaking out. She wiggled a little, hoping to break free of his embrace, but stopped immediately when something hard brushed against her ass.
“What is that?” she asked when he chuckled. It was obvious he didn’t give a shit his cock was fully erect and nudging her lower regions through the thin cotton layer provided by his boxers.
“Somebody else’s way of saying good morning.”
She lifted the sheets an inch or two and glanced down, only mildly relieved to discover she was in her bra and panties. If they’d fooled around, she would have been naked, right? He wouldn’t have his boxers on. Right? Holy shit, please let that be right.
He pulled her back closer to his bare chest and she stiffened at the idea of being cuddled, in bed, by Aaron. That they’d hugged thousands of times in the past twenty years was inconsequential, especially considering that during those platonic embraces they’d always been dressed…and standing up.
“This is Las Vegas,” she mumbled, glancing around the hotel room.
“It sure is.”
“I thought I came to Vegas with Trevor.” She closed her eyes and tried to force her mushy brain to remember the previous evening. Hell, she’d be happy to remember the night before last.
That’s it. I’m never drinking again.
“You did come with Trev. I followed you.” Aaron’s grip on her waist tightened briefly before his hand moved, his fingers roaming suggestively on her stomach.
Oh shit. Aaron stroking her skin should not feel so good. Had he always been this muscular? This built? This sexy? His typically short black hair had gotten longer in the last few months, and she wondered what it would feel like to run her fingers through it. She was suddenly having very impure thoughts about her best friend. She forced herself to ignore his touches as she tried to remember what he’d said.
“Why did you follow me?”
“I was worried about you, Riley. You took off with Trevor. He’s not exactly known for his intellect or sobriety.”
“Where is Trev?” She prayed he wasn’t in the room as well.
“Last time I saw him, he was heading for a hotel room with some hooker named Bella.”
“Riiiiight.” She dragged out the word, trying to recall if she’d actually met this Bella chick.
“You don’t remember that?” His hand paused an inch above her panty line and she was two seconds away from suggesting he move it just a bit farther south. She loved morning sex.
Fuck! This is Aaron. Stop it, Riley.
“I don’t remember the hooker,” she admitted.
“What do you remember?”
She took a deep breath and forced herself to roll to her back. She needed to see his face, wanted to read his expressions in some vain hope of figuring out what the hell was going on. He allowed her to turn but his hand never left her body. She tried to calm her racing heart at the feeling of his palm resting against her bare skin.
“I remember landing in Vegas and hitting the strip. There were these blue drinks at a bar. After that, it gets kinda hazy.”
“Blue drinks?” he asked, his chocolate-brown eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
“You weren’t there for those?”
He shook his head, unconcerned. “I must have missed the blue drinks. I made it in time for the good stuff though.”
His sleep-tousled hair sent her body into overdrive, as did his husky morning voice. Christ, she was totally attracted to him.
To Aaron.
Maybe she was still drunk and the alcohol was affecting her brain. His hand started to caress her stomach again and she brought hers down quickly to halt his movements.
Time to bite the bullet. Ask the most important question.
“Why are you in bed with me?”
Aaron grinned. “Where else would I be?”
“Ordinarily I would say at home, cussing me and my wild schemes. But at the very least, given that we’re not in Baltimore, you should be in your own hotel room.”
He chuckled. “Well, I guess I don’t have to worry about your wild schemes anymore—or the separate hotel rooms.”
“Why is that?” A strong sense of impending trouble suffused her as she asked the question. Some part of her knew instinctively she didn’t want to hear the answer.
He lifted her left hand up with his and pointed to a thick silver band on her ring finger.
“What the fuck is that ?”
“Your wedding ring. We’re married.”
“The hell we are!”
He shrugged off her heated denial with a good-natured smile and her arousal vanished in an instant, replaced by the need to hit something or someone. She narrowed her eyes, wondering what it would feel like to punch him in the stomach. No doubt that would shrink Mr. Happy back to a manageable size. As it was, she was finding it very difficult to think with his cock poking her in the hip with every breath she took.
“Can’t you put that thing away?” she yelled, pointing at his hard-on.
“Away…or in?”
She gasped at the thought. “I have to get out of here.” She started to rise but Aaron quite efficiently managed to stop her, moving over her and pinning her to the bed with his hips and hands. She was completely trapped, surrounded by his hard flesh.
“No more running away, Riley.”
She placed her palms against his chest, intending to shove him off, but his words halted her actions. “What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t run away.”
“All you do is run. You aren’t going to escape this so easily.”
She tried to assimilate this man, this Aaron, with the man who’d been her gentle best friend for over two decades. “Escape what?”
“Our marriage.” He punctuated his words with a slow, firm thrust of his erection against the vee of her legs.
“We aren’t married.”
He grinned. “We are very, very married. I have the marriage license and the DVD to prove it.”
“DVD?”
“I figured some of the details might be hazy for you. Besides, it’s a nice keepsake. Something we can show our kids.”
“Okay, that’s it.” She pushed against his chest, desperate to break free of his overwhelming presence. She’d never felt so thoroughly surrounded. “You’re going to have to shut the hell up. If we did get married, I was drunk and it was a mistake. One we can take care of if you would just let me up.” When he failed to budge, her shoves turned to slaps. “Get off me!”
He shook his head and lowered until he was supporting his upper body with his elbows, rather than his hands. His chest crushed her breasts and his lips were less than an inch from hers. She felt a slight tremor rumble through her. She wanted to believe it was based on fear, but she was pretty sure it had everything in the world to do with arousal. He was pushing all her hot buttons with this caveman posturing.
Aaron had never taken charge of any aspect of their friendship, content to let her lead the way in all things. Feeling his power over her sent a rush of heat to every part of her body.
His eyes narrowed angrily and she felt a strange sense of pleasure at having knocked some of the damn annoying happiness out of him. “Our marriage was not a mistake and I don’t ever want to hear you say that again.”
She closed her eyes, his breath hot on her cheek. It was taking every ounce of strength in her body not to move her lips the little baby inch it would take to touch his. “Please be reasonable,” she said. “This can’t work.”
“Why not?”
She sighed. “We’re too different.”
“That hasn’t stopped us from being friends—best friends—for over twenty years.”
“There’s a helluva lot more to marriage than just friendship, sugar.” The moment the words crossed her lips, she knew she’d made a mistake.
“That’s right. There is.” He pressed his cock against her suddenly damp panties again. Jesus, she wished he’d stop doing that. It was all she could do not to invite him in and damn the cost.
“You know, you’re coming very close to losing that thing.” She wished the threat didn’t sound so weak.
“I wouldn’t mind losing it for a while—inside you.”
“Ugh.”
He laughed at her feigned disgust. “Last night you begged me to kiss you good night.”
“I was drunk.”
He moved forward slowly until their noses nearly touched. “Don’t you want to know about the kiss?”
“No, and you shouldn’t be bragging about taking advantage of an intoxicated woman. If my brothers were here, they’d kick your ass.”
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with kissing a woman if she’s your wife and it’s your honeymoon.”
“Oh shit. We had sex, didn’t we?” She racked her brain, trying to recall some small part of the previous night. How could she sleep with her best friend and not remember it?
Aaron started to move his hips, rubbing his cock suggestively against her covered pussy. She fought to ignore how good it felt. He leaned closer, his breath scorching her cheek as his lips moved toward her ear. “No,” he whispered. “We didn’t have sex.”
Relief claimed her, but it was short-lived when his fingers twined in her hair and he directed her face toward his.
“And I still owe you the kiss,” he murmured a moment before his lips claimed hers.
Christ, claimed was right. Riley had never been kissed so passionately in her life. Aaron’s mouth moved over hers, demanding, taking, possessing. He pushed her lips apart, his tongue plunging into her mouth to explore. His fingers tightened around her curls, controlling her movements, putting her where he wanted her. Her brain wanted to resist but it was powerless to control her hyper-aroused body. The kiss seemed to last for hours and for a moment, Riley considered the fact she’d wasted years of her life kissing assholes while this champion kisser was standing next to her all along.
When Aaron finally pulled back, she was surprised to discover her hands were wrapped around his neck, holding him to her.
“Fuck.” She’d never felt so confused; so conflicted and torn. This was Aaron. This was wrong.
“Okay,” he said, and she laughed. She couldn’t help it. His goofy, good-natured attitude always managed to cheer her up.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Does that mean we can have sex?” he asked.
“Can we wait until my hangover goes away? I really can’t think straight right now.”
He nodded, placing a quick kiss on the end of her nose. He moved back to her side, pulling her until her head rested on his bare chest. She wasn’t used to him being so controlling. She wished it wasn’t turning her on so much.
“Maybe we should get up,” she suggested, even though she didn’t move. Her head hurt too badly. Besides, she was comfy and warm.
“Not yet,” he said. “Just rest awhile.”
They lay in companionable silence for several minutes and Riley had just about let the slow pounding of his heart lure her back to sleep when there was a knock at the door.
“Ignore it,” she said sleepily. “Maybe they’ll go away.”
Aaron gently moved her aside and stood up. “I don’t think you want me to ignore this visitor.”
“Aaron, I’m half naked and hung over. Believe me, there is no one I want to see.” She pulled the covers over her head as he yanked on his jeans and walked to the door.
She listened from under the blanket as he spoke to someone. She couldn’t make out what was said, but she heard Aaron say thanks and shut the door again. She lowered the covers a little bit to peer out, surprised to find him holding a McDonald’s bag for her to see.
She sat up quickly, grabbing her head as her too-fast movement sent a sharp pain through her temple. “Ouch. Damn head. Is that what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s one Riley Collins Hangover Cure, then yep, it’s what you think.”
“How the hell did you get McDonald’s delivered through room service?”
“It’s Vegas. You can get anything if you’re willing to pay. I bribed one of the bellhops last night when we got in. Promised him a big tip if he would pick it up and deliver it.”
He handed her the bag and she pulled out the still-warm hash brown, holding it as if it were a precious treasure. “Manna from heaven.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
She looked up, delighted when he pulled a drink from behind his back.
“Diet Coke?” she asked.
“Would I get you anything else?”
“Oh, Aaron, you are too good to me.”
He laughed. “You’re an easy woman to please. Couple of hash browns and a soda.”
“No better food on earth the day after a long party. I can’t believe you went to so much trouble.”
“You’re worth it.”
She took the drink from him and looked away quickly, afraid to let him see how much his words were affecting her. He said nice things to her all the time. Aaron always did sweet, thoughtful things. Now, however, his actions seemed more apparent, more important. She had no doubt he meant for them to stay married. The thought he wanted such a thing blew her away. He’d never come on to her, never flirted with her, never made her believe they’d ever be anything more than friends. Overnight, somehow, all that had changed and she couldn’t figure out how to feel about it.
“Are you going to eat that or try to stare it into your stomach?”
“Why do you want to be married to me?” she asked.
If Aaron was taken aback by her question, it didn’t show. He sat beside her on the bed and shrugged. “There are a lot of reasons why, Riley.”
“Name a few.”
“We’re compatible. We have fun together. You’re damn easy on the eyes.”
She snorted. “You think I’m pretty?”
“Hell yeah. I think you’re gorgeous.”
“Since when?” she asked with a laugh. “In middle school, you called me Metal Mouth.”
“You had braces. Besides, that was years ago. You can’t hold me accountable for mean nicknames I used when I was eleven. If I recall correctly, you called me Aaron Dung.”
“Oh my God. I forgot about that. You gotta admit that was a pretty good one, Young.”
“Yeah well, we’ll call that argument a draw.” He reached over and ran his finger down her cheek and she could see in his eyes he meant what he said about finding her attractive.
“Liking someone’s looks isn’t a real solid basis for a marriage, sugar.”
“I wasn’t finished giving you my reasons. You can cook. You’re smart. You’ll make one helluva good mother and I want to fuck you so bad it hurts.”
Riley opened her mouth to respond, but no words would come.
“Left you speechless, eh?” he asked. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
“You can’t be serious,” she said when she finally found her voice.
“My cock’s been knocking on those lace panties all morning, Riley.” As he spoke he pointed at his erection, clearly visible through the denim of his jeans. “What did you interpret that as? Mild interest?”
“Guys always wake up with hard-ons. I just thought it was testosterone.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “If that were the case it would have deflated after a few minutes. I’m feeling lightheaded from the fact all the blood in my body has been hanging out south of the border for nearly an hour.”
“Sounds painful.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Wanna kiss it better?”
She was saved from answering when someone else knocked on the door. “More hash browns?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Probably the maid.” He rose and opened the door. Riley only had a moment to pull the covers up before Johanna Blankenship, Trev’s estranged wife, came running into the room with a baseball bat.
“Son of a bitch!” she yelled as she stormed straight toward the bed. “Where is he? The cheating bastard! Fucking man whore! I’m gonna bash his brains in!”
“Whoa, Jo. Take it easy,” Aaron said, and she turned, swinging the bat. He dodged out of the way, escaping a nasty hit by inches.
“Oh. Sorry, Aaron. I thought you were Trev.”
“Jesus, Johanna. Put the bat down,” Riley said. “You’re gonna hurt somebody with that thing.”
Johanna spun, her fury finding a new victim as she approached the bed. “Don’t you lecture me, you filthy home wrecker.” Jo raised the bat but before she could bring it down, Aaron grabbed the weapon and the woman from behind.
Riley felt her temper snap at the woman’s near assault and dropped the sheet, rising up on her knees, despite the fact she was only in her bra and panties. “Home wrecker? Are you kidding me? You seriously think I’d want that dumbass husband of yours?”
“Riley.” Aaron struggled to hold on to Johanna, who was screeching obscenities and struggling to get free. “Maybe now’s not a good time to throw around insults.”
“Dumbass? How dare you call my husband stupid!”
“Well, you just called him a man whore,” Riley retorted.
“I can call him anything I want. He’s my husband—and you ran off to Vegas with him, knowing full well he has a wife at home! Bet you didn’t count on your sister telling me where to find you!”
Riley made a mental note to kill Keira later. “Oh for pity’s sake, I did not run off with Trev.”
“Then why are you nearly naked in that bed?” Johanna asked, while Aaron retained his death grip on her arm and the bat.
“Because I was asleep . Besides, if you look around, I think you’ll notice your husband isn’t in this room.”
Riley’s comment seemed to penetrate and the wind left Johanna’s sails. Jo turned around and Riley fought back a groan as Trev’s gossip-loving wife took in Aaron’s state of undress before turning back to study her again with a smirk.
“Don’t look at me like that, Johanna,” she warned. “It’s not what you think.”
“Of course it is,” Aaron interjected. “Riley and I eloped last night. You actually caught us in the middle of our honeymoon, so if you don’t mind?—”
Aaron’s comments, rather than sparking Johanna’s nosy interest, released an onslaught of loud sobs. For several moments, he stood speechless as Johanna bawled inconsolably.
“What did I say?” he asked Riley.
“This is not helping my headache,” Riley replied.
“Could you try to have a little compassion?” Aaron wrapped an arm around Johanna’s shoulder.
Riley rolled her eyes in response but the gesture sent another stab of pain through her temple. Johanna had tried to take her head off with a baseball bat and insulted her intelligence. Aaron could be compassionate if he wanted, but Riley was feeling a bit low on that emotion.
“Me and Trev eloped t-too,” Johanna stammered, the words hard to understand through her crying. “We drove over to Paw Paw, West Virginia, where his uncle was the justice of the peace, and then we went to his family’s hunting cabin for our honeymoon. It was deer season and he gave me a new rifle as a wedding gift.”
“Romantic,” Riley muttered, but she shut up when Aaron sent her a dirty look. He led Jo to the single chair in the room.
If there was one thing Aaron was a sucker for, it was tears. Riley had teased him mercilessly over the years for what she called his Achilles heel. If a woman wanted to get his attention, she merely had to pour on the waterworks. He had dated crazy Louise Perkins for six months longer than he’d wanted to during his junior year in high school, simply because she cried every time he suggested they break up. Riley had finally intervened, convincing Louise she’d be much happier dating Chuckie Haines.
“Please don’t get so upset, Johanna. I’m sure Trevor’s just blowing off some steam. He knows he’s got a good thing at home with you. He’s not going to mess that up,” Aaron said.
“I’m sorry,” she said between sniffles. “It’s all these damn hormones. I c-cry at the drop of a hat nowadays.”
“Hormones?” Riley asked.
“I found out I’m pregnant a couple days ago. I went to find Trev to tell him he was gonna be a daddy, but then I heard the two of you had run off to Vegas.”
“Pregnant. Wow. Congratulations, Jo,” Riley said. Jesus, Trevor has reproduced.
“So if you and Trev didn’t run off together, where is he?” Johanna asked. “I want to tell him the good news.”
Riley glanced at Aaron, who shrugged. She recalled him telling her about Trev hooking up with a prostitute. “He, um, he just stepped out for some breakfast,” she lied, rising from the bed and edging her way toward the bathroom. If things turned nasty again, Riley was fully prepared to hunker down behind a locked door. Besides, she had to pee.
“Where?” Jo asked.
“I’m not sure where he was headed. Just called a few minutes ago and said he was going to get something to eat.” While Riley was disgusted with Trev for cheating on his wife, she couldn’t completely hang the man out to dry. She’d spent at least an hour of Friday night listening to him cry in his beer over missing Jo. Regardless of his infidelity, he loved his wife and she figured he deserved a chance to make amends if he wanted to. After all, he was going to be a father.
“Tell you what, Johanna. Why don’t you see if you can get a room here at the hotel and Riley and I will go find him?” Aaron suggested.
“We will?” Riley asked.
“Yes, we will. You’re probably tired after the flight and that’s not good for you or the baby. Call us with your room number, take a nice long bath and we’ll send Trevor to your room when we find him. In fact, you can surprise him. The two of you can have a romantic night together and celebrate. How does that sound?”
Johanna smiled at him as she stood. “That’s a great idea. My feet are killing me. Thank you, Aaron. And congratulations on your marriage.” She started to walk out of the room but turned at the last minute to look at Riley. “Bye, Riley. No hard feelings?”
“We’re good, Jo.” Riley waved and watched the woman retrieve her luggage from where she’d left it in the hall. Aaron closed the door and leaned on it wearily.
“You forgot to give her back her bat. She may want that when she finds out what Trev’s been up to,” she said.
“That’s exactly why I kept it.”
“So, Mr. Wonderful, any ideas on where we’re supposed to find Trevor and the hooker? Vegas is kind of a big place, you know.”
“I’ll call the front desk and see if he’s still here.”
“Don’t you think Johanna asked about Trev first? He’s probably checked out.”
“I’m still calling the clerk. Who knows what Johanna asked and it’s worth a try.”
Riley dressed while Aaron placed the call. She listened as he questioned the clerk and she could tell from the conversation he wasn’t having much luck getting any answers. She didn’t expect he would, but her cop was clearly on the case.
“Well?” she asked when he hung up.
“All he would tell me is that Trev checked out last night. Probably broke a rule telling me that much, but I mentioned the worried, pregnant wife.”
“Wonder if he was still with Bella when he left.”
“I suppose we could try to track down the clerk on duty last night, see if he remembers anything Trev said when he checked out. If Bella was still with him, I sort of think the clerk would remember.”
“Why’s that?” she asked.
“Bella makes quite an impression. She’s sort of…” Aaron gestured with his hands in front of his chest.
“Stacked?” Riley asked and he nodded.
“Oh hell yeah,” he said, so reverently she rolled her eyes.
“What is it with guys and big boobs? They’re just fat and skin.”
Aaron shrugged. “They’re fun to play with.”
“Let’s roll. The sooner we find Trev, the sooner we can straighten out this marriage mess we’re in. And for the record, I don’t appreciate you telling Jo we’re married. You know what a gossip she is. She’s probably already called half of Baltimore with the news. My family will freak.”
“We are married, Riley, and the only problem we need to correct is the lack of honeymoon boom-boom.”
“Oh, that’s very funny. What are you, three years old?”
As she reached to open the door, she was surprised when Aaron turned her and pushed her against it forcefully. He pressed his body against hers and in an instant she felt the arousal she’d only just managed to beat down come surging to the surface again. It seemed that with one firm touch or heated look, he could drive her to the brink of an orgasm. Jesus, she felt as if she were with two different men. One was her familiar best friend, while the other was a hot, dominant stranger who made her want to do all sorts of nasty, naughty things.
“We are going to have a honeymoon, Riley. Make no mistake about it. When we come back to this room, I’m going to lay you across that bed and come inside that sweet body of yours until we both pass out from exhaustion. Got it?” He punctuated his question with a hard, quick kiss that took her breath away.
When he stepped away, he’d turned back into her affable, easygoing friend once more. “Come on. Let’s go find Trev.”