CHAPTER 3 DANNY
The maintenance guy leaves, and I’m left in the silence of the ocean gently rolling against the shore once more.
I stare at the water, hoping for peace and tranquility, but my roaring mind and rolling stomach have other plans.
When there’s another knock at my door, I’m slower to get up this time.
Another fucking lightbulb? Another fucking signature? I want to yell it at the maintenance man.
I don’t bother with the peephole this time, instead angrily throwing the door open, poised to give this dude a piece of my mind when all I want is a little alone time.
But it’s not the maintenance man at all.
My jaw drops as I stare at the woman standing in front of me.
She’s wearing an oversized man’s tuxedo jacket, but the unmistakable white silk billowing underneath it is a clue that she just came from her wedding.
Her hair is curled in gorgeous waves, a pearl clip pulling some of it back out of her face, and her skin is flawless. She is flawless.
It takes me a few seconds to realize she’s actually here.
She’s actually here.
“Run away with me,” she begs, her beautiful voice that’s always a song carrying over to me and melting every last fear, every last anxiety, every last nerve clear away to make room for the overwhelming love coursing through me.
“Always,” I say, pulling her into my arms and my room. I let the door close behind her as I yank her against me, and I stare at her a beat, trying to reconcile whether or not this is real.
She tips her chin toward me, and then my mouth crashes down to hers.
Oh, this is definitely real.
This kiss is messy and complicated, sort of like us. It’s urgent and needy.
And it’s so full of love that my chest feels like it could burst open.
I kiss her with everything I have, my mouth opening to hers as my tongue thrashes wildly, and she meets me step for step through the brutal force of need and lust and adoration coming together in this one kiss.
Teeth clash together, and tongues batter, and I just want to carry her over to the bed and make love to her until neither of us can see straight.
She pulls back first, though, and the move dashes a bit of my hopes.
“We have to get out of here,” she cries.
“What? Why?” I don’t let her out of my arms. Now that I think about it, I might never let her go again.
She reaches up and strokes the beard that’s grown in. “They’ll be on their way soon. Gregory thought he could buy me an hour, maybe.”
“Wait…what?” I ask, the fog of her words not really hitting me yet. “Why would Gregory need to buy you an hour?”
“Because I ran out on my wedding. I ran to you. I want to be with you.”
“And only Gregory knows?” I ask, trying to get all the information.
She nods. “But my dad can track my phone, and I have no idea how much of a head start we have. I left it in Gregory’s car, and we can leave the keys at the front desk, but I ran right to the room number you gave me when I got here, and surely by now they’ve figured out I’m gone and—”
I cut her off with another press of my lips to hers. “And they won’t find us until we’re ready to be found.”
I let her go, and I run to my suitcase. I didn’t bring many clothes with me, but this will have to do. I grab her a t-shirt and a pair of my shorts. “Here, put these on until we can stop somewhere and get you some clothes.”
“I need help getting out of the dress,” she says as she shakes off the jacket she’s wearing.
“Who’s is that?” I ask.
She clears her throat. “Gregory’s. He thought it would disguise me long enough to escape.”
Gratitude fills my chest. “Thank God for him.”
“I do. Every day.” She gets the jacket off, and I stare at her, my heart beating out of my chest.
“Jesus, Lex. You look…” I try to find the word, but none seem to fit what I’m really thinking.
“I look…?” she asks.
I clear my throat. “Like the woman I’m going to marry.”
Her eyes mist over at that as she tilts her head and places a hand over her chest. She sings my name quietly, and I take a step toward her.
“Here, let me help you out of this.”
She spins around, and I see the row of complicated buttons in the back.
“Fuck. How does this work?”
“Same way you eat an elephant. One bite at a time. Or, in this case, one button at a time,” she says. I start the lengthy process, my fingers fumbling along the way. “Fuck it,” she mutters. “Just rip the damn thing. It’s not like I plan to ever wear it again.”
“You got it.” I yank at the buttons, and a few go flying off in different directions.
She laughs, and it’s unbridled and full of joy.
I want to hear more of it.
I can tell she’s nervous because of what she left behind. Her father will be looking for her soon. She’s right…we need to get out of here.
She slips off the dress, and I can’t help but stare at her body. I can’t help but stare at her.
She pulls my t-shirt over her head. It’s like a dress on her, but it’s somehow perfect. “Vegas Heat,” she says, fingering the logo a little. “My favorite team.”
I offer a half smile. “Now covering my favorite body.”
She grins, and she pulls on my shorts, pulling the strings hard and tying them tightly so they don’t fall off of her. We need to get clothes for her stat.
But we can worry about it in the next town. Or, fuck, the next state.
We just need to get on the move as soon as humanly possible.
“What do you want to do with the dress?” I ask as I throw all my belongings into my suitcase.
“Pitch it?” she suggests. “Or we can leave it in the Yukon so there’s no question about the fact that I was here.”
I nod. “I can go put it in there if you’d like. Oh, and here.” I toss her the Vegas Heat ballcap, and she slips it onto her head. “That hat has never looked better.”
She’s smiling again, and seeing her decked out in my gear is blindingly beautiful.
Or maybe it’s just blindingly beautiful that she’s here.
Either way, I finally feel that sense of peace I’ve been looking for since I checked into this beautiful place.
I finally feel like the future starts right the fuck now.