Chapter Six
At two in the morning and another alcoholic beverage later, we now find ourselves in a small yet funky lounge off to the side of the madness that has surrounded us all evening. The sound of high bells of the lucky or unlucky slot machines chime in the background.
“I’m surprised you haven’t stayed with your first choice of wine this evening because you sure know more about wine than the average man,” she teases, with a little smirk lifting the corners of her mouth.
I lean in, with bent knees touching the small black circle table between us. “My family owns a winery,” I tell her, stroking the top of her thigh. A bold move for me because I’m not usually the one making the moves.
“That explains it.” Piper raises her eyes to me. “I’m assuming you aren’t part of the family business since you work in marketing.”
My body automatically stiffens. I’m thrust back into the unfortunate reality of the loss of my dad and how my whole life is being turned upside down. The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach returns after a brief reprieve the last few hours.
“Yeah. I moved away to attend college in Arizona, then started working for a marketing company out there after graduation.” I take a generous swig from my drink. It burns going down, but I take another anyway.
Piper rests her chin in her palm. “So, do you have any plans on ever being a part of your family’s winery?”
“That’s where things get a little complicated.” I feel my face fall. I should probably talk about this, and who better than a girl I barely know? I laugh internally at the irony, then clear my throat. “I unexpectedly lost my dad over the summer, and since he basically ran the entire operation by himself—with the help of my mom and our winemaker Rob, everyone expects me to step into my dad’s place.”
Piper’s eyebrows raise while she brings her drink to her lips. “That’s a heavy load,” she says before sipping it.
“It is, isn’t it? And to make matters even more fucked up, my dad’s best friend, who is part owner, wants his son to take over instead of me,” I explain, removing my hand from her thigh. I haven’t spoken to anyone outside the people involved about what’s going on with my family’s business. It feels freeing.
“That sounds like some shady shit. How do you feel about it? Do you even want to take over though—” All of a sudden, she stops mid-sentence and looks down at the floor between us. “Wait. Where is our luggage?”
I tilt my head to the side and rub my lips together, stifling a laugh.
“Why does it look like you’re trying to keep from laughing?” She snickers, batting her eyes at me. “If I may add, you’re not doing an excellent job with it.”
She is adorable, and I can’t hold it in anymore. Did she truly forget what we did with our stuff?
I finally explode, letting out a full belly laugh. “We left our suitcases with the concierge.”
“Oh, yes. I knew that.” Piper nods vigorously, probably convincing herself as much as she’s trying to convince me. She forgot. Piper glances up at me through her long eyelashes with her cheeks the color of crimson. When our eyes meet, electricity flows through my veins, causing the hairs on both arms to stand straight up. She’s embarrassed by being so drunk, but I find her effervescent energy charming.
For a moment, our eyes lock. My heart hammers the back of my chest. The energy with this woman is off the charts. She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and feeling bolder than I typically do, I’m overcome with a desire to taste that bottom lip of hers.
I slowly lean in until I can see the specks of green in her hazel eyes. To my pleasant surprise, she doesn’t back away. We share a breath for a moment before her eyes fall closed. But suddenly, she jerks her head away and scrambles to grab something from her purse that hangs across her body. Piper clumsily pulls out her phone.
My is still racing from how close I got to touching her lips when I notice the color draining from her face as she stares at the screen.
“Do you need to take that?” I’m unsure how to respond to the sudden change in her expression.
Blinking a few times, Piper shoves her phone back into her purse. “No, I don’t.” A heavy cloud has appeared over her. It’s a contrast to everything I’ve seen until this point. My mind reels with who could have called. Judging by the look on her face, it wasn’t someone good.
Fuck, was it a boyfriend? An ex-boyfriend?
I feel my jaw tighten.
Piper looks over at me, a half-smile on her face. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”
I love her attitude.
“That’s not what I was thinking,” I quip. Before Piper can reply, a cocktail server walks over to us with a tray carrying two shots of what looks to be vodka.
“These are from the older couple at the end of the bar,” she says, bending between us. “They said you two look like how they did when they first fell in love fifty years ago.”
Piper and I both glance over to the left. The man and woman hold up their martinis in the air with sweet smiles on both their faces.
“Wow. Okay, thank you.” I hand Piper a shot glass, then take one for myself.
“They’re still staring,” she says through a tight grin.
It feels so good to let loose and be free. I smile at her, then raise my glass toward the couple. “Bottoms up.”
Piper and I take both shots together, quickly followed by a light, distant clap.
She grimaces. “Damn, that burns.”
I slam my glass on the table and rise, knowing that this shot will heighten my buzz. I’m having fun with you,” I admit, gently lifting Piper from her chair and into my arms. She immediately falls into me with a giggle. The smell of lavender hits my nostrils. It’s powerful yet subtle at the same time and causes my body to flush with warmth and my dick to flex.
“Me too. It’s bizarre, right? That we’re here in Vegas together after both of us skipped our fights—flights, I meant flights.” She curls into me, giggling once again.
“It’s definitely not where I imagined I’d be spending my Friday night.”
She tucks into my shoulder with my arm around her. I look down, her round eyes blaze into me. My heart skips a beat when she lifts her chin, bringing her glossy lips upward with a confident smile.
“Piper?”
“Yes?” she answers with a raspy voice.
I’ve never been one to hit on a lot of women. My experience in life has mostly been them coming on to me. An old roommate once told me that women find silent, reserved guys more attractive than those who try too hard. Up until that point, I haven’t thought about it that way. It’s always how I’ve been. But with Piper, I’m compelled to pursue her. “Can I kiss you?”
Her eyes flicker while she breathes out a confident, “Yes.”
My eyes take in the landscape of her mouth before lowering my lips to hers in a gentle kiss. The instant we connect, my world comes to a complete standstill. She’s soft and warm—and kissing her feels as natural as taking in oxygen.
I involuntarily squeeze her tighter, tugging her deeper into my mouth. She opens slowly, letting my tongue slip in to caress hers. It moves deliberately inside my mouth, exploring and tasting.
Her shoulders sink into me as she curves further into my chest. Piper slips her arms around me back. Every single care I’ve had in the world dissipates, and I’m powerless to stop it. I submit to the weightless feeling of existing only with her. This is a new sensation for me.
I cautiously pull back but continue to lightly kiss the different areas around her mouth. “I don’t want to be without you. I’ve never felt such an instant connection with someone before,” I whisper into her sweet skin.
“I feel the same,” she mumbles as the noise of clanging chimes from the gamblers increases once again.
A quick movement from the corner of my eye startles me, and then both Piper and I are hit with a downpour of ice-cold liquid. I gasp as the shock in temperature cuts off my air. I quickly noticed that Piper got most of whatever spilled on us and was drenched.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” says the young, anxious man standing beside us.
“What the hell, man?” I snap, stepping between Piper and this clumsy asshole.
“It’s okay!” She laughs, clutching my blazer. “It’s fine. I’m completely fine.”
“Are you sure? Are you alright?” I start to laugh as well. Swiping some cocktail napkins off the table next to us, I hand them to her first, then grab a few more for myself.
“I’m fine. It’s only water, that’s all,” she reassures me again, shaking the leftover ice cubes from her shirt.
My eyes fall to her hard nipples peeking through her thin, cream dress. All I can think of is circling my tongue around their raised peaks. “Are you cold?”
She glances down at her chest, biting her bottom lip. “Yes. Can you tell?”
“Yep.” I let her notice me staring before my eyes darted back up. Piper’s chest raises as she sucks in a deep breath.
After wiping the side of my face, which is mostly where the water hit, I turn to Piper and, without thinking, run the napkin along the bare skin of her neck and down to the dampness of her collarbone.
“If I take it off, you’ll get a better look,” she taunts.
My dick twitches inside my pants as my fingertips lightly dust her skin. The warmth raises my pulse. “I don’t want this night to end.”
She looks up at me with vibrant hazel eyes and giggles. “Neither do I.”
I feel unrestrained and more free than I ever have. Who gives a fuck about what’s going on with the outside world? My whole existence is here in this moment. I’ve fought for control over my life since I was a child. For a brief time, I had it, but I should have known that it would be taken away. I have to live in someone else’s dream. Someone else’s life. My freedom and independence will be gone. My identity as just Jack Bradley will be gone.
I’m an introvert, quiet and would rather keep to myself. Soon enough, I won’t have the luxury of being any of those things anymore. But tonight, in this moment with Piper, I can hang on to just being Jack.
“Let’s get married,” I blurt out, not hearing the words in my head before they hit the air.
Fuuuuuck.
Piper’s eyebrow snaps together. Her pupils dilate even under these bright fluorescent lights. They bounce back and forth for only a brief moment before she answers, “Okay.”
Oh my fucking god. She said yes! This is unbelievable. As if fate was somehow involved, another cocktail server walks by with a shot on her tray. Without hesitation, I snag a glass and down the vodka. Piper does the same.
“Charge it to the card on file?” the server confirms.
“Yes, then close us out,” I respond, not letting my eyes break from Piper’s. Her face is glowing. “Yeah, you want to?” A smile beams across my face.
“Yes!”
“That’s awesome. Let’s do it!” I pull out my phone, and even though my eyes are a little blurry, I can still find the search bar to locate the nearest wedding chapel. Another twist of fucking fate, the closest one is only a short walk down the strip.
Piper grabs my hand as we exit the smoke-filled casino onto the bustling street. The guttering, flashing lights, and warmth of the desert air are a small reprieve from inside. I wish I could say that I’m shocked that at close to three in the morning, the sidewalk is packed with people, but I’ve been here enough to know this is typical.
Walking hand in hand, Piper and I make our way through the crowds of people venturing out at this hour. Or have been out all night, like us. I keep a strong grip on Piper, ensuring not to lose her while we’re back and forth along the crowded sidewalk.
We finally make it to the Tiny White Wedding House, and it’s exactly how I pictured it. I laugh as I lead us through a small opening in the white fence surrounding an even brighter white building. We pass fake grass to the side while we walk under the drive-through area. For people in need of a speedier wedding, I guess?
When the door opens, I’m hit with a unique smell that can only be described as old and musty.
“Did we step into a time machine? Because this place looks like it’s from the wrong decade,” she comments.
“I’ve always wanted to travel back to the 1950s,” I add, scanning my eyes across the small waiting space. “And now that I have, I think I’m good staying in our time.”
She laughs.
I see the chapel, and I’m stunned by how cool it is. The decade jokes aside, it’s surprisingly unique in here. There’s an aisle with a bubblegum-colored carpet and three rows of short white pews on either side. Taking in the simplicity of it, I find a small arch at the top of the aisle decorated in fully bloomed white roses. I wonder if Piper likes flowers? And if she does—I wonder what kind?
“Hello, can I help you?” a woman with a squeaky voice asks from behind a low counter.
My eyes dart to hers for approval. She nods, showing me she hasn’t changed her mind. I haven’t changed my mind either. My thoughts and actions take over, and I hear myself begin speaking with the woman.I’ve always been calm and collected, but right now, I’m doing something rash and out of my comfort zone. It feels fitting that I do something for myself before I give my independence away.