Chapter 4
GOT SOME PULL
Sitting in the taxi next to her husband wasn’t exactly how Kenzie had pictured scenarios happening in her life.
There were no light smiles, giddy laughter, sweet touches on the hand, or smothering heat for what the night would bring.
No. The last one—the heat—was there.
Partially.
The more time she spent with Nelson, the more she couldn’t fight the feelings igniting her body.
Tingling in her fingers and toes, a racing heart at a quick glance, his brown eyes resting on hers while he searched for some truth.
She wished she had answers for him.
She’d like to help too. Not sure how much she could, but if she could be some kind of emotional support, she’d provide it.
He was her husband after all. Even if she knew little more than his name, age, his career—that still felt secretive—and where he lived.
The smart thing to do would be to look him up online.
But the law student in her said that it might be better the less she knew. At least until he got some answers.
The last thing she wanted to worry about was that he thought she had something to do with this.
“You’re not afraid of needles, are you?”
“What?” he asked, turning his head in the taxi.
“Needles,” she said. “Your knee is bouncing so much it’s shaking the backseat.”
“Sorry,” he said. The movement stopped.
“It’s fine. You’re more composed than me.”
“It doesn’t seem that way,” he said.
“Well, I wasn’t drugged. Just three stupid shots that I shouldn’t have done because I know I can’t hold my liquor well. No one stole anything from me other than my dignity. That’s been taken enough in my life.”
“How is that?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Take my mind off of things. Humor me.”
She shrugged. “Sure. It’s not like we aren’t married for the time being.”
She’d leaned in and whispered the last part.
Nelson grinned, his eyes lighting up, straight white teeth flashing, and a face far more handsome than she’d expected. Not good for her libido.
When was the last time she’d kissed a man let alone had sex?
Well, could have been last night.
Bummer she had no memory of it.
“I’m sure the driver has heard much crazier conversations than ours.”
“Not from my lips,” she said, shaking her head.
He patted her thigh. He might have meant it as comfort, but it only turned the burner up hotter for her.
Not good!
They pulled in front of an urgent care building. “Can you wait?” Nelson asked the driver. “It will only be a minute.”
“Your money,” the driver said.
“You could be in here for a while,” she said.
“No. I’ve got an appointment. I should get right in. It’s an urgent matter since I don’t know what or if I was given anything or how long it’d be in me.”
“I didn’t think of that. Guess you’ve got some pull.”
They went in, he gave his name and was brought back. He didn’t even have to fill out any paperwork for insurance. Nothing more than signing his name and verifying his date of birth.
She waited while his blood was drawn, then he handed over his credit card, and they left.
“Ready to go to the chapel?”
“Yeah. I’m dying for a shower but can’t do anything in my room yet and couldn’t take my clothes out either. I’m tempted to just go buy something.”
“You can shower in my hotel room if you want to do that. I don’t mind. But it seems wasteful to buy clothes when it looks as if you have enough scattered in the room.”
More clothes than she’d need for two weeks. She’d never asked how long he was here for though.
Only that he’d arrived yesterday as she had.
How had it been less than twenty-four hours since she’d arrived in Vegas?
“The least of my worries. If you don’t mind, I’d like to do that before we go to the chapel. I’m not sure how you can stand me because I can barely stand myself.”
“Don’t worry,” she said. “You don’t smell.”
Kenzie leaned in close and gave an exaggerated whiff to prove her point.
There was a faint pleasant musky scent lingering on his skin. Almost like expensive soap or cologne maybe.
Whatever it was, her hormones wanted to go buy a stockroom full.
Nelson told the driver to detour toward some store she’d never heard of. Once they were there, he had the driver wait again, they went in, he grabbed jeans, another T-shirt, socks and a pair of boxer briefs.
So that was what he wore.
Oh my God. It was just under three hundred dollars for those four items.
She wasn’t sure she’d spent that much on clothes in the past year.
“You look a little worried. Problem?”
“Nope,” she said. “If you want to be that wasteful over an outfit, it’s your money.”
He laughed. Genuine humor. “This is nothing. You forget where I work.”
“I don’t know where you work,” she said. “I’m not even sure I believe you’re a consultant.”
“I am,” he said. “Sort of. It’s complicated. It’s the best way to explain my job. And I meant I work in Manhattan.”
So he wasn’t being completely honest about his job.
She hoped he did nothing unlawful.
Was that how he got an attorney so quickly?
Ugh, maybe she needed to look into the guy, no matter how much she was resisting it.
They returned to her hotel room and she tried not to be embarrassed over her modest accommodations compared to his.
While he was in the shower, she went against her wisdom and pulled her phone out, then put in Nelson Carlisle.
He popped up on LinkedIn first, but since she didn’t have an account, she couldn’t see much about him. She kept searching, her jaw dropping at what she discovered.
She clicked over to an image and there he was with members of his family.
His brother was a billionaire.
Guess that explained the royalty treatment he was getting.
She was so engrossed in finding out what she could about him, that she hadn’t heard the bathroom door open.
She looked up at him staring at her while he stood in the bathroom doorway.
“You found out who I am, didn’t you?”
Her mouth was still open, her head bobbing up and down.
“You’re West Carlisle’s brother, aren’t you?”
“Yep,” he said. “And trust me, it’s not a place I want to be right now.”
“Why? Seems to me things are moving fast because you are. Do you think you were targeted for that reason?”
“No clue,” he said. “That’s what we’ll find out.”
“He’s going to think I played a part in this, isn’t he?”
“I told him no.”
“You talked to West this morning?”
“No. Braylon. He’s an attorney, but he and West are flying in.”
Just great. All the more reason to stay glued to his side. When big money like that talks, the little person... which would be her... becomes expendable.
No way she’d let that happen.
“When will they get here?”
“They are in the air now,” he said. “Probably land in about five hours. Braylon is dealing with everything. The test results should be back quickly. I’d like to gather as much information as I can. Maybe we can get a copy of the tape from the chapel.”
“I’m sure once you give your name they’ll do it,” she said dryly. “I mean who you’re related to.”
“I’m not going to say anything about this to them,” he said. “The hotel will keep it quiet. This place, I’m not sure. I’m just going to play it off as if we’d like to have a copy. For our memories of our nuptials. I’m positive we aren’t the first people to stumble in there and spontaneously marry.”
“True. I’ll play it up with you.”
“I appreciate that.” He put his hands in his pockets as if he was hesitant to say more. “I’ll make sure you’re compensated for your troubles this weekend.”
Her hand went up. “Don’t. Don’t piss me off or make me feel like I’m some piece of trash you can buy off.
I want nothing from you. Least of all money.
We got into this together, somehow. I can feel sympathy for your plight and I want to help, but don’t insult me as if I’m some staff you’ve got to pay to keep my mouth shut.
This is my reputation and future also, even if it’s not as prestigious as yours. ”
She swore her body was all but vibrating in the chair and ready to take flight to get in his face.
“Guess we just had our first marital fight,” he said. “You’re kind of scaring me like that.”
Her spine straightened even more with his smirk. He was trying to be cute. Maybe even funny.
But there was no humor in their situation.
Just because she didn’t come from his wealth didn’t mean she wasn’t in the same boat as him about wanting this kept quiet.