The Good Luck Potion (The Good Luck Series) (19 page)

“That was lovely.
Thank you, Brandon.” Kimberly stood and gave him a hug.

Phil hugged him too. “You had me worried yesterday. I don’t know what has changed with your thinking, but I’m glad.”

A few minutes later, the waitress came with their drinks and another showed up with a few sampler platters of appetizers. As they ate and talked, Alex was totally aware of Sue sitting next to him. He couldn’t stop looking her way. She caught him glancing her way a few times, but she didn’t say a word. He wanted more than anything to tell her how he felt, but he didn’t want to blurt it at the wrong time.

The waitress came by with another round of drinks before they finished the
ir second and Brandon ordered a sampler of desserts. As soon as they finished their drinks, he offered his hand to Audra and they went to dance.

Kimberly tried to coax Phil onto the dance floor, but he persuaded her to stay and eat the desserts that arrived.

When another waitress came by with jello shots, Kimberly stopped her. “Oh. I’ve always wanted to try these.” She took two and handed one to Sue. “Do it with me.”

Sue shook her head.

“Come on. You’re my maid of honor. It’s your job to try new things with me.”

“I think you are pushing it with how far my duties go.”

“Come on. Do it because you’re my sister then.”

Sue looked at the glass in her hand and then back at her sister.
“All right. Just one.”

“Yeah!” Kimberly bounced in her seat. When she settled down she
said, “On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

Simultaneously they poured the shot into their mouths and swallowed.

“Mango.” They said in unison, sitting the empty glasses on the table.

“Wow. That was
potent.” Sue turned toward Alex.

“You wanna dance?”

“Sure.”

They left
Phil and Kimberly and went to the dance floor. Sue wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck as he pulled her snug against his hard body. She sucked in her breath staring into his eyes as they swayed to the music, letting the sultry rhythm dictate their movements. Her heart beat madly within her chest. A result from being in his arms or was it an effect of the jello shot she’d downed at Kimberly’s insistence? No matter what the cause, she was certain she never wanted to leave his side.

He leaned his forehead against hers and she inhaled the alcohol on his breath. She found it intoxicating and she closed her eyes, enjoying the way his hand slowly moved down her back to rest on her hip. He hummed along with the instrumental music and when the vocals began again
, he softly sung the words to her.

“Me and Mrs. Jones.”

She smiled. The song had become one of her favorites since meeting him. She couldn’t recall how many nights she’d dreamed about slow dancing with him to it. Once she’d even dreamed she was wearing a wedding gown and they were dancing at their reception. That had startled her at first, but now, she longed for it to become a reality.

The song ended and another began, but they still swayed even though the tempo had changed.

“Alex, are you drunk?” she whispered.

“No. Are you?”

“No. But I’m finding it a little warm in here.”

“Do you want to go get some fresh air? Maybe take a walk down the strip and see everything lit up at night?”

She nodded and they left the dance floor, going back to the table.

Brandon and Audra were
still MIA, but Kimberly who had lost her ‘bride to be tiara’ was giggling and snuggling up to Phil when they approached. She looked up and reached out her hand to Sue. “She’s my best friend and my sister. How lucky can a girl be?”

“I know, sweetheart.” Phil nodded. “You’ve told me.”

“I have?”

“Yes. I think it’s time to call it a night.” Phil stood and pulled her to her feet. She swayed and giggled, slumping against him.

“Actually we were going to go for a walk,” Alex explained.

“Do you think you can see her back to our room?” Sue asked.
“Or do you need help?”

“
I can handle it. She had another shooter while you were gone.”

Kimberly grabbed hold of Sue’s hand. “Don’t stay out too late. We have an early flight and if you see Audra, remind her.”

“I won’t and I’ll remind her.”

“Good.” Kimberly smiled and hiccupped, which caused her to giggle once more.

Phil shook his head. “And she was worried about me getting drunk.” He waved and led her out of the bar of the hotel.

Sue picked up her evening clutch she’d left on the table and turned to leave with Alex when a waitress came to the table with a
nother round of jello shots.

“Sorry it took so long, this is the third bachelorette party we have going on here tonight,” the waitress explained. “Will the bride be back?”

“No. She’s had her limit.”

“Do you want them? They
’re already paid for.”

Sue looked at Alex and he shrugged. So she took
two and he took the other two.

He raised his. “To Vegas.”

“To Vegas.”

As soon as she swallowed the jello
shots she felt the wham of the alcohol. It was much stronger than the shooter she’d had earlier, but maybe it was because this was her second shot that she felt the bam of it so strong. Sitting the glasses down, she took Alex’s hand and they left.

There was a buzz in the sultry night air as they walked among the crowds of people strolling to their destinations. It didn’t seem to matter that it was nearly two in the morning. The strip in Vegas never slept. She’d been warm inside the bar, but the tequila zoomed through her veins
, and her body felt on fire and her head dizzy.

They slowed to a stop in front of a lighted water fountain and watched as the water shot into
the air and the colored lights arced off it. Alex pulled her to him and kissed her while a misty spray drifted over them. He tasted like mango from the jello.

When he pulled away he cupped her cheek in his hand and tilted her head up until she was looking at him. “I love you.”

“Alex—”

“I know. We hardly know each other, but I know I love you.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.

Heat pooled within her and she knew this wasn’t the alcohol but her own feelings for him. She loved him too. She’d known it for a while now, but she hadn’t wanted to believe it was possible. When he pulled away, she blurted, “Alex, I love you too.”

Chapter Fifteen

Sue stirred in bed and stretched, turning over feeling the luxurious coolness of satin underneath her. A vision of her dancing with Alex flitted through her mind again and she sighed wanting to stay in her slumber a little longer, but she could hear her phone buzzing somewhere in the distance. Slowly she opened her eyes and pushed herself to a sitting position. She didn’t recognize her surroundings. Blinking she tried to clear her vision but that did not change the fact that this wasn’t the hotel room she had shared with Kimberly and Audra. It was much larger and the bed where she lay appeared to be circular. And she was definitely on satin sheets.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed something stirred beside her. For a split second fear engulfed her that she wasn’t alone and she swiveled in its direction. She swallowed a gasp when she saw it was Alex still asleep and in bed with her. In the next second
, panic over took her and she scooted on the sheets toward the edge almost falling off because of its rounded side.

Somewhere in the room she heard the buzz of her phone and
Alex stirred. She ran her left hand up and down her face, noticing something gold encircled her finger. Apprehension inched up her spine as she pulled her hand away and her vision focused in on it. She saw the gold band on her finger and let out a cry.

What had they done last night?

Jumping out of bed, she felt like Doris Day in
Lover Come Back
except in the movie Doris had at least been wearing Rock Hudson’s pajama top when she leapt from the bed instead of being in her birthday suit. She squealed again and jumped back under the sheet, pulling it up to her chin to cover herself.

A deep rumble of laughter came from the other side of the bed as Alex turned over and smiled at her. “Good morning, beautiful.”

She stared at him and shook her head as a flash of memory of them kissing in front of the water fountain returned. They’d walked down the strip enjoying being alone for once since arriving in Vegas. But then it began to rain and they’d rushed for cover in the nearest establishment. A wedding chapel.

Her head began to hurt and she recalled that last round of jello shots the waitress had brought that had been intended for Kimberly and Phil.

“Please…tell me…we didn’t…”

He sat up, pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them. “Get married?”

She groaned and nodded.

“Yes, we did. You were totally for it last night…or this morning when we entered that chapel. Don’t you remember?”

She swallowed hard.

“Are you sorry?”

“No…I—I don’t know…” She looked at him as the implications of what they had done sank in and a sense of joy swelled up inside her when she thought about what this meant. It was what she had secretly been wanting even if it came about without her being able to remember it clearly. She slowly smiled. “No. I’m not sorry.”

“Good.” He reached out his hand to her and she scooted toward him. “Because I’d do it again today and every day after if I need to prove to you how much I want to be with you.”

“Oh Alex.” She leaned into him and he kissed her, cupping her face with his hand. She covered it with her own as he laid her back on the bed and they continued to kiss.

It wasn’t long until the buzzing of another phone could be heard and Alex groaned this time. He pulled away and reached underneath his pillow for the phone. She could see Phil’s picture flashing on the screen of the smartphone. Instead of answering, he rejected the call and slid it back underneath the pillow.

“Don’t you think you should have taken the call?”

“No. I know what he’s wanting. They’re at the airport getting ready to board. And they’re wondering where we are.”

She sat up and covered her face with her hands. “Oh Lord. Kimberly and Phil.”

“What about them?” Alex asked.

She dropped her hands and turned to face him. “We can’t tell anyone what we’ve done.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t upstage my sister so close to her wedding. This is her time. Not mine. Do you understand? She’d never forgive me.”

He pulled her to him and kissed her temple. “Does that mean we can’t live together once we return to Knoxville?”

“I’m afraid so. We must return as if nothing happened.”

“You mean what happened in Vegas, stays in Vegas?”

She grinned at his use of the slogan. “You can say that. Only until after they return from their honeymoon. Then we can tell everyone.”

“And if I protest?”

“I guess I’ll just have to persuade you otherwise.” She leaned into him and nibbled kisses at his mouth until he returned them. She giggled as he pulled her down on the bed and they snuggled.

He kissed her shoulder. “If we’re going to pull this off we’ll have to come up with a good story as to what happened last night. Why we didn’t sleep in our rooms and catch our flight.”

“We should stick to as much of the truth as possible. We got drunk from those shooters and ended up staying at a different hotel.”

“I think that should work.”

Sue turned to face him. “And even though we can’t move in together it doesn’t mean I can’t stay over occasionally at your place or you stay with me. We’ll just need to be extra careful around Kimberly and Phil.”

“And Brandon.”

Alex’s phone buzzed again and he answered it this time, putting it on speaker. “Hey.”

“Where are you?” Phil asked. “And where is Sue? Kimberly is in hysterics. The flight is about to leave. Are you coming?”

“No. I don’t think we can make it. We’ll catch a later flight out.”

“What happened?”

“It’s a long story. After you left the bar last night, the waitress brought by four more shooters. She said they were paid for so we did them. We went for a walk and it started to rain. Neither of us remembers much after that.”

Sue could hear Brandon’s laughter in the background. “Why’s he laughing?”

Alex shrugged.

“You idiot,” Phil said and then they heard muffled sounds as if he’d covered the phone so they couldn’t hear what was being said.

“Phil, what is going on?” Alex asked.

“Sorry. Brandon said he ordered those for us and they were triples. He did it as a joke so we’d get drunk.”