It was late when we stumbled into an elevator. My body felt charged as if from lightning. If Eddie touched me, I was certain I would explode on contact. I backed into the wall with my hands behind me. I was afraid I might do something stupid, like kiss him. He was one step closer to officially being married to someone else.
When I looked up, he was leaning against the opposite wall, eyes dark with something I didn’t want to guess.
“Dammit, Jilly. Why do you have to be so damn pretty?”
I managed not to say something stupid like the better for you to eat me with because that sounded stupid. I meant the way his eyes seemed to eat me up in that moment. What was the point?
Instead, I foolishly stated, “Why do you have to be married?”
“Exactly.”
He didn’t give me a chance to protest. He cleared the distance between us in one powerful stride.
As our lips collided, everything went dark and came to a screeching halt.
Chapter Nine
I stared at everything and nothing in the absolute darkness. When the buzz of a flicking light preceded a dim glow, Eddie moved away and toward the emergency panel we all ignored and hoped to never use.
As panic set in, I realized I had no idea what floor we were on. Our room was high up. That meant we could be plunged to our death at any moment.
Eddie came back over and cupped my cheek. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”
Before I could dispute his claims, a voice sounded through the speaker box.
“Is everyone okay?”
Eddie, definitely the man I needed in a crisis, took charge.
“Yes. There are two of us.” He proceeded to give our names and room numbers.
“Sit back and relax. We’ll try to get you out as soon as possible.”
“Try,” I said, alarm welling up in me.
She obviously heard me, though I was not in front of the speaker box.
“Yes, ma’am. Please remain calm. Help is on the way.”
“What is going on?” I nearly shouted, having glanced at the no signal on my phone.
There was static, and then the sound disappeared. Eddie calmly pressed the call button, but when nothing happened, he stepped back.
“Oh my God,” I said, fear rooted in my chest. “This isn’t happening,” I rationalized.
Eddie was there, solid as a rock.
“It’s okay.”
My eyes flew open. I hadn’t known I’d closed them.
“It’s not okay. We’re stuck in the dark.” Though it wasn’t absolute anymore. “We have no idea what’s going on. Our phones don’t work in here.”
“We’re alive,” he said.
“And a cheat,” I barked. “You kissed me, and you’re married.”
His hands gripped my shoulder. “I know.”
I shrugged him off, opting to huddle in the corner. “And how is that okay?”
“Can’t a man kiss his wife?”
My pupils were probably already dilated in the faint greenish light, but they had to have gotten larger.
“Wife?”
He moved to cage me in. “Yes. Wife.”
“But how?”
The corner of his mouth quirked. “Let’s see, there’s usually two people.”
I shoved at him, though he didn’t budge. “You know what I mean.”
“It means, my lawyer filed the annulment paperwork for Chelsea.”
He pulled out his phone to show me a text. “Paperwork filed and Chelsea Andrews will be notified.”
“Wait? What? How?”
I hadn’t known that was her full name, but it didn’t say my name.
“Chelsea signed the paperwork when she showed up at the office.”
I was still confused. He sighed. “This was something already in the works before I got the letter from the State of Nevada.”
“But you just got married.”
His laugh had a bitter ring to it. “Cam, Chris, and everyone were right about her.”
“She wanted you for your money?”
“Not totally. She wanted a kid and a man who could support her.”
“Wow. I’m sorry. How’d you find out?”
“I caught her on a call with her girlfriend on the first night of our honeymoon.” He pushed a hand through his hair, while mine covered my mouth out of shock. “I didn’t want to believe it at first, but I got a camera and put it in the room and recorded her conversations. She said enough to damn herself.”
“I’m so sorry,” I repeated. “Do you think she’s pregnant?”
His laugh was even darker that time. “Kind of hard when she was on her period.”
“Bad timing,” I said, not sure how to feel.
“Perfect if you ask me. The last thing I would want is to have a kid with the conniving bitch.”
I went to him and wrapped my arms around him. “I’m sorry,” I said for a third time.
What else was there to say?
“You don’t have to be sorry.”
He dipped his head and claimed my mouth. He walked me back as the heat of his searing kiss nearly combusted me.
When his hands found the hem of my skirt, I asked, “What are you doing?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Making love to my wife.”
He pushed up on the fabric as I stood there, skirt bunched at my hips. His finger danced over the fabric of my panties from my clit down my slit. I gasped at the contact. His fingers teased the edges of fabric until he slid one inside to rim my slick opening.