The Sheikh's Stolen Bride-To-Be

“So am I,” I said. “The last thing Sam needs is for me to come home married to some guy I met while my friends refilled their gigantic sippy cups with alcohol.”

Sarah groaned. “Nobody said you have to marry him, Sky. But don’t you think it’s time you got out of your shell a little? How long has it been now?”

“Since I dated someone?”

She nodded.

“Nobody serious since Sam’s dad left.”

I glanced over at the guy, who was still smiling at us. Maybe it was time for me to get back on the horse. But being a nurse and a full-time single mom made it almost as hard to date as it did to go on mini-vacations like this one. If I followed Elyse’s lead, at least I wouldn’t end up brokenhearted by the time I flew home.

“I can’t imagine being alone for that long,” Ariana said. She took a big gulp of her drink and smiled. “Roger and I can barely stand being apart for this weekend.”

I turned toward the street so she wouldn’t see me roll my eyes. The activity outside was a revolving door of new faces, and an endless source of entertainment for those who liked to people watch like I did.

After a while, we headed back out onto the strip and strolled down it for what felt like hours. I was baking in the early afternoon sun. Our trips indoors were brief but restoring, but then it was back out into the sunshine and onto the endless concrete boardwalk of sights and sounds.

Tired out from a long morning of sightseeing, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon by the hotel pool. I was infinitely grateful to finally get a bit of a rest—too much of a rest, in fact, because I woke up two hours later to Elyse tugging on my arm.

“I can’t believe you fell asleep,” she grinned.

I blearily blinked up at her. Her dark hair was plastered to her shoulders from her recent dip in the pool, and her face was pink from either the sun or the booze.

“I guess I was tired,” I said.

“No kidding!” Ariana chimed in from somewhere ahead of me. I craned my neck to see her and the others drying themselves off next to the pool. “Heather wanted to draw something obscene on you in sunscreen, but I told her she wasn’t allowed to.”

“Good.” I sat up. “Are we leaving?”

“Yup,” said Sarah, wringing out her hair. “We’re heading back to the suite to get ready, and then we’re hitting the town.”

I didn’t mention how I felt like the town had already hit me. My limbs were stiff, and they complained bitterly as I stretched out my muscles. My face was hot from the sun, but I’d applied sunscreen liberally, so I wasn’t too worried about burning.

And now I had to go for round two. Great.

I followed the girls back to our room, where we took turns jockeying for the shower. Sarah made a drink for me and I accepted it gratefully. At least I wasn’t sore and hungover. I was glad I hadn’t started drinking earlier like the rest of them, but now I was ready to loosen up a little.

In the spirit of loosening up, I decided to dress up, too. I didn’t have much in the way of fancy clothes, but I’d brought the cream of my closet to Vegas with me. I paired a little black dress that hugged my curvy frame with a pair of magenta pumps I hadn’t worn in years. It was nice to have a reason to wear them again.

“Oh hey, hot mama,” Sarah commented when she saw me.

“Not as hot as you,” I replied.

The bride-to-be had opted for a sparkly halter top and a black miniskirt with a pair of black espadrilles. Sarah wasn’t normally the type to wear makeup, but tonight she was done up to the nines. It made me feel a bit plain.

“You’re not wearing any makeup?” Ariana asked.

“I don’t really have any,” I replied.

The girls swarmed me like a flock of seagulls at an abandoned picnic. One second I was my normal self but in a nice dress, and the next I was a downright bombshell. Heather, the self-professed “master of hair,” had curled my mane into sleek waves. Ariana and Elyse collectively had an arsenal of cosmetics that would rival a Sephora. When they were finished with me, my blue eyes popped and my lips were poutier and more defined.