Billionaires Runaway Bride

When I got out of the shower, Rachel was standing there, holding my phone out.

“Did someone call?” I asked. Sienna wouldn’t be too happy if Rachel answered her phone call.

“No,” she said. “Are you expecting someone to call?”

“No,” I said and wiped my face with a towel.

She narrowed her eyes for a moment before thrusting the phone at me.

“I want you to make reservations for dinner tonight.”

I took the phone from her. “Where do you want to go?”

“You choose,” she said. “But make it a nice place.”

“Sure thing,” I said.

“We’ll talk more then. I want to freshen up, then we can leave.” She winked at me then turned on her heel and strode from the room. Her clacking heels echoed across the space until they were gone.

I sighed. She knew I could get a spot at any restaurant I wanted. Flashing my money was her favorite thing, and if the restaurant wasn’t full, she’d know I didn’t try hard to get into an exclusive place.

My phone was dangerously close to being dead. I had one phone call to make before I had to charge it.

Rachel would make my life hell if I didn’t schedule a reservation. And I wouldn’t have the privacy I needed to speak with Sienna about last night. I was sure if Rachel heard the conversation, she’d have a lot of questions. And I wasn’t prepared to talk to her about last night. At least not until I got all the information.

I sighed. Sienna would have to wait.

When we arrived at the restaurant, Rachel acted surprised that we’d gone to such a nice place. I was still recovering, so I didn’t have the energy to remind her that she was the one who wanted a fancy place. I ordered a bottle of wine for the table but I knew my glass would remain empty. I guzzled both mine and Rachel’s glasses of water before the waiter returned to take our order.

“So, as of right now, you have a venue, officiant, and what else?” Rachel said, flipping through her phone. She was half-paying attention like she always did, but for some reason, it annoyed me. It seemed like everything she did annoyed me today. It

was unfair to her that I was hungover, so I tried to muster up the energy to talk to her even though I really didn’t want to get into this right now. I didn’t even want to leave the house, and now she wanted to talk about the wedding? Balls of stress built up in my shoulders.

“That’s it. I didn’t have time for anything else yet. The band I put a deposit on didn’t have availability for the new date. The caterer was checking her calendar and was supposed to get back to me.”

I’d left my phone at home to charge while we were at dinner. When Rachel went home for the night, I’d be able to call Sienna and get all the information I needed to ease my mind. Not knowing what happened last night created a sense of anxiety in me. I hoped I didn’t say or do something stupid. By the lack of Sienna’s phone calls, I had a really strong feeling that the part of the night I didn’t remember was very important.

“Parker, are you even listening to me?” Rachel said.

I didn’t realize I wasn’t paying attention to anything she’d said. My brain was still fuzzy and I must have zoned out.

“What did you say?”

Rachel sighed. “We still have so much to do. I think I’m going to have to hire someone to help me since you were obviously not the person for the job. I’ll need your checkbook so I can put down all the deposits. And I need to get my dress fitted…”

She continued on. I interjected an appropriate “sure” and “uh-huh” as needed, but I didn’t contribute more than that.

I could barely choke down my dinner since my stomach was still rolling from the night before. I had the waiter wrap up my meal and I got the check before he even offered dessert. I knew Rachel wouldn’t want any and I needed to get home and call Sienna. Or maybe she already called me and wondered why I hadn’t gotten back to her in almost an entire day.

Rachel seemed put off by us rushing out of there, but I ignored her.

After paying the check, I called for the valet. After he pulled the car up to the curb, I opened the door for Rachel. I tipped the valet and shuffled over to my side. I was almost home-free.

We had to go back and get Rachel’s things at my place. I wished I would have packed them in the car so I could take her home right away. But my brain wasn’t functioning well at all since I woke up hours ago.

When we got to my place, I left the car idling and got out. “I’ll be right back with your things.”

Rachel opened her door and stepped out. “We can do that tomorrow.”