s caffeine.”
“Good idea. I’ll get me another glass of water.”
I got up from the bed and moved far away from him. Away from his presence and his heat and his musk. I felt my head swirling with want for him again, and that wasn’t good. Now that I’d had a taste of him, I wanted more of him. And I couldn't allow myself that luxury. Not until we figured out what the hell happened last night.
Not until we figured out the note on the tray.
I walked into the bathroom and headed straight for the sink. I turned on the water and looked back at Everett, watching as he picked up the hotel room phone by his side of the bed. I watched him carefully as the glass filled with water. His rippling back muscles pebbled for my viewing pleasure and I quickly lost myself in the way his body moved. The way his shoulders blossomed from a tapered waist. The way his long legs stood strong and the way his wild hair fell around his ears. I was entranced by him. Captivated by every facet of him. But it wasn’t until his voice hit my ears that I panicked. Mostly because he sounded panicked.
“What’s your last name, Andrea?”
I drew in a quick breath before I turned the overflowing water off.
“Faith. Why?” I asked.
I brought the very full cup of water to my lips before something shiny caught my vision. I took a few sips of water so it wouldn't overflow the glass, then traced the source of the reflecting light. I ran my eyes along the glass. Along the top of the water. Along the surface of the mirror. And when I turned to look at my own reflection again, the bright light illuminated something on my finger.
And the glass went crashing from my hand into the sink.
I whipped back around and my eyes locked with Everett. Then, they fell to his own hand. His left hand. The hand my own ring was on. There was a gold band around his finger and I felt my heart seize. I felt my world dim. I felt my mind swirl with the blank space of time I had lost last night.
I grazed my eyes up to his as he stood there, his lips parted in utter shock as he dropped the phone back to its cradle.
It wasn’t a joke.
It wasn’t a prank.
Holy shit, I think I just married Everett Wilder.
TWELVE
Everett
“Everett Wilder? You married Andrea Faith last night, correct?”
The words of the front desk attendant still rung heavily in my ears as I stared at her. Andrea. In my bathroom. Wearing the most pathetic excuse for a wedding ring possible. I looked back down at my hand and took in the sliver of a gold band around my left ring finger.
Holy shit. Had we gotten married last night?
“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for all this,” I said.
But Andrea didn’t speak.
“Lucas has pulled some elaborate pranks. And I never wanted to come on this trip in the first place. He’s getting me back for not wanting to come. I know this is him,” I said.
And again, Andrea didn’t respond.
“It would’ve been easy if he enlisted Jessica’s help. Or another one of my brother’s. I was adamantly against this trip because of everything our business is dealing with. It’s very possible this is all them. One slip of money to the right person could have fabricated that phone call,” I said.
I thumbed behind me to the phone, but Andrea simply stood there. In the middle of the bathroom with a broken glass in the sink, I watched tears rise to her eyes. What the hell was I supposed to do? I knew what I could do. I could call the front desk again and ask for someone else. Anyone else. Another desk attendant.
I needed to talk to another desk attendant.
I picked the phone back up and pressed ‘0’. The phone rang twice, then someone picked up.
“Mandarin Oriental, this is Derek speaking.”
“Derek. Everett Wilder. We spoke a moment ago.”