“Hey there,” he whispered, sneaking up behind me. I turned and was looking straight up into his eyes. Damn, he was gorgeous, I mean I’d realized it in the club, but now that we were out of the dark atmosphere I could actually see him, all of him. He towered over me, I was guessing he had to be pushing 6’5”, his skin was perfectly tanned, he either lived at the beach or he was a frequent customer at the tanning salon. The five o’clock shadow that lingered on his jaw had come in just enough to make me wonder what it would feel like pressed against my neck.
“Hi,” I said shyly, trying to avoid eye contact.
“How was that Patron?” He inquired, running his hand through his dark brown hair, giving me just enough time to catch a glimpse of his muscular stomach, as well as a trail of hair leading down south into his boxers. My cheeks instantly flushed red as tiny beads of sweat began to blossom on the back of my neck.
“Well, tonight it was a hit, but I’m sure tomorrow we’ll all be cursing your name.” He chuckled and looked at the time on his phone. “It looks like the bar is closed up for the night, but if you’d like we can go back to my room, they have the bar fully stocked?”
I knew this had the potential to get out of hand, but I figured it was the least I could do considering I’d forced him to pay for all of our very expensive liquor.
“Sure.” I smiled and turned towards the elevators. He placed a hand on the small of my back and a shot ran straight up my spine, my body instantly covered in goose bumps. What was it about this man? It’s like his mere touch rocked me to the core.
When he finally opened the door to his suite I was a nervous wreck. The tequila must have been wearing off. “Can I please have a shot, of anything?”
“More shots, how are you not passed out by now?”
“I’m not sure, but it doesn’t really matter, can you just get me one, please?” He walked behind the bar and poured me a shot of Whisky. Oh man, this was not going to sit well, but I didn’t care, I picked it up and slammed it back. My throat was already so numb I couldn’t even feel the burn that I’m sure was lingering behind. I set the glass down and asked for one more.
“I don’t think that is a good idea.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you aren’t my boss, one more, now.” I took the second shot and I knew I’d be so much more comfortable in about thirty seconds. I was positive all it would take was some added liquor courage to regain my earlier buzz.
“Here, drink this.” He handed me a glass of water. Knowing full well that would kill my buzz I just left it there. “Ok, suit yourself, but don’t be surprised if you are puking your guts out later tonight.”
“Oh, I’m sure I can hold my own,” I said, leaning across the bar, closer to his face. And there it was, my buzz was rearing its ugly head and I was getting bold all over again.
It only took four steps and he’d moved from behind the bar and both of his strong arms had been placed on either side of my hips. His face wasn’t even an inch away from mine as I felt his breath wash over my lips. “I bet you can,” he said in a throaty voice before his mouth slammed into mine.
I was completely caught off guard, and by the time I’d realized what was going on his strong hands were already gripping my ass and lifting me up around his waist. I grabbed fistfuls of his hair and devoured his mouth at the same rate he was taking mine. His tongue slipped past my lips and I let out a moan, arching my body closer to him. Before I knew it, I was pressed up against the wall and he was pulling my shirt over my head, his tongue tracing its way down my neck and over my collarbone. I couldn’t control the movement of my hands, it was as if they were metal and his body was the magnet. I wanted nothing more than to touch every inch him, so I did.
He continued teasing my body as he carried me through the living room. My sports bra was tugged off of me as he sucked one of my breasts into his mouth. I gasped for air, trying to hold on tighter with my legs, since my head was flung back to open myself up further to his mouth, leaving me further off balance. His eyes gazed over my bare chest and up to meet mine, looking pleased with the moans that were escaping my throat. By the time we’d made it to the bedroom he had every ounce our clothing removed. They left a trail from the bar to the bed. Tossing me onto the bed he leaned in and took my mouth, biting my bottom lip, as I ran my nails down his shoulder blades pulling him further between my legs. The sound of foil ripped, and before I could offer my assistance he’d taken my body just as quickly as I’d given myself to him. From what I remembered, it was the most amazing orgasm I’d ever experienced. But what came next made me not want to even think about sex.
CHAPTER THREE
I opened my eyes and the room was spinning. I was going to kill Addison for encouraging me to drink all of that tequila. I got out of bed and ran straight to the bathroom. I hated throwing up, but at that point I was willing to do whatever it took to rid myself of the liquor that was still lingering in my system. The bathroom seemed much bigger than I remembered, but at that very moment I couldn’t care less about the size, all I was worried about was how quickly I could make it to the toilet. Just in the nick of time I dropped to my knees and began praying to the porcelain gods.
After twenty minutes of pure torture, I’d showered, brushed my teeth, and walked out of the bathroom ready to get back into bed and go to sleep. I pulled the covers back, so I could lie down and that’s when I saw his naked body lying there, sprawled out in all of his gorgeous glory. My hands flew to my mouth and I whispered to myself, “Oh shit, you’ve got to be kidding me.” My eyes darted along the floor looking for anything that resembled an article of my own clothing. I didn’t see anything, so I ran into the living room and quickly grabbed the clothes I’d been wearing last night, which were scattered around the room, threw them on and ran straight for the door.
I couldn’t believe I’d had a one night stand with GQ. Pacing in front of the elevator bank I couldn’t help but replay last night’s events in my head. How had I allowed myself to end up in a stranger’s bed, what was I thinking? Clearly I wasn’t, that was the problem. I’d let the liquor get the best of me and now I’d have to deal with the consequences. I leaned against the elevator wall breathing heavily, rambling a mile a minute to myself, like an idiot all the way to our floor, “Oh my gosh, I don’t even know his name. It’s official, I’m a slut. How could I be so stupid? To think I gave in so easily, I didn’t even make him work for it. Sure, it was great, hell it was fan-freaking-tastic. But that doesn’t change the fact that I just had my first official one night stand and I don’t even know the guy’s name. I’m sure Mom and Dad are so proud. Damn you, Reagan, get it together, everyone does it; at least you waited until you were twenty-seven and didn’t cave at nineteen, like Addison had.”
The bell chimed on our floor and the doors of the elevator opened, while I was still pacing the tiny space and talking to myself. An older gentleman’s throat cleared and I was brought back to reality.
Wonderful, now the
guests
here think they’re sharing a hotel with a lunatic.
“Oh! Excuse me,” I shouted as I ran past him and straight to our penthouse suite.
Much to my surprise all of the girls were up, bearing bikinis, ready for our day at the beach. “Where in the hell did you run off to last night?” Addison screamed across the suite. “I’ve been calling you all morning!” She was standing there with her hands on her hips, looking like a pissed off mother who’d just found her teenager sneaking back into the house from the night before.
“Please stop screaming,” I begged, “my head is pounding and I just woke up in bed with a man, oh, and did I mention I don’t even know his name, just give me a minute to process and I’ll get back to you.”
“You WHAT?!” She was immediately at my side dragging me into our bedroom. If there was one thing Addison was more interested in than herself it was my sex life, or more like my lack thereof. She flung me onto the couch and plopped down right next to me. “You have got to tell me everything, right now.”
“Look, I’m not even sure I remember anything. I was pretty toasted last night, no thanks to you and your damn tequila shots, all I know is he’s here, in this hotel and we have to leave before he finds out what room we’re in. I cannot run into him, ever.” I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes, hoping it would keep her from asking any more questions. No such luck.
“Are you kidding me, was it that terrible?”
I laughed, “Umm, not exactly, from what I do remember it was probably the best sex I’ve ever had in my entire existence.” I blushed when I said it, granted it was only Addison, but I was still embarrassed.
“Then what in the hell are you hiding for? You should still be in that room with him getting ready for round two.”
“No way,” I screamed. “Look, guys like him probably have a different girl every night. I’m sure I did him a favor by leaving without waking him. Now, come on, let’s go.” I got up and moved as quickly as my aching body would let me, grabbing my things, and throwing them into my bag. Addison grabbed all of her luggage, tossed on her cover up and we went downstairs to check out. I’d put on my sunglasses and floppy hat to try and disguise myself, just in case GQ made his way to the lobby for whatever reason. I was casing the lobby of the hotel like a detective, and I think Addison was purposefully taking longer than needed in hopes of spotting him. Once we were in my SUV, and pulling out of the hotel parking lot, I felt like I could actually breathe again.
Addison was raking me over the coals about the details, but I really didn’t have much to offer her, there wasn’t much I remembered. “Look, you know I’m not like that, I don’t just go hooking up with random guys wanting to have one night stands. I’m not sure what got into me last night, but it’s over with and I just have to forget about it.” I tried to focus on the road, but my head was still pounding. “Do you have any aspirin?” Addison dug through her giant purse and finally found a bottle of white pills and handed me two, luckily there was bottled water in the cup holder. I was going to need more than this to get through the day.
“Does he have your phone number?” she asked quietly.
“He won’t call, trust me, he got what he wanted last night. Now, enough about me, this is your last Sunday as a single woman, let’s focus on you.” And that is exactly how we spent the rest of the day, baking in the scorching sun, drinking Bloody Marys.
CHAPTER FOUR
The next week was nothing but final wedding preparations, granted Addison had hired Tampa’s best wedding planner, but there were still things she wanted taken care of herself, and as maid of honor it was my job to see all of it had been checked off of her list. From wedding ring pickups, to trips to and from the airport for family and friends, I seemed to be in charge of everything.
I was thankful; staying busy was keeping my mind off of the fact that GQ totally met my expectations, and had yet to contact me after our wild evening together. I know I had no reason to be, but I was furious.
While I was sitting at the airport stewing over GQ, and waiting on yet another flight, I called Addison. She answered the call, “Please tell me you are at the airport, Casey’s aunt and uncle just landed and they will die if they have to wait for someone to pick them up.”
“Oh come on, you know I’m never late, you’ve made me your bitch and I intend on fulfilling that position, but I just want to know why Casey’s best man doesn’t have to do any of this, shouldn’t we be splitting all of the last minute to-do’s?”
“Yeah right, you know how the guys are, they want as little to do with this stuff as possible. Casey told them the only thing they are responsible for is showing up sober the day of the wedding.”
“Great, I’ll be sure to thank Case when I see him. I’ve got to go; I think I’ve spotted the aunt and uncle, damn, for an old man he is a total knock out.”
“Good genes, be nice to them, they’re the Best Man’s parents.”
“Even more reason he should be helping me!” I exclaimed.
“Gotta run, have fun, I’ll see you soon.” She ended the call.
I jumped out of the car to greet Casey’s uncle and aunt, “Mr. & Mrs. Conrad?”
“Yes, that’s us,” the older man said in a deep voice.
“Hi, I’m Reagan, Addison’s best friend. It’s so nice to meet the both of you.” We all shook hands, and then I helped Mr. Conrad get their bags into the back of my SUV. Once their bags were packed into the back of the car, I jumped back into the driver’s seat and headed towards Addison’s parent’s house.
“Aren’t we going to The Bellevue?” Mr. Conrad asked.
“Yes, but first everyone is going to the Cartwright’s for dinner, then I believe we’ll all carpool back to the hotel.”
“Oh good, I hope Colton will be there,” said a tiny voice from the back seat. I looked into my rearview mirror; Mrs. Conrad looked like she was anticipating a long awaited homecoming.
“Colton?” I asked, looking to Mr. Conrad.
“Yes, our son, he lives here in Tampa. Hardly makes it home to see his parents, he’s a very busy man. It will be good to see him, but I don’t want you to go getting your hopes up, Candice, you know he’ll probably only be available the day of the wedding.” He said, looking into the back seat at his wife.
“Well, I hope he is there and you get to see him more than just at the wedding. I wish I could visit my parents.”
Damn
. The words flew out before I could catch them and reel them back in.
“Do they not live in town?” Mr. Conrad asked.
“Well, they did, they passed a few years ago in an accident.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry for your loss”
“Thanks, it was extremely hard at first, but it gets easier as time goes by. Anyway, I can’t say that I’ve met Colton yet, but I’m sure he misses you all just as much as you miss him.” Mrs. Conrad smiled at me from the back seat and the rest of the car ride was pretty silent. When we arrived at the Cartwright’s I dropped Mr. & Mrs. Conrad off at the front door, then went to park my car.
I was finally done with all of my errands for the day and could relax with the rest of my family and friends. After running upstairs to my room – yes, after my parents passed Theo and Teresa Cartwright had taken me in and given me my own room in their house – and getting changed, I headed back downstairs to enjoy the evening.