One Night Bride by Marika Ray
4
Remington
Something that didn’t care about living the next ten minutes was piercing my brain and I didn’t appreciate it. With a growl, I put a hand over my eyes. Ah, there. Blessed relief.
The hotel sheets felt pleasantly warm and beckoned me to stay longer. Based on the cotton ball that had taken over my tongue and the pounding in my head, I fully intended to heed that invitation.
What the fuck happened last night?
With my eyes still closed, I went over everything from seeing the dark-haired beauty, to her obvious invitation, to somehow fucking her against the wall of a public bathroom. I groaned, even as my dick hardened just thinking about it.
I wasn’t the kind of guy who took a girl into the bathroom to get between her legs. There was just something about the way she seemed so eager that had me doing things I wouldn’t normally do. How could any warm-blooded male say no to that?
I blinked my eyes open, feeling like I’d buried my head in a bag of sand at some point during the night. The sunlight filtering in from the partially closed drapes felt like a spotlight, highlighting my bad choices from the night before. Jesus. I hadn’t woken up hungover like this since college. Visions of several bars we visited last night had me groaning out loud. I could have sworn we ended up back here at some point.
Glancing over quickly to the pillow beside me, I saw an indentation, but no Esme. Which gave me mixed emotions. Relief she wasn’t there, and I didn’t have to deal with the morning after awkwardness. Irritation that she’d crept out without a goodbye. And there was definitely something else ticking away behind my rib cage. I hadn’t even gotten her phone number or a last name.
Then again, I was here on vacation and so was she. It was just a onetime hookup.
My phone buzzed on the bedside table. I grabbed it and a bottle of water, chugging it before opening my phone to see the text message.
Ms. Williams: Good morning, Mr. Roth. I’m downstairs with the car whenever you’re ready.
“Fuck.” I glanced at the time. I should have been up half an hour ago.
I texted her back I was finishing up a phone call and would be down shortly. The lie didn’t sit well with me, but telling her the truth would have been worse. I had a rubber band tied around my finger, which was odd, but then again, I was completely naked save for one sock. Inebriated decisions often made no sense in the light of the next day. I flicked the rubber band off and massaged blood back into my finger. After a quick shower, followed by my favorite pair of jeans, a protein bar, and painkillers, I felt almost human again.
Down in the lobby, Ms. Williams gave me a brilliant smile I didn’t deserve for keeping her waiting twenty minutes past our meeting time. I didn’t like people who were late, and here I was being that person.
“My apologies,” I murmured as she shook my hand and we walked out the door.
“Vacation lends itself to late nights. As it should.” She gave me a wink and climbed in the back of the car, leaving me to huff out a laugh. She surely didn’t miss much. Something told me Mom would like her.
We saw five more houses on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, none of which compared to the one I’d fallen in love with yesterday. On Ms. Williams’s suggestion, we swung by that house again to make sure I still got a good feeling about it. Maybe it was the way the designer had used so much wood with exposed beams that reminded me of home. Or maybe it was the killer views from the massive windows in every room. Whatever it was, I was sold.
“I’ll take it, Ms. Williams,” I stated, standing in the foyer and envisioning myself in this house, living the life I wanted rather than the one that was expected of me.
“Excellent choice. I’ll have my assistant, Melinda Carter, draw up the papers and meet you back at the hotel. I do encourage you to make a full-price offer as homes around here are selling quickly.”
I gave a curt nod. “Full price and let’s make it an all-cash offer. That should speed things up.”
Ms. Williams’s eyes widened for a split second before she nodded back and put the phone to her ear, most likely having her assistant get started on the offer. I had things to do too if I planned to live here soon.
I needed to secure the second investor I’d spoken with last week and get the website up and running. My webmaster spoke in jargon I didn’t understand, but was getting familiar with quickly. Oh yeah, and I needed to find a wife. My parents thought I was only out here finding a vacation home, not a permanent residence. As soon as I figured out the wife component, I could move here for good.
Ms. Carter waited for us outside the hotel, shifting from one black heel to the other, in a suit that looked like she borrowed it from her big sister. She tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and stood up straight the second she caught sight of our car approaching. She opened the door for me, which was all kinds of backwards. In my neck of the woods, a man still opened a door for the lady.
“Hello, Mr. Roth. I’m Melinda Carter.” She stuck her hand out, and I shook it, amused when she hesitated for a fraction of a second when I climbed out of the car. My size seemed to do that to most people, but I found myself impressed with her ability to keep trudging along like she hadn’t noticed I dwarfed her a couple times over.
“Very nice to meet you as well, Ms. Carter.” I took her hand and gave it a gentle shake.
“Melinda will do just fine,” she said with a smile.
Ms. Williams handed off a folder to Melinda and shook my hand. “I’m available anytime if you have questions or even change your mind and want to start your search over. Melinda will take care of the paperwork and I’ll be in touch the minute I hear back about your offer.”
I nodded and put a hand on Melinda’s back to guide her into the hotel. “Please tell me we can do the paperwork over lunch,” I asked her, my stomach rumbling to let me know the protein bar wasn’t nearly enough sustenance.
Her eyes lit up, and we both headed in the direction of the hotel restaurant. I avoided looking at the bar where I’d met Esme. And I definitely didn’t look at the door to the bathroom where we’d…well, never mind. I wasn’t thinking about that today. Today was about buying a house and putting my life’s plan in motion.
It took a couple hours of eating, talking, and finally going over the paperwork before everything was submitted, but Melinda was fun to talk to. If I didn’t already have a thing about mixing business with personal, I’d consider asking her to be my fake-but-kind-of-real wife. She was too young and inexperienced, though. Mom would never believe for a second that I’d fallen head over heels for someone like her.
By the time we said goodbye, I felt like I made a new friend in Lake Tahoe. Heading back to my room, I figured I’d get to work on the website changes my webmaster had asked me about yesterday. The door to my hotel room clicked softly behind me and I resisted the urge to fall facedown on the crisp white comforter the maids had tidied up. While I didn’t feel like a toddler was playing whack-a-mole on my skull any longer, I still hadn’t recovered from the night before. Thank God Ruger wasn’t here to give me shit about getting older. With thirty staring me down, I didn’t need that kind of negativity.
A piece of paper on the desk caught my attention. I’d put all my things away yesterday in my bag before heading to dinner, as I didn’t want my private business plans out in case the staff came by the room. I walked over and picked it up, frowning at the words my eyes were seeing, but my brain couldn’t seem to comprehend.
It was a marriage license from the state of Nevada.
And my fucking name was on it.
“Oh shit…” I muttered, reading further down to see Esme’s name too.
I scrubbed a hand over my face, the words blurring. My ass hit the bed, and I bounced, the paper shaking in my hand. Yesterday’s date clearly stamped in black and white. Signed by a guy I didn’t know from a place called Keep Tahoe Married Wedding Chapel.
Shock was a funny thing. It took away your reasonable thoughts and left you with the one piece of information not pertinent to the matter at hand.
“Well. I guess I found a wife.”
The room didn’t answer. Neither did my wife. Because she was gone. And I had no way to find her.
I flopped back on the bed and read through the license again, making sure I read each and every word, even though there wasn’t much on there to read.
Remington Roth.
Esme Waldo.
You had to be kidding me. That was her last name? I barked out a laugh, knowing I sounded a bit crazed. I was about to embark on a Where’s Waldo adventure I could never have imagined as a kid when I searched those stupid puzzle books.
I sat straight up with the intent to do an internet search on my phone. It was sitting on the desk where I’d left it after I found the marriage license. My legs shook as I walked over to the desk, both shocked and elated I’d married someone. I mean, I hadn’t meant to marry Esme, but it was what I’d set out to do, after all.
Plopping down on the desk chair, I grabbed the phone and noticed a second sheet of paper that must have been under the marriage license. It had a photocopy of my driver’s license, along with Esme’s right below. There was her beautiful smiling face, just like I’d remembered her.
2479 E. Ocean Drive, Auburn Hill, CA 95762
Well, holy shit. I’d already found her. She lived in a place called Auburn Hill. All I had to do was fly out there, make sure she knew about us getting married, and convince her to stay married to me for a little longer. Just long enough for my parents to be convinced it was for real.
A bubble of excitement took over as the shock left. I hopped up, folding the license and the photocopy carefully and putting it in my pocket for safe keeping. Now in a rush, I grabbed all my clothes and threw them in my suitcase, already pulling up Wayne’s contact on my phone.
I hadn’t meant to get drunk, sleep with a stranger, and then marry her when I was so drunk I didn’t remember doing it, but it all might work out. My brain spun, and the more I thought it through, the happier I got. I might even have time to stop by a jeweler before they closed tonight and pick up some gold wedding bands to make things real.
Then a thought had me pausing. What if Esme didn’t want to be married? Even just temporarily?
Instantly, I batted the idea away. Surely I could throw some money at the situation and make it all better. If I offered enough, I was confident she’d agree to a short marriage. She didn’t seem like the difficult type. She’d taken her stilettos off at some point last night, not bothered at all to walk around outside barefoot. I could just see the way she’d tossed her head back and laughed when I made a joke. She seemed fun. She’d probably think accidentally getting married was a hilarious joke.
“Yes, Mr. Roth?” Wayne’s voice broke through my racing thoughts.
“Hey, Wayne. Change of plans. I’m headed to Auburn Hill, California, first thing in the morning.”
“Never heard of the place, sir.”
I grinned. “Me neither, but that’s where we’re going.”