Ignoring the unease, and enjoying that unexpected morning feeling of utter contentment, she stretched her arms and opened her eyes. Thankful for the day off and not needing to hurry, she frowned at the ceiling. Where were the stains from last year’s roof leak? Squeezing her eyes shut then open again, shestared harder. That was not her ceiling. Springing up to a seated position, her eyes almost bugged out of her head. Across from her, in an upholstered chair, his hands folded and resting on his knees, Kade sat watching her.
Instinctively, she grabbed the edge of the sheet, pulling it up in front of her to cover her nightgown—that she wasn’t wearing.Holy hell. What had she done?
“It’s not what you think.” His expression was flat, unemotional, and unreadable.
Her gaze drifted down to the sheet pulled up to her chin, around the room, then back to him. “I don’t see how it can be anything other than what this looks like.”
His head tipped to one side. She turned to follow his gaze, her own landing on a sheet of paper on her nightstand. Shifting her grip on the sheet to her right hand, her left stretched out to retrieve the page. Her jaw dropped and her head snapped up to face him.
“You don’t remember either?”
Immediately, her gaze fell to the page. Marriage License. “I’m going to say no.”
“Your clothes are on the chair over there.” Kade pointed to the corner of the room, pushed to his feet, and strode to the window, his back to the bed—and her. “If you’d like to get dressed.”
If the entire scenario weren’t so…unsettling, she would have laughed. The evidence at hand indicated that he’d already seen pretty much all of her, yet chivalry had him turning away to allow her to dress. Or was it remorse? Either way, despite whatever this was, she really did like this man.
Still clutching the sheet to her front, she stood, dragging the sheet off the bed and kicking it around her like a Grecian robe. Hurrying to the chair, she snatched up her clothing and shuffled to the bathroom. Door closed behind her, she staredat her reflection in the mirror. Her mind struggled to put together the pieces of last night. Splashing water on her face, she washed up quickly even if she had to wear yesterday’s clothes, and wondered how could she possibly not remember getting married? She wasn’t a drinker, that was no secret, and she might have gotten giddy a time or two, but she’d also never drawn a complete blank on what she’d done the night before.
“Married,” she muttered to the empty room.
Fully dressed, she faced the closed door, sucked in a deep fortifying breath. Hands a little shaky, she turned the knob, swinging the door open.
The sound of the door had Kade turning around to face her, the slightest of smiles teased at the corner of his mouth. She really wanted to smile back, but somehow, fear had her barely able to remain standing. What was a person supposed to do when they woke up married to a stranger?
“You look lovely.”
Now she laughed. “Are you always this charming?”
Thankfully, he chuckled too. “It helps when it’s the truth.”
Heat instantly flooded her cheek.
His smile widened. “And even lovelier when you blush.” Crossing the room to one of the two vacant chairs, he took a seat. “I ordered us breakfast. Didn’t know if you liked coffee or tea, or both, or cereal or eggs, so I ordered it all.”
She felt one brow rise high on her forehead. He may not know it, but yes, the man was always charming. “That was thoughtful. A hot cup of tea would be really nice about now.” Though the thought of eating actual food made her stomach turn, she suspected that nourishment was at least one of the things she needed. An escape route might not be a bad thing either. Following his lead, she walked to the other chair and sat down.
Silence hung for several long seconds that felt more like hours.
“What do you remember?” he finally asked.
Her cheeks tugged at her lips as her mind played back most of yesterday. “I remember you rescuing me from an obnoxious drunk. I remember eating at the taqueria.” Her smile widened. “I remember dancing in the street. By the way, you are a really good dancer.”
“Thank you. So are you.”
“That’s news to me.”
“You followed my lead easily. I actually thought you might have had dance lessons or something.”
She shook her head. “That was the first time I’d ever done more than sway on a dance floor.” She threaded her hands together and tried not to fidget. “I remember going to the piano bar, ordering a Punchbowl, singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ over and over.”
“So far, I’m with you.” He leaned back in the chair. “I think I remember ordering a second Punchbowl.”
“Actually,” she stared at the ceiling, “I think you ordered two more. I vaguely remember thinking what a great ability to hold your liquor you had.”
“Hmm,” he practically scoffed.
“Now things get fuzzy. I know we were worried you’d miss your flight, so we left.” She squinted as if that would help clear the fog in her brain. “Elvis! I remember there was an Elvis outside.”
