Alana stopped in the middle of her pacing and glared at her friend.“Are you kidding me?You’re laughing when I’m married to a man I’ve never met?”
Gina wiped the tears from her eyes.“You have to see the irony.”
“I don’t see anything other than an annulment in the very near future.”Alana stalked out of the room.“As soon as I’ve had a shower and a change of clothes, I’ll see that this mess is undone.”
She stomped into the other room and found her suitcase on the floor where she’d left it when they’d arrived the evening before.Neither one of them had bothered to unpack.They’d headed straight down to the bar to celebrate her near miss with matrimony.
Alana groaned.Near miss, hell.Near miss in the States and, the next day, a direct hit in Mexico.
“Perhaps, you can tell us what happened last night,” Chase said from the doorway of the other room.
Gina chuckled.“Obviously, you two got drunk.I only know what happened at the bar in this hotel.”Her voice grew closer as Gina moved from her room into Alana’s.“Alana wanted to start the party as soon as we arrived, so we went down to the bar.”
“Me?”Alana snorted.“You practically dragged me out of the room before I could even unpack.”
“You...me...whatever.”Gina shrugged.“The point is, there was a band playing, and Alana downed three tequila shots to get the ball rolling.Within an hour, she added two margaritas to the total,” Gina patted Alana’s back.“Sweetheart, you were pretty happy by the time this guy showed up.”She tilted her head toward Chase.“Then you two started dancing salsa, which wasn’t half bad.”Holding the sheet up with one hand, Gina held out her other hand.“By the way, I’m Gina.Nice to meet you.I’m Alana’s best friend.”
Alana snorted.“Best friends keep best friends from doing stupid stuff.”
“Chase Flannigan,” Chase said and shook hands with Gina.“Nice to meet you, too.”
“Don’t go getting chummy with this devil,” Alana said as she dragged her heavy case up onto the bed, unzipped and opened it.
Inside were layers of frothy lace and the sheer fabric of sexy lingerie.She rifled through the contents, tossing see-through nighties onto the floor.“Where are my clothes?”
Gina pressed her fingers to her lips and gave a sheepish grimace.“The bridesmaids took them out.Each of us put one sexy nightie in their place.”
Alana turned on Gina, glaring.“Are you telling me I don’t have any other clothes than what I arrived in?”
Gina gave her a weak shoulder shrug.“We didn’t think you’d leave your room.There are enough sexy night gowns in there for an entire week.”She grinned.“We thought you’d be happy.I mean, who leaves their room on their honeymoon?”
“Honeymoon?”Chase stood in the doorway, his hands planted on his hips.“You’re here on your honeymoon, and you ended up marrying me?That’s…that’s bigamy.”
Alana tossed a deep red teddy nightgown over her shoulder.“I’m not a bigamist.I didn’t marry the bastard.”
“He ran off with the wedding planner,” Gina said.
“Gina!”Alana squealed.“No one else had to know that little bit of information but you and me.”
Her friend snorted.“And everyone who showed up for the wedding.If you ask me, you dodged a fifty-caliber bullet.”
“I didn’t ask you, and I’d appreciate it if you kept your Army analogies about my personal life to yourself.”Alana threw a sheer black froth of a babydoll nightgown at Gina.She missed, and Chase caught it before it hit the ground.
His brows lifted.“Let me get this straight…You’re here on your honeymoon, without the groom, and this is all you have to wear besides that red dress?”He held the black nightie by his index finger, a grin spreading across his face.
Alana tossed more items out of the suitcase, torn between anger and defeat.“It appears I’m wearing the extent of my street clothes, besides a thong bikini.”She glared across at Gina.“You owe me.”
“I can loan you a pair of shorts and a couple of T-shirts,” Gina said, wincing.
Alana threw her hands in the air.“Great, at least I won’t have to run to the store in my evening attire.”
“I wouldn’t toss the lingerie too soon,” Gina warned.“You might yet have use for it.”She winked at Chase.“I mean, seriously, these weren’t cheap.”She touched a finger to the sheer fabric.
“Wow.”Carson appeared in the doorway, dressed in jeans and pulling a shirt over his head.“Where was that last night?”he asked Gina.
“In Alana’s suitcase,” Gina said.“That’s the one I bought for her wedding trousseau.”Gina took the garment from Chase and held it to her chest, fumbling to keep the sheet from dropping.“You might be happy to know, I bought one just like it in royal blue for myself.”
“R-r-r-rrr,” Carson said, rolling the Rs across his tongue.He grabbed Gina from behind and kissed her neck.“I’m going for coffee.You want any?”He nuzzled the curve of her shoulder.
