Fortune's Surprise Engagement. Nancy Thompson Robards
Чтение книги онлайн.
Читать онлайн книгу Fortune's Surprise Engagement - Nancy Thompson Robards страница 7
Название: Fortune's Surprise Engagement
Автор: Nancy Thompson Robards
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Вестерны
isbn: 9781474059619
isbn:
Olivia leaned in. “You said ‘was.’ So I’m guessing that Anna is no longer in the picture?”
The curtain of dread that always closed around him when he remembered Anna started falling. “No, she is no longer in the picture.”
That’s all he was going to say. He was opening his mouth to change the subject when Olivia got up from her chair and sat down next to him on the love seat.
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” she slurred. “People accuse me of a lot of things, but no one can ever say I go after another woman’s man. You don’t have a girlfriend who isn’t named Anna, do you, Alejandro?”
He shook his head. His gaze fell to her lips. She was sitting enticingly close to him. Suddenly, the room temperature seemed to spike.
“Good,” she slurred again as she slid her arms around his neck. “Because I’m going to kiss you. You don’t mind if I kiss you, do you, Alejandro?”
Before the words hell no could pass his lips, her lips closed over his and smothered the reply.
At first, the kiss was surprisingly gentle, tentative. She tasted like the cocktails they’d been drinking and fresh summer berries and something else he hadn’t realized he’d been craving for a very long time. When she opened her mouth wider, inviting him in, passion took over and the gentle kiss morphed into wild, ravenous need, feeding a hunger that he didn’t realize was consuming him. He reveled in it, wallowed in it, until it blocked out everything else.
She moved against him, sliding her hands over his shoulders and down his back.
A rush of hot need surged through him. His hands followed the outline of her curves until he cupped her bottom and pulled her closer. Damn. She felt good. Keeping one hand on her, he found the hem of her dress with his other and dipped his fingertips beneath the silky barrier that stood between them.
When she moaned into their kiss, he wanted to pull her onto his lap.
But she was drunk and they were in the bar of the hotel where her sister was getting married next weekend. He had enough of his wits about him to know that if she wasn’t in the shackles of too many Fuzzy Handcuffs, she probably wouldn’t be doing this. She’d probably be mortified tomorrow.
“Alejandro, take me to your room.” Her words were hot on his neck and his body was saying Let’s go. Now.
But he couldn’t. And not for lack of want or interest. It just wasn’t right. Not when she was like this.
He stood up and gently tugged her to her feet.
“What’s your room number?”
“Olivia, wake up.”
The soft voice bounced around her dreams, beckoning her to open her eyes. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away and she could go back to the dream of kissing Alejandro... His hands in her hair, pulling her mouth to his; him slowly but firmly guiding her in a backward walk, until he’d pinned her against the wall... His fingers lacing through hers, then pushing their joined hands out and up over her head so she could feel the length of his body pressed into hers.
It was glorious and she wanted more of him, all of him.
“Olivia. I’m not kidding. Wake up. It’s an emergency.” Why was Rachel’s voice in her dream? She was intruding again. Only this time she was being more insistent and it seemed like she wasn’t going away. Olivia tried to force her eyes open...to no avail.
“Olivia.” Something was shaking her body in a way that didn’t mesh with Alejandro’s tender caresses. She managed to force one eye open. She saw Rachel’s and Zoe’s anxious faces staring down at her as searing pain shot through her head.
She felt as if someone had clocked her.
As she pressed the palms of her hands over her eyes, everything came back to her. She’d been clubbed by one too many Fuzzy Handcuffs. Okay, maybe a few too many. And then there was Alejandro. She’d all but had him for dinner. Kissing him hadn’t been simply a dream. It had been very real—
Oh, no.
“Olivia, wake up!” It was Rachel shaking her. “We have a situation.”
At the sound of her sister’s no-nonsense tone, Olivia removed her palms from her eyes and forced her eyes open. For the love of God, her head was about to split wide open.
“It’s Sophie,” Zoe said. “She’s missing. We can’t find her anywhere.”
It took a moment for Olivia to piece together last night’s events: the drinks, her spilling the beans to her sisters about how she felt about their parents’ relationship—or lack thereof—Sophie getting upset and running off.
“What do you mean she’s missing?” Olivia asked. “Maybe she went out for coffee?”
Every word was a nail in her brain. Her mouth was so dry her lips stuck to her gums like they’d been pasted together. She needed water. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to ask them if they could go look for Sophie and bring her back a bottle of ice-cold water.
“Do you think she’s in danger?” Olivia asked.
Rachel and Zoe looked at each other.
“No,” Rachel said. “Otherwise we would’ve called the police.”
“All of her stuff is gone,” Zoe said. “She must have packed up and taken it with her. And I must’ve been sleeping deeply because I didn’t even hear her moving around.”
Zoe and Sophie had shared one room in the two-bedroom suite. Olivia and Rachel had shared the other one.
“Personally, I think she’s freaked out over what you said last night and has cold feet,” Zoe said. “You know, prewedding jitters. I get it. I totally understand. It happened to me. That’s why we need to find her and let her know the way she’s feeling is perfectly normal and everything will be all right.”
“Have you talked to Mason?” Olivia’s voice was scratchy. “I’ll bet she’s with him.”
Again, Rachel and Zoe exchanged a look.
“He just called. In fact, his call woke Zoe up,” Rachel said. “He was looking for Sophie.”
“Did you tell him she’s at her bachelorette party and that means no boys? He can live without her for a weekend.”
Zoe sighed. “Normally, I would’ve told him that, but he said she’d left him a distraught message last night after he’d gone to bed. Apparently she said she needed to talk to him as soon as possible and he should call no matter the hour. Now she’s not picking up, and she hasn’t returned any of his calls or mine. We’re worried about her, Liv.”
Olivia regarded her СКАЧАТЬ