Fortune's Surprise Engagement. Nancy Thompson Robards

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      Olivia could have used both right about now.

      She forced herself into a sitting position, trying to ignore the daggers that stabbed at her brain and filled it with a soup-like fog that refused to let her think straight.

      As if reading her mind, Rachel produced a bottle of cold water and a wet washcloth.

      “You look like hell,” she said. “You’re positively green. Drink this and wipe your face with this cool cloth.”

      Olivia did as she was told. Only then did she realize she was still fully dressed in the outfit she’d worn last night. At least she was dressed. She might have smirked at the thought, if the reaction wouldn’t have hurt so badly. Of course she was dressed. She’d only kissed Alejandro. She hadn’t slept with him. The memory of him walking her up to the suite and the two of them indulging in a delicious good-night kiss right outside the door flooded back. Her sisters didn’t need to know about that. Besides, they had more important things to worry about with Sophie going AWOL.

      “What time did you get in last night?” Zoe asked.

      Olivia took a long drink from the water bottle. When she was finished, she said, “I don’t know. Late. You all jumped ship and left me with a tray full of drinks to polish off. It took a while.”

      Zoe frowned. “I’m sorry we left. We were concerned about Sophie after your little down-with-love tirade.”

      Tirade?

      It hadn’t exactly been a tirade. It’d been honesty.

      “Yeah, well, I wish you wouldn’t have kept pushing me to offer love and marriage advice. I felt like you backed me into a corner.”

      The sisters sat in silence for a moment.

      “Of course, the drinks didn’t help matters,” Olivia said. “They sort of greased the hinges on propriety’s trapdoor and once the words started spilling out, there was no stopping them. I feel bad that Sophie was so upset. It wasn’t what I intended.”

      The washcloth had warmed up. Olivia held it by the corners and waved it back and forth to cool it off before pressing it pressed to her eyes again.

      Visions of kissing Alejandro played out on the screen in her mind’s eye. She was so glad her sisters hadn’t pressed her about whether or not she’d polished off the remaining drinks alone. The thought of those Fuzzy Handcuffs made her stomach churn, and the thought of trying to explain what happened with Alejandro tied it up in knots.

      Olivia looked at her sisters. “Was Sophie here when you went to sleep?”

      “She was,” said Zoe.

      “In fact, I thought she was out like a light when I finally turned in. I tried to talk to her before she went to bed, but she said she was fine and just wanted to go to sleep. So I went in and took a shower and then I was on the phone with Joaquin for a while. When I came out of the bathroom, she was snuggled down under the covers. I thought she was just missing Mason.”

      “Me, too,” said Rachel. “But that’s why we’re concerned that he can’t get in touch with her. Where do you think she would go?”

      “So obviously you two haven’t even been out of the room,” Olivia said.

      “No, not yet,” Zoe said. “We hated to wake you since you obviously played a little hard last night.” She gestured to Olivia’s outfit.

      “Not really. It’s not as if I did the walk of shame this morning.”

      But she had kissed Alejandro. The thought made her already knotted, churning stomach clench a little bit more. She put her hand on her belly to quell it.

      It would’ve been easy to give in to lust and do a lot more than kiss Alejandro last night, but she hadn’t. Actually, she’d tried, but he’d been the gentleman.

      Even so, the essence of him clung to her. Like he had gotten into her pores. If she shut her eyes, there was Alejandro invading her thoughts the same way he had invaded her dreams. Her fingers found their way to her lips as she remembered every delicious detail about their kisses.

      Olivia had a lot of faults, but getting blackout drunk wasn’t one of them. No matter how much she had to drink, she was always in control of herself. Sometimes it made her a little looser. She paused. Maybe looser wasn’t the best word in this particular situation. The Fuzzy Handcuffs had unshackled her inhibitions. That was a more apt description. The drinks had simply allowed her to experience a pleasure in which she might not have otherwise allowed herself to indulge. Yes. That was what’d happened.

      She was more than willing to own her actions.

      And in owning them, she had enough good sense to know kissing Alejandro last night was as far as things would go. She’d gotten him out of her system and it wouldn’t happen again. Of course not. She would be far too busy focusing on her bridesmaid’s duties this wedding week.

      As fractured as the night had been with her sisters, it was still a girls’ weekend. Never mind how gorgeous Alejandro Mendoza was. She’d resisted him. She hadn’t bailed on her sisters to spend the night with him.

      Even if her sisters had bailed on her.

      With great care, Olivia swung her legs over the side of the bed. She put her feet flat on the floor, hoping that the effort would ground her and help her regain her sense of equilibrium. Instead, the room spun. She hated being hungover, but she’d done this to herself. She had no choice but to power through. Do the crime, do the time.

      “You do look like hell,” Zoe said.

      “I’m fine,” Olivia answered, pushing to her feet.

      “I’m going to get dressed and head downstairs to look for her,” Rachel said. “Will you help me look, Liv? I think Zoe should wait in the room in case she returns.”

      She considered asking, What if she doesn’t want to be found right now? What if she just needs a little time? I’m the one who has a pounding headache. Why can’t I wait in the room? But she knew this was their way of nudging her to make amends with Sophie. To go look for her and find her so the two of them could talk this out and make up.

      Of course, that’s what she intended to do. She took a deep breath and tried to shake off the irritation that prickled her. How had this suddenly become her fault?

      Olivia knew her sisters meant well. This was simply their sister dynamics in play: Zoe was the hopeful one; Rachel was the strong one; Sophie was the baby; Olivia was the one who fixed problems and rallied everyone to take action.

      Often, Rachel and Zoe formulated a plan and Olivia made sure it got done.

      Olivia cleared her throat and shook off the cobwebs from last night the best she could. It gave her a little more clarity. She made a mental note to have someone kick her if she ever felt compelled to finish off a tray of drinks. Though it would surely be a while before she imbibed again.

      Her sisters were chattering at her. As their words bounced off her ears, she pulled jeans, a black blouse and fresh undergarments out of her suitcase and disappeared into the bathroom.

      “I have to СКАЧАТЬ