Vegas Vows, Texas Nights. Charlene Sands
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was unfair of her to throw this all on him. The way he flinched at her question said he thought so, too. “I…couldn’t.”
He couldn’t? What did that mean?
“Katie, it’s going to be okay. We’re married. I didn’t take advantage of you. I mean, from what I remember, you weren’t complaining about any of it.”
She gripped the sheets closer to her chest. “That’s what you think I’m worried about? It’s okay that we had sex because we’re married? My God, Luke. Do you have any idea how bad this is? You were engaged to my sister! You practically left her at the altar. My mom and sister were devastated. I’m not worried about my virtue here. It’s way bigger than that.”
“Okay, okay. Calm down.” Luke ran a hand down his face. “I’m going to take a shower and get dressed and we’ll discuss it. Unless you want to go first?”
“No, no.” Married or not, she wasn’t about to let him see her naked. “You go first.”
“Fine. And Katie…it really is going to be all right.”
She frowned. The frown only deepened when Luke rose from the bed as if they’d been married for years and walked into the bathroom, giving her a stunning view of his broad shoulders, muscular arms and perfect butt.
Her heart pounded hard. She’d married a Boone, one of the richest men in all of Texas, the man who’d betrayed her sister, the man she’d tried hard to avoid since he’d come back and resumed his life in Boone Springs months ago.
As soon as she heard the bathroom door close, she rose and scrambled to gather up her clothes from the floor. That’s when she spotted an open condom packet, the top torn off, the contents empty. Now there was actual proof they’d consummated the marriage, as if her own sated body wasn’t already screaming that to her.
She dressed and waited for him. They had to resolve this immediately. She wasn’t going home as Katie Boone. No, sir. When she heard the shower faucet turn off, she braced herself, finger combing her hair, straightening out her cocktail dress, her resolve as sharp as her annoyance.
The door opened and out walked Luke, his hair wet, his skin glowing in the morning light. He wore a soft white towel around his waist, but the rest of him was hard, ripped muscle and brawn.
Good Lord. Was he the man in her dreams?
No, he couldn’t be. Just because they’d once been friends and they shared a love of horses didn’t mean she’d ever think of him that way, even subconsciously.
“Luke, we need to talk.”
He looked her up and down, his eyes raking over her black dress, and suddenly she felt amazingly warm. She shifted her attention to a drop of water making its way down his bare chest, tunneling through tiny hairs to drip past his navel and absorb into the towel.
Luke caught her eyeing him and smiled. “I need a cup of coffee. We both do. I’ll order breakfast while you take your shower.”
He seemed too accommodating, too casual, as if he also hadn’t made the biggest blunder of his life. Where was his panic?
“And we’ll resolve this then?”
He nodded. “We’ll talk, I promise.”
Thirty minutes later, Katie stepped out of the bathroom refreshed and feeling a little better about her predicament. Her stomach still churned, but her outlook wasn’t nearly as bleak. They were in Las Vegas, after all. How hard would it be to dissolve their quickie marriage, to seek a divorce from a wedding that should never have happened? Surely there were hundreds of people who found themselves in the same situation after a wild night and too much drinking.
Luke waited for her at the rolling table that had been delivered by room service. Thankfully he was fully dressed now, in jeans and a navy shirt that made his eyes pop an even darker shade of blue. She had only the clothes she’d come with last night and her purse. Luckily her cell phone had enough charge for her to text Drea this morning telling her not to worry, she’d explain everything later.
Or not.
But she’d have to tell the bride-to-be something. They shared a hotel room and Drea had seen her leave with Luke last night and knew she hadn’t returned to her room.
“Ready for breakfast?” Luke was already sipping coffee, the pot of steaming brew sitting on the table beside dishes of bacon, eggs, French toast, roasted potatoes and a basket of fresh pastries.
Ugh. None of it looked appetizing. She couldn’t eat. “No, thanks. Coffee’s good.”
She grabbed the coffeepot and poured herself a cup, taking a seat facing him. She dumped in three sugar cubes and stirred, Luke giving her an arch of his brow. What could she say? She loved sweet comfort food and right now, sugar was her healing balm. His silent disapproval had her reaching for a fourth sugar cube, and she stared right at him as she dumped it into her coffee.
“You’re not eating anything?” he asked.
“I’m not hungry, Luke. My head’s still fuzzy.”
“I thought the shower would help.”
“The shower made me realize that if being in Vegas got us into this mess, then why can’t being in Vegas get us out of it?”
Luke gave her a long stare and slowly shook his head. “What?”
“I want a divorce. Immediately. Surely there’s someone in this city that can accommodate us.”
Luke scratched his head, looking at her as if she were a child asking for the moon. “That’s not possible, Katie.”
“How can you say that? We haven’t even tried. Look, I wasn’t myself last night and you know it. How long have we known each other? Ten years?”
“Twelve and a half.” She stared at him and he shrugged. “I have a good memory for dates. We met at the first anniversary of the Red Barrel Rescue.”
Katie remembered that day. She’d chosen the rescue to be the subject of her high school term paper and had gone there not knowing what to expect. She’d taken one look at the beleaguered and maimed horses being cared for and had fallen in love. Luke had been a mentor of sorts, and through her, he’d met her sister, Shelly.
“And in all those twelve and a half years, have you ever known me to be impetuous or wild or, as you put it today, the kind of girl who could drink you under the table?”
“No.” He scratched his head. “But then, I’ve never been with you in Vegas.”
She rolled her eyes. “This is serious, Luke. I don’t recall all that happened last night, but I do know we have to undo the problem as soon as possible.”
“I…agree.”
“You do? Good, because for a second there, I was starting to believe you didn’t think this was a big problem.”
“I can’t get a divorce until I speak with my attorney. I’m sorry, Katie, but this isn’t going to happen today.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s more complicated than that. I’m a Boone, and that means divorce proceedings can get pretty nasty. My attorney isn’t going to let me sign my name to anything until he sees it.”
“Goodness, Luke, I don’t want anything from you or your family. If that’s what you’re getting at, you can go straight to—”
“It’s not me, Katie. It’s just the way things are when you’re…”
“Rich?”
“A Boone.”
“How horrible it must be for you not knowing who you can trust. I suppose