Page 10 of Married Into Love

“It’s a yes to breakfast, but not to anything else,” shewarned.

Maybe not yet, but I wasn’t done trying toconvinceher.

She got off the bed, shaking her head as she crossed the room to sit down in one of the chairs by the small table near where I rolled the cart. I grabbed one of the carafes and a mug and set them in front of her. She poured herself some coffee and then reached for the empty mug I set opposite her to fill it for me, too. I lifted the cover off two of the plates and held them out for her to pick one. She went for the Belgium waffles, leaving the eggs over easy with bacon, hash browns, and toastforme.

When I reached out and lifted the lid off the last plate to reveal a bowl of sliced strawberries and another with whipped cream, Alessia clapped her hands together inexcitement.

“I take it you like berries and cream on your waffles?” Iasked.

“Strawberries, yes. Blueberries, no. I’m allergic to them.” Her nose scrunched up like she’d smelled something bad while she shuddered. “I’ve had them once when I was sixteen, and it’s the only time I ever had to go to the emergency room for myself. I had splotchy hives all over my face and neck, along with a swollen throat. It was super scary, even with Ariana there to holdmyhand.”

I was struck by how she’d worded her experience, with no mention of her parents being there for her. But the clock was running down and trying to get her to open up about her childhood now could send her running out the door so I let it pass for the moment. “Then I’m glad I didn’t get you the muffin platter. I’d hate to become a widower before we consummated themarriage.”

“Haha. Very funny.” She shook her head and tossed her napkin at me. The lack of one didn’t stop her from piling berries and whipped cream on top of her waffle and eating damn near the whole thing. I finished off my meal just as quickly, and we both set our utensils down at about thesametime.

“So, this is kind of awkward.” Alessia gestured towards her dress. “I’m going to be a newlywed doing the walk of shame out of the hotel thismorning.”

“About that,” I exhaled. “I was hoping you’d spend the day with meinstead.”

“But don’t you have a wedding you’re supposed to attend? One that was actually planned...without a bajillion drinks to make it sound like agoodidea.”

“I do have a wedding to attend,” I confirmed. “And I’d like you to come with as myplusone.”

She got to her feet and paced the floor. “You want to bring your surprise bride to your friend’swedding?”

“It’s not like I’m going to bring some other woman when I’m married to you,” I half-joked. Alessia didn’t find the humor in it and pacedfaster.

“Even if I wanted to say yes”—she paused to wag a finger at me—“and I’m not saying I do. But if I did, I couldn’t go anyway because I don’t have anything appropriate to wear to a wedding in a fancyhotel.”

“I’ve already taken care of it for you. They should be here any minute with dresses for you to pick from. And Ariana packed a small bag for you so you have makeup and stuff. It’s in thebathroom.”

Her gaze darted towards the bathroom door. “Between you and my sister, you guys thought of everything,didn’tyou?”

“Prettymuch,yeah.”

“Fine,” she huffed. “I’ll think about it while I’m in theshower.”

She stomped off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. I heard the distinct click of the lock engaging, and then the sound of the shower turning on. While she was occupied in there, I rushed to finish getting dressed so I’d have more time to convince her to come with me once she was out. I was buttoning up my dress shirt when there was a knock on the door, and I padded across the room toopenit.

“Fucking A, Alec! You brought some chick back to the hotel with you and haven’t gotten her the hell out of here yet?” Ryan asked, holding up the clear garment bags the store had sent the dressesupin.

He shoved them at me, and I grabbed them. “Not some chick.Mywife.”

“Your wife?” he sputtered. “It hasn’t even been a full day since I left you at the club last night. Are you telling me you met someone and married her at some point between then and now? How drunkwereyou?”

“Not as drunk as my new wife probably thinks I was,” Igrumbled.

“Explain. Now. Or else I’m going to go find your brother and get him to be the one to ask thequestions.”

I could still hear the shower running, but I didn’t want to run the risk of Alessia finishing up and overhearing our conversation. So I stepped out in the hallway with Ryan and kept the door slightly open with the heel of my foot. “Remember the shit I said in the limo last night on the way to the club?” He nodded. “Well, it turns out it wasn’t shit. I made it through my first night with Alessia, and she’s here in my hotel room with me wearing my ring—or at least a temporary one. I didn’t walk away from her because I mistakenly thought she belonged to someone else. She didn’t storm away from me in the club. And she didn’t roll out of my bed and sneak away from me,either.”

“In an effort to avoid all the mistakes Andrew, Jason, and I made, you what? Married herforreal?”

“Yes,” Ibitout.

“Dude, we all thought you were so smooth with the women, but in reality you have so much to learn.” He laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. “If you think a quickie wedding in Vegas means you’ve got the girl, then you’d better think again my friend.” He jerked his chin towards the bags of dresses. “Those are a good way to start, but you might also want to work on that temporary ring situation too. Women like real diamonds, not rings that could have come out of a CrackerJackbox.”

I knew he was just giving me shit like I’d done to him about Tamara, but it didn’t stop me from feeling a little defensive. "What can I say? I was expecting to drop some cash while I was in Vegas...not pick upawife."

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