One Wild Wedding Night_ Runaway - Leslie Kelly [17]
And it would start with a date.
“Yes, Slone,” she replied, twining her arms around his neck and smiling up at him. “I will most definitely go out with you.”
He covered her mouth with his, kissing her with the passion he’d displayed the night before. Yet there was something more—something achingly sweet and patient, so tender it brought tears to her eyes.
When the kiss ended, he wiped them away with the tip of one gloved finger. “Will you let me give you a lift to work?”
She glanced at the limo, so similar to the one she was supposed to get in the night before. How different might her life be right now if Bridget hadn’t forgotten her phone, if Leah had paid more attention to where she was going.
There was only one word to describe all the tiny events that could have gone another way, but hadn’t…leaving her here, in the arms of a glorious man.
“Serendipitous,” she whispered.
Obviously hearing her, Slone nodded. “More. I think last night might have been the luckiest one of my life.”
Wrapped against him, Leah couldn’t help thinking it might well have been the luckiest of hers, too.
Epilogue
They nearly missed their flight.
After a long, full night of eroticism and tenderness, Izzie and Nick both overslept. By the time Izzie glanced at the clock through nearly lowered lashes, awakened by the slant of sunlight peeking through the slit in the heavy drapes, it was nearly ten. Their flight to Aruba left O’Hare at noon.
The two of them threw their things in their suitcases, washed and dressed frantically, and raced out of their room. The whole way down in the elevator, Izzie snuck glances at her watch, nibbling her lip in concern.
“There are other flights, if we miss it we’ll catch the next one,” Nick said, obviously noticing. Then he smiled slowly, that sexy, insatiable glimmer in his eyes. “We could always come back here. I sure wouldn’t mind spending another night like the last one.”
Oh, goodness, neither would she. Though she and Nick had been lovers for several months, nothing had prepared her for the intensity of being married lovers. It had taken all the physical pleasure and catapulted it beyond anything she’d ever known. She’d never suspected, never dreamed how much better things could get with the exchange of two rings and some vows.
“Wait, is that Gloria?” Nick said as they got off the elevator and strode toward the lobby.
Izzie glanced at the main hotel doors, seeing a dark-haired woman walk out them. Shaking her head, she replied, “I doubt it. She was going home last night. Lots of little boys to take care of.”
Nick must have heard something in her voice. Because even though they were running terribly late, he stopped and put a hand on her shoulder. “We’re not having kids for a long time, remember?”
She nodded. While she wanted Nick’s babies, she didn’t want them anytime soon. She and her new husband were having too much fun by themselves. “I know. But when we do? Promise we won’t be like Gloria and Tony, doing nothing that doesn’t involve the kids, never sparing a private moment for each other.”
He put an arm across her shoulder and started walking again. “I promise.”
Feeling better, since Nick would never break a promise, Izzie murmured, “I feel a little sorry for her. I know she loves your brother, but she’s just so…maternal. Unadventurous.”
“I think you got all the adventurous genes in your family,” Nick said as he led her out the door into the cold Chicago morning. He slipped the doorman a big bill and the man stepped right out in traffic to hail them the next passing cab.
“Mia’s tough, but you’re right, she’s not exactly adventurous when it comes to her personal life,” Izzie admitted. “She never lets herself go, never takes chances. It’s a shame.” Thinking more about the topic, she added, “It seems as if none of my bridesmaids are terribly lucky in the romance department.”
“Gloria and Tony love each other….”
She waved a hand. “Oh, of course they do, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking