One Wild Wedding Night_ Runaway Part 4

She didn't cry because she was heartbroken-h.e.l.l, it wasn't like they'd had a real Pretty Woman romance and fallen in love or anything. But she'd liked him. Oh, had she liked him. And she'd sensed she could fall for him very easily, even if he'd been just a blue-collar guy she'd met in a bar, rather than a business magnate who lived in a penthouse.

They'd had amazing chemistry and they'd laughed and she'd seen a lightness in his smile when they were together that hadn't been there at first. Despite having what most people would consider everything, she knew from some of the things he'd shared with her during the night that his life was not an easy one. And was, in fact, lonely.

Somehow, deep inside, she almost felt that he needed her.

"Forget it," she mumbled. "He needs you like he needs one of those ten-dollar scratch-off tickets."

Bringing her curled hands close to her face, she blew on them, trying to stay warm. Another lovely day in Chi-Town. Man, she might have to break down and get that coat.

Keeping her head down as she walked, she almost didn't see the big, dark car pulled directly in front of the crosswalk until she almost walked right into it. "Hey, loser, ever heard of stopping for pedestrians?" she yelled before thinking better of it. That was when she noticed the length of the car. It was a limo. "Oh, perfect." Yet another reminder of the crazy night before and the way it had ended.

About to stride around behind it, she shifted to the left, but was stopped when the back door opened. And that was when her heart just stopped.

"Kincaid?" she whispered.

"h.e.l.lo, Leah."

She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, not sure what this meant. Coincidences this big just didn't happen. Not outside of fiction. "What a surprise."

"No surprise. I was on my way to try to find you at your club when I spotted you."

He'd been seeking her out...and had been prepared to do it at Leather and Lace? "Why?"

Slone stepped out from behind the door, pushing it shut behind him. "I wanted to see you, to apologize."

"For what?"

"For being such an a.s.s about you staying for lunch. Honestly, I dread those things and was really hoping you'd liven it up." With a sheepish shrug he added, "And get the women in my family to realize I can choose my own women."

She snorted. "Oh, right. I'm sure they're feeling real good right about now, you choosing to bring a stripper home and all."

"Not that I would give a d.a.m.n, but the truth is, they're not sn.o.bs. My mother was a waitress, we weren't raised to feel ent.i.tled to anything. Working your way through school is d.a.m.ned hard and you're doing the best you can. n.o.body can think worse of you for that."

He sounded like he meant it. And the look in his eyes underscored the sentiment. "Okay...apology accepted." Knowing she owed him one, too, she added, "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you right up front what my job was."

"Considering I'd already mistaken you for a hooker, I think I can understand why you didn't." Reaching for her hands, which were still clasped in front of her face, he wrapped them in his own. "You need some new gloves."

She shrugged.

He pulled her closer. "And a new coat."

"I know." She stiffened, wondering if he was going to offer to replace them, as he had last night with her gown.

"But until you can afford them," he added, his tone quiet and gentle, "feel free to use me to keep you warm."

Leah tilted her head back, looking into his handsome face. The man wasn't just flirting-making a come-on about getting naked to stay warm. He was doing so much more. Accepting who she was, conceding her right to be independent.

And actually blocking the cold Chicago wind with his back to protect her in the warm shelter of his embrace.

n.o.body had ever protected her. Not her father who'd bailed when she was ten. Certainly not her drunk mother or her sc.u.mbag stepfather. n.o.body.

Tears rose to her eyes again. "I appreciate that offer."

"Good."

Lifting a leather-gloved hand to her cheek, he cupped it, then leaned down to brush a sweet, soft kiss across her lips. "Leah?"

"Yes?"

"Does that mean you'll go out with me sometime?"

Go out...on a date. Pretty hilarious given the wild sensual games they'd played in his bed last night. Yet absolutely right for this new phase they were entering.

She sensed this phase could be very important indeed. One that could lead to much more laughter and happiness. And perhaps even the kind of love she'd only ever dreamed about.

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 pa.s.sion 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 s.e.xy, 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 pa.s.sing 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 about wild, romantic, fun relationships." Her jaw tightening, she muttered, "I wish Bridget could get over that jerk FBI agent who strung her along last year. And that Leah would meet some rich doctor while she's going to nursing school, someone who'll pamper her and treat her right after all the garbage she went through in her childhood."

"I'm sure there are lots of rich doctors at the club," he offered, a tiny smile on his lips. "Just none who are looking for a wife."

She smirked. "You found one there."

"No, I think you found me on a table full of cookies at Gloria and Tony's wedding."

Izzie responded by swatting her new husband's arm. She'd long heard the snickers about how she'd fallen on top of Nick when she'd been a chubby teenager and he a s.e.xy young Marine. He'd called her Cookie ever since. "You want to continue this honeymoon, don't mention that again."

He made a lips-zipped motion over his mouth.

But even the light banter with her s.e.xy hubby couldn't distract Izzie from her thoughts of her sisters...and her friends. "Even Vanessa, as beautiful as she is, has no one special in her life and hasn't for as long as I've known her."

"That's a shame," Nick said, slipping an arm around her waist. "But it'll happen. Would you have pictured us being like this six months ago?"

Izzie shook her head. She most definitely had not envisioned this day even as recently as last summer. "You're right. Something wonderful could happen to any of them."

"Maybe it already did. Who's to say they didn't have as spectacular a night last night as we did?"

They looked into each other's eyes, both remembering the night before. And both of them burst into peals of laughter at the exact same moment.

Because that was absolutely impossible.

When the laughter faded, Izzie put her head on her husband's strong shoulder, noting the way he had turned his back to the wind to shield her from the cold. So protective. G.o.d, how she loved him.

The doorman quickly got them a cab and they hurried over to it, hopping into the backseat as the driver tossed their bags in the trunk.

"You okay?" Nick asked, once they were under way. "Not worried about your bridesmaids anymore?"

She shook her head. "No. Like you said, it'll happen, maybe even today. Who knows? This could be the first day of the rest of their lives."

Her new husband brushed his lips across her forehead, then her cheek. "Just like it is ours," he whispered.

Meeting his mouth for a tender kiss, Izzie could do nothing but agree. Because a lifetime of loving Nick Santori was all she'd ever dreamed of...and everything she'd ever wanted.

She only hoped that someday her bridesmaids would be equally as happy.