Chapter Twelve
Angelique came awake slowly, very slowly, due no doubt to the pounding in her head. She was burning up; her head felt like a marching band was going through it and she was sure she was suffocating. She tried to move but her arms wouldn't cooperate. It was like she was restrained in some way. There was a low, rumbling noise like a machine vibrating in her ear, a steady sound that didn't help the considerable pain in her head at all. She thought it was night, but she wasn't sure. Maybe her eyes were closed. She tried to open them, and after several attempts was able to see a hint of light. Encouraged she rested a few seconds and then opened her eyes wider. Suddenly things were clearer, but not much.
The noise that was causing her such discomfort was the gentle snoring of Adonis Cochran and the reason she wasn't able to move was because he had his arms locked around her. One of her arms was underneath his big body and the other one was around his waist and her face was buried in his chest. They were both fully dressed, thank God, but she had no idea where they were or how they'd gotten there. All she knew for sure was that her head was splitting open and she had to go to the bathroom right then and there or risk permanent disgrace. She had to get him off her and quickly. Immediately, she started moving around to the best of her ability; she couldn't risk any sudden moves, due to the condition of her bladder.
"Wake up! Adonis, wake up, wake up, wake up! Let me out of this bed," she said croakily.
He finally stirred with a loud snort, abruptly turning over onto his back and releasing her. She sprang from the bed and stared around the room until she could discern a door that might lead to a bathroom. Dashing over, she whimpered in gratitude at finding a great big beautiful bathroom, which she used immediately. After taking care of the most pressing matter, she went over to the marble vanity and looked into the mirror, wincing at what she saw. Her hair was in total disarray, her makeup was nonexistent and her clothes, well, they didn't even merit discussion. She was a pure-d mess, no question about it. But why was she here and how had she ended up in a bed in a strange hotel with Adonis Cochran of all people? She needed some answers and soon. Stumbling back into the bedroom, she made her way to the window and cruelly opened the draperies wide. The brilliant sun streamed through the windows and made her already sensitive eyes water. She groped her way back over to the bed and grabbed Donnie, none too gently.
"Wake up! Adonis, wake up! Why are we here? What's going on?" she rasped out. Her voice was scratchy and her mouth had a horrible taste. On top of everything else, she was incredibly thirsty. Hitting Donnie in the knee a few times as she called his name, she returned to the bathroom where she found the toothbrush and toothpaste left there for the guests. She brushed her teeth three times with her head lowered against the pain. She managed to rinse her mouth out thoroughly and drank several tumblers of water. After a most unladylike belch she turned to go back to the bedroom and jumped as she found Donnie standing in the doorway of the bathroom, looking as bad as she did.
"What in the world happened here last night?" he asked, his eyes squinted against the bathroom lights.
"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me," she said with a frown.
"Well, I can't. And if you don't want to get to know me really, really well, real fast, you need to scoot," he suggested.
He didn't need to tell her twice as she was already out the door. While he was availing himself of the facilities, she took a look around the room, which was actually a suite. Besides the big bedroom with the king-size bed and the plush, luxurious bathroom, there was a living room where she took refuge to think. Her head was still pounding and she felt like she'd been beaten with several bags of wet sand. Other than that, she couldn't formulate a single logical explanation for how she and Donnie had wound up sleeping in each other's arms in a luxury hotel suite. She looked down at her rumpled, creased dress and the hose with a giant run in one leg and tried to understand her situation.
Donnie finally appeared in the living room. He'd apparently taken a shower, from the looks of his damp hair and the white terry-cloth robe he was wearing. He actually looked way better than she did at the moment, something that annoyed her to no end. He walked across the plush carpet and sat on the sofa that faced the one on which she was sitting. "Well, I feel a little better. I'd suggest a nice, long, hot shower for you, too. I called for the laundry service; they'll come get our clothes and have them back to us in two hours. I also ordered some room service and some Alka-Seltzer, just in case you feel as bad as I do," he said.
"My goodness, aren't you the efficient one," Angelique said haughtily, and wished she hadn't. First because there was no need to be rude, and second because talking made her head hurt even more..
"Look, Angel, why don't you go take a shower and give me your clothes? We can eat breakfast and figure out what we're going to do, okay?" He spoke very nicely in an even, calming tone that for some reason set Angelique on full alert.
"Figure out what we're going to do about what?" she asked suspiciously.
"About this," he said, holding out a piece of paper.
Through her fog Angelique couldn't make out a single word. "Don't torture me, tell me what the hell that is," she said grumpily.
Donnie gave her a sexy, crooked smile and spoke as gently as he could. "It's a marriage certificate made out to Adonis Cochran and Angelique Deveraux."
"Oh, holy crap," she muttered. "What have we done?"
***
In a couple of hours the pounding in her head had lessened and she actually felt better, something she would have believed impossible after Donnie revealed the marriage certificate. She had taken a very long, very hot shower, shampooing her hair and letting the hot water beat down on the back of her neck and her temples until some of the pressure was relieved. She'd actually been able to eat the breakfast Donnie had ordered, which surprised her. She'd come out of the bathroom wearing the other white terry-robe thoughtfully provided by the hotel, with her hair wrapped in a towel. Donnie wouldn't allow her to feel self-conscious; he'd escorted her to the living room where the room-service trolley awaited. He'd ordered scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and biscuits with fresh sliced fruits and a huge pot of steaming, fragrant coffee. Best of all, there was a bowl of creamy-looking grits with a big pat of butter melting in the middle.
"Angel, if you eat something and take the Alka-Seltzer, I promise you'll feel better," he said as he filled her plate. Her eyes widened and she uttered the first words he'd heard her say since her reaction to the certificate.
"I can't eat all that," she protested.
He laughed and teased her. "I'll bet you can. I've seen you eat, remember?"
She did manage to eat quite a bit of the well-prepared food and felt a lot better after the pain reliever started taking effect. She finally felt well enough to look directly at Donnie, something she'd avoided since she went into the bathroom to shower.
"Thank you. I think I'm going to live now," she sighed. "Although I'm not sure I want to. Adonis, what does that certificate mean? We aren't really ... We didn't … " She stopped and took another sip of coffee. Somehow she couldn't say the words.
"We aren't really married?" Donnie said quietly. Angelique nodded her head. His next words made her crumple in her chair.
"I'm afraid we are, Angel. While you were taking a shower I made a few phone calls. First of all, we're at the Bellagio. We checked in late last night-well, early this morning, I should say. We are legally married; it's not some kind of weird joke. I called the wedding chapel where we did the deed and it's a legitimate marriage. As to why it happened, I'm still pretty fuzzy on that. I was hoping you remembered what we were up to last night."
Angelique's face went blank and she started to shake her head but the residual pain made her stop. "I don't remember anything about us getting married," she said. "All I remember is getting off the plane and going to some chapel with Matt and Nicole. I remember having to wait around forever because it was Valentine's Day. There were lots of people who wanted to get married and it took forever, I think. I remember ..." She paused. "I think I remember them getting married." Her face puckered with the effort to recall the events of the previous night. "I think we picked out a dress for Nicole to wear because she didn't want to get married in jeans. And I definitely remember drinking a lot of champagne. Lots and lots of champagne, in fact."