When she got there, though, the hickeys on her skin told a different tale. Kylie put a hand between her legs and groaned. Damp and sore. Definitely not the trademarks of someone that hadn’t had sex. There was a bruise on one of her breasts, too, and she reached up to touch it, wincing . . .
And noticed the huge honking ring on her hand.
She nearly passed out at the sight of it.
Dear sweet lord, what the hell was that?
Kylie stared at her hand. Just stared. There was a huge double-ring on her ring finger, big enough to cover her entire knuckle. The stone was a bright red square surrounded by dozens of tiny sparkly yellow stones that she sincerely hoped were fakes. The band was silvery with more of the yellow stones, etched designs swirling over the thick band. It looked . . . really expensive and not fake.
Oh God. Oh God. Her breathing sped up.
Bad enough that she’d slept with Cade again after vowing to leave him alone. Bad enough that she’d apparently gotten drunk and climbed him like a tree despite knowing that he was putting her job in jeopardy.
But seriouslyhow fucking drunk was she that she’d married him?
Clutching the sheet close to her body, she headed back out to the bedroom, noticing for first time that this wasn’t her hotel room. It was too big, too opulent. Where was she? She ran to the nightstand and read the label on the phonethe Belaggio. Okay. Okay. Okay. The clock read eleven thirty, so she had time to get back to her own hotel, check out, and head to work as if nothing had happened. She just needed a shower, something to cure her pounding headache, and to get rid of the ring and the husband she’d magically acquired overnight in a drunken bender.
First things first, she told herself, and tried to pull off the ring.
It wouldn’t come off.
Horrified, Kylie twisted at the enormous rock, trying to drag the band over her knuckle. It didn’t move. How had she gotten this thing on? Frantic, she pulled at it for a moment more, then ran to the restroom and squirted hand soap all over it, rubbing wildly. As she did, she noticed a dent in the back of the ringthe soft metal had hit something last night, and that was why it wasn’t coming off. A jeweler might be able to snip it, but no amount of twisting and silent praying on Kylie’s behalf budged the damn thing. Now, with all the attacking she’d been doing to her hand, the skin was red and chafed and beginning to swell. There was no shot in hell of getting the bands off now.
A sob broke from her throat, and she rushed back to the hotel room. “Cade! Wake up!”
He bolted awake, his soft blond curls sticking straight up. The sheets fell to his waist, revealing a chest covered in scratches and hickeys of his own. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“This,” she cried out, holding up her hand with the huge ring. “This is what’s wrong! Did we get married last night?”
Cade scrubbed a hand over his eyes wearily. “You don’t remember? Really?”
“Exactly how much wine did I freaking drink?” She didn’t remember anything beyond fondue, which was fun to dip food in but not so great for soaking up copious amounts of alcohol.
He rubbed his head, which only caused his hair to stick up even further. It might have been gorgeously adorable if she hadn’t been so panicked. “You liked the wine so much we ordered a second bottle.” His lips twitched with amusement. “You insisted, actually.”
Oh God. “Why did you let me insist?”
His mouth curled into one of those panty-melting smiles. “Because I can’t resist when you ask for anything.”
She stared down at the vivid ring on her finger. “Did I . . . did I ask for this?”
“If I recalland my memory is pretty hazy, toowe passed by a jewelry store, and I suggested it, and then you threw your arms around my neck and started kissing me.” He was grinning now, the bastard. “Do you like the ring? We thought it matched your hair. Rubies and yellow diamonds.”
So those weren’t fakes. They were expensive and real. “And the band?” she asked faintly.
“Platinum.” He held up his hand. “Mine, too.”
“I bent it,” she told him, moving toward the bed. Her voice sounded as weak and tremulous as she felt. “Look at the back of the ring. I bent it.”
He patted the bed and because her knees probably wouldn’t hold out much longer, she went and sat next to him, tugging her sheet-dress close as she showed him her hand.
“It won’t come off,” she said, and had to sniff to hold back tears. She didn’t want to cry in front of him, but her stupid brain wasn’t listening all that well. “I thought platinum was supposed to be a hard metal.”
“Shh,” he said, taking her hand in his. “Let me look at it.”