The Love Triangle(42)
She nodded her head. Her throat was so dry that she couldn’t talk and she thanked him when he brought back a glass of champagne. He sat back down, so close to her. Dahlia waited for his hands to touch her once more, but he didn’t. She found her body tense from the wait and she finally took a deep breath.
“Are you okay?”
Dahlia said she was, even though her body was screaming out that she was a liar. Her eyes avoided his and she looked out at the city materializing below her. The strip was not hard to spot from even the high altitude they were at. Everything else around the area was dark and then the lights of Vegas shined bright like a beacon in the night.
“It's really beautiful from above. I have never been here at night. Have you?”
“Yes. Unfortunately I have had to do a lot of business here. Clients love to go down to the shows, find a hooker, it's a whole thing.”
“Have you ever paid for sex?”
“Look at me, Dahlia. Do I really look like a man that has to? Or would?”
She grinned and looked away. There was little doubt in her head that he could have any woman he wanted. The thought was a little unsettling, but the way he looked at her made her feel something she had never felt before. He felt it too, she knew he did.
“I guess not, but you know what they say about who you're around.”
“Are you already telling me you don’t like my friends?” His eyes twinkled and he grinned at her discomfort.
“No, I mean, do you have normal ones or are they all horndogs?”
“I have a few you will like. Those are clients though, certainly not friends I'm around if I don’t have to be.”
She looked relieved, “Good.”
They were quiet for a moment, taking in the lights below them. One of those lights belonged to the small church that they were going to get married in. She didn’t know where it was, but the very idea that they were going to get married was still not quite real in her mind. Dahlia was getting married! “I just can’t believe we're doing this.”
“Second thoughts about eloping? We can always do the traditional wedding if you want. I know most girls want the big hoopla. I just didn’t see you as the type.”
“I’m not. I just think it's happening really fast.”
He chuckled. “You're getting cold feet. Everyone gets nervous. Do you not want to keep your family’s company in your care, instead of strangers? Do you want to be married to me, saving my family’s business as well? Don’t you want to have babies with me?”
She cleared her throat. The first two reasons agreed with her mind, but the last one agreed with her heart. Dahlia had never even considered children before, always pushing them out of her mind for her career, but it sounded so good. He was a man to be proud of and Dahlia already was. However they were put together, she knew that it was meant to be this way. They were meant to be together, she was sure of it.
Chapter 7
Her nerves didn’t get any better as they landed and she wished that she could read Charles’ mind. She knew that there was more to him than there appeared. Dahlia got a call right before she landed from Alfred. She should have taken it, but there was no way that he had any good news, it never was with him. Dahlia didn’t want the bad news weighing on their day, so she silenced her phone ,turning it off completely after she thought about it for a moment. There was no reason for her to even worry about it, she told herself. The world wouldn’t end if she took a couple of days off.
“Who was that?”
“My lawyer. I just can’t deal with him right now. He is kind of too familiar sometimes and I don’t know, it just won’t be good. It is most likely about James and I just can’t worry about that now.”
“You already are.”
“I know, sorry. I'm a bit high-strung sometimes.”
He shrugged. “You should really let me have a talk with him. I'm sure we can come to some type of agreement. I have been told I can be very convincing when I need to be.”
She couldn’t argue with the sentiment. He had won her over almost immediately and that didn’t happen very often. Dahlia had been so used to being reserved and keeping to herself that she did not know if she could get used to help. Dahlia had been doing everything herself for a while.
“I think it won’t happen. If everything calms down and we have been married a while, it will all work out. He just has his own issues to deal with.”
“Then why are we talking about him on our wedding day?”
“We’re not. I’m not, or I'm not going to any more. What about your family, any crazies I should know about?”
“Nope, my family is so dull they can’t be bothered to put in enough effort for craziness. They are more worried about the next dollar. Working your whole life to make a few dollars that you can’t take with you sounds kind of crazy. Does that count?”
“Not really, but thanks for making me feel better. I think I like crazy better than dull. I don’t think I will have to worry about that with you around. Just don’t leave me with them alone.”
“Promise.”
The aircraft had landed and her stomach was still in the air where they had started the descent. She still did not like the transition from flight to ground, but it was better to have him there to keep her busy. Before the last couple of years where she had advanced in the business, Dahlia had traveled coach, her father always wanting her to learn the value of a dollar. It made her far shrewder and she wondered if that was the difference between the siblings. She shook her head. Why was she still thinking about James? There was the small fear in the back of her head that he would try to stop the marriage.
Charles saw the look of distress on her face and took her hand and tucked it into his arm. He just wanted her to know that he was there for her and it seemed to calm her down a little. There was a car waiting for them and it was soon whisking them away to the next chapter in their lives. It still seemed too fast and she knew that it was made on a whim, but Dahlia had to do it.
She pulled her body closer to him and sighed. She watched the lights pass them by and she was pulling herself up against him for strength. The champagne buzzed in her head and then she pulled him down for a kiss. Dahlia couldn’t quite express in words how easy he had made all of it for her. What could have been something to dread was quickly something that she looked forward to maybe more than she should have.
The car stopped far too quickly and she was trying not to let her nerves be rattled too much. Her hand trembled as he helped her out of the vehicle. It wasn’t going to take long, as they had an appointment, so the driver waited for them. Dahlia had to smile to herself and how different her wedding day was from what she thought it would be.
“Thank you, Charles.”
“For what?”
“For just being you.”
***
They stood in front of the man dressed up in a comical powder blue suit. There was no reverend, just Jesse, and he was not the type of man that one would normally be married from. She tried to hold in her smirk as he spoke in a booming voice, all of the sounds exaggerated with some kind of drawl. The two held hands as the man swept his arms around. Charles’ thumb played with the inside of her palm and it sent a shiver through her. It felt good and reminded her of what was to come. She was looking forward to that part of it, far more than most couples would be. There was something to be said about waiting, the anticipation skyrocketed.
The words went on and on and she had long since tuned them out. Her eyes held Charles and it was only from the way he looked at her, that she realized that she was supposed to do something. “You have to say it, Dahlia.”
“Oh, uh, I do.”
“Well that didn’t sound very convincing.” Charles tried to smile, but her slight reluctance threw him off. He didn’t realize that it was because she was so lost in the moment. Charles looked down at their hands entwined and the conversation they had had earlier about babies.
“I do.”
“With the power given to me by the state of Nevada, I would like to pronounce you two, husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride and Lords knows that you want to!”
There was a little laughter from the people that were waiting their turn to get married. In that moment though, everything went away. All she could focus on was the man in front of her and the way he looked at her lips like they were the most delicious thing in the world. When he moved forward and grabbed her to him, she gasped before his mouth overtook hers.
More noises from the small crowd went on deaf ears. Charles growled, holding her against him with the possession that overtook his whole body. There was something to be said about being married. She was now his and he could kiss her whenever he wanted. Their tongues meshed and collided until Jesse had to clear his throat and remind him that they were not at their honeymoon suite.
Dahlia pulled away slightly dazed and embarrassed. She had completely forgotten herself and she started to wonder why they hadn’t paid the man for that very thing. Charles had asked for nothing else than their first time to be in his bed, but as she pulled away and they walked down the flower-petal walkway, she wished they didn’t have to wait so long for consummation.