Saint James, Elle - Unbridled and Unhitched [The Double Rider Men's Club 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

“Time out,” Derek yelled as he came back into the room. “No more discussion. Dillon will be here in five minutes to check the two of you out.”

Alexis sucked in a deep breath, ignoring Derek. “And another thing, I was
not
looking for a man for any wedding. Are you out of your mind? I must have been drugged as well, and what’s to say
you
didn’t do this to
me
.”

Jackson frowned again. “What! Why would I? Trust me, I
never
planned on getting married. To do so while under the influence is suspect at best.”

“Don’t listen to him.” Derek rounded the edge of the bed and sat down next to her. She probably would have moved, but he sat on her sheet and she couldn’t get away without leaving the bed stark naked. “He’s just out of sorts because he likes to be in complete control of each and every breath he takes. Being drugged obviously ruins the strict order of his life and makes him cranky.”

“Why do
you
believe me?” She turned her intense, angry, utterly sexy blue-eyed gaze to Derek.

“I’m just a little more easygoing. And the shocked look on your face when you saw Jackson in bed with us and then the wedding ring this morning just couldn’t have been faked.”

Derek was right. She’d screamed him to consciousness this morning. Her expression had been horrified about the rings on their fingers. She’d looked at it like an alien growth on her finger.

She held out her hand. “May I see the marriage license, please?” He nodded.

He walked over to the edge of the bed and showed her the document that he’d signed the night before.

She looked down at the paper in his hands. “That’s my signature.” She sounded dejected, but Jackson was still uncertain if she’d railroaded him. He hadn’t ever wanted to get married. Why would he ever agree even while drugged?

There was a loud knock at the door, and Derek gave him another stern look before he went to answer it. He and Alexis just stared at each other for the few minutes it took to usher Dillon into the bedroom.

Derek made the introductions to Alexis. “This is our good friend Dr. Dillon Jones.”

Alexis didn’t speak. She merely nodded her head once in his direction.

“Hey, Jackson,” Dillon said as he crossed the bedroom floor. “I hear you may have been drugged last night.”

Jackson broke the staring contest with Alexis. “I’m not entirely sure what happened. I do know that I
never
drink so much that I can’t remember what happened the night before.”

“Do you have
any
memory at all from last night?” Dillon asked and shone a small penlight in his eyes a couple times.

“Some in the earlier part of the evening, but not after being in the bar.”

“How many drinks did you have?”

“One and a half that I remember.”

Dillon’s eyebrows rose. “Not really enough alcohol to take down even someone like you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Dillon smiled. “It’s a well-known fact that you don’t imbibe much, if ever. And you just told me you never drink so much that you can’t remember. Personally, I’ve always suspected it’s a control freak thing myself. But it isn’t like you guzzled a twelve pack and are now surprised you had a blackout.”

“No. Not like that at all.” He turned and looked at Alexis. She was still seated on the edge of the bed holding her sheet even tighter to her body. She quietly watched the conversation between them. Dillon took his pulse and then turned to their surprised bed partner. He then walked a couple steps in her direction. He squatted down and shown the penlight across her exquisite eyes a couple of times.

“How about you?” he asked gently, “What do you remember about the night before?” He grabbed her wrist and checked her pulse.

She glanced at Jackson first then put her gaze on Dillon. “Not much else after being in the bar.”

“How many drinks did you have?”

“One and a half, just like he did.”

Dillon frowned. “Did you two share a drink?”

“Well, sort of.” Her accusatory gaze stabbed him. “He offered to buy me a drink, and when I declined and told him I already had one, he picked it up and drained it in a single gulp.”

Dillon laughed nervously then sobered. “I see. Well, let me take a couple of samples of your blood and I’ll have it tested. Would that be okay?”

Jackson asked, “Will the drug still be in our system?”

“It’s possible. If it turns out to be Rohypnol or something similar, then it can stay in the system up to twenty-four hours after ingestion.”

He took a small vial of blood from each of them, marked the tubes with a pen, and put them in his bag. “I should have the results by tomorrow or the next day, depending on how busy the local lab is. Luckily I have privileges at the hospital in town, and that should speed the process.”

Jackson smiled. “Thanks, Dillon. I appreciate the house call.”

“Sure. No problem. Make sure you drink plenty of water, and if you have any further negative symptoms, let me know.” He turned to go.

Derek walked out of the room with him, leaving him alone once more with Alexis. The staring contest that they’d had before Dillon arrived picked back up and continued as if Dr. Jones hadn’t ever been here.

Jackson’s current feelings regarding this strange woman he’d married were mixed up royally. On the one hand, he thought she was amazingly beautiful, and on the other, what if she’d been the one to drug them so she could trap him into a scam of a marriage. Perhaps that was why she’d been at the DRMC party.

“Was it your intention to trick me in to marriage?” Jackson asked.

“No. I swear it!” she exclaimed at the same time Derek reentered the bedroom and exclaimed, “Jackson!” Derek’s shocked tone cut through the room. “If you don’t remember, maybe you were drugged. Wait until Dillon has the results. Don’t take it out on her.”

“Defense of a stranger? Really? Do you know her?”

“Yes. Intimately. And so do you. She was drugged, too.”

Jackson crossed his arms. “If you didn’t do it and I didn’t do it. Who could have done it?”

She shrugged. “The bartender? There was no one else even sitting by me.”

Jackson nodded. “I remember that. You were sitting completely alone in the bar.” He relaxed and uncrossed his arms. Dangling at his side, he could reach out and touch her. And he wanted to.

She reached out and put her hand on his. He stared deeply into her sincere eyes. “I swear to you, Jackson. Whatever happened, this was done to both of us. I would never trick you or anyone else into marriage. The truth is when you saw me at the bar, I wanted to find a way to sneak away into your room to hide out. But this is too much. I wasn’t looking for a husband. I promise.”

Jackson felt an abrupt pang of regret. He found that he liked having her complete attention on him. His cock stirred. This was so not the time to have a raging hard-on. He was furious about the current set of unplanned events unfolding around him. He didn’t want to be married to a stranger, even if she was gorgeous. And yet, deep down, he knew she was just as shocked and upset about this situation as he was.

She’d woken in bed with not one but two men after being drugged. He mentally took a deep breath and calmed down. Maybe even more so since Derek had complicated things even further by having sex with her before he realized the situation.

He didn’t blame his best friend. Of course Derek would fuck whatever woman Jackson was in bed with. They always shared women. Always. He’d been tasked to find someone for the weekend. Apparently, he had. And then he’d married her under the influence of spiked girly drinks. He took a step closer.

He was being a complete and utter ass. Shame coursed through his veins from his unsettled chest to his limbs. She suddenly looked so forlorn.

Jackson took another step closer. “I’m sorry. I’m the one who approached you at the bar.”

She smiled. “And drank half my drink. I think you probably saved me from something really horrible. I should say thank you.”

He pushed out a long sigh. “Could we maybe start over?” Jackson asked in a low tone. Her puzzled gaze prompted him further. “First of all, I apologize. I’m not myself right now. I hope you can understand.”

She focused her baby blues back on his face again. A strong ripple of awareness ran down his body at her intense regard.
Fuck
. He wanted her so much he couldn’t think of anything else. His body seemed to remember her even if his mind was slow to catch up.

She nodded slowly. “Of course, I understand. I’m sorry, too. And I didn’t mean to crash your party the other night.”

“You didn’t crash the party.” Jackson waved a hand in the air dismissively. “I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t have even brought that up. I was sorry to see you go. I now recall, the reason I approached you in the bar last night was because of the purple streaks in your hair. I remembered seeing them while you watched our show.”

Her hand went up and brushed the colored locks. “And here I put them there to look different from my norm. To blend in during my stay in Vegas better.”

“Really? Because it makes you totally noticeable to me.”

“I see. Good to know for the next time I’m hiding out. Note to self, nix the colored strands of hair.”

Jackson shook his head. “But then we might not have met.”

She shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“How could I have consumed half your drugged drink?”

“Based on your bold approach, I believe you would have found a way.” A timid smile soon surfaced on her lips. “The last thing I remember after the drinks is stumbling out of the bar clinging onto your arm.”

He snorted. “I don’t even remember getting off the barstool. I asked you something, but it’s foggy.”
Fuck
. Had he asked her to marry him? The phrase “Want to get married? It’s Vegas...” taunted him with echoes of his own voice repeating it over and over.

She turned her head to one side as if struggling to remember something vital. “Yes. You asked me if I wanted to get married because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

“I wish I remembered
that
part of our evening a little better. However, the phrase ‘want to get married’ keeps echoing in my head. So I probably said it.”

Derek had a huge grin on his face. “Given the way you always get what you want, I’d say you kept asking her until she was tired of hearing your repeated requests and finally said yes to get you to shut it.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket and dialed.

“Who are you calling now?” Jackson asked.

Derek shook his head and his grin widened. “Clay? I have a special project for you.” He paused a moment. “Yes. Right now this second. It’s important. Jackson got drugged last night, and then he got married. Can you pull up any and all video feed from our hotel from last night to see what happened? He can’t remember anything.”

Derek paused again. Then he laughed at whatever witty remark Clay had to add to this horrendous situation. “That’s right. Yes.” He looked over at Alexis. “She’s gorgeous.” He winked at her. “Oh. Good idea. Yeah, definitely check his credit card activity for the evening along with the hotel charges to the room.”

Jackson put a hand over his eyes and tilted his head back in despair. Credit card charges. Great.

“I’m so sorry,” she said quietly as Derek continued the phone call with Clay.

Jackson dropped his hand, lowered his head and looked at her. She looked like a world-weary waif in need of a hug. His legs started moving before his head realized what he was doing.