Chapter One

Stephanie's POV – February 1994

I was lying naked on top of a man. My head was nestled in the crook of his neck, and I had one arm wrapped around his chest while the other was threaded in his hair. My legs were entwined with his, and I could feel his erect penis pressed into my hip. He had one arm around me, resting on my bare back.

This may sound like an ideal way to wake up, but there was just one problem.

I had no idea who this man was.

With that thought, I was fully conscious. My eyes flew open, and I scrambled backwards until I hit the floor, but I immediately regretted that action. My head started pounding, and the pain built behind my eyes until I thought I was going to be sick. I grabbed the top sheet from the bed and held it up to cover myself. I closed my eyes and groaned.

The man on the bed spoke softly. "Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes infinitesimally to peer at him. "No," I croaked. "Who are you? Where are we?"

He sat up, ran his hand through his hair and said, "I'm Carlos. And we're in my hotel room. But I don't remember how we got here. I'm a little hungover."

"I'm not sure how much I drank last night, but I definitely feel hungover, too," I admitted. I looked over at him again. He had dark hair that hung to his shoulders and a hint of stubble that made him look slightly dangerous. He had beautiful long eyelashes framing deep brown eyes and a strong nose above full lips. He reminded me a little of Richard Grieco, but he had darker skin, and Carlos looked way better. My eyes travelled downward, taking in his broad chest and amazing eight-pack abs, and then I had a minor heart attack when I noted he was still undressed and baring everything. I looked down in embarrassment. "I'm Stephanie. Did we, uh—" I gestured back and forth between us, "—have sex?"

He smirked. "I can't imagine that we wouldn't have, Babe."

I tightened the sheet around me, and suddenly, his eyes narrowed. He stared at me momentarily, then asked in a low, intense voice, "Are you married?"

I frowned. "Do you really think I'd cheat on my husband if I were married?"

"Then whose ring are you wearing?"

I looked down, shocked to see I was wearing a plain gold band on my left ring finger.

I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times in surprise, unsure what to say. I looked at him, and my eyes zeroed in on his hand. "Are you married?" I squeaked in horror. I couldn't have slept with a married man!

"Not that I'm aware of." He looked at me, pinning my eyes with his. "Do you suppose it's possible we got married last night?"

"Oh my god," I whispered. I felt sick and stood to rush into the bathroom. I knelt in front of the toilet and let it all out. I heard Carlos behind me and moaned. "Please don't come in here. This is too awful and embarrassing."

He ignored me and sat on the edge of the tub beside me. He rubbed my back for the next twenty minutes while I continued to be sick.

When I finally sat up, he asked, "Feel better?"

I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth and closed my eyes, embarrassed that this absolute god was seeing me at my worst. "I need a shower."

He stood up, still naked and seemingly unconcerned about that. If I looked as good as he did naked, I'd probably strut around naked all day long! He walked out of the room, and I closed the door, then dropped the sheet still wrapped around me.

I turned on the hot water until just this side of scalding, then stepped in. As I washed myself with the hotel-provided toiletries, I thought about the man on the other side of the door. I wracked my brain, trying to figure out how I had met up with him and possibly gotten married to him, but my mind was a complete blank. I last remembered sitting at a blackjack table with Mary Lou…

Mary Lou! Where was she? Was she worried about me? Oh my god. I needed to call her immediately. I finished up in the shower and wrapped a towel around me. After I brushed my teeth—thank god for nice hotels that provide these sorts of things—I opened the bathroom door and saw Carlos was on the hotel phone. He'd also put on a pair of black silk boxers.

I looked around to find my clothes, and when I spotted them near the bed, I hurried over and scooped them up, heading back into the bathroom. Thankfully, I hadn't gone full club scene with my outfit last night, and it wasn't too skimpy. Doing the walk of shame back to my hotel would be embarrassing enough in a denim miniskirt and crop top that scooped low enough in front to show off what little cleavage I possessed. If I had worn what Mary Lou had suggested, I'd have to stop in the hotel gift shop to pick up a tee shirt because I'd feel naked in the stark light of day. When I was dressed, I stepped back into the hotel room and went to the window to see if I could determine where I was currently. This hotel room looked nothing like mine, so I thought I probably wasn't in my hotel. The rooms in a hotel usually all seemed somewhat similar. From the view, it looked like I might be in Caesars Palace.

I pulled out the desk chair and sat down, waiting for Carlos to get off the phone. I found myself playing with the wedding band on my finger. Would a chapel here marry two people who were obviously drunk?

Carlos said a few more words, then hung up the phone and looked at me. "My friends met you last night. They didn't meet anyone else. Did you come to Vegas with anyone else?"

I nodded. "My friend, Mary Lou. She's six months pregnant and gets tired easily these days."

"I'm going to go have a shower. You can call her if you want." He dropped two sheets of paper in my lap and then disappeared into the bathroom. I looked down and was stunned when I realized this was our application for a marriage license and a marriage certificate. I'd need to think about this.

I found the phone book in the bedside table's drawer and looked up The Hacienda's phone number in the Yellow Pages. I dialled and waited only a moment before I heard Mary Lou's voice saying, "Hello? Stephanie?"

"Hey, Lou."

"Oh my god, where are you?"

I looked down at the phone. There was a little card with the Caesars Palace address and phone number. I guess that's confirmation of my window reconnaissance. "Caesars Palace."

"Why are you there? What happened after I went back to our room?"

I sighed. "I don't know, Lou. But I'm here now with the most gorgeous man I've ever seen."

I held the phone away from my ear as Mary Lou's shriek burst from her. "Oh my god! Tell me everything!"

I whispered into the phone, "Later, Lou. He's having a shower right now, but I don't know how quick he'll be. There's another thing. We're wearing wedding rings!"

Her shriek, this time, felt like it was piercing my eardrums. I heard the bathroom door open and hissed quietly into the receiver, "Stop shrieking. I'll be back later. We need to sort out some stuff here, and I'll tell you everything then. Bye."

I hung up. Carlos sat on the other side of the bed and raised an eyebrow at me. "My friend returned to the hotel room early and has no idea what I did last night."

"Do you want to go downstairs for the breakfast buffet and meet with my friends? Maybe they can shed some light on last night's activities."

"That sounds great. I'm in dire need of something greasy and fattening."

"I'll just get dressed," he said. He stood up, and I took him in. A small, white towel was slung low on his waist, drawing the eye downward. I gulped and dragged my eyes back to his face. He was smirking. "See something you like, Babe?"

I rolled my eyes. "Go get dressed. I'm starving!"

Within ten minutes, we were in the elevator going to the lobby. We arrived at the buffet far too soon, and he put his hand on my lower back and guided me to a table where two hunky, muscular men appeared to be waiting for us. I looked back at him in alarm, but he smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, they look scarier than they are."

We stopped at a pair of empty chairs, and he nodded to the men. "Guys, this is Stephanie."

I smiled a little weakly. "Call me Steph."

"Steph, this is Tank and Lester."

"It's nice to meet you guys." Carlos pulled out my chair and waited until I sat down. He pushed it in slightly and sat down beside me.

The conversation was slightly stilted as we exchanged pleasantries, and finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Do you guys know what happened last night? Carlos and I can't remember anything. But he told me we met last night?"

Lester burst out laughing. "Indeed we did, Steph."

"Please tell me what we're missing."

He looked at Tank, then back at me and shrugged. "I don't know how much it'll help you. We met you at that new hotel, the MGM Grand, in the bar."

"And I was by myself?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think so. You were having a drink, and when we came in and up to the bar, you swivelled on your barstool and looked us all over, licking your lips."

My eyes widened in horror. "Shut up! I did not do that."

Tank let loose with a deep, rumbly laugh. "You certainly did. Then you fixated on our boy, Carlos, here and never looked at the rest of us again."

I cupped my hands in front of my face, hiding my mouth and nose. This didn't sound like me at all! I was not a forward woman; in fact, I was usually quite reserved. Openly leering at strange men, no matter how hot they were, was not behaviour I typically engaged in. I looked over at Carlos, who seemed amused.

"When did we split up?" he asked his friends.

"You two started making out, and we decided four was a crowd, so we took off and went to the casino. I don't know what happened with you after that," Lester explained.

I needed something greasy real bad to process this new information. I excused myself and went to the buffet. Carlos followed me.

I loaded my plate with scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage, poured myself a big orange juice and returned to the table. I deduced Tank and Lester had already eaten due to the empty plates before them, but Carlos had only poured a cup of black coffee and hadn't plated himself any food.

Lester held out his hand to me and opened his palm. Sitting in his hand was a travel-sized container of Tylenol, and I took it from him. "Thank you."

I shook out two caplets and swallowed them with a big swig of orange juice. I recapped the container and gave it back to him.

I dug into my plate with gusto while the guys were chatting quietly. After a few minutes, I realized they were all staring at me silently. "What?" I asked.

"Uh, Steph, are you always so vocal when you're eating?" Tank asked.

I shrugged. "Sorry. Not always. But when I'm famished, or the food is exceptionally good, I can't help myself."

I finished my plate and then eyed the buffet again. "I'll be right back," I told the men.

When I returned to the table, my new plate was piled with pancakes, French toast, and syrup.

"Babe, do you always eat like that?" Carlos asked.

I laughed. "No. But when I'm hungover, I tend to gravitate toward greasy food. When I'm hungover and have forgotten everything that happened the previous night, including a marriage, I want to eat everything in sight, evidently."

"Whoa. You guys got married last night?" Lester blurted.

"It seems so," Carlos replied. "I found a marriage license and certificate in the room this morning. And we woke up wearing wedding rings."

Tank and Lester looked down at our hands. I had taken mine off, but when I looked, I noted that Carlos hadn't. I wondered why, but I didn't want to ask about it right now.

I finished my breakfast while listening to Tank and Lester ask Carlos about our plans for the rest of the day. "What are you all doing in Vegas, anyway?" I asked.

"We're here for a bachelor party," Carlos answered. "My little brother is getting married, and his fiancée is from here."

"Are any of you married?"

Lester chuckled. "Apparently, Carlos is. But Tank and I aren't, no. Why are you in Vegas?"

"Oh. Um. That's a long story. I came here with my best friend to escape things for a while."

They were all looking at me with too much curiosity, but I didn't want to discuss it, so I changed the subject. "I guess we should figure this out. Can we go to my hotel so I can see my friend and assure her I'm okay?"

Carlos nodded. "Sure, Babe, we can do that. And you're right; we should figure out our next steps."

We said goodbye to Tank and Lester, then exited out into the bright sunshine. "It's about two and a half miles, Babe. Want to walk?"

I looked at him with wide eyes. I detected a slight smirk, so I assumed he was joking.

"Ha ha, funny man. There's a taxi over there."

When we arrived at The Hacienda, Carlos paid the taxi driver, and we went inside. I led him to the hotel room I was sharing with Mary Lou, and when I opened the door, she excitedly squealed and rushed to the door, stopping short when she saw Carlos.

"Oh. Hi," she said somewhat lamely. She cradled her belly in her hands as she did when feeling shy or nervous.

"Lou, this is Carlos. Carlos, this is my best friend, Mary Lou."

He extended his hand to her, and she took it. "It's nice to meet you," she said.

"Enchanted," he said in his deep voice, and I could tell she was melting inside.

"I'm just going to change," I told the two. I grabbed my suitcase and took it to the bathroom with me. I stripped down, then changed into my favourite pair of worn Levi's and a Pearl Jam tee shirt. I extracted a thick pair of socks and my green Doc Martens, then stuffed last night's outfit into my bag. I zipped it up and returned to the hotel room. I set down the suitcase and sat on the edge of my bed to put on my socks and tie my shoes. Carlos and Mary Lou were chatting amiably about Vegas and the warm weather.

"How long are you here?" Mary Lou asked.

"I have a wedding to attend tomorrow, and then we leave the morning after that," he explained. "How about you two?"

"We're leaving tomorrow afternoon."

He looked beyond her to me, then asked her, "Do you mind if I steal Steph for a while longer? We have some things we need to sort out."

"Is this about the marriage?" she asked.

He smiled and nodded. We spoke to her for a few more minutes, then he said, "We should go, Babe."