June ignored the way her body heated up a million damn degrees. She shifted on the bed and forced herself to think about something else. About how good that annulment was going to feel when she got the paperwork. She thought about how angry her parents would be, how her mother would go on one of her yearlong rants. That cooled her jets.
“You know,” Jaz said wistfully, her eyes already filled up with stars. Mandy looked the same way and this time, June wasn’t able to hold back her groan.
“What’s that? I’m sure I don’t want to hear it,” June said dryly. She stood, walked over to the door, and picked up the plastic bags. She began setting the containers of food out on the small table in the room in hopes of distracting her friends. No such luck.
“I’m really excited to meet him.” Jaz’s dreamy tone made June want to gag.
“Me too,” Mandy agreed. Just because she sounded more down to earth didn’t mean she was. She proved it a second later when she gushed, “this is just as exciting as that movie we watched. And romantic.”
Jaz broke into a titter of giggles and as June opened up the food and got out a few paper plates the hotel staff had been kind enough to throw in, not that it mattered, since she couldn’t eat a thing if she tried, her friends started comparing her life, to that cheesy romance that made them both turn into girly bawl bags.
I am so damn screwed.
CHAPTER 8
Brock
Since he had basically one shot at convincing his wife that she should stay married to him, Brock pulled out all the stops. It was already midday by the time June left his hotel.
He gave her a few hours to regroup and fill her friends in on what happened the night before. He took the time to plan something he hoped they’d all like. He had no idea where June was from or what she was into. Since that didn’t exactly give him time to come up with a good game plan, he chose to go with a little bit of everything.
He showed up at June’s hotel in a rental that was more practical than what he currently had. He’d returned the sports car and exchanged it for a truck.
He found three ladies waiting for him, three sets of curious eyes. They were all dressed in jeans, runners, and some version of a jacket, since the weather was on the cool side for Vegas and he’d texted that they were going to be doing an outdoor activity and should dress accordingly.
The brown-haired woman was thinner, average height, with a heart shaped face and huge blue eyes. She was quite pretty in a sweet, innocent kind of way. The other friend had dark hair, cut into one of those pixie style cuts. It didn’t exactly suit her, but she was pretty in her own way, with her huge dark eyes and a big smile when he pulled up.
The only one of the three not smiling, was June. She glared daggers at him, like he’d done something wrong just by living. Or by marrying her. Hell, he was willing to accept that maybe she was allowed to be grouchy. He’d change her mind soon enough.
“Nice ride,” the pixie cut said as she slid into the front seat. She laughed at her other friend, who looked disappointed, and at June, who looked relieved to sit in the back seat.
Brock shut their doors like a gentleman and climbed back into the driver seat.
“I’m Mandy,” the pixie cut said. She pointed to the back seat. “That’s Jasmine, Jaz. And uh- I guess you know June, given that you’re married.” She clamped a hand over her mouth, but she couldn’t hide her snickers. Neither could Jaz, in the back seat. June glared daggers at both her friends before she went back to glaring at him. He watched her, in the rear-view mirror, and even when he couldn’t, since he had to concentrate on driving and following the GPS, he could feel her glare burning right through him.
“So, where are we going?” Jaz asked. “If it’s not a secret?”
“Oooh, it would be romantic if it was a secret,” Mandy chimed in. She glanced at him from across the cab. “Is it a secret? Is it romantic?”
“Ignore these two,” June cut in. He couldn’t see her, but he could tell she was either rolling her eyes or just had been. “They watched some horrible sappy movie this morning and now they figure that the idea of us being married is actually cute or something.”
“You did promise to try and have a good time,” Brock reminded her dryly.
“I know. This is me trying to keep an open mind.”
He caught her eye in the mirror, but she looked away. Brock grinned. His hands tightened on the wheel with renewed determination. He turned to the side, and Mandy, who was openly studying him, and maybe even drooling a little, had the grace to look half ashamed. The other half kept right on studying him in frank appreciation. He grinned. God, it was nice just to be anonymous for a change. Not that he should enjoy that June’s friend was the one looking at him like she’d like to taste him. It should be June looking at him that way, not studying the scenery passing by out the window. There was time though for that. He had some charms, buried away under layers of bitterness. He’d just have to dig them out, dust them off, and put them to good use.