Hitched (5 page)

“How’s your head?” he asked. Surely she was feeling the effects of the night before. On the phone it had been clear she was drunk. But he hadn’t been able to help the thump of his heart when he’d heard her voice—and the words to the song.

“Swimmy,” she answered, wrinkling her nose again. “Is that a word?”

He shook his head with a slight smile in spite of knowing he shouldn’t find this funny. “I don’t think so.”

“Well, that’s how it feels,” she said. “Like my words are swimming around and around. Like they can’t find the way.”

“Okay, we need to sober you up. Then talk.”

She frowned. “I’m really hungry.”

A cheeseburger he could do. That was now the plan—focus on one thing at a time.

“Can we grab my bags out of my car?” she asked. “I’ve got crackers in there. And Twizzlers. And a Snickers. And lip gloss.” She rubbed a finger over her bottom lip as if being without lip gloss and licorice was the biggest problem in her life. She grabbed the bottom edge of her bra through her dress and wiggled it. “I need a different bra, too. Bernice picked this one out.”

Gavin wasn’t sure what that had to do with anything. “Al, I can…”

She reached up and pulled her veil from her hair, then looked down at her dress, lifting the skirt with her hands. “I need a brush and some different clothes.”

Finally, he just grinned. With that list, how could he doubt she needed her bags? And he was on board with her not needing to keep the dress on. That was a good sign she didn’t intend to go back to her wedding any time soon. “You bet. Where is it?”

“It’s right by the north door of the church. The blue Focus.”

Right. Her car would be at the church. Great.

Praying for a little divine intervention—that he was pretty sure he didn’t fully deserve—he took a left and headed back for St. Mark’s. He pulled up by the door, hoping no one would be spilling out of the church just yet. Angry mobs weren’t his thing. And they’d have a right to be angry. He got that. But this was big. This was bigger than what his hometown thought of him—not that his reputation was spotless anyway—and what everyone thought Allie should have done. He was sorry about the cake and flowers, but a guy didn’t just stand by and let the love of his life marry someone else.

The Focus was unlocked, so he grabbed the two bags out of the backseat, slammed the door and headed back for Allie.

She was stretched lengthwise on the front seat, facedown.

“Allie?”

She didn’t answer or move. Gavin shoved the bags into the backseat of the rental, then leaned in the driver’s side door.

He shook her by the shoulder. “Allie? Come on, babe, wake up.”

She mumbled something incoherent. Was alcohol poisoning a real possibility here? She’d just been talking to him, but suddenly he was concerned.

His hand on her bare shoulder reminded him how pale she was. “Honey, you have to—”

The side door of the church banged open and Gavin glanced up to see a little crowd frozen in the doorway.

Okay, change of plans. He used both hands to slide Allie over and got behind the wheel. She moved then—just enough to sit up, curl her legs under her and lean against him. Once the car was in gear, he wrapped his arm around her, tucking her more firmly along his side. He resisted squealing the tires, and instead, calmly and coolly, pulled out onto Ash Avenue and turned left.

Not for any particular reason, except that it got them out of sight of the church.

“Allie?” he tried again. “Honey, I need to be sure you’re all right.”

He used the rearview mirror to look at her. Her eyes were shut. He tightened his arm around her, still trying to convince himself this was real. It hit him again how tiny she felt, how bony even, and a renewed surge of anger went through him at all the people back there who were supposed to care about her. Didn’t they see that she looked sick? Didn’t they notice that something was wrong? And how about the drinking and drunk dialing? Clearly something was up when a woman got sauced to walk down the aisle.

Just as Gavin was contemplating turning around and beating Josh to a pulp after all, Allie shifted to turn into him more fully and sighed. She settled against him like she was seeking warmth or comfort. Her hand rested on his thigh, her cheek against his chest.

Damn. That felt familiar. And really, really good.

But she was out of it.

He shifted, trying to reach his phone. Allie shifted too…and slid down until her head was resting in his lap. Gavin cleared his throat and moved again, trying to get his fly out from under her cheek. This was no time to get a hard-on. But this was as close as his cock had been to Allie’s mouth in over a year, and his body didn’t appreciate the finer points of her being drunk, emotional and still in her wedding dress.

At least now he could reach his phone, and Gavin was sure that talking to his friend Carter would take away any amorous thoughts.

“It’s me,” he said when Carter picked up.

“Where the hell are you?” Carter demanded. “I’ve been—”

“What are the signs of alcohol poisoning?”

That stopped him. “How much have you had?”

“Not me,” Gavin snapped. “Someone I’m with. She’s clearly drunk but now she’s sleeping and it’s really hard to—”

“Just tell me where you are. I’ll come to you,” Carter said.

Gavin appreciated the offer, but even if it were a possibility, he wasn’t quite ready for Carter to know what he’d done. “You can’t. It’s too far. Just tell me what to do here.”

Carter sighed. “How much has she had?”

“Not sure.”

He sighed again and Gavin gritted his teeth. “So sorry to inconvenience you, Doc,” he said. “Just tell me the symptoms.”

“Confusion?”

“Uh, a little. Maybe.”

“Vomiting?”

“No.” Not that he knew of anyway.

“Slow breathing, low temp, pale skin?”

“Maybe. Kind of.” She was pale and her skin felt cool to him, but she seemed to be breathing all right.

“Are you close to an urgent care or ER?”

He was. There was one in Waterford, which was only twenty miles and would afford them some anonymity that would not be possible at the medical clinic in Promise Harbor. “Twenty minutes give or take.”

“Get her some Gatorade to rehydrate, then take her to the urgent care. Then call me immediately after.” Carter disconnected.

Gavin did appreciate that his friend could just concentrate on the issue and not push. For the moment, anyway.

Urgent care. Okay. Allie sighed in her sleep and he glanced down, brushing a stray strand of hair away from her cheek. His finger caught on a sprig of baby’s breath and loosened another tendril from the circle of pearls that held her hair up and back.

The pearls matched the ones on the neckline of her wedding dress.

She was still wearing her wedding dress.

Fuck.

As he turned left to get on the street leading out of town, Gavin blew out a breath. He couldn’t show up at urgent care with Allie in her wedding dress. It also occurred to him that this whole urgent care thing could be very complicated. He didn’t have her purse. Did she have her ID and insurance cards in her bags in back? If not, how was he going to pull that off? He could just pay for the urgent care visit out of pocket, but they would want to see her ID, wouldn’t they? And there would be paperwork. He was a veterinarian and they had a ton of paperwork.

He couldn’t even fill in her full medical history. What if they needed to know something he wasn’t sure of? He could claim to be her boyfriend, but her drunken state and lack of ID might make them suspicious.

If they were back home in Bend, the tiny town Gavin had landed in when he’d moved to Alaska, Carter could take care of her.

Gavin quickly thought that through. The plane was waiting for them at the airport, so they could leave right away. If they got in the air immediately, they could be back in Alaska in about ten hours. Would she be okay until then? He’d deal with the police questions if necessary, if it was truly a medical emergency, but if she was just drunk and exhausted, getting her home would be better.

Gavin grabbed his phone again and redialed Carter.

“I can’t take her to urgent care. She doesn’t have any ID or—”

“You don’t even know who she is?” Carter asked in disbelief. “Seriously, man, this is—”

“Carter, stop talking!” Gavin demanded. “Of course I know who she is. Don’t be a dumb ass. We just left without her purse or anything.”

“You can’t go back?”

Gavin glanced in the rearview mirror. Going back was not an appealing option. “Not easily.”

“If she’s got alcohol poisoning, it could be really serious, Gav. That’s not something to screw with.”

“How do I tell? What can I do?”

“She’s unconscious?”

Allie sighed and wiggled, her cheek pressing into his thigh and making Gavin swear silently. “She’s sleeping.”

“Does she respond to stimuli?”

“Stimuli like what?”

“Pain?”

Gavin scowled at the road in front of the car. “Pain? What the hell?”

“Pinch her,” Carter said.

“I’m not going to pinch her.”

“You have to. I have to know how out of it she is.”

Gavin swore again. “Fine.” He reached down. “Sorry, babe,” he muttered before he pinched her arm.

She pulled away and frowned.

“She responds to pain,” he told Carter.

“Try to wake her up.”

“Fine. Fuck.” Gavin looked for traffic and then pulled over to the side of the road. He put the car into park, put the phone up on the dash and turned in his seat. “Allie. Honey, you gotta wake up for me.” He pushed her up into a sitting position and cupped her face. “Al? Open your eyes.”

She sighed heavily.

“Allie?”

Dammit.

He grabbed his phone, keeping her propped up with one hand. “Nothing.”

“You have to do more than that,” Carter said, sounding disgusted. “Slap her.”

“Dammit, Carter, I’m not slapping her.”

“Pinch her again. Something.”

Gavin threw the phone back on the dash, harder than he should have. Fine. He’d wake her up. He leaned in, cupped the back of her head with his hand and kissed her.

For six seconds, nothing happened. Then she sighed, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

It was as if the past year evaporated.

The heat built quickly and steadily from “yum” to “
damn
”. Gavin tipped her head, slid his hand down her throat, stroked his tongue deep. Allie arched closer, her hands gripped the front of his shirt and she groaned.

Gavin sat back in his seat, bringing her with him. Allie tugged on her dress and moved to straddle his lap. When she settled her weight onto him, his quick, hard erection pressed up against her and they both moaned. He dug his fingers into her hair, pulling the pearls and bobby pins free, tossing them one by one onto the floor, until her hair feel free and loose. She ran her hands up the back of his neck into his hair too. His hair was several inches longer than he usually wore it, and he thought of his beard rubbing against her skin. He’d never worn a beard with Allie before. Did it feel weird?

He pulled back, breathing hard. She didn’t let go of him, keeping their faces close, and they stared into each other’s eyes for several seconds. She didn’t look like anything felt
weird
, exactly.

“Whoa,” she said softly.

“So, you’re awake,” he said unnecessarily. His voice was husky.

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

Still looking at her as she pressed her lips together, he reached for his phone. “She’s awake.”

“Is she responding appropriately?” Carter asked.

“Um, yeah, very appropriately.”

“Then she’s probably okay. Get her hydrated, make her eat, sober her up as much as you can. Then get her over here. I’ll check her over.”

“It’s, um…” Gavin couldn’t remember the last time he’d said “um” so many times in a conversation. “It’s going to be a while.”

“Where are you?”

“Massachusetts.”

There was a long pause on Carter’s end of the phone.

“You’re
where
?”

“It’s a long story.”

“You’re coming home now?”

“In a few hours.” Several hours would have been more accurate.

“I’ll see you then.”

Oh, Gavin was sure that Carter would be in his face within moments of touchdown. And he wouldn’t be alone. Not much exciting happened in Bend, Alaska, and Gavin’s love life was the most boring thing of all.

He disconnected the phone call and looked at Allie.

No one was going to think he was boring now, that was for sure.

“You still want a cheeseburger?” he asked.

“I kind of want to stay right here and go back to what we were just doing,” she said.