Love Renewed (Entwined Hearts #3) (13 page)

Sated. Peaceful. Safe.

I finally pulled myself away from Nova earlier. We got ready after the alarm on my phone buzzed, letting me know it was time to meet the rest of the guys down in the restaurant for dinner. I knew that Eric and Rich would be here too, I’ve been looking forward to seeing them. The only downside is that once again I haven’t had a chance to talk to Nova about anything solid. Past or present.

Now as we wait for our main dishes to be cleared, the table is alive with chatter as well as the occasional baby gurgle from Eleanor.

“No, it’s fine. You know Eric and Rich are on the case,” Eric says to Pea. She looks over to Rich.

“He’s right, for once,” Rich explains. “We’ve had a long flight from London and are both exhausted. We wanted to attend your simultaneous Stag and Hens dos—”

“Not Stag and Hen dos,” Saul butts in.

“Okay,
not
Stag and Hen dos.” He looks at Saul with an arched eyebrow almost hitting his hairline, then looks back to Pea. “But we won’t make it through tonight the way we feel right now, and if we want to be there tomorrow.” He turns to Soph as her eyes widen. “Which we will be,” he quickly adds. “Then staying in and looking after baby Eleanor is the way to go.” Rich finishes turning back to Pea and winking. She twists her head to look up at Con, who doesn’t seem convinced about leaving his baby girl with anyone.

“Okay.” He sighs as his shoulders drop.

Pea claps and giggles and I watch Con staring at her, his mouth tips up in a secret smile.

“Okay, so you three are going to head to the lounge bar,” Soph says pointing at me, Saul and Con. “Make sure you stay there! We’re going to go up and get ready. Eric and Rich are coming too, that way we can get Eleanor settled.” Soph organises everyone. I watch Nova getting up from her seat next to me, she leans down and offers me her lips, which I accept greedily. Then she sashays away and I stare at her until the elevator closes. When I look back, both Saul and Con are wearing matching smirks.

“What?” I ask.

“You have it bad,” Saul says and I smile at him.

“As bad as you both have it,” I reply and watch as Con’s eyes widen.

“Really?” he asks me.

“She’s his person,” Saul relays, and I smile, saying nothing.

“Fuck, I mean…I figured, but you never said.” Con looks back at the elevators then to me. “Has she remembered anything?” he asks and it causes my stomach to twist. I shake my head no but say nothing. They know how much I wish she could remember.

“So what are we doing tonight?” I turn my attention to Con. As Saul’s best man I figured he has the night planned.

“I hate to say it man, but I didn’t have a choice in tonight, shithead here decided the whole thing,” Con tells me nodding his head at Saul, who’s smirking.

“Oh shit Saul, what did you decide?” I ask

“Simple. We follow the girls,” he says winking.

“Fuck. Do you want to be the only person who pre-organises their wedding in Vegas, to have the bride not turn up because you’ve been a dick?” I ask.

Saul rubs his temples. “Have you seen the shit they’re wearing tonight?” he replies to Con and me. We both turn to look at him and I’m pretty sure we’re wearing matching expressions of confusion.

“You guys seen Pretty Woman?” he asks looking between us.

“No. Last time I checked I have a dick,” I reply.

Con laughs, pointing to me. “What he said.”

“Fuck you both.” Saul scowls. “Actually, no, this is good. We can go somewhere different from the girls tonight. We’ll go to that club we saw…Tryst, I think it was called. The girls are going to another club called XS. There, that’s decided. Now, I can’t wait for the three of them to come down in their outfits—”

“Outfits?” Con asks, and Saul smirks.

“Oh no,” he replies shaking his head with a smirk. “You asked for it. I figured you’d both want to be within spitting distance of your women tonight. But you’ve taken the piss out of me, so now I’m going to watch your faces when you see them, and then I’ll laugh knowing that you’ll be thinking of those damn dresses all night, not to mention the men who’ll be taking notice. And all because you were both smartarses.”

I say nothing, wondering what the fuck they’re going to be wearing, but Con laughs at Saul.

“I’ve seen Pea in some sexy shit over the years I’m pretty sure I can handle it cave-boy,” he mocks Saul with a play on Soph’s nickname for him and I can’t help but laugh. However, I nearly choke on my own mirth when the elevator catches my eyes. The doors open and Nova, Soph and Pea, step out. Or what looks like three very, very, fuckable hookers get out.

Shit.

Gulping, I look toward Con, whose eyes are wide. He looks like he’s also swallowing a boulder. Saul narrows his eyes at the girls and his jaw ticks.

I turn to Nova, keeping my eyes on her. She’s wearing a lycra dress, but the sides are cut out and pulled together in the middle by a silver metal ring. All three of them are wearing the same. Different colours, but the same dress. Soph and Pea are wearing thigh high black fuck-me boots, but Nova—no—she likes to be different. She’s wearing a pair of high top pink converse, and fuck, if I don’t feel my dick straining against the button fly of my jeans.

Looking back to the guys, I smirk at their faces. Con is still not looking happy, the muscle in his cheek flexing with contained frustration and Saul has changed from laughing cave-boy to fire spitting caveman. I look back at the girls who are getting closer, checking out their men and narrowing their eyes.

It’s time to intervene before world war three begins. I get up from my seat and walk to them stopping a few strides before they arrive at our table.

“Ladies, you look beautiful,” I tell them, my eyes catching theirs and then landing on Nova and sticking.

“Beautiful. Hmm, not sure that’s the adjective I would have chosen,” says Nova with a wink. “Provocative, titillating, salacious, those are more appropriate. No?”

I smile down, wrapping my arms around her, then crash my lips onto hers, not giving a fuck that I’m in a five-star hotel bar. As I pull my head back from her mouth, lean to the side and whisper in her ear, “When you’re out tonight I want you to think about my tongue, in your mouth, sucking on your breasts, and then my head buried in between your thighs, because that’s what I’ll be thinking about all night. The next night we spend together, I’m going to make that promise a reality. I know if you keep that in mind, then any guy who hits on you tonight, will see
my
promise in your eyes. The promise of something they can’t give you. I will always give you promises, but only ones I can fulfil.” Stepping back from her is hard. But I’m not like my little brother, I have to trust that she can take care of herself. Otherwise, being with me will never be healthy for her. I will always step in. I will always protect her. But I have to do it when it’s needed. Not by being an overbearing arsehole. 

The chatter between our group takes about twenty minutes to die down. Then the girls all look to each other before Soph announces that they’re going. We say goodbye. As they leave, I grab Nova and pull her to me.

“I promise you that I belong to you. Always have. And will forever.”

She opens and closes her mouth until Soph comes back and grabs her arm pulling her away from me. She turns her head at the last minute and I smile. She rewards me by kissing the palm of her hand and blowing it to me. I shake my head and chuckle.

“Isss not like that, I jus wanna see shes allkay,” Saul slurs.

“Allkay?” Con mouths.

“I think he means okay,” I answer and Saul jumps back in.

“Yezz, daz what I say, allkay…she could be wiff a drunk dick.”

I raise my eyebrow at him. “The only drunk dick she’s gonna get stuck with anytime in the near future is you little brother,” I tell him with a grin.

Saul mutters to himself and I chuckle. We’ve been at this club for three hours and he’s had six beers, all followed each time by two chasers, and on top of that he’s now moved onto tequila.

“Fuck man,” Con says rubbing the back of his head. “Maybe we should get him back. I mean shit, what if he’s not okay to get hitched tomorrow?”

“He’ll be fine. Remember they’re not getting married until tomorrow evening. If he isn’t okay by then…well, I’d deny that he’s my brother, because fuck…my genes are stronger than that,” I say with a chuckle. Both Con and I have had a lot to drink, but we’ve not been stupid enough to chase them with shots or to drink tequila. Con has to be alert for baby Eleanor tonight because knowing Soph, she has probably gotten Pea drunk. The thought does send a stab of panic through me, worrying that all three of them may be drunk, maybe getting themselves into precarious situations
. Shit.
Now I’m worrying like a little prick.

“Hey.” The feminine voice comes from my right so I look over. The blonde standing next to me is gorgeous. Long hair, slightly curly. Big bronze coloured eyes. Pouty lips and a killer body. I smile because I’m not rude. This would have been the sort of woman I’d have hooked up with before Nova. I know I could have her on a plate. Her friends stand to one side. I can see them eyeing up Con, not quite as forward as she is, therefore not willing to make a move to him. It’s pretty obvious Saul’s out of the running for them now, as he’s sitting at the bar with his head on the counter, mumbling incoherently.

“Hi,” I answer, saying no more.

“You in Vegas for fun?” she asks, the tone in her voice confirms what I already knew.

“Yeah. My brother’s stag,” I reply nodding toward Saul, who I’m pretty sure is now dribbling.

She giggles and then places her hand on my right bicep. A very obvious move on her part. “He looks like he’s having fun. I love your accent. British accents are the best!”

I take a step away from her arm, letting it drop, her eyes narrow before she quickly allows the look to pass. “I’m sure we could have more fun together, my girls over there…” She points to her friends at the bar. The redhead is now nearer to Con, who’s shooting off
‘leave me the hell alone’
vibes. “We could all hang out a bit. The brunette, Lacey, has just split from her boyfriend, so Aubrey—that’s the redhead—and me, I’m Sasha by the way, we thought it would be good to take her to Vegas for a break.”

“It sounds great, but I’m afraid I have a girlfriend,” I say and her eyes flash with resolve, she’s ready to fight to get me into bed. It makes her seem desperate, there are a ton of men who’d gladly take care of her needs, but some women become more determined to get you into bed when you say that you’re taken, like a challenge. I’ve used the excuse before, of course, back then I was lying. But I’ve said it before to get a woman to back off. Ended up fucking her, then her friend the night after.