Honeymoon from Hell Part I (6 page)

“
I’m tall, damnit!” she snapped as she tightened her grip on the barrier.

“
Sure you are,” Jason said, readjusting his hold on her.

“
I’m going on that ride!” she bit out, more determined than ever to-

“
Oh, come on!” she snapped when Jason finally managed to pull her off the barrier and carry her away from the ride that she’d waited forty-seven minutes in line to go on.

“
There’s no line for the Ferris wheel,” he calmly pointed out while she struggled to free herself and go claim her rightful spot in the front of the line for the ride that pretty much guaranteed that she wouldn’t be able to eat another bite tonight without praying for death.

“
I don’t want to go on the Ferris wheel,” she said with a sniff and a pout.

“
Do you want another caramel apple?” he asked, placing her on her feet, apparently believing that he could catch her if she decided to make another run for it.

“
No, no I do not wish for another caramel apple, sir,” she said, pointedly looking away from the man that had already betrayed their wedding vows even as she allowed him to hold her hand.

“
Would you like to play some of the games?” he asked, using her weakness against her.

She nibbled on her bottom lip as she looked around, noting all the games surrounding them, boasting large prizes that she could definitely see herself snuggling, and nodded. “We could do that.”

*-*-*-*

“
I’m so tired,” Haley mumbled with a slight whimper as she climbed on the big bed, kicking her shoes off as she went.

“
Me too,” he said, dropping all the loot that he’d won for her on the floor by their suitcases.

“
That was so much fun,” she said with a sleepy smile as she curled up on her side and closed her eyes.

“
I’m glad that you had fun,” he said, pleased beyond words that he’d been able to give Haley the perfect day.

“
I can’t wait for tomorrow,” she said, her sleepy little smile turning impish, letting him know that she was still determined to get on that damn rollercoaster. Not that he’d expected her to give up.

He hadn’t.

Besides, he knew how to keep her distracted, he thought as he grabbed his car keys. “I’m going to run to the store. Do you need anything?”

She shook her head as she snuggled her pillow. “I’m good.”

“
I’ll be back soon,” he said, watching her for a moment, still unable to believe his good luck.

“
Mmmkay,” she muttered, looking as though she was ready to fall into a coma.

Somehow resisting the urge to go over to the bed and take her in his arms, he opened the door and forced himself to walk away with the reminder that she’d be there waiting for him when he returned.

*-*-*-*

She counted to twenty before she opened her eyes, squinted as she reached over and grabbed her glasses. Once she had them on she stared at the door for another minute, making sure that he wasn’t coming back before she jumped out of bed and rushed over to the large window. Careful to remain hidden behind the thick beige curtain, she peeked out the window and watched as Jason walked over to his truck and climbed in.

She watched him for another minute, making sure that he was actually leaving before she released the curtain and hurried over to the bag that her grandmother had packed for her. Biting her lip, she searched through her clothes, shoving aside pants, shirts and panties until she found what she was looking for.

She pulled the gift box out, the one she’d bought months ago but could never find the courage to wear and set it aside before she returned her attention to her suitcase and pulled out a heavy bag. Once that was done, she grabbed her body wash, makeup, lotion, perfume and the box and headed for the bathroom. Ten minutes later she was shaved, tweezed, pampered and wearing the pink lacy number that she’d bought on a whim.

Okay, so even now she was nervous about wearing this, but she didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. It was either wear this or her Yankees panties and tee shirt set and although Jason loved the Yankees, she doubted that particular set of clothing would convey the right message tonight. She was determined to have a romantic night with her husband and she was going to do whatever it took to make it happen, even wear the pink teddy that looked like it belonged on a Playboy bunny.

Not sure how long he was going to be, she grabbed the bag and quickly set to work, placing candles around the room, plugging her iPhone into the stereo, setting the mood with a little music, and started the long process of filling the Jacuzzi tub with hot water. Standing, she looked around the room to see if she’d missed anything when she caught sight of herself in the mirror and groaned.

Her glasses were anything but sexy and tonight she definitely wanted to look sexy for her husband. With an excited smile, she walked over to the bureau, shutting the lights off along the way to set just the right mood, and placed her glasses on the edge of the bureau. Excitement cursed through her as she made her way to the bed and-

Tripped over her suitcase.

Chapter 7

“
But-”

“
No.”

“
But, what if we-”

“
No,” he said firmly, trying not to smile, knowing that it would just set off another glaring fit.

“
You could carry me on your back,” she rushed to explain before he could cut her off. “You wouldn’t even know that I was there!”

Sighing, he gently placed the bag of ice on her ankle and sat down on the bed next to her. “No.”

“
But-”

“
You can’t leave this bed. The doctor told you that you had to stay off that foot for a few days,” he reminded her, wondering how he was going to make this up to her. They had five days left on their honeymoon, three of which Haley was confined to the bed thanks to a twisted ankle.

A tickle of unease crept up his spine as he looked at her swollen ankle as his father’s warning to wait a year before he took Haley on a honeymoon replayed in his head, making him wonder if maybe there was some truth to the curse after all. But, just as quickly he dismissed the notion. She’d taken her glasses off and tripped. That was all. It was something that he’d seen her do countless times and something that she would probably continue doing when they were old and grey.

Perhaps he should look into buying a lock to keep her glasses on her head…

“
Look,” she said, leaning over and grabbed the ice pack off her ankle and tossed it aside so that she could swing her legs over the side of the bed, “my ankle is fine.”

“
You don’t say,” he said dryly as he sat back on the bed and waited.

“
It feels great,” she said with a huge smile, no doubt hoping that it would be enough to convince him that she was more than up for a day at the park.

It wasn’t, but he didn’t say anything. He just sat back and waited for it. With a little triumphant smile, she stood up, took a step, gasped in pain, hopped around a bit as she mumbled, “Ow, ouch, damn it, ouch!” before she finally returned to the bed, calmly sat back, put her foot back on the pillow, placed the ice pack on her ankle, sighed, and asked, “So, do you want to watch a movie?”

Chuckling, he grabbed the remote and handed it over to her.

*-*-*-*

“
Haley?”

“
Hmmm?” she murmured, struggling to keep her eyes open.

“
Are you hungry?” Jason asked as she felt him gently place another ice pack against her throbbing ankle.

“
No,” she mumbled, giving up on opening her eyes and just kept them closed. It was either that or continue sitting there, bored out of her mind.

Today was probably the most boring day that she’d ever spent on a trip and sadly, she was including all the trips that she’d been on with her parents, whose idea of the perfect vacation was polo matches, fashion shows and cosmetic surgery. They’d spent the last five hours sitting in bed, watching really bad television and eating while she struggled against the urge to stare out the window at the bright lights calling her name.

“
Do you want me to run out and see if I can find you a book to read?”

She shook her head as she carefully turned on her side away from him, careful not to dislodge the bag of ice resting against her foot. “I’m fine,” she mumbled, deciding that sleeping through the next few days was probably the only way that she was going to survive this.

“
I’m sorry about this, sweetheart,” Jason said as he shifted on the bed and curled up behind her.

“
It’s not your fault,” she reminded him as she tried to decide between dreaming about that rollercoaster ride that she would damn well be going on just as soon as her ankle was better and all the carnival games that she was going to play…and win.

He sighed heavily as he wrapped his arm around her and carefully pulled her closer. “I’m going to make this up to you,” he promised as he kissed the back of her head.

“
It’s fine,” she said sleepily as she felt herself begin to drift off.

“
This trip doesn’t have to be a total waste,” he said a few seconds later as he kissed her neck.

“
Hmmm?”

“
Well, I was just thinking,” he said, pausing to gently pulled her shirt to the side so that he could kiss the top of her bare shoulder, “that there might be a way to salvage this honeymoon.”

Feeling her lips tug up into a smile, she asked offhandedly, “What did you have in mind?”

He turned his head and kissed her neck. “This and that,” he said absently against her neck as he ran the tips of his fingers down her side.

“
Would this plan of yours involve leaving this bed?” she asked around a groan as he moved his hand over her breast and gave it a gentle squeeze as he pressed that large bulge between his legs against her bottom.

“
That’s the beauty of this plan,” he whispered as he gently ground himself against her. “If we do it right, we won’t have to leave the bed for the next four days.”

*-*-*-*

“
Are you done yet?”

“
No! Just keep your eyes closed,” he said, trying not to panic, but it was a quickly losing battle.

Shit!

“
Is everything okay?”

He glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Haley was still on the bed and completely oblivious to just how badly he’d managed to fuck this up. When he spotted her, lying there still wearing the blindfold he’d made for her and that sexy little number that she’d been wearing last night when he’d found her hopping around the hotel room and cursing her bag, he nearly sighed with relief.

“
Everything’s fine,” he said soothingly as he returned his attention back to the Jacuzzi tub only to release another string of curses when he realized that the bubbles were now pouring over the top of the tub and onto the white marble tile floor below.

Shit
!

Everything was fine. This was not the fucking curse, but just bad luck. They were just having a bit of bad luck that was all,
he silently chanted to himself as he reached over and once again fumbled with the controllers for the jets, but he couldn’t figure out how to shut the damn things off. Not knowing what else to do, he reached over and turned the water off, but that didn’t seem to help.

Shit!

Desperate to fix this before it ruined everything, he reached over the candles he’d placed around the tub and grabbed the stack of folded towels housekeeping had left for them. He tossed them on the floor to soak up the mess, which probably would have helped if he hadn’t knocked several of the candles down in the process.

It probably also wouldn’t have hurt if he’d known that bubbles from the bubble bath solution were flammable under the right circumstances, something he was thinking about four hours later as he stood in the crowded parking lot, staring down at the waterlogged, burnt remains of their suitcases that hotel security had dropped at his feet a few minutes ago along with a polite request that they would perhaps be comfortable staying somewhere else.

“
It was a really sweet gesture,” Haley said as she sat on the hood of his truck, shifting the blanket wrapped around her so that she could push her glasses back up her soot covered nose.

He didn’t say anything, because there really was nothing to say.

He simply continued to stand there, staring down at their ruined bags as he waited for the fire department to search what was left of their hotel room for his car keys so that he could drive Haley home and put an end to their honeymoon from hell.

Chapter 8

“
Oh God, will this nightmare never end?” Jason asked, banging his forehead against the steering wheel as she sat there, chewing on her bottom lip as she tried to figure out exactly where they were.

She reached for her phone only remembering too late that it had been a casualty of the fire. She pushed her glasses back up her nose as she looked around the country road that the detour signs had pointed them towards, idly wondering what the odds of running into Big Foot were. As she glanced over her shoulder into the pitch-black night, she had to admit that they were probably pretty good.

Then again, their chances of running into an ax murderer were probably high as well, she realized as she discretely reached over and locked her door.

“
Can you see if there’s a flashlight in the glove compartment?” he asked, giving her the distraction that she needed.

“
Sure,” she said, pasting a smile on her face that he probably couldn’t see as she opened the glove compartment and felt her way around until she found what felt like a flashlight. “Found it!”

“
Does it work?”