The Bridesmaid's Checklist: Laura's Wedding (BCL Book 1) (12 page)

S
pa day was a dream. We totally drifted into complete relaxation. When we first arrived, we made some jokes and relieved a few silly moments of Laura’s bachelorette party during our mani-pedis. During the massage, we relaxed so completely that I think most of us fell asleep.

It was exactly what I needed. My brain still worked hard trying to remember what had happened last night with Josh. I remembered some, especially the part when he’d come to my rescue at the bar, drank shots, and danced with me. After that, I couldn’t remember anything. The next thing I knew, I’d woken up next to him in his room, naked.

The girls didn’t pry much. Natalie kept giving me knowing glances that only made me more upset about not remembering my night, although she was probably the one enjoying her massage the most. Anyone could see the goofy smile on her face. I had to remember that she needed pampering the most, as she’d just entered the last trimester of her pregnancy. I also had to throw her a baby shower. She really deserved it, and now that she’d been helping me out so much with Laura’s wedding preparations, I could pull it all together.

Marisol and Denise seemed uninterested in anything other than their own relaxation. We all deserved the masseuses’ kind ministrations. Laura talked the most, first about the highlights of her bachelorette party and then about the bachelor party we were to attend tonight. I wasn’t at all interested in Edward’s bachelor party, but I had to admit that I was excited about my date with Josh.

After finishing our Spa Day, we accompanied the girls for a light lunch. As soon as we finished, Josh brought down their suitcases and we saw them depart for L.A.. In a sense, it was a shame they weren’t staying. We needed more weekends like this one. Granted, I didn’t remember much of last night’s events, but I’d immensely enjoyed our morning together. We could make a spa date once a month—girls only.

It was early afternoon by the time Laura, Josh, and I went back to the suite. Edward was having a drink at the bar when he welcomed us back. Laura gave him a quick summary of our Spa adventure as Josh prepared us some cocktails and tuned the villa’s sound system for some background music. I didn’t stay long. It had been nice to have time for a small conversation in the beautiful room provided for us, even if Eddie was there too. It was the first time I’d had some sort of relaxing conversation over drinks with Laura and him, and it felt as if we were a couple of friends getting together for a double-date. I’d had double dates before, but the surprising part was how easy it felt—how comfortable I was with the idea that Laura and Edward were a couple and that Josh and I could potentially be one. I wasn’t about to dwell on it too much, but it felt harmonious.

Then it came time for us to get ready for the rest of the night. Laura excused herself soon after I did for the same reason.

Josh followed me to the room we apparently shared now. I hadn’t given much thought to the fact that we’d once again be in the same room and bed. It was fine; after all, nothing that I didn’t want to happen would happen, even if I was extremely curious about what went down between us the night before and the possibilities today offered. He followed to inform me where he had placed my toiletries and carry-on and to tell me that he’d be in the main room watching sports until I was ready. To be completely honest, I hadn’t foreseen sharing the same space with him as we got ready for the night. It was an intimate act that I hadn’t shared with anyone in a long time, and I honestly didn’t know how to handle it at the moment.

Unexpectedly, it was extremely comfortable and simple. It felt as if we had done it before. I had time to take a shower and get dressed before he stepped back in. While I finished getting ready, he took a quick shower, and by the time he came back out, my hair was done and only my makeup was missing. We were coordinated, as if we’d done this a million times before. It felt good, especially since he just flirted with me almost the whole time. Josh wasn’t a shy guy; he was very much comfortable in his own skin and got dressed before me without an inch of diffidence. I certainly enjoyed the show. I’d seen him nude that morning, watched him get ready for the party in the evening, and I couldn’t wait to see him naked and on top of me later that night. This time, I wouldn’t forget what happened under the sheets.

I was just about to finish getting ready, putting on my hoop earrings and looking at the final outcome in the mirror. For a last-minute ensemble, I looked pretty good. My grandma always said we should pack an extra outfit whenever we traveled, that we never knew what could happen, so I’d picked up the habit of over-packing. Since we were in Vegas, I chose a black little dress. It was a sheath, off-the-shoulder mini-dress that did wonders for my curves. I complimented it with my anklet-boots, since it was the only pair of shoes I’d packed, having in mind to wear them with jeans on the trip back home. They matched really well. I didn’t have much in the accessory department, since it was an unplanned event, so my only pieces of jewelry were my silver hoops. Instead, I got a little creative with my makeup and enhanced my light blue eyes, letting my hair down, loose and wild. I liked the way I looked. I felt comfortable
and
sexy.

Josh stood behind me in the mirror, looking like a dream himself. He kept his image very simple with a tight, gray t-shirt, dark blue designer jeans, and black boots. The guy didn’t need much to look absolutely amazing. His reflection smiled at me, his steel gray eyes looking directly into mine. Without looking away, he rearranged my hair to lay over one shoulder, then ran his thumb from my ear to my shoulder. Kissing me behind my exposed ear, he whispered, “You look beautiful.”

I didn’t need much more encouragement than that.

He then turned me around, kissed me sweetly, and offered his hand, saying, “Let’s go.”

~*~

It wasn’t my first time at a strip club, so that didn’t surprise me. It was probably the nicest, or maybe classiest, strip club that I’d visited (and L.A. had some good ones), but that also wasn’t that surprising. The thing that really blew me away was the fact that I was going on a date in a strip club. My first date, nonetheless, with Josh. The first man that I’d been truly attracted to in a very long time.

I guess that my desperation to go out with him was getting the best of me. Or probably the fact that I had sex with him the night before and couldn’t remember a single little bit of it got the best of me and pushed me to accept his invitation to my ex’s bachelor’s party. The ex-boyfriend who had hurt me so deeply and who was soon marrying my best friend.

For whatever reason, I was there, at Edward’s bachelor party, on my first real date with Josh.

He was so sweet to me. Even if the party occupied most of the main stage where some of the most beautiful girls I’d ever seen danced and removed their clothes for every observer’s enjoyment, Josh ushered me to the bar counter at the end of the club, talked to me, and ignored most of the girls pacing naked around us.

It was a weird setting for a first date, to be honest. Josh made a huge effort to make me forget about everything around and concentrate on us and our time together.

“Do you want something else to drink?” he asked me after I finish the first cocktail of the night.

“I’m fine, thanks,” was my only reply besides a sweet smile.

“I’m betting you don’t want to drink as much as you did yesterday,” he said with a sexy grin, then added, “You were fun yesterday, babe. All those shots. Tequila, no less. And the dancing, of course. You’re a criminal dancer, Kass.”

His statements made me smile a bit. “If dancing is what you want, I’m sure I can manage.”

“Oh, you sure can. Problem is, I don’t think you’ll want to dance like we did yesterday in this scene.” He put a hand to my waist, bending down a little to whisper, “And as much as I would like to dance with you like that again, I really don’t want to get into a fight when someone asks to be next on your list of lap-dances.”

Josh laughed as he made this last analysis. I had to laugh with him. Every day, I got to know him a little better, and definitely understood now that he didn’t say that to ridicule me; in his twisted, dark sense of humor, Josh meant it as a compliment.

“Then I’ll refrain from dancing. Don’t want to place you in that position,” I said, definitely amused. The idea of someone asking for a lap dance was hilarious to me; dancing with Josh, on the other hand, was a completely different matter. Then again, if I really wanted to remember tonight’s events, drinking was not on my list of activities. “So, no drinking tonight.”

“Too bad, babe. Drunk Kass was really fun,” he said as he held my hand and placed a kiss on my cheek. “The lap dance was fun, too. The highlight of my night, I must say. Yet another reason to beat down anyone who wanted to get one from you.”

Lap dance? I gave him a lap dance? How did that happen?

The uncertainty was probably all over my face since Josh promptly said, “Your face is priceless, Kass. You don’t remember the lap dance you gave me last night, either?” My shy smile must have been answer enough. “Exactly how much do you remember?”

The million-dollar question with a fifty-cent answer—not much.

Some sort of commotion broke out in the center of the stage, hooting and hollering all over the place. I automatically turned to the source of agitation and saw that Edward was being dragged by a stripper to the center of the stage.

Josh pressed for my answer, plastering his body to mine in a gesture to demand my attention. “Kass?” he asked again.

“Not much,” I voiced.

“How much?”

“Shots at the bar.”

“And?” he pressed.

I was really embarrassed by my answer. I didn’t want him to get upset with me because I didn’t remember our only night together. “I’m sorry, Josh. That’s the answer. Not much. I definitely remember getting here and heading to the bachelorette party. We were drinking a lot—at least, I was. I was drinking non-stop since the party began. I can’t even remember what I fought about with Laura. I do remember leaving the party upset and Natalie trying to convince me to go back in.” I also remember asking her not to follow me around and to mind her own business. I apologized to her this morning as soon as I remembered.

“From there my memories are…just a little fuzzy,” I said, giving a sheepish smile and shaking my head. “I remember getting to the other bar on my own. Flirting some. And then you.” Unfortunately, I didn’t remember much of what I did with him. “I remember doing shots with you, and some dancing. I honestly don’t know how I got back to the hotel room with you, much less what we did afterwards.”

“So you don’t remember the lap dance?” he asked again.

“No, I don’t.”

“It was a good dance,” he stated with a nod.

I gave him a lopsided smile and shrugged a little.

Averting my eyes from his, I turned to the main stage, where Edward received a hell of a lap dance. By two girls. There was a very naked woman behind him, rubbing her tits on the side of his face, and there was another girl, wearing a red dress, between his legs. I remembered that dress—it was Laura’s red dress. And Laura’s hair flipping all over Eddie’s lap.

Oh my God! Laura and a stripper were giving Edward the time of his life, probably fulfilling a lifetime of fantasies.

Josh burst out laughing, attracting my attention, and a few others looked our way, too. Thankfully, he wasn’t angry by the fact that I didn’t remember the night before. I doubt he even noticed what was going on onstage with his best friend.

I loved his attitude about the situation. The way he reacted was a breath of fresh air. Some other guy would get angry that I’d been so wasted I didn’t remember anything, or even offended because I didn’t remember sleeping with him. But not Josh. He just laughed.

“Sorry, Kass, I’m not laughing at you. I just find the whole thing so amusing,” he said. “I knew you were really drunk, but I thought you got hammered with
me
at the bar. Now, I know you were already smashed by the time I’d met up with you. No wonder.”

“No wonder what?”

“Well… Let me tell you my side of the story,” he said as he turned to the bartender and asked for more drinks. “Natalie sent me a text, right? To help her out with you since you were being unreasonable. I caught up with you at the hotel’s bar and you were really happy to see me. I knew you were tipsy, but now I have a clearer picture of it.” The barman gave us our drinks, and Josh stopped to thank him. “Apparently, you remember some of that part. We had shots and danced. You were driving me mental with the stupid dick-shaped shot glass you kept using, and you kept finding it hilarious.” He shook his head and continued. “All that dancing. You drove me wild with the dancing. Me and every other guy who saw the way you moved.” He smiled and combed back his dirty-blond hair, his grey eyes fixated on mine. “I had to drag you to a dark corner so I could take our make-out session somewhere more private.”

I wasn’t finding any of that surprising. Once before, we’d ended up hiding from the world during compromising situations. What I didn’t know yet was how we’d ended up in his room.

Josh looked intensely at me, his gaze hot and bothered. “Thank God you suggested we take our asses somewhere else, because I was dry-humping you like a dog. I certainly found your suggestion the brightest idea in the universe. Honestly, I was beginning to think there really was no future for us.”