Chapter 12 

The next morning I woke to the sound of my mobile ringing.  I reached out sleepily and hit the answer button. 

“Hello” I answered groggily, rubbing my eyes 

“Steph?” AJ asked uncertainly 

“Yeah, it’s me” I replied and looked at the time, it was 10.34am.  I wondered what he wanted, or whether he had any good news… like he’d spoke to his lawyer and this little fuck up was history. 

“Just calling to let you know I tried my lawyer again, but he’s out of the office until tomorrow” AJ explained “but don’t worry, we will get this sorted” 

“I’m going home tomorrow” I said and wondered what that would mean with regards to this annulment.  Would we be able to do it if I was back home in England?  Would I have to come back here? 

“I know, and I’m going home today” he said “but believe me, I’ll be straight onto my lawyer first thing in the morning” 

“Thanks” I said “and please let me know my share of whatever this will cost” 

“Will do” he replied 

There was an awkward silence for a few moments and then we said goodbye.  What else could we say?  It’s not like we meant anything to each other.  We were just a couple of people who made a big mistake after too much to drink.  We weren’t the first and I’m sure we wouldn’t be the last to get married in Vegas on the spur of the moment. 

I was wide awake then, so I got out of bed and wandered into the lounge area to see if anyone else was up.  They all were. 

“I was beginning to wonder when you were going to surface” teased Izzy 

“We have shopping to do remember?” said Chloe, looking at her watch 

“Give me twenty minutes max, and then we’ll hit the shops, OK” I said and ran back into my room and quickly stripped off and jumped into the shower. 

It was when I stumbled against the cold tiles in the shower cubicle in my haste that another flashback hit me…

 ~*~ 

The tiles were as cold as ice against my back but I didn’t care as I wrapped my legs around him and kissed him hungrily. 

“Fuck…I need you right now…so hot” he said and I felt the tip of him pressed against my core. 

“But what about…” I started saying, but he must’ve known exactly what I was talking about.  He carefully put me down, stepped out of the shower and grabbed one of the condoms from the bed. 

“Now, where were we?” he asked and trailed his hot lips along my shoulder, up my neck and then along my jaw. 

“Hmm, right about here” I answered and pulled him closer to me so that I was sandwiched between him and the cold marble of the tiles. 

He placed his hands under by ass and lifted me up, forcing me to wrap my legs around his torso, then with one swift movement we were joined in the most intimate way.  It was ecstasy.

 ~*~ 

“Oh god, will these stupid flashbacks ever stop?” I muttered to myself as I hurried to shower. 

I quickly dried and dressed, leaving my hair to dry naturally.  I added a little make-up and we were ready to go. 

“Come on then girls, the shops are waiting!” I said when I emerged from my bedroom. 

“Woohoo!!” came three excited replies. 

A little while later and we were in the hire car and heading for the mall.  There were a few malls to choose from, but we decided to go for the biggest, Boulevard Mall – more shops!! 

“Wow, this will keep us busy for a while” I said after parking up and getting out of the car. 

“Wonder what shops they have here?” Jess mused 

“Oh, I imagine they have everything we could want” Izzy said and we set off in the direction of the main entrance. 

“Shall we go to Dillard’s first?” asked Chloe and we headed in that direction. 

We walked in and were immediately drawn to the cosmetics and perfume section and began trying various fragrances on. 

“Mmm, I really like this one” I said, waving my wrist under my nose and inhaling Dior’s J’adore. 

“Yeah, I like that one too.  What do you think of this one?” asked Chloe, waving a sample card with Eternity Moments on it. 

“Oh, I do like that one” I said 

“Look over here” said Jess “if you spend over $55 on Estee Lauder, you get this amazing free gift” 

“That is nice” I said as I admired the freebie.  You got a make-up bag, a lipstick, miniature mascara, a blusher, perfume sample and some moisturizing cream. 

“Yeah, and I really do like Beautiful, so I think I’ll get it along with an eye liner to make it over the $55” she said with a smile. 

We made our purchases in that section of the shop and then moved on.  God knows how long we spent in that shop, but it was a long time.   

“Oh my god Steph, listen to what’s playing!” Izzy said and grinned at me as we were walking towards the exit.

I did notice that there was background music playing, but I’d not really paid any attention to it until that point in time.  Now I couldn’t help but notice what, or rather who was playing – it was More Than That by Backstreet Boys.  Great! 

“You’ve gotta admit it Steph, your hubby sure does have a sexy as hell voice” Chloe giggled. 

“He is not my hubby!” I said and blushed bright red, hoping no one else shopping could hear us. 

“Erm hello!  The wedding certificate says otherwise Steph” Izzy laughed 

“Come on, you know it was just a drunken mistake, it’ll soon be over and done with” I said and hoped they’d drop the subject. 

“That’s what you say now” Jess winked at me “but I agree about the voice, although Brian’s is better in my opinion” 

“OK, I give in…he does have a nice voice, happy now?” I relented.  If I was being honest, I’d have said that his voice, amongst other things, was incredible, but I didn’t feel like being 100% honest. 

“Come on, let’s go and eat” Chloe said and I was glad of the distraction.