Married by Monday (Weekday Brides) (3 page)

Carter eyed Neil and shrugged.

“
Thank you again for your time, Mrs. Hawthorn. We’ll see you in a few days.”

Mrs. Hawthorn allowed Gwen to kiss both her cheeks and waved as the two other women climbed into the car. “Have fun, girls.”

Carter stood beside Neil and Mrs. Hawthorn while Eliza and Gwen drove away.

Eliza didn’t even glance in her rearview mirror as she drove away.

“
They were in a hurry to leave,” Neil announced.

“
I noticed that, too.”

Mrs. Hawthorn placed a hand on one hip. “Wedding planning isn’t easy. They’ve been working hard. It’s a good thing they can get away for a night of fun before the festivities.”

“
Night of fun?” Neil asked.

Carter followed the dust down the road.

“
According to Billy, Eliza asked about a local watering hole where the two of them could kick back and relax for a few hours. Dance a little and blow off some steam.”

Carter rolled his eyes. “Watering hole?”

“
I can’t see Miss Gwen in a Texas bar,” Neil exclaimed.

Eliza maybe, but Gwen?
“Looks like you’re not flying home tonight,” Carter told Neil. Passing up the opportunity of spying on Eliza and Gwen was out of the question.

Chapter Two

The hotel gift shop provided the perfect pair of skin-tight jeans, cowboy boots, and cowgirl hats. Gwen wasn’t about to go into a Texas bar dressed as the daughter of a duke. Unlike shopping for the yellow bridesmaid dresses, Eliza actually enjoyed their brief walk on the country side of the store.

Loud music with just the right amount of twang, and lyrics about lost love filled the bar. Several couples crowded the dance floor. Their bodies were glued together and moved as if they were one unit.

Eliza took the lead and walked through the crowd to a couple of empty seats at the bar. The two of them turned a few heads and received a couple of smiles before they sat down.

“
I can’t believe how crowded it is,” Gwen said over the noise.

“
Makes it more interesting,” Eliza told her.

The bartender placed a couple of napkins in front of them. “Ladies,” he said, tipping his hat.

She lifted up two fingers. “Two beers.”

Gwen scoffed. “But—”

“
You can’t drink wine in a beer bar, Gwen.” Eliza knew where her friend was going with her haughty
but
. Surprisingly Gwen didn’t argue.

Gwen folded her hands in her lap on top of her purse. She sat rod straight with her big doe eyes wide open. Her fingers tapped to the music and a smile played on her lips. What did Gwen see? For her, this night was about adventure and overcoming some of her social fears. Sure, there were people dancing and having a good time. From the looks of the crowd, there wasn’t anyone completely wasted, yet. Beer drinkers tended to get rowdy later in the evening.

“
Here ya are, ma’am.” The bartender sat the bottles down. Eliza reached into her purse to pay. “Already taken care of,” he said nodding to the end of the bar. There sat two single men with button up western shirts and Stetsons. Eliza made eye contact with the one sitting closest to her. His dark hair and finely manicured mustache outlined a ruggedly attractive face. She lifted her bottle with a tiny nod.

“
Did they buy the drinks?” Gwen asked.

“
Seems so.”

“
Should we go over and thank them?”

Eliza turned away from the men and brought the bottle to her lips. After a sip she said, “No need. They’ll be here in less than five minutes.”

Gwen held her bottle and smiled over the bar to the cowboys. “How do you know that?”

“
Because you’re still staring at them which they’ll take as an invitation.”

Gwen dropped her glance to the floor and swiveled in her seat.

“
My God, you really don’t get out much.”

Gwen’s cheeks turned red. “I’m pathetic.”

“
You’ve been sheltered. Not completely your fault.”

Gwen sipped her beer. To her credit, she didn’t frown at the taste. “Sheltered and pathetic.”

Just how innocent are you?
“Please tell me you’ve had boyfriends.”

Gwen’s jaw dropped. “I’ve had lovers. I’m not a virgin if that’s what you’re implying.”

“
Why that’s a mighty fine piece of information, darlin’. I could swear you’re as innocent as a new born calf.”

Eliza and Gwen both shot their eyes to the rugged cowboy who had made it to their side in less than two minutes.

Gwen’s cheeks grew instantly red, and her eyes opened wide.

“
Thanks for the drinks,” Eliza said, trying to remove the attention from Gwen’s outburst.

“
My name is Rick. This here is Jimmy.” Jimmy was an inch or so shorter than Rick and a good twenty pounds thinner. Both were easy on the eyes.

“
Eliza,” she said, “And my non-virginal friend Gwen.”

Gwen elbowed her in the side and Eliza laughed.

Rick and Jimmy were kind enough not to keep the joke going. “Mind if we join you?”

Eliza nodded to the empty seat on her right. Rick sat and Jimmy said, “I’ll keep an eye out for an open table.”

Gwen moved a little closer to Eliza when Jimmy stepped closer to her. This was going to get awkward in a heartbeat. “Why don’t I hold this,” Eliza reached for Gwen’s beer, removed it from her fingers. “And you two dance.”

Gwen leaned over and tried to whisper. “I don’t even know him.”

Eliza smiled and nudged her out of her chair. “Go. We’re here to have fun.”

Jimmy was already reaching for Gwen’s elbow.

“
But I don’t know how to dance like that.”

Jimmy helped her to her feet. “Where are you from?”

“
Outside of London.” Gwen sat her purse on the barstool.

Jimmy winked. “Well, English, I learned the two-step when I was five. I’m sure I can show you.”

“
You sure?”

“
C’mon.”

Eliza followed Gwen as she stepped on the dance floor. She stiffened when Jimmy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to his frame. After only a couple of missteps, Jimmy successfully had Gwen swinging to the music in what appeared to be complicated dance moves.

“
Do you always watch your friend so closely?” Rick asked.

“
It’s in the handbook of girls. We go to the bathroom in pairs, tuck each other’s tags in, and we watch out for each other.”

“
She doesn’t seem to be watching you.”

Eliza let her gaze drift to the cowboy on her right and smiled. “She’s just trying to keep from breaking your friend’s feet. Hard to do that and watch me at the same time.” Rick was cute. His accent adding to his smooth demeanor, but he wasn’t doing a thing for her libido. Chemistry was a bitch that way. On the outside, two people might seem to be right for one another, but on the inside, they simply didn’t fit. Or they exploded much like her and Carter.

Rick must not have felt the same. He settled into his chair and kept the conversation going.

****

Carter elbowed Neil into the back of the bar far away from Eliza and Gwen and did his level best to slip into the shadows.

From the look of Gwen’s faltering steps, the women had been in the bar for at least an hour, maybe two. Gwen’s hair was falling out of place and on occasion her voice rose above the others. She’d danced with at least three different men in the short span of time he and Neil had been there. If it was any consolation, Eliza dumped some of Gwen’s drinks into forgotten glasses on the table.

Neil’s white knuckles clutched the beer in his hands as he watched Gwen spin around the dance floor. “She’s drunk,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

“
I’d say you’re right.” Carter took a pull on his beer, eyes glancing over to Eliza. She was talking with two men sitting at her table where she’d spent most the night. One of them stood and offered her his hand. She hesitated, but then stood and let him lead her to the dance floor.

Her tight little ass wiggled in step with the music as if she were born to country western dancing. Her partner kept his hands on her hip for about thirty seconds, and then they started to slip.

It’s hard to hold the glass when my fingers want to crush it.
Another couple blocked Carter’s view. He shifted in his seat but still couldn’t find Eliza in the crowd. When he caught up with her, she’d called the dance short and was sitting at her table again, this time talking with another guy. When cow-dick number two reached over to touch Eliza’s shoulder, Carter couldn’t take any more. “You watch Gwen.”

“
Don’t worry, I am,” Neil said.

The music shifted into something slower by the time he reached Eliza’s table. Not too gently, he removed cow-dick’s fingers from Eliza’s back and grasped her elbow.

Her shocked expression met his and the cowboy took to his feet. “Can I help you?”

A tattoo of a cross sat on the man’s hand who was making time with Eliza. It was almost unnoticeable, but Carter knew its meaning. “You owe me a dance,” Carter told her while ignoring the man

Maybe she was too shocked to deny him, but she stumbled to her feet and let him pull her in his arms. Her heat socked him in the gut as his body grazed hers.

“
What the hell are you doing here?”

Carter darted a glare at the men watching them from across the room. “Saving a woman from a bunch of yahoos planning on a night of fun.”

He spun her around, she spun him back and glanced at the men. “They’re harmless.”

“
Really?”

“
They only look rowdy.”

“
So they’ve been buying you ladies drinks all night to test your limit for nothing?”

She stepped on his foot. He quickly recovered and kept them dancing. “How long have you been here…watching?”

Oh boy, he shoved his foot in far this time. “Long enough.”

“
How long, Carter?”

“
Neil was worried about Gwen.” Thinking of his best friend’s sister, he lifted his gaze around the room to try to find her. He caught a glimpse of her blonde hair and petite frame as someone led her out the door. “Oh, damn.”

Carter abruptly ended the dance and tugged Eliza alongside him.

Neil was already ahead of him.

The crush of sweaty bodies made it hard to cut across the bar. Carter knew at least one of the men at Eliza’s table followed.

“
What are we doing?”

“
C’mon,” he told her. They finally reached the front door and emptied onto the parking lot just in time to see Neil grab the guy Gwen had been dancing with. Neil pinned him to the hood of a truck and pulled his fist back.

“
Stop!” Gwen shrieked

Neil hesitated, but only for a second before his fist flew.

The man across the hood of the truck was no match for Neil. The bodyguard let loose two blows and pulled back. “The
lady
said no.”

“
Where the hell did you come from?” one of the men from the bar yelled as he shoved his way into the mix.

More people poured out from the bar to watch the drama. Carter was sure at least one cell phone zeroed in on him. A bar fight in a parking lot in Texas was probably not the best way to get votes.

“
It’s all over, buddy. The big guy here is just protecting an innocent woman,” Carter said trying is best to defuse the situation.

“
She looked willing to me,” the guy yelled before the stranger’s fist flew and connected with Carter’s face.

He spun around and came up low, tackling his attacker around his waist and shoving him onto the nearest car.

Everything exploded around him. Carter took another blow to his torso before he returned punch for punch. Adrenaline ran through his veins like fire, fueling his swings. Muscle memory took action and within twenty seconds, Carter had the man pinned to the car alongside his buddy. “No, always means no!”

The man under him stopped struggling. Men from the bar broke through the crowd like linebackers at the fifty-yard line.

“
Dammit, Jimmy, what are you two doing?” someone called.

Carter pushed away from the man he’d fought and stepped out of swing range. He stared at his enemy, waiting for him to flinch.

He didn’t.”

“
Neil,” Carter yelled. “Why don’t you take Lady Gwen back to her rooms? I’ll ride with Eliza.”

Eliza patted Gwen on the back. “I’ll see you back at the hotel.”

When Carter focused on Eliza, she had her arm looped through Gwen’s, both of them stared at the crowed with unease.

Gwen nodded.

He motioned for Eliza to move to her car.

“
My purse is in the bar,” she told him.

Neil escorted both women away from the drunken men, and Carter went inside after her purse.

He picked up Gwen’s designer bag and then Eliza’s. Yet when his hand landed on Eliza’s bag her felt something hauntingly familiar inside. Unable to stop himself, he opened the purse and found exactly what he thought he’d see.