at Noelle, intrigued that Katherine had talked to her and that she had chosen that as her story.
“I already knew you were a good man,” she said with a smile, “but it was nice to have it confirmed by an outside source.”
Everyone laughed.
The next person spoke, but Dev kept his attention on Noelle. There were depths to her he hadn’t expected. So far all the discoveries were positive. If they’d met under different circumstances…but they hadn’t. Besides, Noelle was the type to believe in happily-ever-after and he thought romantic love was a crock. He’d seen what “love” had done to his mother.
It had killed her.
“Your turn,” Bob said a few minutes later.
Dev stood. “Noelle has talked about her family in glowing terms,” he said. “Mostly I thought it was just that—talk. But now that I’ve met you, I see she was modest in her praise. You are a true family and spending the day with you has given me an idea of what I want for my own family someday.”
He hadn’t planned what he was going to say and it revealed more than he would have liked. Still, it was true. He might not have a lot of faith in the love between a man and a woman but he believed in family. Maybe because his had never been what he wanted.
He saw Bob and Jane exchange a pleased glance, then look at Noelle. Obviously they approved of him for their daughter.
His gut tightened. Until that moment he hadn’t considered that doing the right thing meant deceiving two very decent people. What consequences would Noelle have to face later?
Still, there was no going back. Not with Jimmy’s child on the line.
The following weekend Noelle managed to ignore the reason for the plane trip right up until they stepped off the escalator in the massive baggage claim area and she saw a man in a suit holding a sign that said “Hunter.”
Then reality crashed in and she realized that she was hours away from being Mrs. Hunter.
Married. Was it possible? The need to scream built up inside of her, but before she could decide if she would give in or not, Dev walked over to the man.
“That’s us,” he said, motioning to the sign.
“Mr. Hunter,” the man said with a smile. “I’m Johnson. Do you have any luggage.”
Dev indicated the small wheeled bags they’d carried onto the plane. “This is it.”
“Very good, sir.”
Johnson took her bag and led the way to a large white limo. While the luggage was stowed, Dev opened the rear door and motioned for Noelle to climb in first.
She’d only been in one other limo. That had been a little over a year ago for her senior prom. She’d squeezed in with four other couples and had laughed the entire way to the hotel where the dance had been held. However she didn’t think that was something she should share with Dev.
Instead she sat on the pale leather seat and did her best to keep from passing out.
He glanced at her, then reached for her hand. “Breathe.”
“You tell me that a lot,” she murmured, once again aware of the warmth of his fingers against hers and how being close to him made her feel safe.
“You’ve been panicked a lot lately. We’re fine. We’ll get through this and then the worst will be over.”
She wasn’t sure about that. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
He grinned. “Run off and get married? It’s a first for me, too.”
She smiled back at him. “It’s not just the running off. It’s everything else.”
“Piece of cake,” he told her. “Pretend it’s just a regular weekend. We’re here to have fun.”
“Regular weekend?” she asked with squeak. “We barely know each other and we’re getting married because I’m pregnant with your late brother’s child. I don’t know what you do for fun, but I tend to avoid situations like this.”
He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You’ll be fine.”
She wanted to believe him, but wasn’t sure she could. She kept a hold of his hand and studied the sights as they drove from the airport to the Vegas Strip.
Traffic was slow and it took a long time to get down to the Bellagio. Noelle recognized the beautiful lake in front of the massive hotel from scenes in television and the movies.
“I’ve never been here,” she murmured.
“At the Bellagio or in Las Vegas?”
“Both.”
“I think you’ll like it.”
The limo pulled around to the main entrance. A uniformed man opened the rear door and Dev stepped out. He waited for her to join him, gave his name to the bellman, tipped the driver, then led her inside.
The first thing she noticed was a beautiful art glass ceiling. Everywhere she looked she saw glass flowers in a rainbow of colors. The detail was incredible, as was the sheer mass of flowers. From there Dev led her to a conservatory decorated in celebration of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.
Paths crisscrossed between gardens and clever displays of flowers and patriotic arrangements.
“I love it!” she said with a grin. “This is amazing.”
“They know how to impress,” he said. “Come on.”
He led her through part of the casino. Gaming tables stretched out for what looked like miles. There were tons of slot machines and a level of noise that surprised her.
“So many people are gambling,” she said. “Where do they get the money?”
“It’s entertainment. Plus, everyone is hoping to get lucky and hit the big one.”
She’d brought ten dollars to gamble with. Somehow that didn’t seem enough to hit the big one.
They made their way to the VIP check-in. Dev offered a credit card and signed a form. While the uniformed man was processing their keys, Dev turned to her.
“I meant to give this to you before we left,” he said.
He handed her a credit card. She glanced down and saw it was in her name.
“Unless you buy an expensive car,” he said, “You can’t reach the spending limit. Use it however you want.”
The clerk handed over a small folder containing their room keys and gave instructions to the elevator.
“I don’t need this,” she whispered as they walked away from registration.
“Yes, you do,” he told her. “How are you going to buy groceries or get gas or pick up things
