My Wedding Dress Was Still On When His Best Man Kissed Me

The navigation screen recalculated our route every thirty seconds, but the red lines on the map were multiplying.

"Take the airport spur," I said, leaning forward against the dashboard. "If I can get on a flight to Chicago or New York before Damien figures out where I went, I can sort out the rest later."

"We aren't making it to the airport," Adrian said, his gaze flicking between the rearview mirror and the digital traffic feed.

Two miles ahead, the overhead electronic highway sign flashed an amber alert for congested off-ramps. Just past the junction, three media vans were already parked on the shoulder near the airport connector, their roof antennas raised and cameras aimed at incoming traffic.

"They anticipated the terminal," Adrian said, smoothly cutting the wheel to take a sudden, unmarked exit toward a rural access road. "Damien’s PR team knows your habits. If we roll up to departures, you’ll be on three different business livestreams before you can even reach the ticket counter."

The Aston Martin swept onto a two-lane state highway lined with darkening pine trees and shuttered gas stations.

I sank back into the seat, looking down at myself.

For the first time since walking out of that church, the sheer practical reality of what I had done crashed over me. I had no purse. No driver's license. No credit cards. No change of clothes. My personal phone battery sat at twelve percent, and I didn't even have a charging cable.

All I owned in the world was fifty pounds of white silk, a pair of designer satin heels, and the engagement ring still clutched in my right fist.

"I don't have anything," I murmured, the words sounding hollow in the quiet car.

"You have a functioning brain and you're out of that church," Adrian replied without looking over. "Everything else can be bought."

A sudden crack of thunder shook the chassis.

Within seconds, the sky turned the color of bruised slate, and the clouds opened up in a violent, blinding downpour. Sheets of water slammed against the windshield, drowning out the roar of the engine as the wipers fought to clear the glass.

Adrian tried two different highway hotels along the strip, but the sudden storm had backed up traffic for miles, filling every chain motel near the interstate with stranded drivers.

By the time we pulled into the gravel lot of a roadside dive called the Starlight Motor Inn, the neon sign was flickering erratically in the rain. Half the red letters were burnt out, leaving only *STAR... INN* buzzing against the gray gloom.

"Stay here," Adrian said, unbuckling his seatbelt. "I'll see if they have anything."

"I'm coming with you," I said, already grabbing a handful of silk to haul myself out. "I'm not sitting in the dark like a piece of luggage."

We sprinted through the pouring rain, ducking under the rusted aluminum awning of the front office. My dress was instantly soaked around the hem, heavy with road grit and rainwater.

The clerk behind the scratched acrylic partition was an older woman chewing gum, barely glancing up from a muted television until the bell above the door jingled.

When she looked at us, her jaw stopped moving.

I stood there shivering, water dripping from my dark hair onto a soaked couture bridal gown. Beside me, Adrian looked like he had stepped off a runway, broad-shouldered and sharp in his black tuxedo, water droplets glistening on his dark jawline.

"Well," the clerk drawled, taking in my ruined train and Adrian's missing bowtie. "Looks like somebody skipped the reception."

"We need two rooms," Adrian said, pulling a clip of cash from his trouser pocket and placing several hundred-dollar bills flat against the counter.

The woman didn't even touch the money. She tapped a rusted key hanging from a lone hook on the pegboard.

"Storm washed out the bridge on County Line. Every trucker and traveler between here and the state border is parked in my lot," she said, eyeing the cash. "I don't have two rooms. I have one. The Honeymoon Suite in the back corner. The couple who reserved it couldn't make it through the flood."

I opened my mouth to object, but Adrian slid two more bills across the counter.

"We'll take it."

The clerk handed over a heavy brass key attached to a faded plastic diamond. "Room seven. Door sticks, so give it a hard push. Congratulations, by the way."

We hurried down the exterior covered walkway, our shoes sloshing against the wet concrete, until Adrian jammed the key into the lock of room seven. He shoved the swollen wooden door open with his shoulder and stepped aside to let me in.

I walked inside and froze.

The room was a masterclass in cheap romance.

In the center of the worn burgundy carpet sat a queen-sized bed beneath a massive, slightly warped mirror bolted directly to the ceiling. In the far corner, elevated on a faux-marble dais, sat a bright red, heart-shaped jacuzzi tub. On the laminate nightstand, two plastic red champagne flutes rested beside a dusty artificial rose.

I stared at the heart-shaped tub, then up at the mirrored ceiling showing my own disheveled reflection wrapped in yards of muddy white tulle.

Four hours ago, I was supposed to be checking into the presidential suite at the St. Regis.

A laugh bubbled up in my chest.

I tried to swallow it down, but the sheer absurdity of the contrast broke through every remaining ounce of tension. I buried my face in my hands and laughed until my ribs ached, the sound echoing off the cheap wood-paneled walls.

Adrian leaned his back against the closed door, watching me. The sharp, hard lines around his mouth softened just a fraction, an amused spark flickering in his gray eyes.

"Not quite the five-star luxury you planned for your wedding night?" he asked dryly.

"It's hideous," I gasped, wiping a tear of laughter from the corner of my eye. "It is completely, utterly hideous. It’s perfect."

Adrian pulled off his soaked suit jacket and draped it over the back of the single vinyl armchair in the corner. He reached up, undoing the top three buttons of his white dress shirt, exposing the base of his throat.

"Bed's yours," he said, nodding toward the mattress under the mirrored ceiling.

I looked at him, leaning against the dresser. "And you?"

"I've slept in worse places," Adrian replied smoothly, pulling a thin spare blanket from the closet shelf and tossing it onto the armchair. "Take a shower and get out of that wet fabric before you catch pneumonia."

"Gladly," I said.

I gathered the heavy skirt in both arms and retreated into the cramped bathroom, pulling the door shut until the latch clicked. The room smelled of lemon bleach and old plumbing, but the water ran hot when I tested the tap.

I reached behind my back, searching for the pull of the hidden zipper that ran from the base of my spine up to the high lace collar.

My fingertips found the tiny metal tab tucked into the seam. I pulled down.

It moved two inches and stopped dead.

"Come on," I grunted, twisting my torso to get a better angle.

The delicate French lace had folded over the metal teeth, catching the lining in a tight, impenetrable knot. I pulled harder, but the zipper refused to budge up or down. The rigid boning in the corset pressed painfully against my ribs, trapping my arms in an awkward contortion as I yanked at the fabric.

Ten minutes went by.

My fingers were sore, my shoulders burned with exhaustion, and the heavy, damp silk felt like armor suffocating my chest.

I rested my forehead against the cool bathroom mirror, breathing heavily. There was no way around it.

I unlocked the bathroom door and opened it halfway.

Adrian was standing near the front window, his phone in hand as he checked messages in the dim light of the lamp. He looked up the second the hinges creaked.

I stepped into the doorway, keeping my front shielded behind the door frame while turning my back toward the room. I reached up with both hands, sweeping my thick dark hair over my left shoulder to expose the jammed zipper and the bare skin of my upper back.

"I need your hands," I said, my voice quiet in the small space.

Adrian didn't answer immediately.

His eyes locked onto the pale curve of my neck, the silence stretching between us for two heavy seconds.

He set his phone down on the table, pushed away from the wall, and crossed the room toward me.