“No,” Zoe and Rachel said in unison.
“Stay here,” Zoe said.
“Bring her back,” Olivia said. “It’s Saturday night. It’s her bachelorette party. We’re supposed to have dinner. And then right after dinner, we’re supposed to have fun.”
“And clearly not a minute sooner,” Rachel said under her breath, but Olivia heard her loud and clear.
“That wasn’t very nice,” she said.
Rachel shrugged. “Look, Olivia, I know you mean well, but why did you do that?”
“What?”
“Your down-with-marriage campaign was harsh. Even you have to admit it wasn’t your best moment.”
She covered her eyes with both palms. “I know. I already said I’m sorry. These Fuzzy Handcuffs are stronger than I realized. I think I’m a little drunk.”
“Ya think?”
As if right on cue, Mike delivered another round of five Fuzzy Handcuffs.
“Who ordered these?” Olivia asked.
“I thought you wanted another round when you signaled me a few minutes ago.”
“No, I need water.”
“Oh, sorry,” he said. “Well, these are on the house. I’ll bring you some water.”
Rachel stood.
“Where are you going?” Olivia asked.
“I’m going to go check on Sophie and Zoe.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, stay here and drink some water.”
“Will you please bring them back so we can go to dinner? I think we’re all hungry. That’s probably why the drinks hit us so hard.”
Rachel sighed. “I’ll try. I’ll text you and let you know what Sophie is up for. Okay?”
As her sister walked away, Olivia sat down on the love seat. She’d already said too much tonight. The best thing she could do was give her sisters some space.
Fifteen minutes later, Rachel texted:
Sophie’s asleep. Zoe is on the phone with Joaquin and frankly, I’m exhausted. I think it would be best if we call it a night and start fresh with the brunch tomorrow morning.
I’m sorry I ruined the night. I feel so bad.
Not your fault. I think the reality of the wedding is finally hitting Sophie. She’ll be fine tomorrow.
Olivia wasn’t mad; she was frustrated. This wasn’t the way tonight was supposed to turn out—her sister in tears and the evening going up in flames.
Okay, maybe she was a little bit irritated. Why had they pushed her? Why had she been so weak as to give in? Sophie’d get over it. They’d be fine, but she needed to stay away until they all cooled off.
Olivia texted her again:
I’ll be up after I get something to eat. Want me to bring you something?
Thanks, but no. I’m going to talk to Matteo and then I’ll call it a night. Are you okay? Do you just want to come up to the suite and order room service?
It dawned on Olivia that her married sisters missed their husbands. Melancholy pushed at Olivia’s heart. As she looked up from her phone, thinking about how to answer, she caught Alejandro Mendoza looking at her. This time she didn’t look away.
She had plenty of drinks in front of her and a reservation for dinner for four that was about to become dinner for two. Olivia texted: I’m fine.
And she was about to get a whole lot better.
* * *
Alejandro couldn’t hear what the Fortune Robinson sisters were talking about on the other side of the bar, but one minute they’d been toasting, raising their Fuzzy Handcuffs high, and the next it looked like they were arguing.
He shouldn’t have been watching them. They were out for a girls’ night, which appeared innocent enough, but what man in his right mind could’ve kept his eyes off such a collection of beauties? They were like magnets. He couldn’t help but steal glances their way. His brothers were lucky men. Sophie would soon be married. What about Olivia? No doubt he’d meet the fortunate dude who’d claimed her heart at the wedding.
They’d seemed oblivious to him even as one by one they’d gotten up and left the party. First, Sophie left looking upset, followed by Zoe looking concerned. And finally Rachel, looking like a mother hen.
Olivia was the only one who remained. She’d been sitting alone for a solid five minutes staring at the tray of drinks the bartender had delivered shortly before the mass exodus. Maybe her sisters were coming back? Maybe she could use some company until they did. Alejandro stood, slid his phone into his shirt pocket and went over to Olivia.
“Is the party over already?” he asked.
She blinked up at him as if he’d startled her out of deep thought—or deep, stubborn brooding, based on her irritated expression. That full bottom lip of hers stuck out a little more than he remembered from when he saw her at his brothers’ weddings.
As she gazed up at him, she pulled it between her teeth for a pensive moment before she spoke.
“May I ask you a question, Alejandro?” She slurred her words ever so slightly.
“Sure.”
“Do you believe in love?”
“Is that a trick question?” He laughed and cocked his right brow in a way that always seemed to get him out of tight spots and trick questions like this one.
Answering questions about love qualified as a very tight spot, because the last thing he wanted to do right now was get into a debate about affairs of the heart with a woman who’d had too many Fuzzy Handcuffs. In his experience, drunk women pondering love were usually vulnerable women, especially when their sisters were all married or in the process of getting hitched.
“No, it’s not a trick question,” Olivia said. “In fact, it’s a fairly straightforward yes-or-no query. You either believe in love or you don’t. So what’s it going to be, Alejandro? Yes or no?”
Wow. Olivia Fortune Robinson was a force. An intense force. And he could see that she wasn’t going to let him off the hook without a satisfactory answer. The problem was, he didn’t want to talk about love.
He’d been a believer once—but that was a long time ago. Another lifetime ago, when things were a lot simpler. So simple, in fact, that he’d never had to ponder love’s existence. He’d just had to feel; he’d simply had to be.
He hadn’t thought about love for a very long time. It had been even longer since he’d felt any emotion even remotely resembling it. In fact, these days he didn’t feel anything. But he definitely didn’t want to conjure ghosts from the past, because they haunted him randomly even without an invitation.
“You’re not going to answer me, are you?” Olivia said.
He smiled to lighten the mood. “That’s some heavy pondering for such a festive occasion. Where did everybody go? And more important, are you going to drink all those Fuzzy Handcuffs all by yourself? Because if your sisters left you to your own devices, what kind of gentleman would I be to let you drink alone?”
She gestured with an unsteady wave of her hand.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m used to drinking alone.” She grimaced. “And even though I might be a little tipsy, I’m not so drunk that I don’t realize how pathetic that just sounded. Please, sit down and save me from myself.”
“If you insist,” he said and lowered