Ride by Cat Johnson

busting through the door and she was drugged and groggy? Though she’d taken them before and been able to wake up just fine when needed, and never to her knowledge had she sleepwalked to a chapel and gotten married. At least not until last night.
    Oh well. Of all the men in the world she could have gotten accidentally married to, Chase would be her first choice. At least she didn’t end up accidentally married to someone like Jerry. Even the thought of him made her stomach churn.
    Things could be far worse. She knew that too well. Married and alive was much better than single and dead.
    Leesa poured another handful of hotel shampoo into her palm and lathered her hair. The tiny bottle was almost empty now, but Chase had already showered and Garret would have to be on his own. Besides, these guys rode bulls. Real cowboys could use hand soap on their hair in a pinch, she supposed. Leesa shook her head at her own thoughts. Just the fact she was worrying about shampoo rather than dying proved how different this morning was compared to yesterday.
    A bit of conditioner, another rinse and Leesa’s hair was clean. Flipping the faucet, she turned off the water, stepped out of the shower stall and onto the bath mat. She grabbed a towel from the rack and spied Chase’s razor lying on the sink. She hadn’t thought much about him shaving. Of course he did. He was an adult male. She could attest to that first hand.
    The image tantalized her. Chase wiping the steam from the mirror. Lathering his cheeks and chin. Standing in nothing but a towel.
    He’d looked pretty damn good in that towel this morning. It had been the first thing she’d noticed before he’d distracted her with the marriage certificate and two gold bands, one of which was still wrapped around the fourth finger on her left hand. She glanced at it again.
    Wow. Married . Even if it was only temporary, they were still married.
    She eyed Chase’s razor again and then on a spur of the moment whim, braced one ankle on the sink. She ran it quickly over her shin and knee. It wasn’t the best shaving job, but eventually she had both legs and both underarms mostly stubble free.
    Guiltily she rinsed the blades off well. Guys hated when women used their razors to shave their legs. At least her ex had. Leesa pushed that unpleasant memory away. That was long over and if she never thought of him again, it would be too soon.
    She dried and then put the razor back where she’d found it. The entire time she tried not to think that she’d shaved just in case something happened with Chase. It was going to be a long drive to his home in Oklahoma. Both of them in the cab of his truck for hours and hours… She should be worrying about other things besides the possibility they might have sex. Then again, why shouldn’t they? They were married.
    Temporarily, she reminded herself one more time as she hung her head upside down and rubbed the water out of her hair with the towel.
    She’d brought a change of clothes into the bathroom with her so she could dress in private. As Leesa pulled on her bra and underwear, the irony wasn’t lost on her. She’d stripped nearly naked in front of both Chase and his friends on stage, but here she didn’t even want him to see her in just the towel. Keeping her life compartmentalized had been the only thing to keep her sane these past few months. It had been what had allowed her to distance herself enough to do what she’d done with Chase in the back room. Then again, she hadn’t remained very distant, had she?
    A fluttering started low in her belly when she remembered what she’d felt between her and Chase in that back room, and then again last night when he’d kissed her. Yeah, sure. Compartmentalized. Ha! She’d been a woman attracted to a man. Chase had not been just another customer. Now she was married to him. She smothered the guilt. Maybe her subconscious had sleepwalked her medicated body and his drunk one all the way to the chapel on