“Not a problem.” Noah winked at Libby and stuck his phone in his pocket. The bartender brought the bill and Noah signed for it, still grinning. He picked up two shot glasses and handed one to Libby, then clinked it with his. “To getting kicked out of bars.”
“Hear, hear!” She downed the shot and slid off the stool, nearly falling on her ass. Water.
Noah grabbed her elbow and pulled her upright. He kept her steady as they walked out of the bar.
“Let’s go sing karaoke,” Libby said, holding on to his arm.
Without warning, he leaned over and kissed her, his tongue coaxing her lips open before it plunged into hers. His lips made her almost delirious, and the alcohol only added to the effect.
When he lifted his head, he looked into her eyes. “Marry me, Lib.”
Her eyes flew open. “What?”
“We can go right now. Get married in a chapel. We still have time to do it before your birthday.”
“Noah . . .” She shook her head. The three rapid shots—or was it four?—were all slamming into her bloodstream at once, making it even harder to focus.
“Just say yes.”
There were reasons she shouldn’t, but damned if she could come up with any right now. She’d never had as much fun with a man as she did with him.
Besides, what if the curse had worked? What if Noah was the man she was supposed to marry? God knew she loved him, but did he love her?
“Yes.”
“Yes?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yeah.”
He kissed her again—much shorter this time, but just as passionate—then lifted his head and shouted, “We’re getting married!”
A few people stopped to stare at them and a group of women in cocktail dresses started clapping. One of them catcalled, “Snatch him up, honey. He’s hot!”
“Isn’t that sweet?” an older woman asked the man next to her. “A young couple in love.”
Her husband squinted in disgust. “Them and half the people in this damn town.”
The crowd added to Libby’s giddiness. This had to be a dream. She was marrying Noah. This was happening.
“Let’s go get a taxi.”
He tugged her toward the hotel lobby, but she dug in her feet. “Wait! I need my dress.”
He stopped and eyed her, his hand skimming from her waist down the curve of her hip. “Why? You look absolutely perfect.”
“If I’m getting married, I need my wedding dress. I can’t get married in black. It’s bad luck.”
“The girl needs her dress,” the older woman tsked.
“Lib, it’s ten-thirty. We’ll have to hurry if we’re going to make it by midnight. And we still have to get a marriage license.”
“What?” Of course they needed a license. How could she have forgotten that?
“It’s open late. We can still get it, but we have to hurry.”
He pulled her down the hall to the elevator bank to their wing.
She looked up at him, blinking to make him more in focus. “I can’t believe we’re really doing this.”
“Neither can I.”
Chapter Nineteen
Something in the back of Noah’s head told him to slow down and think this through, but the alcohol encouraged him. He loved her. This was what he wanted. Why wait?
When they got to the room, Noah pushed her against the wall and kissed her again.
“Maybe we should get married tomorrow,” she said in a breathy voice, bringing him to his senses.
He took a step back and rubbed the top of his head. “No! We have to do this tonight.” He grabbed the trash bag off the floor and dumped her dress onto the bed. “How do we get this back on you?”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. “I’m not putting it on now.”
He shook his head. “What are you talking about?”
“You can’t see me in the dress before the wedding. It’s bad luck. I’ll change there.”
“But I’ve already seen you in it!”
“You haven’t seen me in it before I walk down the aisle to you!”
If this was what she wanted, he’d make it happen. “Okay.”
She started stuffing the dress back into the bag. “Come on. Help me.”
They crammed it back into the bag and then ran to the elevators. The doors to a car opened and a group of men stared at them, then at the bag in Noah’s hand.
He lifted it a few inches in greeting. “We’re getting married.”
It must have been the shocked looks on their faces that made Libby giggle as she leaned against him, resting her head on his upper arm. The love and joy in her eyes sucked his breath away.
He couldn’t believe this was actually happening.
A parking attendant greeted them at the entrance of the hotel. “Where to?” Then he looked down at the clear trash bag and his eyebrows lifted in understanding. “Oh. Which chapel?”
“We don’t know, but we need a marriage license,” Noah said. “And we need to be married before midnight.”
“Okay. Here’s what you do,” the man said. “You get your license, then you go to Little Heaven. My aunt Angelica owns the place. I’ll tell her you’re coming so they’ll be ready for you. Sound good?”
Noah looked down at Libby for confirmation. Beaming up at him, she nodded.
He grinned. “Sounds perfect.”
The parking attendant nodded and led them to a cab and opened the back door. He leaned his head into the open front passenger window. “This young couple needs to get a marriage license. Take care of them for me, will you?”