“I’m very sure. How about we see if they even want to hang out with us. For all we know, Megan and Knickers concocted this whole thing for us to be their chaperones, and they’ll try to ditch us.”
She laughed and couldn’t stop herself from throwing her arms around his neck. “You’re brilliant.”
He held her close. “Just tell my brother that.”
“Surely he knows by now.”
But he didn’t answer, and when she looked up at him, he just flashed her a smile. “We have two silver foxes waiting for us at Caesar’s Palace, ready to have a good time. We can’t leave them hanging for too long, can we?”
“I love you,” she said jovially as she climbed into the car. “You’re amazing.”
Noah stood beside the open door for a couple of seconds as if frozen in place, then teased, “That’s me. Amazing. I wish more people would recognize that.” He shut her door and moved around to get into the driver’s seat.
She was excited to see Gram, not to mention the no-nonsense Nana Ruby, but the sun had set and her early funk had worn her out emotionally. She closed her eyes and let the lull of the car soothe her jagged nerves. It hardly surprised her that her thoughts immediately went to Noah.
Libby was glad he’d told her about his father—it explained so much about him. A part of her longed to make a confession of her own, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him about her childhood. She couldn’t place her finger on the reason for that hesitation, which upset and confused her. She had no doubt Noah would be just as understanding of her situation as she had been of his. But she couldn’t let it out of the lock-box of memories. It was something she hadn’t even shared with Megan and Blair, and she’d known them since kindergarten.
She was still lost in thought when Noah touched her shoulder.
“Libby, we’re here.”
She blinked in surprise. “Where?”
“Caesar’s Palace.”
“What? How’d we get here so fast?”
“You fell asleep.”
“But I wanted to see Vegas!”
He laughed. “Trust me, you can see as much of it as you want. But not in this car. While you slept, I made arrangements to drop it off here at the hotel. Which means we have to get all of our things out.”
That wouldn’t be too hard considering everything she had with her was either on her person, in Noah’s suitcase, or stuffed in a clear trash bag. “You know we’re going to have to carry a wedding dress stuffed in a trash bag through the hotel?” she asked, reaching for the door handle.
“Hey, it’s Vegas. I doubt anyone will even notice this time.”
He had a point. She got out of the car and waited while Noah talked to the rental car attendant. When she reached into the trunk for the bag with the wedding dress, Noah—still talking to the agent—moved toward her and handed her a gray garment bag with the name of a tux rental place in bold letters.
He really had brought a tux. Why had she questioned him before? Noah and Libby bullshitted the rest of the world, but they were always real with each other.
He grabbed his carry-on bag and the trash bag and flashed her a smile. “Let’s go.”
She followed him down several long halls until they entered a large marble-clad foyer with a giant statue in the middle. Noah checked his phone, then handed it to Libby. “Josh texted me Gram’s number. Why don’t you call her and tell her we’re here? Maybe we can meet up with them somewhere. If nothing else, you can get your ID.”
She took the phone and wandered closer to the statue, staring up at the painted ceiling. It surprised her that Noah had picked this place with its grand extravagance. He seemed more like a Bellagio guy. Gram answered on the first ring.
“So you ran off with my Libby, did you?” she asked with a chuckle.
Her chest warmed at the sound of Gram’s voice. “Gram, it’s me. The runnee herself. Libby.”
“Libby, my girl. Did you run off to Vegas to get married, too?”
“Too? Who’s getting married in Vegas?”
“Me, of course. I caught your bouquet.” Then the older woman grumbled. “Ruby, stop getting your panties in a wad. If I want to get married, I’ll damn well do it.”
Good Lord. Even Gram—a seventy-something-year-old woman—was having better luck in the love department than she was. Noah hadn’t mentioned this part of Gram’s plan. “I didn’t even know you were seeing someone.”
“I’m not. I’m hoping to meet him here.”
“In Vegas?”
“It seems like a great place to start. After I snag him, I can take him to an Elvis wedding chapel before he changes his mind.”
Libby grinned to herself. “Elvis? I didn’t know you were an Elvis fan, Gram.”
“I’m not, but going through a drive-thru chapel seems tacky.”
Libby chuckled. “I won’t argue with you there. Noah said you brought my driver’s license?”
“I brought more than that, my girl. Why don’t you come up so I can show you?”
Libby laughed. “That sounds like a bad pick-up line, Gram.”
“Maybe I’m trying to help you get picked up. I’m in room 1835 and you better get up here soon. Don’t bring Noah.”
That caught her off guard. “Why not?”
The older woman laughed. “I don’t think you want him seeing some of it.” Her voice was muffled when she spoke again. “Ruby, give it a rest!”
Libby had no idea what Gram could have brought that she wouldn’t want Noah to see—but it couldn’t be good. Especially if it had something to do with “getting picked up.” “Noah’s checking in now. I’ll come up to see you and then meet him in our room.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you in a few minutes. And on second thought, bring that boy up with you after all. I need to see if he looks just as good as the last time I saw him at Blair’s wedding. I’ve been talking him up to my sculpting class.”
Noah was walking toward her as she hung up, trailing his suitcase and the trash bag stuffed with her wedding dress. A few people gave him strange looks, but for the most part, everyone ignored them. “You get a hold of her?”
“Yeah, she’s in room 1835 and she’s up to no good.”
He laughed. “It’s Gram. That’s a given.”
“She says she’s brought”—she made air quotes—“more than my license. At first she told me not bring you, but she changed her mind.”
His grin spread wider. “That does sound like trouble.”
“Especially since the main reason she wants you there is so she can make sure you look as good as you did at Blair’s wedding. I suspect she’s about to proposition you to sit for her sculpting class this time.”
He burst out laughing. “That old woman is bound and determined to see my bare ass. Perhaps I should just drop my pants and show it to her.”
Gram isn’t the only one who wouldn’t mind seeing your bare ass sprang into her mind out of nowhere. What in the world was wrong with her? If she couldn’t control her raging hormones, she might have to ask to sleep in the grandmothers’ room.