He couldn’t sleep at all Thursday night in anticipation of finally seeing her again, so even though their plane to Memphis wasn’t supposed to take off until ten o’clock Friday morning, he headed to the airport early. Just in case he could get Alexis alone.
Noah followed the signs to the area where private planes and chartered flights checked in. Colton had arranged for them to use some private jet for the weekend, and the lefty radical part of him cringed at the carbon footprint this one-night getaway was leaving on the Earth. Memphis was a three-hour drive, tops. They didn’t need a damn plane.
He wished he and Alexis were driving together. It would give them time to talk, because there wouldn’t be much time today and tomorrow. The plan was for the guys to head straight from the airport to a day spa for massages while Liv and her bridesmaids got pedicures. The entire group would then meet back up for dinner and barhopping at night.
Noah parked in the private lot outside the hangar where they were supposed to meet and swallowed away the disappointment when he didn’t see Lexa’s car. His disappointment soared when he realized the Russian was already there too.
Noah found him standing alone next to a massive suitcase and an inflatable inner tube. He was laughing at something on his phone. He held it out for Noah to see as he approached. “Raccoon eating grapes.”
Noah nodded at the inner tube. “What’s up with that?”
“They have pool at hotel. I cannot swim.” He cracked up and turned his phone around again. “Raccoon eating banana.”
“What the hell are you bringing?” Noah grumbled with a nod at the suitcase.
“I have special diet needs.”
“That’s all food?”
The Russian held out his arms. “You are having a bad day. Do you need a hug?”
“I’m good, thanks—mrph.” He was suddenly smoochy faced against the Russian’s massive chest. A beefy hand pounded him on the back and nearly knocked his ribs out of place.
“Yes, you need a hug.”
“Can I interrupt or is this, like, a special moment?” Colton had snuck up on them, his voice laced with amusement.
Noah backed up, and Colton let out a shocked noise. “Holy shit, you look horrible.”
The Russian pounded his back again. “He is having bad day.”
He was saved from answering when the Russian turned his phone around again. “Raccoon eating marshmallow.”
Colton tugged Noah away several feet and lowered his voice. “Since you’re rooming with him, see if you can find out anything.”
“About what—wait. I’m rooming with the Russian?”
“Yeah, didn’t you know?”
“No, I didn’t fucking know. Who decided that?”
Colton shrugged. “Mack, I guess. Nearly everyone else is bringing a wife or girlfriend, and I’m rooming with Mack’s brother. So that leaves you and the Russian.”
“Why can’t I room with Liam?” His voice took on the quality of a whiny teenager.
“Because you have investigative skills.” Colton nodded back toward the Russian’s massive suitcase and lowered his voice. “Snoop through his luggage and see if you find any evidence of his wife.”
“You seriously need to go on tour again.”
“I’m working on my next album.”
“Then find a hobby.”
The Russian walked over, laughing behind hand. He turned his phone around. “Raccoon eating popcorn.”
Noah glared at Colton, who winked and walked away. Noah wandered to the front of the hangar to watch for Alexis. But as the minutes ticked by, everyone else arrived except her. At a few minutes before ten, Mack announced that they could start boarding.
“What about Alexis?” Noah asked.
Liv and Mack shared a pitying glance.
“What?” Noah growled.
“She’s driving herself,” Mack said.
* * *
“You gonna be grumpy like this all weekend?”
Mack had the audacity to sound annoyed when he asked Noah the question two hours later. Once again, Noah found himself stuffed uncomfortably in the middle seat of a back seat as a chauffeur who picked them up from the airport drove them to the spa.
“Probably,” Noah admitted. “You could have warned me that Alexis wasn’t taking the plane with the rest of us.”
Mack shrugged. “I assumed you knew.”
The car slowed and pulled into the parking lot of a brick building. A sign near the driveway read OASIS DAY SPA. The woman at the reception desk blinked and swallowed hard when they walked in.
“Can I help you?”
Mack greeted her with one of his signature grins. “We have reservations under the name Mack. Bachelor party.”
The woman blinked again. “When I saw on the schedule that we had a bachelor party coming in today, I figured it was a mistake and someone just left off the -ette part.”
“Men need pampering too.”
She winked. “Saving the strip clubs for later, huh?”
Mack stiffened. “No strip clubs. I don’t like the idea of using my impending wedding as an excuse to sexually objectify women as if this is my last gasp of freedom.”
The woman cleared her throat. “Of course. My apologies.” She looked back down at her computer. “It says here you are each scheduled for a massage and a facial. Would anyone like to add a third treatment for a small upcharge?”
The Russian nodded. “I would like pedicure.”
Noah slapped his hand over the Russian’s mouth. “Nope. We’re all good.”
The Russian pouted. “My feet take beating in ice skates.”
“No one gets paid enough to touch your feet, dude.”
The woman stared unblinkingly for a moment before finding her voice again. “Right. Okay. Well, you gentlemen are all set. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to our changing room and lounge, where you can wait for your massage therapists.”
They followed her down a dark hallway covered in deep red wallpaper and lined with potted palms. Plush carpet absorbed their footfalls. The hallway formed a T at the end, where a table displayed a single orchid next to a bubbling tabletop fountain. The woman turned left, and they once again followed in a single-file line.
She paused
